RunDisney Registration Tips

Planning to run a RunDisney event in the near future? Yay!! They are a ton of fun and great for both experienced and beginner runners alike.

As with any running event, there’s a lot that goes into a runDisney event. Such as months of training, discovering the proper clothing and nutrition, and enduring the most challenging part of all: registration day.

Yes, registration day.

It’s registration day that might decide your fate when it comes to whether or not you have a chance to compete in a runDisney event. A day that encompasses more excitement and stress than one day should.

Why? Well, because runDisney events can be notoriously challenging to get into. Not because of stringent time qualifiers, such as the Boston marathon. Or because their field size is incredibly small.

No, runDisney events are extremely challenging to get into because of their registration process. Coupled with the fact that, more often than not, there are website glitches that happen at EXACTLY the right (wrong?) moment when race registration opens.

While website glitches are outside of our, the general public’s, control, there are a few things you can do to ensure you have a smooth runDisney race day registration process. Take a look below for the best tips for runDisney registration:

RunDisney Race Day Registration Tips

First, be sure to already have a runDisney account setup and ready to go prior to registration. You don’t want to spend time creating an account on registration day. None of that information is going to change. And if it does (i.e. you get married and change your name), then you can worry about changing that later.

Make Your RunDisney Account Ahead of Time

When you are on RunDisney.com, head over to the Help and Support header. In that drop-down, you will see the selection for Manage Account. This will prompt you to create an account or to log in to your existing account. From there you will find your name in the upper right corner (for existing accounts) and you will find a drop-down to My Profile. All of your personal information is stored there, including a lot of the info that is required for race registrations.

Be Aware of the Date and Time of RunDisney Race Registration

Second, after you have your account squared away (which you are completing on a day other than registration day) you move on to step two, which is simply knowing when race registration day is! RunDisney will announce on their website and on social media when their races open up to the general public. Write that date down!

If you can, designate time in your calendar for race day registration. Typically, I would say give yourself a few hours. The more time you can set aside the better. Seems like overkill, I know, but from experience, you might find yourself using all of the time allotted for registration. Other times, you are in and out in 30 minutes leaving you with a few extra hours of free time.

It can be a gamble, especially if you have to work on registration day (spoiler: they are often during the week and midmorning, think 10 am EST). Is it worth setting aside the time to get the race you want? Or to MAYBE get the race you want? It all depends on how badly you want to run the race and if you plan to go through the typical registration process (i.e. not run for a charity or join Club RunDisney).

Just be sure to decide this before race registration opens, because if you decide after it opens you are probably going to find yourself out of luck.

Use Several Devices for RunDisney Race Day Registration

Whoa. This is starting to sound intense? First, I’m suggesting you take some time off work to ensure you are available to register for a RunDisney event. Now, I’m suggesting that you have several electronic devices ready for registration?

Yes. If you want to get into a RunDisney event, you’re going to need everything you have available to try and sign up .

This means if you have a computer, tablet, and phone, all with internet access, you need to be logged into your RunDisney accounts and ready to go BEFORE registration opens. Beyond that, you’re going to want to use different browsers (think Chrome, Safari, etc), when attempting to register.

Remember how website glitches happen with RunDisney race day registration events? Well, sometimes, beyond the glitches, there are browsers that load the website faster than others. There is no great formula to which one works best, it can change based on which browsers have the most up-to-date version of the website.

You just don’t want to be spending your race registration morning trying to figure out which one is the key!

Summary: Use multiple devices (computers, phones, tablets) and multiple browsers (Chrome, Safari, etc) set up for RunDisney race day registration.

Be Ready Before Registration Opens

This one deserved its own heading. Be ready to go BEFORE RunDisney Registration opens. This means you are logged in, devices set up, and different browsers open, at 9:45 am if registration opens at 10:00 am. You don’t want to be spending valuable time messing around with all of that stuff. Just have it ready to go and you won’t have to think about it.

