2025 Dopey Challenge Recap: 10k and Magic Kingdom

10k Race

The alarm went off again at 2:30am and I was ready to tackle another full day. I was flying solo for the rest of the races, so I got myself ready, complete with throwaway hoodie and mylar blanket, and dragged myself to the bus stop again. The dropoff in energy from the 5k to the 10k is always pretty funny to me. Whereas there's a noticeable buzz with bright costumes during the 5k, the 10k seems somewhat muted with much less elaborate outfits. I'm guessing this is in part due to the balloon ladies making their first appearance, mitigating the "fun run" aspect of the race for many.

I got to the starting line area and took a quick detour before the pre-race photos. Like many others, I got a message from runDisney saying my bib tracking chip was faulty. I was lucky enough to have the option to get a new chip at the 10k pre-race instead of having to head back to the Expo. While I certainly don't run Dopey for my race times, I still appreciate getting my times tracked. After replacing the chip (just a sticker), I got in line for Jiminy Cricket - the Chip & Dale and Dopey lines were a bit long for me - plus I've gotten photos with them in other races. I headed over to Corral A and hit the course in the third or fourth starting wave.

Unlike the 5k, the character stops happen pretty quickly after entering the course. Traditionally I use the 10k as my "faster" race, stopping for characters a bit more selectively for characters I like or shorter lines while sprinting at a decent pace in between. I ended up stopping at more characters than I expected, as I got photos with:

• Mad Hatter - great character and we matched!

• Mice from Cinderella - short line and why not?

• Tweedledee and Tweedledum - more fun from Alice in Wonderland

• Formal Goofy - I'll always stop for Goofy

• Hook and Smee - Peter Pan was my favorite movie as a kid

• Peter Pan and Wendy - I was legitimately excited to see Peter Pan on the course just as I was finishing up

I finished off the race at a quick pace and grabbed my medal, a new mylar blanket, and all the drinks and snacks. My chip time would read 53:09, but my Strava recorded my "moving time" at 49:18, or about a 7:46 minute/mile pace. My legs felt good from the increased pace, and I knew I'd be feeling a bit slower for the next couple races after some park days. I headed straight to the buses and hopped on the first one back to Art of Animation.

Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom is the best park for young kids, but it can also be the most hectic park with so much to do and see throughout the day. We got to the park just at Early Entry rope drop (later than I was expecting - the crew was a little slow from the long day before), and headed back to Peter Pan's Flight. There was already a long line stretching past the Royal Carousel, and we started moving once the ride opened up. It took about 25 minutes to get through the queue, but it was worth it to hear my youngest repeat "wow" throughout the ride. Peter Pan's Flight is not the most exciting ride, but it's still a classic and one of my favorites. After hopping off the right we walked right across to it's a small world, which is another family favorite while my kids like to point out all the different characters along the ride.

For our Magic Kingdom day we were going to meet up with my mom, my sister, and my niece. My niece and 6-year-old daughter were even scheduled for a mid-day Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique appointment. But they got in the park a bit after us and we had conflicting Lightning Lane schedules in the morning so we didn't end up meeting up until our BBB appointment. From it's a small world we went to our first Lightning Lane, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and I quickly booked an afternoon Jungle Cruise LL. From Winnie the Pooh we grabbed a couple Cheshire Cattails and headed off to Under the Sea. By mid-morning we had ridden most of the Fantasyland rides and headed into Tomorrowland.

We went on another of my kids' favorites, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, with a Lightning Lane and I booked a noontime Lightning Lane for Space Mountain for my wife and son. We grabbed a Mickey Pretzel and a coffee (for me) and split up. My wife and son went to Tron Lightcycle Run (I went to the entrance for a Rider Switch for later), and I took my daughters across the park toward our BBB appointment. We caught Mickey's Friendship Faire show on the way, then I met up with my mom and sister outside BBB. My mom took my youngest (who had just fallen asleep in the stroller) and I got to hang out with my sister while our daughters got makeovers. BBB is a pretty tough get, but I figured my daughter is close to aging out of wanting to get dressed up in the park. She chose a cool Anna from Frozen dress, and was beaming from the makeover reveal. I enjoyed the time off my feet with my sister, too.

From BBB we grabbed some lunch, with me getting a spicy chicken and Mickey waffle at Sleepy Hollow and the rest of the family grabbing food at Columbia Harbor House. We then headed over to one of my favorite shows at Disney World, the Country Bears Musical Jamboree. I miss the former version, but was happy to see a mostly-full auditorium for the new show. At this point it was perfect timing to find a spot right on the tape line in Frontierland for the Festival of Fantasy parade, one of my highlights for every Magic Kingdom visit. We always love the parade, and my daughter even got a special point and heart sign from Anna for their matching outfits.

After the parade cleared out, it was time for our Tiana's Bayou Adventure Lightning Lane. With my mom still walking around with my youngest the rest of our crew got to ride together. As it was still somewhat cold outside, my wife was hesitant to get wet from the ride, which seemed to hype up my kids even more. It quickly became my older daughter's favorite ride. Thankfully we left without getting soaked, and moved along to Adventureland for our Jungle Cruise Lightning Lane. After Jungle Cruise we grabbed our favorite Magic Kingdom dessert, the I Lava You Float. After a ride on Aladdin's Magic Carpets (via Lightning Lane) my wife and I each got some cheeseburger eggrolls and split off again: me and my son heading to our Rider Switch Tron ride and the rest of my family moving on to Dumbo the Flying Elephant.

At this point it had gotten dark, so I got to experience Tron at night. I had heard a fair amount of critique about the ride being too short, but I would assess it's just long enough for me to enjoy the ride and not feel queasy afterward. The ride photo/video is definitely a bonus. After the ride we met back up with the other half of the family and found a spot for the parade.

My take on the Happily Ever After nighttime show: it is the most impressive fireworks show with the most frustrating viewing experience. After staking out a spot, my kids quickly got squeezed in and almost stepped on by other people with little regard for others' space. Between the overcrowding, people putting kids on their shoulders, or people recording the entire show by holding their phone over their head (and in front of other people's faces), there's no shortage of frustrating behaviors during HEA. Again, it's a great show and my kids love it, but trying to juggle three kids between two parents so everyone can watch over the crowd is a tricky task. Worth a watch, but next time we'll probably watch from behind the castle.

Once the last fireworks went out we slowly made our way out the park to head back to our resort. Similar to the night before, it was about 10pm by the time we all made it back in our beds at AoA (both my daughters were completely out before we even got to our room). I had a half marathon to run in a few hours, where the Dopey Challenge starts to get a little tougher.

Next Section: Half Marathon and Animal Kingdom