Welcome to The runDisney Companion Hub.
This is the evolving online home for the book’s current links, race-weekend tools, updates, corrections, reader bonuses, and recommended resources. Because race procedures, schedules, and other details can change after a book goes to print, this page will help keep your copy of The runDisney Companion connected to the most current information available.
If you don’t have the book yet, you’ll find it right here.
Enter your email to receive new Companion resources, corrections, and updates as they’re added here.
On this page:
- Book Updates & Corrections
- Race-Weekend Tools
- Recommended Resources & Trusted Partners
- Reader Bonuses
- Stay Connected
Book Updates & Corrections
Any material corrections, clarifications, or time-sensitive updates to the printed edition of The runDisney Companion will be posted here. Before each race weekend, check this page for anything that may have changed since your copy went to print.
Current status: No corrections or material updates have been posted.
Race-Weekend Tools
Use these tools alongside the book as you plan your next race weekend. Because schedules, procedures, and event details can change, always confirm final information against the current runDisney Digital Expo & Event Guide and official race communications.
- runDisney Pacing Calculator — Estimate how your expected start time and moving pace may affect your available cushion.
- Current Race-Weekend Guides — Find current event guides and related planning information as they become available.
Recommended Resources & Trusted Partners
Race weekends can throw a lot at you: travel planning, training, childcare, transportation, recovery, gear, food, and all of the unexpected details in between. I created this collection as a one-stop resource to help you to navigate all of it.
Every company and person featured here is someone I already knew, trusted, used, and respected before I invited them to be a part of The Castle Run generally or The runDisney Companion specifically. I reached out to them because I believed they could genuinely help my readers, and they in turn supported this site or the book with sponsorships that helped to make the site what it is or to bring the book into the world. I do not receive commissions, referral fees, or other transaction-based compensation when you purchase from, book with, or otherwise use any partner listed here. They did not determine what I wrote. I approached them because this is what I already believed about them from my own experience.
Together, they form an extended race-weekend ecosystem for The Castle Run community—a trusted group of resources designed to help you solve the problems that go beyond the basic logistics and make the entire experience a better one.
Have a trusted business or resource to recommend? Share it here.
Trip Planning & Logistics
MEI-Travel (Mouse Fan Travel)
Full-service Disney vacation planning & advocacy
The right travel advisor does more than book a resort and tickets. They learn what matters to your party, help you weigh priorities and tradeoffs, keep track of the details, and advocate for you long after the booking is made. Beci Mahnken and MEI-Travel, the owner and agency behind Mouse Fan Travel, have been planning vacations for more than twenty-five years, and their advisors know runDisney weekends specifically: the resorts that make race mornings easier, the dining that works around a 2:30 a.m. alarm, and the dozen little decisions you don’t yet know you need to make. They’re in the relationship business more than the travel business, and, incredibly, their planning services come at no additional cost to you. While Disney is where many people find them, they plan everything: cruises, European adventures, the bucket-list trips you’ll dream up once running has taught you that anything is possible. I trust them with my own family. That’s the whole recommendation, really.
Quicksilver Tours & Transportation
Private airport transportation
Since Disney retired Magical Express, how to get from the airport to the resort is the first problem every out-of-town runner has to solve. Quicksilver is my tried-and-true favorite private car service for the trip: a family-operated car service that’s stayed deliberately small for twenty-five years, and the same one the classic Disney guidebooks recommended for a generation. They meet you at the airport, get you and your gear to your resort without sweating on the curb waiting for a rideshare, and, the key part, show up on time when your race weekend schedule has zero room or patience for error. You can book in advance and know it’s taken care of before you even leave the house. They’ve generously offered us codes TCR15 for $15 off sedan and town car round-trip transfers, and TCR25 for $25 off SUV and van round-trip transfers, usable twice per customer through December 2027. Certain car seats and boosters are also available free of charge. See Quicksilver’s website for details.
Garden Grocer
Advance resort grocery delivery
You’ve spent months dialing in your pre-race fuel routine and you aren’t about to leave it all behind when you board your plane. Two decades and more than a million orders in, Garden Grocer is how your race-week essentials can already be waiting for you at your resort when you arrive. Order online before you leave home, weeks before if you like, and have your tried-and-true pre-race breakfast ready and waiting when the alarm goes off at 2:00 a.m. They deliver to all Disney resorts, Orlando hotels, and vacation rentals. We used them regularly before we moved here and they’re still the best.
