Disney Report: Kids Races

2011 Royal Family Race
(Princess Half Marathon)

My father and my sister are runners and have been participating in RunDisney events for several years. In 2010 I ran the Halloween 5K with my dad on the weekend of the Food and Wine Half-Marathon. When I was registering I saw the Kids Races listed and since it was only $10 I decided to sign my daughter up. My daughter has participated in 3 RunDisney Kids Races (the 2010 and 2011 Food & Wine Half-Marathon and the 2011 Princess Half Marathon) and is now disappointed when we visit Disney on a non-race weekend.

Before my daughter's first RunDisney Kids Race we did not know much about how the races worked, and I figured I was only spending $10 so it was not a big financial loss if we our plane was delayed or my daughter decided not to run. For $10 each participant receives a themed t-shirt, a finisher's medallion, a personalized bib (if registered before the deadline), and post race refreshments.

Running the Race - Lots of parents join in

RunDisney Kids Races are held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex for Walt Disney World events. The complex is also the location for race registration and the race expo so adult runners need to visit the complex anyway. The Kids Races are held on the track and Kids Race packet pickup is near the track.

Warm Up Dances

Kids Races are held on the track at the Wide World of Sports and are staged by age. Children from 1 year through 3 years run 100 meters, children 4 through 6 years old run 200 meters, and children 7 through 8 run 400 meters. There is a diaper dash for crawlers under a year old. There is also a one mile run for all children under age 13. My daughter has been in the 4-6 year category for each race and my nieces ran in the 1-3 year old category for the 2011 Food & Wine Kids race. In 2010 and 2011 the Food and Wine Half Marathon was held at the beginning of October to mark the start of the Food and Wine Festival at EPCOT. With an October date, the Kids Races had a Halloween theme. Starting in 2012 the Food and Wine Half Marathon has been moved to November for the end of the Food and Wine Festival.


Prior to the race start, there is entertainment on the infield of the track. They have music playing and are encouraging the kids to dance to warm-up for their race. Make sure to bring water as the track has no shade and it can get quite warm as you dance.

As the race time nears, kids are asked to separate by age and wait by their respective starting lines. They run several groups per age, but each group may have 20-30 kids in it. Especially at the younger ages, most kids have an adult run with them...so make sure to wear running shoes in case your child wants company. Even if you don't run with your child, you may be running from the starting line where you waited with them to the finish line to meet back up with them.

The Start Line of the 200 meter dash (ages 4-6)

2011 Halloween Race

The races start with the 100 meter dash which runs several heats. There are always some parents helping their kids at the 100 meter dash...especially the one year olds who are still learning to walk. After the 100 meter dash, they proceed to the 200 meter dash, then the 400 meter dash. We have never stayed after my daughter's 200 meter dash. But I believe the diaper dash follows the 400 meter and then the 1 mile.

When each heat starts, the kids (and any parents running with them) start to run. While 20-30 kids run at a time, the heat usually spreads out allowing you to get good pictures of your child. When the kids cross the finish line, they are given their medals and a treat. Nesquik has been a sponsor for several of these races, so my daughter loves getting her chocolate milk when she is done. Since the first few races she ran were at Disney, she is now disappointed when she participates in local races that do not include a medal for finishers.

Showing off her medal
& post-race snacks

Logistics
On race weekends, Disney runs special buses to ESPN Wide World of Sports from the designated race hotels. In 2010 and 2011 we were not staying at race hotels. However, in 2011 for the Food and Wine Race, we booked a breakfast prior to the Kids Races at Cape May Cafe at the Beach Club which was a race hotel so we were able to board the bus there. In 2010, we visited EPCOT prior to the Kids Races and used the International Gateway to walk to the Beach Club to board a race bus.

When my daughter participated in the 2010 Kids Race on Wine & Dine weekend, the kids race was on Friday afternoon with a 5K Saturday morning and the Half Marathon Saturday night. This worked out well because we were able to all go to Wide World of Sports on Friday afternoon for her kids race and pick up our packets for the 5K and the Half-Marathon. When she participated in the 2011 Princess Weekend and Food and Wine they had moved the Kids Race to Saturday at 10a which was after the 5K. So for us to run the 5K, we would have had to go to Wide World of Sports on Friday to pick up our 5K race packets, go to the 5K, and then go back for the Kids Races. While it enables families who arrive late on Friday to participate in the Kids Races, it is not as convenient for those also running the 5K. For 2012 (Food and Wine) and 2013 (Princess) the Kids Races are on Saturday morning at 10a.

The weekend of the Walt Disney World Marathon offers several kids races since it is the largest of the Disney races. For January 2013, they offer Kids Races on Thursday, January 10 at 3p, Friday, January 11 at 11a, and Saturday, January 12 at 11a.

My daughter loves getting her medal and wearing it around, especially to the adult races and to show the characters. After she ran her first kids race we had dinner at Chef Mickey's and she loved showing her Mickey Ghost medal to Mickey Mouse.

Showing Chef Mickey her Medal

The next time we visit on a race weekend, we may skip the Kids Races and have my daughter do the 5K so that we can do it with her. This spring, she ran the 1 mile fun run in the Big House Big Heart race in Ann Arbor, MI. My dad is talking to her about training for the 5K for next spring.

Note: Kids races have since been raised to $15 and $30 for the Mickey Mile. For what the Kids race includes, I don't find $15 to be that expensive.

American Girl Doll Salon

On our trip to the American Girl Store in Chicago, my daughter brought along her Kanani doll in addition to the Molly doll that she bought when we were at the store.

