In my all years of running, I have always heard that the ultimate race expo could be found at Disney World. So you can probably understand my disappointment when I went to the expo it was not exactly what I imagined it to be for the price I paid for the Dopey Challenge. Well, let me start at the beginning...

Bib pick up

Disney, like many races, requires each runner to pick up their own bib. The expo was held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports. For those participating in the Dopey Challenge, we received two bibs. The orange bib was for the 5k and 10k races. The purple bib was for the half and full marathon. In addition to the two bibs, we also had our picture taken for validation at the end of the marathon. Bib pick up was quick and easy. We also received 6 shirts, one for each race and the challenges. After bib pick up if was off to the expo to spend money.

The Expo

The expo consisted of many vendors that sold many products that are only available at Disney. The Disney shoes booth was very busy. The shoes were cute, but I am not fitted for that brand so I did not buy them. The runDisney booth had many exclusive products for the race, but I was disappointed that they sold out of many of the Dopey apparel. There were no Dopey jackets when I arrived and there a few limited Dopey Challenge products. I decided to buy a Dopey Challenge Sweaty Band and Dopey Challenge car tag, both are runDisney exclusives.

On Thursday after the 5k, I decided to go back to the expo in hopes that Mickey or the pixie dust replenished the Dopey Jackets, but had no luck. I did purchase a marathon weekend tee-shirt.

Overall, I was not impressed by the expo. The Peachtree Road Race and Rock 'n' Roll Savannah had more vendors and it was more family friendly than the Disney expo. The best part of the expo is the lack of products meant I got to keep more of my money. I did like all the props for taking pictures throughout the venue.