Princess Weekend Themes Revealed!

We're about three weeks away from general registration for the 2026 Princess Half Marathon Weekend, which means runDisney has released the themes to get people hyped up. Every year you hear people say, "Maybe I'll skip (such and such) race weekend this year," but all it takes is one or two favorite characters or new themes to hook people in. While the overarching themes for Princess Weekend is usually "princesses", the 2026 weekend is centered around the women who set out to chart their own path to find more beyond their world. Let's go through each.

Merida from Brave is the featured 5k princess. From the runDisney website: "Embrace your fate—or change it—during 3.1 miles featuring the brave Merida. And with the finish line as your target, you don’t need a bow and arrow to hit it."

I don't believe Merida has been featured as of yet, so this 5k should bring out many, many, many big, red wigs. Also cue the bows and arrows (within costume guidelines, of course). While Brave isn't among the more popular Disney/Pixar films, Merida is always a fun character to see in the parks with her "big hair, big energy" vibe. Should be fun to see if any other Scottish characters from the movie make an appearance.

Fresh off the pretty good Moana 2, Moana is featured for the 10k. From runDisney: "See how far you’ll go (hopefully 6.2 miles) as part of this race hosted by Moana. And don’t worry about wayfinding. The course is clearly marked."

First off, touche on "The course is clearly marked". Moana is one of the more popular Disney characters with the least amount of play in the Walt Disney World parks, at least until The Journey of Water popped up at Epcot. I see this race selling out quickly.

For the Half Marathon we have Rapunzel from Tangled! From runDisney: "Get tangled up in the fun of this 13.1-mile journey with Rapunzel. And since runDisney knows best, please leave the frying pans at home."

I was late to the party, but when we finally watched Tangled as a family it quickly became one of our favorites. Great songs, goofy humor, and fun animation. For a while, Rapunzel was my daughter's favorite princess, as she opted for the Rapunzel dress at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique before meeting the character at Princess Hall in Magic Kingdom. Definitely a fun theme that could include some Snuggly Duckling characters along the course.

The classic and beloved Belle from Beauty and the Beast highlights the Fairytale Challenge. Writes runDisney: "Go beast mode by taking on our challenge inspired by everyone’s favorite beauty, Belle. Made up of both the 10K and the half marathon, being our Guest for these 19.3 miles will earn you three treasured medals!."

Belle is always a popular choice for the Princess Weekend. This classic princess is a big draw, and I'm sure we'll see Belle and the Beast (but never the human Prince Adam, inexplicably) on the course.