BAY LAKE, Fla. – Walt Disney World is preparing to welcome thousands of runDisney runners this weekend to its 2023 Springtime Surprise Weekend.
The event is the final race in the 2022-2023 runDisney race season.
The event will officially step off with the Disney-Pixar Cars 5K on Friday morning. That will be followed by the Disney-Pixar Monsters 10K, Disney-Pixar Toy Story 10-Miler and a runDisney Springtime Surprise Challenge with Finding Nemo (which includes the 5K, 10K and 10-miler).
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“It’s actually about an 18-to-24-month process to actually develop a theme for one of the race weekends,” said Audra Wason, runDisney sports business development manager. “When we work on the process of assigning themes to each of our races, it’s really about our partnerships. We work with our merchandise partners and entertainment partners to make sure that we can bring these themes to life so that guests have a fully immersive experience — not only from when they’re registering for the race, but when they come here and actually live that experience.”
On Wednesday, News 6 was invited into the runDisney Health & Fitness Expo to see some of the merchandise that will be available for runners to purchase.
“This weekend is themed for Pixar pals, so we worked with our Pixar partners for their input in helping us pick out the correct characters to use and design some of the artwork,” Wason pointed out. “We have a lot of really popular items this year - we have the Loungefly backpacks, spirit jerseys, athletic running jackets, and then fan favorites are just always the magnets and the trading pins.”
Beginning Thursday morning, runDisney will incorporate a virtual queue for runners to use for access into the expo to buy merchandise. Disney hopes this feature will cut down on long wait times on the first day and allow attendees to enjoy other areas of the expo.
“So the merchandise experience for runners is a very unique experience. Not only do runners have the opportunity to buy merchandise here at the event, but they can also pre-purchase merchandise online after they register for the event,” Wason said.
In order to get a virtual return time, guests will need to download the My Disney Experience app and ensure location services are turned on. Guests can find a virtual queue time under the Virtual Queues section on the welcome screen of the app. Guests can request to join the virtual queue at 8:30 a.m. on April 13.
In addition to picking up merchandise at the runDisney Health & Fitness Expo, runners will also get a chance to see medals not only being handed out at this weekend’s event - but future events as well. On Wednesday, runDisney shared a first look at the Disney100 medals coming to the 2023 runDisney Virtual Series.
“As we continue to add more races, the medals are getting even more dynamic. As the technology evolves - we have metals that spin and light up. The Disney100 medal has a magnet on it, so the guests can actually take off the magnet and put it in their office or on their whiteboard or fridge,” Wason said. “The best thing for me because I do work on designing those metals, is seeing the runners when they cross the finish line and that moment when they realize that they’ve completed whatever goals they set out to accomplish.”
Registration for the 2023 runDisney Virtual Series will take place on April 25.
Following the runDisney Springtime Surprise Weekend, Walt Disney World will welcome runners back for the runDisney 2023 Wine & Dine Half-Marathon Weekend, which kicks off on Nov. 2.
Click here to learn more about runDisney.
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