Kingdom Strollers
Stroller rental & delivery
Long before we were Disney locals, we were Disney tourists with two little boys—and having Kingdom Strollers meet us with our choice of double stroller at our resort was a lifesaver. Even children who have outgrown a stroller at home can hit a wall after countless Park miles, late nights, and pre-dawn race mornings. Kingdom Strollers is a family-owned Winter Garden company that delivers clean, current-model strollers to all major resorts and hotels within ten miles of Disney. They even have a kiosk at the Orlando airport in Terminal A. Their managers actually answer the phone, and they’re open every day of the year except Thanksgiving and Christmas. That kind of customer service is rare these days.
Kid’s Nite Out
In-room childcare services
If you didn’t know that Kid’s Nite Out existed, you might not know that it was possible to leave your room at 3:00 a.m. for a race that starts at 5:00 a.m. while your kids are sound asleep in the room, much less head out for an adults-only celebration afterward. Kid’s Nite Out has provided in-room childcare for Orlando-area resort guests for decades, with vetted, experienced caregivers who make sure your kids are also having fun (or still sleeping soundly) while you run, nap, or celebrate. They’re synonymous with childcare in the Disney space and one of the few services allowed to come directly to your room to provide it. Having them as an option opens up possibilities for parents that wouldn’t otherwise exist. So yes, mom and dad, you can run together.
Strength & Training
Stoked Metabolic Coaching (Thomas Stokes)
Online strength & nutrition coaching
I say it throughout this book: miles alone won’t get you to the finish line feeling good. Strength and proper fueling matter too. Thomas Stokes, aka Coach Tom, provides online coaching that covers both and keeps you smiling the whole way. A massive presence in the runDisney community under his moniker, @themusclemouse, you’ll find him barreling down Main Street, U.S.A. in a tutu with his wife and friends, and cheering for his clients too along the way. His approach isn’t a generic macro spreadsheet or a punishing gym plan bolted onto your training. He coaches the whole athlete—strength, nutrition, recovery, and mindset—around what your body actually needs to get through a training cycle and consecutive Florida race mornings. If you want to arrive at your race feeling stronger and better prepared, start with my friend Thomas. He’s generously offered $50 off each month if you mention The runDisney Companion during your consultation call. The offer will be honored through August 2027.
Stephen Cabebe, PT, DPT, OCS — Fit for the Magic
Fully digital one-on-one physical therapy
Stephen is a Doctor of Physical Therapy who provides fully digital, one-on-one rehab and strengthening, and is also one of the kindest, humblest people I know. He’s spent years coaching people through the body care it takes to get through a Disney vacation or a runDisney race weekend. To know Stephen is to know there’s someone in your corner helping you prepare thoughtfully, work around old injuries and nagging pain, and walk into race weekend with practical tools for managing its demands on your body. He also knows the Parks the way you know your own neighborhood, which matters more than you’d think: a Dopey Challenge is 48.6 miles of running topped with four days of Park miles. And if this is instead your first 5K, you should take that just as seriously. Whether you’re carrying an old injury, a nagging pain, or just the reasonable fear of both, he’s the right person to contact. He’s also a runDisney runner himself and ran his own first Dopey in 2026.
Training & Race-Day Gear
Fit2Run
Specialty running retailer & professional shoe fitting
There’s a reason the first piece of shoe advice in this book is to go to a real running store and let someone who knows what they’re doing look at your feet and your stride. The right shoe can be the difference between enjoying your runs and finishing them with a limp, and Fit2Run has the trained fit specialists and technology in-house to help make sure it’s the former. The convenience of their Disney Springs location, reachable via free Disney resort transportation, is also hard to beat. Their specialists pair complimentary 3D foot scanning and gait analysis with a wide selection of running shoes to help identify what works for your feet, stride, and goals. They also carry apparel, fuel, recovery gear, and the dozen other things you might realize you left at home the moment your flight touches down for race weekend. You’ll also find a Fit2Run storefront at runDisney race-weekend expos, making them an easy stop for last-minute gear and replacements before and between races. After more than twenty years fitting runners and walkers at every level, they’re as ready for the person nervously tackling a first 5K as for the marathoner replacing shoes that should have been retired 100 miles ago. Go in before your training cycle for a proper fitting—and keep them in mind when race-weekend reality comes face-to-face with your carefully planned packing list.
