2011 Wine and Dine Half Marathon report

[asianway]

So better late than never, right?

In a very interesting scheduling move, the 2011 Halloween 5k and Half Marathon were both scheduled on 10/1/11. It was a 24 hour marathon of characters!

[asianway]

The 5k this year was through Animal Kingdom in a departure from the inaugural Halloween 5k the prior year in the Magic Kingdom.

Characters out were:

Louie and Baloo in Jammin Jungle gear
Ed, Shenzi, Banzai
Everest Goofy
Duckosauraus Donald
Haunted Mansion Gravediggers

If anyone saw who they were rotating with, please post!

[asianway]

Then, to clear the palette, there was a 40th anniversary ceremony presided over by Meg Crofton, Phil Holmes, and the WDW ambassadors.

Of note, there was a parade of characters down Main St along with Dancers dressed in parade costumes of yesteryear with standards showing the icons of the previous celebrations, Tencennial, Mickey Mania, 15 Years, 25 years Remember the Magic, etc.

Rare characters seen were Flora, Fauna, Merriweather, Clarabelle, Horace,the seven Dwarfs, Big Al, and Wendell.

No M&G that day though

[asianway]

And that evening, the 2nd Wine and Dine Half Marathon was held. Characters along the course were:

Chef Mickey and Country Minnie at the start line
Spectro Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather rotating with the Spectro Dragon Fly's
Hyacinth Hippo and Mlle Upanova(continuous)
Timon
Dino Dig Goofy and Pluto
Sarge
Darth Vader
Carl

[asianway]

And finally, the evening ended with the Finish Line party in EPCOT. Characters available were:
Chef Goofy, Pluto, Chip & Dale
Tiana and Naveen
Remy and Emile
Snow White

I think Im missing a few, I need to check my pictures because Im mixing up 2010 and 2011

[rjmdds]

This November, we will be there for the Wine Dine 1/2 marathon. Can you tell me if these characters are available for meet n' greets? Is it hysteria trying to get near them? I'm debating whether it is worth it to explore just to meet some rare characters.

[asianway]

The Food and Wine race is at night after the park closes so you need to be in the race to get the photo ops. The lines for the rate characters aren't so bad. Most runners don't know who the hippos are as opposed to say Mickey where lines may be longer