As we have expected, runDisney has announced the suspension of events at the Disneyland Resort starting in 2018. In a blog post, Disney cited the level of construction needed to support the ongoing expansion as the reason for the suspension. Many find this a surprise as most of the work associated with Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge that goes beyond the park has been completed. As the races go into the Anaheim streets, some speculate that the expansion work is related to the Eastern Gateway project.
Others point out to other possible explanations such as moving from volunteers to paid temps to staff the course and/or the current Anaheim City Council’s opposition to projects that support the Anaheim Resort district. For example, the Eastern Gateway project is on hold as approval has not been given by the city of Anaheim at this point. However, as the OC Register notes, the races bring $20 million to $30 million in revenue to Orange County by drawing in visitors during slower times of the year.
Disney had announced that registration for 2018 races had been delayed and would open at a later date, as months went by without an announcement many suspected that they would not be returning while others were frustrated by the inability to plan their vacations. Fans that were able to register before it was suspended will receive a refund for their race fees.
Here is the official post from the runDisney team:
We have heard from many of you over the past few months regarding registration for runDisney race weekends at Disneyland Resort. We greatly appreciate your loyalty and dedication to our runDisney race events and want to share the following update with you.
Given the level of construction to support the ongoing Disneyland Resort expansion, we have been working hard to determine how we can continue providing our West Coast participants with the best possible runDisney experience, which is designed around the ability to run throughout our resorts while enjoying entertainment offerings and characters.
After careful consideration and weighing all possibilities, we have made the very difficult decision to place all runDisney race weekends at Disneyland Resort on hiatus beginning in 2018. This includes the associated Coast to Coast Race Challenges.
Anyone who has registered for one of these races will be contacted directly by runDisney today by email and will receive a full refund for registration fees and for any commemorative items they may have purchased.
While news of this hiatus is sad to share, we are so thankful for the magic and memories you have helped create at our race weekends through the years. We look forward to hosting the upcoming Super Heroes Half Marathon Weekend at Disneyland Resort November 9-12, and we hope to see many of you there.
We encourage runners to continue to visit runDisney.com for other race opportunities. A full schedule of races at Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Paris are currently still being offered, in addition to our virtual race series. Guests with questions can contact [email protected].