fit2run.com · @fit2run_therunnerssuperstore
Disney Springs: 1520 E Buena Vista Dr, Space 107, Lake Buena Vista
Sparkle Athletic
Race-ready sparkle skirts & costume accessories
If you’ve seen a sparkle skirt flying down Main Street, U.S.A., there’s a good chance it came from Sparkle Athletic. The company was born during the 2010 Surf City USA Marathon, when longtime runners, triathletes, and friends Carrie, Elise, and Kelly made sparkle skirts so their families could spot them in the crowd. The compliments and questions followed them through the race, and two weeks later they had launched a business. When the trio returned to the 2011 Disneyland Half dressed as Snow White, Minnie Mouse, and Tinker Bell, they remember feeling like they were the only runners in costume. Today it’s hard to imagine the runDisney landscape without their contribution to it. Sparkle’s pieces are made for actual miles. I’ve worn their leggings for years (they have pockets!) and the line now includes performance visors, bows, sleeves, wings, shorts, and body glitter, too. Sparkle Athletic is a longtime presence at runDisney Expo, but you can shop their site online now for enough time to test the complete outfit before race day. They’ve also created a dedicated runner offer for Companion readers. Use code COMPANION10 through August 2027 for 10% off any order.
Squirrel’s Nut Butter
All-natural anti-chafe balm
Florida humidity can turn a tiny rub into a miserable race in a hurry, especially when costumes add seams, layers, or unfamiliar fabric. Squirrel’s Nut Butter makes simple, all-natural anti-chafe protection by hand in Flagstaff, Arizona, using just four ingredients. I especially love that it comes in a stick for easy application before the race and small packets that I can carry on the course to reapply or address a new hot spot as soon as I feel it. That beats waiting for petroleum jelly at the next medical station. Test it during training, then use it anywhere you know friction tends to add up on race day. The formula began in Stacy Thornley’s kitchen, where she was looking for a simple, natural way to soothe her daughter’s eczema. Their friend, Brian “Squirrel” Marshall, later tried it on a mountain-bike ride in place of his usual anti-chafe product and was impressed by how well it worked. Co-founder Chris Thornley recognized what it could become, and the product soon found a devoted following in ultrarunning. Today, the four-person team still pours, caps, labels, and ships each product in Flagstaff, and the brand’s community stretches from 100-mile athletes to first-time 5K runners. They’ve also created a dedicated runner offer for Companion readers. Use code CASTLERUN15 through August 2027 for 15% off all products and swag (excluding bundles) on their U.S. website.
Wrightsock
Blister-free guaranteed running socks
Every runner eventually learns that socks matter almost as much as shoes—usually right around the time that an incapacitating hot spot announces itself in Florida humidity at mile eight after months of training to reach that start line. Wrightsock is a fourth-generation, family-owned North Carolina company whose performance-sock roots date to 1990. Its signature Double Layer socks let the two layers move against each other so friction happens inside the sock instead of against your foot, addressing one of the leading causes of blisters. The Double Layer line comes in different heights and cushioning levels, is made in the U.S.A., and is backed by a blister-free guarantee. This is the quiet gear choice that can make or break a race weekend. Test them during training, then pack enough for every race plus extras for your Park days. Use code CASTLERUN for 20% off one order.
BibBoards
Reusable race-bib fasteners
Safety pins have ruined more race costumes than Florida humidity ever will. BibBoards’ bibSNAPS are small, reusable snap-and-lock fasteners that hold all four corners of your race bib in place without putting holes in your clothes. Founder Brian Goodell created them because he saw millions of runners relying on a prickly solution just because it was the way things had always been done. For a runDisney runner, this solution is as effective as it is elegant: bibSNAPS sit flat, keep your bib secure and in place for those PhotoPass photos, and protect your costume (or that favorite race tank that they don’t make anymore). Set them up the night before, toss them back into your bag after the race, and use them again the next morning. No holes, no waste. BibBoards says that every race bib tells a story—not just about the finish line, but about the commitment it took to reach the start line and the person you became along the way, and I couldn’t agree more.
