How Much Is Too Much Money For runDisney Races?

For the first time in my running career, I balked at a runDisney bib price. Is runDisney finally flirting with price resistance?

Disclaimer: What follows constitutes first world problems. It is a privilege to be in a position to ask these questions in the first place. Nevertheless, let’s discuss!

IS runDISNEY PUSHING THE BIB PRICE LIMITS?

Public registration for the Princess Half Marathon opened last Tuesday, and I was there with the rest of the plebes lined up in the virtual queue for a bib. I lucked out with an 8 minute estimated queue wait time (actual wait time was three to four minutes) and whooshed merrily through Fairytale Challenge registration without thinking about it too hard. Erika had a much higher quoted wait time, so I then registered for her as well. Primary mission accomplished.

Nevertheless, I circled back. I’m not usually one for 5Ks, but this year the 5K is themed to Mulan, and she’s my favorite Disney princess. Initially I decided to let fate decide: if 5K bibs were still available after goal A was complete, I’d go for it.

And then I saw it was $114 dollars. For a 5K, even a Disney 5K, that felt like a lot, and in the moment I chose to abstain. I have my 2022 Mulan-themed Princess Half shirt and that would have to do.

The 5K price wasn’t what inspired this post, though. While I was on the page again, I glanced to the right, and noticed the Princess Half by itself was $246?! Hold on, hold on – was I misremembering, or had we not been holding steady around $200 for awhile now?

HOW DOES THIS COMPARE TO HISTORICAL PRINCESS HALF PRICES?

I could be misremembering, of course. Luckily I’ve been running runDisney races since [winds watch] the 2013 Princess Half. Time to check the receipts – literally!

Take it back now y’all:

For the 2013 race, I paid $165 for a Princess Half bib. Incidentally, I registered in November, so there may have been price increases at play. (Note: my receipt says $330 for a two-person team as I ran this one with Moon. Team registration, to my knowledge, is no longer a thing at the time of this writing.)

There’s a gap here; I didn’t run Princess for quite a few years.

2021 would have been $218.53 had it happened.

For 2022, I paid $223.86 for a Princess Half bib with everyone else when registration opened.

For 2024, I paid $242 for a Princess Half bib, when I registered in December – again, a price increase was at play, as this page suggests the cost was approximately the same as 2022 after added taxes and fees.

And as I said, had I registered for the half a la carte in 2025, I would’ve dropped $246.

From 2013 to 2025, that’s a price increase of 49%.

From 2022/24 to 2025, that’s a price increase of 9.89%.

The 2025 race is now more expensive on registration day than the two-months-out 2024 price.

WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER RACES?

Just a couple, as a sampling:

I’ve run every Walt Disney World Marathon since my first in 2015, albeit occasionally as a part of the Goofy or Dopey Challenge. For my marathon-only showings, I paid $218.82 for 2016 (I didn’t register until mid-October, so this is outlier data), $191.88 for 2017, $197.21 for 2018 (again, I registered in October), $200.40 for 2019, $202.54 in 2022, $207.87 for 2022, and $218.53 for 2023. 2021 would have been $202.54 had it happened.

The 2025 marathon alone ran $226 on registration day. From 2017, that’s a price increase of 17.78%. From 2023 to 2025, that’s a price increase of 3.41%.

Of the remaining surviving runDisney races, I’ve run the Wine & Dine Half Marathon most often. This race does include an after party and a gift card, which adds value. (Mind you, that gift card used to be $20, not $15.)

When running the Wine & Dine Half by itself, I paid $197.53 for 2014, $202.84 for 2015, $202.85 for 2016, $229.19 for 2021, and $229.19 for 2022.

The 2024 Wine & Dine Half cost $240. From 2014, that’s a price increase of 21.5%. From 2015/2016, that’s a price increase of 18.32%, and from 2021/2022, an increase of 4.72%.

Clearly race cost creep has been happening ever since runDisney resumed operations post-COVID shutdowns. I just didn’t notice until we were approaching the $250 mark. Naturally what with inflation and all some increase is to be expected, but the compounding effect is adding up.

YEAH? AND? THE RACES STILL SOLD OUT

You’re right; all Princess Half Marathon Weekend races did sell out – but not nearly as quickly as I expected them to.

I saw a lot of enthusiasm around the Princess Weekend themes, and historically Princess is already arguably the most popular weekend. Yes, Marathon Weekend has the big-ticket challenges, but anecdotally people are really into Princess.

2025 Marathon Weekend registration was an absolute mad scene, with ALL four races and two challenges selling out in under two hours. My last browser had yet to escape internet waiting room jail before all races were full. If I had been relying on a single browser/device or entered the queue after purchase began, I would’ve been completely SOL.

On the other hand, Princess Weekend’s three races and single challenge took more than two hours to sell out (not including yoga, which took a little over 24 hours). Not only that, but as an experiment, I entered the queue all over again about 30 minutes after registration; when you do that, you get placed at the back of the existing line. I still made it in about 15 minutes before the half sold out. It was all that was available at that point, but it was there.

I haven’t done a straw poll; I don’t know why those who chose to pass on a bib did so. But given the recent noticeable price increase, I wonder if runDisney is finally running up against price resistance. I also wonder to what extent it’s a pure money grab and to what extent they’re trying to take some of the pressure off us and themselves.

I’m not sure how to feel about that. On the one hand, it’d be nice to not panic over the competition of registration day. Then again, I don’t exactly love the increasing hit to my wallet.

HOW MUCH WOULD I PAY TO runDISNEY?

An interesting question. Based on no real evidence, I think I’m similar to many runDisney enthusiasts – I make enough money to select the none-too-cheap hobby of Disney parks and runDisney for my discretionary income, but I’m not so well off that I can afford to sling money around thoughtlessly.

Thus I pose the question to myself: how much would I pay to runDisney?

To be honest, for the Walt Disney World Marathon… probably more than it’s objectively worth. The WDW Marathon is the light of my life, and unique in all the world with its full four-park course, potential for in-race rides, etc. On average, with my many character stops and rare but possible jaunts on Everest, I’m looking at a solid 5 hours of experience, not including pre- and post-race festivities.

On the other hand, the half marathons… look, yeah, they’re also unique. But they’re also much shorter. Even with character stops I’m looking at 2 to 2:30 hours of race. The course-to-park ratio is much smaller. Don’t get me wrong, I do love it, but runDisney half marathons don’t quite have the same nonnegotiable must-do status the marathon does for me. And the prices of the two are basically the same.

Obviously how much I would pay depends on multiple factors. We haven’t touched on associated costs like hotels and plane tickets, but splitting rooms with friends would be one item of note. My life circumstances could change, for the better or worse. I just can’t be sure.

Then I remember that I paid an Early Bird price of $90 for the Wilmington Historic Half + 5K challenge, and I’m forced to admit the value proposition is simply better outside runDisney. No, those races don’t have the Disney flair, but there are plenty of spectators and a free beer and food at the finish. Ya couldn’t at least throw us a free beer bone like the old Wine & Dine days, runDisney?

I’m not saying I’d necessarily stop running Disney completely at a certain price point, but I could see it slowing down.

In conclusion: I don’t know, exactly, where my price limit resides. I do begin to wonder if we’re getting close. And I wonder if I’m not the only one.

HOW MUCH WOULD YOU PAY TO runDISNEY?

As I have hammered home time and time again, value is subjective. Cost is not inherent, and things are worth the amount someone is willing to pay for them. For what runDisney provides, they could reasonably argue that they provide commensurate value. On the other hand, there is only so much cost the consumer base can handle.

So I turn to you. How much would you pay to runDisney?

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