We’ve looked at the 5k and 10k Wine and Dine courses and now it’s time for the crown jewel, the half marathon. For those that ran the 2019 Wine and Dine Half Marathon, the course is nearly identical but let’s take a closer look!
The first change looks like you’ll take a road out of the Magic Kingdom parking lot instead of running along the parking lot for a little bit. You’ll then double-back on Floridian Way before turning onto Bear Island Rd which will take you to Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
The route from the parking lot to Disney’s Animal Kingdom will feel familiar to Wine and Dine and WDW Marathon runners. It looks like this time they added the small out and back about mid-way which marathoners have run a few times. The second water stop is at the Water Treatment plant area.
In Disney’s Animal Kingdom the route looks exactly the same (and really fun) as you run down the west side of the park all the way to Pandora, across Discovery Island to Dinoland where you then exit to backstage before running around to front/parking lot, and exit back to the roads.
Now you are on Osceola Pkwy, where you run over a small overpass before turning onto World Dr. The Osceola section of the course will be the most exposed since this is 4+ lane road and the overpass will be a longer gradual incline so be prepared to crush it. Also, the ramp off of World Dr to Disney’s Hollywood Studios will also be a steeper incline so be mentally prepared for that too. Miles 7-10 will likely be the most challenging because of these inclines and because they are coming just past the half way point of the race.
Welcome to Disney’s Hollywood Studios! Now we are in the home stretch and you will do a very quick route through the park running in from behind Tower of Terror, down Sunset Blvd, and then exiting down Hollywood Blvd (you will go out a backstage entrance). Less than a 5k left!
You exit and then run on the path from Disney’s Hollywood Studios to Epcot’s International Gateway along Crescent Lake. Unlike the 10k, the half marathon course will run on the Boardwalk side of the lake. This is a fun and beautiful place to run but the course does narrow here so try to pack your patience!
Runners will go behind the UK pavilion before entering World Showcase near the World Showplace pavilion, and then run all the way around World Showcase Lagoon, including those two bridges between UK and France. Once you’ve run around the world, you will run down the center path towards the front of the park, run around the building with Creations Shop in it, and then pass in front of the new Guardians ride.
To finish, runners will make a few hard rights to then enter the usual finish route, run past the Spaceship Earth bathroom, through the cast backstage area, and out to the parking lot/finish line.
Overall, this looks like a really fun course. The route through Disney’s Animal Kingdom looks amazing and the finishing miles through Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot always make the finish more exciting. Also, compared to the 5k and 10k courses the water stops are more frequent which is good to see for the longer race.
What are your thoughts and what are you most excited for?
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It’s time to look at the Wine and Dine Half Marathon map for 2021 and see what’s in store for runners!