Recovery & Wellness
Prime IV Hydration & Wellness (Winter Garden)
IV hydration & wellness services
Florida race weekends take more out of you than the miles alone—heat, humidity, early mornings, and Park days stack up fast. Prime IV’s Winter Garden clinic, just about three miles from Walt Disney World property, offers personalized IV hydration and vitamin therapy in what they call a “one-hour vacation”: a slate of services that aim to support your body’s ability to perform and recover before, after, and in between races. A visit to them is a mid-Dopey ritual for me. They’re a women-owned clinic whose team volunteers at runDisney events, and every treatment is evaluated and ordered under the supervision of their medical director and experienced nursing staff, and personalized to your health history and goals. Not to mention that the massage chairs that you sit in during your treatments are to die for. They’ve also created a dedicated runner offer for Companion readers. Visit the link below for 10% off your visit.
thecastlerun.com/go/primeiv · @primeivwintergarden
9250 Miley Dr, Suite 140, Winter Garden
Performance Driven Therapy & Chiropractic
Sports massage, bodywork & chiropractic
When your body needs actual hands-on work, this is the Orlando practice I’d point you to. Performance Driven Therapy is built on three primary pillars: Focused Bodywork, Functional Chiropractic, and Exercise Therapy, with every treatment customized to you and your sport. No cookie-cutter plans, and no being told simply to stop running. Dr. Alvin Green has been treating athletes for nearly two decades and opened Performance Driven Therapy because he was tired of watching people settle for generic treatment. He and his team of therapists treat runners of every stripe, from the highly competitive to the casual fun runner, and plenty of their regulars already participate in runDisney events. Whether you’re a local in a training cycle or a visitor whose calves have opinions after the race, they’re the recovery stop that treats the cause and not just the soreness—and yes, they’re open Saturdays. Which makes them an amazing option for between races during a challenge. Or the Monday after the marathon. You’re welcome in advance.
performancedrivencenters.com · @performancedrivenclinic
6735 Conroy Rd, Suite 211, Orlando
Recoverie Bath
Bath & shower recovery
Sometimes the best post-race (or pre-race bedtime) routine happens right in your resort room. Recoverie Bath was created by Jennifer Gregory, a longtime distance runner and runDisney regular who understands that recovery is more than physical and that rest should not have to be earned. She handcrafts bath and shower rituals with pure essential oils and purposeful ingredients, designed to give tired bodies and busy minds a reason to slow down. My favorites are Restore, their bestseller, made with a heavy hand of Epsom salt, arnica-infused sunflower oil, and rosemary, and Return, for a full-spectrum reset. Their bath bombs are heavenly, and their shower infusion sprays and steamers are a great option when you don’t have access to a tub or just prefer a shower after that 2:00 a.m. alarm. Order a set before your races, toss it in your suitcase, and suddenly your resort bathtub is a part of your recovery plan. Use code CastleRun10 for 10% off your order.
Keepsakes & Celebration
Allied Medal Hangers
Medal displays
Every medal tells a story: early mornings, setbacks overcome, and the months of sacrifice it took to get there. After the race, they deserve better than a spot in a drawer. Allied Medal Hangers is a second-generation, woman-owned and -operated shop in Redmond, Washington that has laser-cut every hanger from thick brushed stainless steel since 2009. Their flat-bar design lets you space your medals however you like, in multiple rows, with no arbitrary hook count deciding when your collection is “full”—useful for the runDisney crowd that collects medals like regular Disney adults collect popcorn buckets. Their magical designs, with messages like Always Earned, Never Given, Every Mile is Magic, and Never Limit Your Challenges, Challenge Your Limits, were made for exactly the kind of runners this book is about—runners with heart. Use code TheCastleRun for 10% off any order placed directly at medalhangers.com through August 2027.
Beyond the Parks
Wild Florida Adventure Park
Airboats, safari & wildlife encounters
There’s a whole other Florida waiting beyond the Disney bubble—marshland, open sky, alligators, and the kind of quiet that feels especially good after days of crowds and pre-dawn alarms. Wild Florida Adventure Park is a family-owned outdoor adventure park in Kenansville where you can skim across the headwaters of the Everglades on an airboat, explore the Gator Park and animal encounters, or give tired race legs a break and take your own car through a four-mile drive-thru safari filled with more than 150 native and exotic animals. About a 45-minute drive from Walt Disney World, it’s a chance to let your family see what this part of the state looked and felt like long before the theme parks arrived, and to build one day into the trip that moves at an entirely different pace. The connection to runners is personal, too: Wild Florida co-founder and co-owner Sam Haught has been a runner his whole life, and the park has hosted several 5Ks of its own. When you need a break from the crowds but don’t want to spend the day sitting in a hotel room, this is where I’d point you.
