I wanted to share some of the comments I’ve received from other participants
in the Tower of Terror races and from the party attendees.

From Ray:
I couldn’t agree more! This was one of the worst prepared races
imaginable. No one had any “official” information-cast members to
volunteers were all giving out conflicting information on course
expectations and party information for those not running. Seemed like
no one knew for sure exactly what was going on. This was reinforced by
the traffic conditions that delayed the race start–Disney got surprised by
the lack of coordination and communication. Add to that the lack of Disney
touches on the race–no characters, or any real “specials” along the course
and it became apparent this was not even 2nd rate as a race or event.

The medal was cool.
The shirt was ok.
The water stops were well stocked and well manned.
The course was “easy”–for a 13k, pretty simple route.
Bad “show” for Disney–no seeminlgy thinking through any particulars
of a race or of a Disney event for this (even the pre-race stuff
on screen was lame).

From Susan:
Just a quick comment on the late start of the race Saturday. Since
you walked over from the Boardwalk hotel you missed the horrible
traffic jams that were taking place on all roads leading to the
Studios. My sister and I stayed at the Caribbean and we left at
7:45pm, thinking that would be more than enough time to get to the
Studios. We were wrong. At 8:15 we were still sitting in traffic,
going absolutely no where. In order to even get out of the Caribbean
you had to turn right, head toward Downtown Disney and make a u-turn.
Finally, I drove to the Boardwalk hotel, and crossed there into the
Studios parking lot. Traffic was backed up in all directions. A
lady who came from a hotel on International Drive told me traffic
was backed up to the Interstate and people were getting out and
walking on the sides of the road and medians. The only way to be
fair to all those people stuck in traffic was to delay the start
of the race.

I think Disney really messed up in having no transportation for
runners staying onsite. I also think having 4000 people trying to
enter a parking lot while you are also emptying the parking lot of
day guests was not the brightest idea either. All in all, though,
my sister and I had a great time (6.5K) and we will definitely enter
again next year.

From Patt:
This is only my second Disney race (having done the half marathon
in 2006) and I enjoyed this race as much, if not more, than the
half. We also did the 13K and liked the night atmosphere more than
the morning/day. Anything I don’t have to get up at 4:00 AM to do
I like more. 😉 Agreed, this was the inaugural race and they do
need to think things through a little. A coworker did the 5K and
even she was saying she thought there should have been different
medals. I’ll be signing up for this race again next year.

From Masayo:
I agree, it’s not a Disney race. It was pretty much a confusing
and disorganized race I think. For us party goers (and race cheer
stations/spectators)
we got just that wrist band, no map or no directions on where we
can cheer for runners or what else was going on. I’m so glad that I was
with Deb, Beci, Mike Newell and Linda Mac on that night. I don’t
know if I could have enjoyed the night otherwise with such little information.