Plus, every once and a while the website (if it is working) will let you in before the official registration starts time. Refresh your browsers starting a few minutes before the registration time and you might find yourself a little treat.

Make a List of Items Needed for RunDisney Registration

There is a list of items you need when signing up for a RunDisney event and having them on hand is going to make your life a whole lot easier.

First, know exactly which races you are trying to register for. This is not the time to go second-guessing yourself. Do you want Dopey? GO FOR IT! Goofy more your speed? Don’t hesitate. When it comes time to register, minutes matter. (Be sure to register for the race you want the MOST first.)

Second, if you have a qualifying race, be sure you know all of that information. Including, and this one always trips me up, the website for the race in which you received that time. Now, you don’t have to enter this information right now and can always go back and do it later, but I have had glitches where I get an error if I do not enter it. Not every time, but I have in the past, and is not something I’d like to repeat. To remedy this situation, I just have everything ready and on hand. Since this time might change, know that you can adjust it later, but on registration day just have any information on hand that you can.

Third, know your shirt sizes and credit card numbers. If you can, have them typed out ahead of time or plan to have some fast fingers as you get all of that information onto the screen. This, right here, is where I seem to lose all forward motion and have races snatched right out from under my nose. It’s entering the darn credit card! In order to prevent the same experience from happening to you, have that number ready to go!

Register for the More Desirable Races First

While all runDisney events are popular, the 5k and 10k seem to be some of the most popular and sell out the quickest. However, Dopey and Goofy were both extremely popular for the 2023 race weekend. Both sold out in less than an hour!!

To put that in perspective, there have been years where Dopey has taken forever to sell out. It just goes to show you, that you never know when a race is going to sell out and you’re going to want to register for the race you want the most first.

Have Fast Fingers on RunDisney Race Registration Morning

Did you go through the above and have it all ready to go for runDisney race registration? Excellent. You are in good shape. Now it’s time to get those fingers all loosened up because even with all of the above items set up in your favor, you’re going to need some fast fingers!!

When you first head into runDisney at 10 am (or earlier) on race registration morning, odds are you are going to end up in a virtual cue. It doesn’t matter if you signed on right at 10 am, you are grouped with every other single person. Sometimes that cue can be fast, sometimes that cue is going to show you over an hour wait. Hoping, for your sake, that it is a fast cue. However, once you are in, you must start typing as fast as you can. Just because you see a race is open once you enter the cue, it is not guaranteed to you until you have paid and you get confirmation of the payment.

TYPE!!! TYPE! TYPE!!!!

Anyone can run…but can anyone get into a RunDisney event??

RunDisney Registration Day Tip Work Arounds

Does the above sound pretty stressful?

Well, you’re not alone in thinking so. Previously there were a few workarounds to avoid the stress of a runDisney registration morning. Currently, you can sign up for Club RunDisney, which is runDisney’s exclusive RunDisney club featuring a few race-centric perks and benefits. Some are fans of it, some aren’t, but one perk stands out among the rest: early runDisney event registration.

That right there might make it worth the cost and trump all other perks and benefits. If you want to learn more about Club RunDisney, be sure to check out all of their details here.

Alternatively, you could pay a family member or friend a fraction of the Club RunDisney amount to attempt to register you. Or maybe they will do it for you for cookies?

Regardless, there are not a lot of workarounds, at this time, for registering for a runDisney event.

Conclusion to RunDisney Registration Tips

There ya go! Some fairly simple tips to put in place for a more successful runDisney Registration day. As with anything Disney, things are always changing. Be sure to check to make sure these practices are still going to help get you what you want: a successful runDisney registration day.

Then after you are all set with your registration, be sure to grab a cute RunDisney-inspired top to help get you started on the right foot for training. And, let’s face it, to celebrate surviving runDisney registration day!

Good luck and fast fingers, friends! And, once registration is complete, happy training!!

Then, once you’ve registered, be sure to learn all about the RunDisney race expo, the RunDisney finish line and the runDisney buses.