I had high hopes for this year’s expo after a bit of a mess in 2013. Last year, the expo was held at Coronado Springs Resort, and I don’t think anyone anticipated that it wasn’t enough space. This year however, things went very smoothly, good job runDisney!
We arrived after lunch, so the expo had already been open about four hours. I think the first “wave” of people had left, because I did not find it that crowded.
There were free yogurt cups being given out outside, the perfect snack for some shopping stamina!
We walked the royal red carpet up to the expo doors, and were ready to shop!
Our plan was to go to the official merchandise first since it sold out so quickly last year. Then we would go get our packets, the shop the expo floor.
I was happy to see most things were still ins tock, the only thing I did not get that I wanted was a glass slipper sweaty band. Oh well, at least I got my I Did it shirt!
Across the way we went to get our bibs. We all got in the 5k line, then I had to go downstairs to get my Glass Slipper bib and shirts. That’s when I realized I didn’t have a coast to coast band. I had emailed runDisney to tell them I did NOT want coast to coast at Tink because I wanted the pink one at Princess (they had sent out an email to everyone doing both and asked us to respond with our preference.) Obviously, my email was not received or got lost, because there was no record of my name.
I went to runner relations, and the guy working tried to tell me I would need to go visit the info booth the morning of the half marathon. I didn’t like being passed off to someone else, and didn’t want to worry for the next three days if they were going to give me my wristband or not the morning of the race, nor did I want to be stressed about it at 4:00 in the morning on race day. I asked the guy if there was really nothing he could do, even showing a picture from my phone of me posing with my ONE medal after Tinkerbell, and he reluctantly agreed to give me the wristband. Whew.
About this time, Bobby was in line for us to get our picture from runDisney for following them on Instagram. I think it came out cute, they always do a good job with the backdrops!
We headed BACK to the expo floor, and I saw these guys.
We got our 5k shirts and my mom’s 10k shirt, and then I made my rounds saying hi to friends working at booths, chatting with other runners and readers, and just having a great time! Jen texted me and said she saw someone post these pins on Instagram, so I headed over to the runDisney booth to get my own! LOVE this idea!
Soon we had to leave to go get ready for dinner, but I could have stayed much longer!
I couldn’t pass up a picture with the Glass Slipper sign as we headed to the parking lot.
Look how cute my mom and dad are! My dad would be getting his first runDisney medal the next morning.
I loved this expo and thought runDisney did a great job of correcting the issues of last year. I still thought some of the merchandise was lacking in quality, but I feel like I’m beating a dead horse with that one. It’s selling out, right? The signage was great, the volunteers were very helpful, and aside form the coast to coast hiccup, we had no issues. Hooray! Until the next race…
QOTD: DO you like to “get in and get out” at expos or stay for awhile?
For more information on registering for a runDisney race, visit runDisney.com
I never get to stay at the expos as long as I want to. I love them!
me too!
I had a good experience and stayed for a while. This time I was glad to get the official merchandise I wanted. Can’t wait till next time
Glad you got what you wanted
Yikes! Sorry about the confusion with your Coast to Coast medal. I bet that was frustrating! I don’t get too excited about expos but I do enjoy the Disney ones because of all the disney inspired merchandise and fun photo ops! We also went on Thursday afternoon which was a good decision because it was dead. No lines for anything!
hooray!
I just love runDisney expos and could stay there forever lol! So glad you were able to get your band for your coast to coast medal! And those Instagram pics were so cute!!! I loved seeing everyone’s!
Thanks!
Thanks!1!
I like to browse through expos, since it’s not very often I get to obsess over all things running in one room 🙂 Plus it adds to the whole experience I think, it pumps me up for the run! I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to run the disney princess half sometime, or even the Disney full, ah, maybe one day!
You should!
I love to stay as long as it takes to see every vendor at the expos! I enjoy exploring all the products.
That photo of you with the Prince Charming backdrop is adorable!
I wish runDisney would start predicting their sales a little better. They need to realize that not everyone is going to get there in time to buy the products they want and they need to have enough for everyone!
I agree. they run out too quickly.
I am one of those “get in, get out”, especially at big expos. I want to spend time in the Disney parks so I’ve never really spent a lot of time at their expos.
That’s ok! 🙂
Y’know, I’m reading blogs like this avidly as I look forward to the WDW in January, but haven’t found ANY that mention going to the seminars on Expo day. They seem to be all about the shopping.
I’m encouraged that it’s possible to go without the whole “Black Friday”-like madness, but am wondering whether anyone goes to the seminars?
Two things:
1) my parents were with us and did NOT want to sit through a speaker
2) Honestly…they are kinda all the same. Jeff talks, Tara talks, race day strategy, how to eat right before the race, how to hydrate, etc. They just don’t really interest me 🙁
Good to know, thanks!
If you have never heard them you should def go!
We got in and out pretty quickly when we went on Friday afternoon.
I felt bad dragging Greg through so much estrogen! If I were on my own I probably would have stayed a little longer, but I got out having spent only about $50 (the first time we went :))
I felt the same having my hubby and parents with me!
Soooo glad the expo was better than last year’s nightmare! And phew about getting the wristband for C2C. I would have been a nervous wreck waiting until race morning, too!
Exactly, I didn’t want to have to stress about it for 3 days!
Oh my goodness I’m so glad you got your wristband! I would have freaked!! Glad this Expo was much calmer than Dumbo and what I heard of last year’s Princess!
Oh it was WAY better than last year. Last year I wanted to cry, and my mom literally had a panic attack and had to leave and go sit down
I was there too! I had a blast, but there were definitely tons of lines (I got there at 11 on Thursday!) but it was cool because I got everything I wanted! I will definitely get there early on day 1 if I ever do a Disney race again because I didn’t have to worry about anything selling out! It was the biggest expo I’ve ever been to so it was nice to have a lot of time to check everything out.
Yes they are huge!
I would have spend more time there had I been by myself but I didn’t want to keep my family from the park for too long! We ended up staying longer than expected because of the check in time that we got from the New Balance booth but no complaints because we all got shoes! There were lots of unhappy princesses there that were unable to get a check in time so I’m not complaining.
Glad you got the shoes 🙂
AGREED! Definitely an improvement over last year’s expo, that’s for sure! 🙂
yes!
Love that Prince Charming picture!
Culture and entrepreneurship intervene in lots of ways. Affiliate
marketing would be the method of sales because vendors are permitted hire outside parties called affiliates
to help you support their products. By careful editing, one
increases the effectiveness of these articles’ marketing
abilities.