Hi friends! After a whirlwind morning of helping fellow princesses complete their early registration for the 2018 #PrincessHalf as Annual Passholders and DVC members, I’d like to put together some helpful registration tips for you all in anticipation of the general registration on May 2!

The Princess Half Marathon weekend is popular for a reason: it’s empowering, it has a magical princess theme, and the half marathon course runs through Cinderella Castle. This is a particularly special Princess year as 2018 is the 10th anniversary of the Princess Half Marathon and the 5th anniversary of the Glass Slipper Challenge Fairy Tale Challenge.

Here’s how to make sure you are part of the celebration:

Will Run for Disney’s Top 5 2018 Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend Registration Tips

1. What you need to know: 2017 participants got a head start on registration

New to this year, in runDisney’s “Thank you for Participating” email to 2017 Princess Half weekend participants, they included a link which briefly allowed runners to sign up for the race again for 2018. This was a period of a matter of days.

Excerpt from the “Thank You For Participating!” email sent out to 2017 Princess Half runners

Similarly, runDisney works with travel agencies and charities across the country to supply bibs to runners. By receiving your entry this way, you are either obligated to raise money on behalf of said charity, or you must do business with the travel agency, including booking your Park Hopper tickets (even if you have an Annual Pass or Disney Vacation Club membership!)

Since there are a finite number of entries available for this race being whittled away by such conveniences, do be sure to be at a computer (recommended), tablet or phone RIGHT at registration opening.

2. Tip: Sign up for the runDisney registration email reminders- but don’t rely on them

Get very acquainted with the runDisney webpage and social media channels for all of your information. Be sure to sign up for updates on the runDisney website – but ye be warned: while runDisney means well by offering to send you email notifications, they few and far between. I feel like I rarely get them when I need them. Don’t wait for an email that may never show up. Be proactive and know the registration dates and times based on the website and other helpful blogs.

2018 Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend Registration Times:

AP/DVC early registration: Thursday, April 27 at 12pm EST/9am PST
General registration: Tuesday, May 2 at 12pm EST/9am PST

3. What you need to know: Annual Passholders and DVC members have separate login links

Based on this morning’s registration, it seems as though some people were having trouble accessing the membership links. To keep it easy, here’s what seemed to work for me:

Annual Passholder link: https://www.rundisney.com/annual-passholders/

DVC link: https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/discounts-perks-offers/special/early-registration-rundisney/?CMP=SOC-FBPAGE20161207233000 (requires login)

4.Tip: Before you do anything – Login to your active.com page (or create one!)

Photo credit: Active.com

To save yourself time and additional steps, make sure you create or login to your active.com page before the 12PM onslaught of open registration. runDisney utilizes active.com to complete the registration process. As you’re logged in to active.com, when you go to register via a live link on the runDisney website, you won’t run into trouble as you get redirected to active.com.

Bonus: many other road races utilize active.com if you choose to run other races outside of Disney property, keeping everything streamlined!

5. Tip: Recruit friends to help register if you have a large party

I’ve helped friends with their runDisney registrations to help alleviate their stress levels and get everyone in the race they want without risking the races be sold out by the time you individually register everyone yourself. Recruit a friend or two. Or three! To quote the original Test Track’s Sherry in the opening video, “you’ll be glad you did.”

6. *Bonus Tip*: Breathe. Be patient. And worst case scenario, refresh.

runDisney registration seems to have gotten smoother over the years. When you click the live link, you are automatically entered into a “virtual queue.” Stay patient and wait your turn. After a certain amount of time in the queue you will see the menu of race options to select.

Make sure you grab what you want ASAP. If you cannot select the race you want, don’t panic. Refresh. It’s possible it will become available after a few refreshes. That happened to me during the Wine and Dine registration. I was losing it. Once you get it however, you have a finite amount of time to complete your registration. Move swiftly and get those credit cards ready!

Overall: This is one of my favorite weekends in the Walt Disney World calendar. Almost everyone I know who has participated in this race says that the experiences has changed their life. And I would agree! Sadly I won’t be running 2018 Princess because I will be running the 2018 WDW Marathon a few short weeks beforehand. But I can’t wait to see and hear updates from our runDisney community.

Wishing you all luck and if anyone has any questions, let me know!

As always, #willrunfordisney