Watching Kanani's
Salon Appointment

She received Kanani for Christmas and Kanani has long, thick hair that over the prior 6 months had filled with tangles and knots and looked "ratty". I had looked up tips on brushing their hair, and done it once without much success. My parents had watched my daughter one night the week before the trip, and I had not known that my Mom had worked on Kanani’s hair. I knew the store had a doll salon and my plan was to have them brush out Kanani’s hair.

Hair Stylist with the
"Tools of the Trade"

The doll salon is located on the second floor of the shop next to the doll hospital. Doll hair styles start at $5 and go up to $25. They have styles for short hair, long hair, and curly hair. My daughter selected the style of the month and we had an appointment to start in about 20 minutes. You need to pay for the hair style before you can pick up your doll, so we went to pay before our appointment. Kanani sat on the shelf with our order ticket until her appointment time. We made sure to return to watch Kanani's visit to the salon. As we were waiting for Kanani’s turn, my mom commented that they could have quite the business giving girls and dolls the same hairstyle. Of course they probably do a sufficient business with the dolls hair that they don't need the added space, equipment, and licensing that would be involved in also doing hair styles on girls.

When her appointment began, the stylist strapped Kanani in the styling chair and put a styling cape around her. They began by misting her hair until it was fairly wet and then began brushing out her hair. We talked to the stylist as she worked and received some tips on styling - always wet the hair before brushing, use a stiff bristle brush (like the metal bristle brush they sell), and a hard bristle toothbrush is good for smoothing the hair. Also, be very careful not to get the water in their eyes as the eyes are metal and will rust. We were also advised that we should leave Molly’s hair in its braids, or redo it right away if it comes loose. By wetting the hair, the doll lost much less hair than when we had tried to brush it dry.

Kanani's Hairstyle

My daughter was able to choose two ribbons to go in Kanani’s hair. I think she did a great job picking a blue and a pink that matched Kanani’s dress very well.

As our stylist was working on the hairstyle, we questioned whether she knew we were doing the style of the month since it didn’t look quite the same as we had remembered. She got about half-way through and said wait a minute. We were there on the first of the month, and she had started the previous month's style. Since it was half-way done (and we liked it better), we told her we were okay with her finishing that hair style. The style we ended up with looked more intricate, so I am not sure if it had been the same $20 price, but it was less effort for her to finish the hairstyle than undo it and do the current hairstyle.

First Day of School with
Kanani's Hairstyle

My daughter loved Kanani’s hairstyle and asked me to put her hair in the same style the next day. The style was fairly time consuming, so it will be a special event hair style. The only change that we made is that her hair is not long enough to braid the resulting pony tail at the bottom so my daughter wears it without the braid. My daughter requested the hair style for the first day of school and willingly woke up 20 minutes early to have me do the braids. She is also planning on wearing this style as a flower girl in my sister's wedding. I took lots of pictures for the hair stylist to be able to replicate the hairstyle.

If your daughter’s doll has hair that is a mess, it is worth paying for a hairstyle - especially one that results in her hair being fully captured in braids and pony tails.

Magic School Bus Science Kits - A Great Christmas Present

Last year, I purchased a deal for the Magic School Bus Science Kit for my daughter. She receives one kit a month for a year. She loves receiving the kits and doing the experiments. We have had fun doing many of the experiments. My main complaint was that I often didn't have many of the "household items" - 16 oz water bottles, 2L soda bottles - and we could not start the set right away. However, she loved doing the weather experiments, especially making a thermometer. She also liked the gases experiments and acids/bases.

I definitely recommend the Magic School Bus Science Kit for kids from ages 4-10.

Last year I purchased the set through a Groupon for $120. This year, Groupon is offering the Magic School Bus Science Kit for $99. In both years the kits retail for $240. The subscription is for the same 12 kits that we received this year, so we will not be purchasing it again. However, if there were 12 new kits, we would be buying it again.

The subscription is set to begin in November, but you can call them to delay your subscription to begin in December or January so you can give it as a gift. Last year I started the subscription in January and printed a certificate from their website to give my daughter as a gift. You could also start it in December  to have something to wrap. However, you will need to be sure to intercept the package when it arrives in the mail. The package has Magic School Bus all over the cover and would be hard to hide from your child.

Disclaimer: I am a Groupon affiliate and am compensated for sales through Groupon links. I appreciate your support of my blog by shopping through my links. Please read all terms and conditions of the deal before purchase, they are only summarized here.

Old Navy Spider T-Shirt Decorating

Old Navy is partnering with Michaels craft stores to offer a FREE Spider T-Shirt decorating event on Saturday, October 13. The craft is open to the first 20 kids ages 6-12 per participating Old Navy store. Kids will use Tulip paints to draw their spider design.

Both the Michaels Facebook post announcing the event and the Old Navy Facebook Post (at 10p Eastern Time) say to contact your Old Navy store for more details and to sign up. Of course, the store was closed when the event was posted and if I wait to call to see if they are participating, the store is likely to have reached the 20 child limit already. Not impressed with the planning here.

Halloween T-Shirt Decorating at Michaels

On Saturday, October 20, Michaels stores nationwide will have a Halloween T-Shirt event. From 10a-noon, kids ages 3 and up will be able to decorate a t-shirt for Halloween. The event requires the purchase of a t-shirt.

We attended this event at our local Michaels 2 years ago and my daughter really enjoyed it. We decorated using fabric paint, so I recommend having a plan for transporting your shirts home. Fortunately, we had driven my SUV and I did not have much in the back, so we were able to lay them flat. It might be worth bringing cardboard to insert in your t-shirts especially if it is a windy day.