There is a specific kind of person who sets an alarm for 2:30 in the morning while on vacation.
They are not going to the airport. They are not catching a flight home. They are getting dressed in the dark, pinning a bib to a shirt, eating a banana in a hotel lobby, and boarding a bus to stand in a corral in the middle of the night so they can run through Walt Disney World before the sun comes up and collect a medal at the end.
runDisney has been converting otherwise reasonable adults into these people for years, and the reason it works is that the payoff is genuinely strange and wonderful. You run down empty park streets at an hour when no one is there. Characters appear in the dark for photos. Cast members hand you water while a DJ plays somewhere in the distance. It is a race, but it is also the only way most people will ever see these parks completely empty.
The runDisney race year is about to start again.
The 2026 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend takes place October 22 through 25, and it matters whether you are running it, cheering for someone, or simply happen to be at Walt Disney World that weekend without realizing a race is happening.
Here is what to know.
The Weekend at a Glance
Wine & Dine runs Thursday, October 22 through Sunday, October 25.
The weekend includes a 5K, a 10K, and the half marathon, with the half marathon closing things out on Sunday.
Wine & Dine has always been the fall race weekend tied to the EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival, which is a large part of why it draws the crowd it does. A lot of runners build the trip around both.
If You Are Visiting and Not Racing
This is the part casual visitors miss.
Race weekends make the parks noticeably busier. Wait times climb, restaurants book out further, and the resort areas feel fuller than a normal late October weekend would.
There is still a good trip to be had. Just know going in that Wine & Dine weekend is not a quiet weekend, and if your schedule has any flexibility, putting your lower key park days on either side of it will serve you well.
One concrete thing to plan around: EPCOT opens later on Sunday, October 25. Instead of a 9 a.m. open, the park opens at 10 a.m., with Early Theme Park Entry pushed from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
If you booked a Sunday morning at EPCOT expecting early entry at the usual time, that hour is gone. Adjust dining and any morning plans accordingly.
The Expo, and When to Actually Go
Bib pickup happens at the runDisney Health and Fitness Expo at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. You cannot race without going.
Hours are:
- Thursday, October 22: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Friday, October 23: 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.
- Saturday, October 24: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Attendance runs heaviest early. Roughly speaking, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. is the busiest stretch, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. is moderate, and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. is the calmest.
Buses, rideshare, and driving all work for getting there.
And when you pick up your bib, grab your shirt in the same trip. People forget, and coming back is a wasted morning.
The Merchandise Problem Nobody Warns You About
Here is where the advice above runs into itself.
To buy Wine & Dine merchandise on the first day of the expo, you need to join a virtual queue through the My Disney Experience app starting at 7 a.m. That queue is also how you get the runDisney themed Brooks running shoes.
The virtual queue is only required on day one.
So there is a real tradeoff. The calmest time to visit the expo is Thursday evening, but the merchandise is best on Thursday morning, which is the busiest window of the entire weekend. Wait until Friday or Saturday and you skip the queue entirely, but you are shopping whatever is left.
There is no version where you get both. Decide which one you actually care about before you plan your Thursday.
New This Year: The Two Tag Bib
Pay attention to this if you are running the 5K.
The 5K bib now comes with two tear tags.
The top tag is for shirt pickup. You tear it off and hand it over to get your correct size.
The bottom tag lists your Start Group Opening Time, and it needs to stay attached until race morning. When your start group opens, you hand that tag to a runDisney cast member at the start group entrance.
So do not tidy up your bib the night before. That bottom tag is not decoration, and it is the piece that gets you into your corral.
Worth noting that Wine & Dine is the first race weekend of the season, which makes it the first real test of this system. If it works here, expect to see it again at future runDisney weekends.
Race Morning Transportation
Buses from Disney World resorts are strongly recommended and are the least stressful option by a wide margin.
You can also drive and park at EPCOT, where parking is free before 7:30 a.m., or use the rideshare loop.
Bus windows by race:
- 5K: 2:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.
- 10K: 3 a.m. to 5 a.m., then 6:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.
- Half Marathon: 2:30 a.m. to 5 a.m., then 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Plan to arrive about an hour before your projected start time.
Those early windows are worth noting even if you are not racing. If you are staying at a Disney resort that weekend and need transportation before dawn for any other reason, the buses are doing race duty.
The Short Version
Expo at ESPN Wide World of Sports, three days, calmest in the evenings.
Virtual queue at 7 a.m. for first day merchandise only.
5K runners, keep the bottom tag on your bib.
Buses start at 2:30 a.m. for the half.
EPCOT opens an hour late on Sunday, October 25.
And if you are visiting that weekend without a bib, just build in a little patience. The parks are going to be full of people who got up at 2:30 in the morning on purpose, and most of them are in a very good mood about it.
