We’ve run every year of the Wine & Dine 10K so we are super familiar with this race! The course changed this year due to the major construction throughout Epcot. Despite the changes the race still begins at the Ticket and Transportation Center and ends at Epcot. Runners can also complete the Wine & Dine Half Marathon to receive a bonus Two Course Challenge medal!
Wine & Dine 10K Course
Runners who drive themselves will park at Epcot and take a charter bus over to the Ticket and Transportation Center (Magic Kingdom parking lot). Runners who have resort transportation will be taken to the start line directly! For all runDisney races, we recommend arriving early for pre-race character photos!
After your start line fireworks, runners start the journey to Epcot! Around mile 4, runners cross under the Epcot monorail to circle around the backstage areas. The grand entrance into the park is into the World Showcase! New for 2019, the course did not enter Future World at all. A new exit near the Mexico Pavilion made for less park time and a boring backstage stretch before the finish line in the parking lot.
Wine & Dine 10K Entertainment
The reason many runners choose runDisney is the characters! Before the race, there were four queues that ranged between 30 minutes to an hour. We met Anna and Elsa since the race was Frozen themed! Mickey & Minnie were another popular option! Donald and Goofy were also ready to greet runners before the race.
During the race, there were loads of characters! The first stop was almost immediate with Bert and Mary Poppins and had no PhotoPass photographer. Chip & Dale, Daisy, and Sarge were on the course for the 4 miles before nearing Epcot. Carl was located in the Epcot parking lot just before mile 4. The first backstage photo was Robin Hood. This was the first time we had seen a really long line at this specific photo location!
Inside the park, we found Bowler Hat Guy, Pluto, Marie the Cat, and Jiminy Cricket. Runners should be prepared for the most character stops and photo pass opportunities inside of Epcot during the 10K race. Yes, this means you have to run 4 miles before looking awesome for photos! Thumper was another popular photo opportunity as runners pushed towards the finish. Around the final turn was Lightning McQueen and Mater. This last photo stop is a great one because many runners race towards the finish line so the queue is typically shorter!
Wine & Dine 10K Medal and Shirt
Do you run for the bling? We sure do! As Frozen fans, we loved this medal! Sven and Olaf were adorable and the blue glitter was a great touch. This medal was sturdy and we had no issues wearing it in Epcot after the race. The shirts are long sleeve for the Wine & Dine races. New this year, the shirts were a generic brand and arguably thicker and stretchier. We haven’t decided if we like the better than the Champion brand shirts of years past.
Overall, we continue to love the Wine & Dine race weekend. Our disappointment stems from the decrease of park time due to the construction in Epcot. We can run through boring roads anywhere, we want to run at Disney! We hope this is a temporary change that will be rectified before our next runDisney races!