wildfl.com · @wildfloridairboats
3301 Lake Cypress Rd, Kenansville
Where to Eat
eet by Maneet Chauhan
Modern Indian comfort food in Disney Springs
Tucked away on the far east end of the Marketplace in Disney Springs, eet is Chef Maneet Chauhan’s love letter to Indian comfort food. It’s light, fresh, and inventive. I crave their Street Style Puffed Rice Salad more than I’d like to admit and their build-your-own bowls are perfectly customizable ways to carb-load. I can’t eat heavy food during race week, so this one is a ritual for me. And eet comes with real running credentials: their corporate chef and partner Tom Eckert is a runDisney regular and perfect season finisher. eet understands why you might be ordering extra rice on Thursday night.
eetfunindian.com · @eetfunindian
1780 E Buena Vista Dr #B, Lake Buena Vista
Jeff’s Bagel Run
Fresh, scratch-made bagels
A proper bagel the morning before a race is one of life’s greatest pleasures, and Jeff’s Bagel Run makes the best ones in Central Florida, scratch-made in each store daily. They like to say that the bagel in your hand today was just a bag of flour yesterday. And their story is as good as the bagels themselves: when Jeff was out of work in 2019, his wife Danielle asked him to make her a bagel. He didn’t know how, so he learned—and then he kept at it until friends, neighbors, and farmers-market lines turned a home-kitchen project into a full-scale business. Their first shop opened in Ocoee in 2021. Today they have a dozen locations across Central Florida and countless more around the rest of the country. The Celebration and O-Town West locations are the most convenient to Disney. Pick up a bag for the weekend or have them delivered to your hotel through the Jeff’s Bagel Run app. With 13–17 grams of protein per bagel, they make for an easy, portable, carb-forward meal at 3:00 a.m., or a simple recovery boost after the race.
jeffsbagelrun.com · @jeffsbagelrun
Celebration: 1587 Future Way, Kissimmee | O-Town West: 11012 Daryl Carter Pkwy #130, Orlando
Lake Minneola Inn Tiki Bar & Grill
Burgers-and-wings lakefront tiki bar
When you’re ready to escape the Disney bubble for an afternoon, head toward Clermont. The Lake Minneola Inn dates back to 1882, and its Tiki Bar & Grill is pure old Florida: four shaded acres under 150-year-old live oaks, half-pound hand-pattied Angus burgers, award-winning wings, and the best sunsets in Lake County over the water. It’s entirely outdoors, pet friendly, and sits minutes from the Minneola hills and trails where Olympians train. Come for a post-race burger, stay for the sunset, or book a room and stay the night. Few things around here feel more like Florida at its best than this spot.
lakeminneolainn.com · @lakeminneolatikibar
508 S Main Ave, Minneola
The Polite Pig
Modern barbecue in Disney Springs
Race-week eating is a strange balancing act: you want real food and enough protein to feel human again, but you may not have the time, energy, or patience for a long sit-down meal. The Polite Pig is one of the easiest and most delicious answers I’ve found. The restaurant is steps from the Lime Garage in Town Center at Disney Springs and serves Florida-inspired modern barbecue in a fast-casual format—prime brisket, pork, smoked chicken, salmon, sandwiches, salads, and market sides. The Butcher Board for Two is an easy way to share and try a little of everything. No reservation and no big production required. The Polite Pig is also part of a larger Orlando restaurant story. If you have time to venture north, sister concept The Ravenous Pig is the full-service gastropub, brewery, and beer garden in Winter Park that started it all. And if your trip takes you through the right part of MCO, you’ll find the group’s modern Southern kitchen and brewery, Cask & Larder, inside the airport.
politepig.com · @thepolitepig
Disney Springs Town Center · 1536 Buena Vista Dr, Orlando
Simply Capri
Relaxed coastal Italian in Flamingo Crossings
Within days of its opening I started to hear the buzz about Simply Capri as the best new Italian option in town, and that buzz was right. Minutes from Disney’s western gates at Flamingo Crossings, Simply Capri brings the Amalfi Coast to Central Florida: wood-fired pizzas, house-made pastas, fresh seafood, and a dining room built to transport you, right down to a replica of Capri’s famous clock tower. The pedigree is real (founder Nick Valenti’s career includes James Beard recognition and a string of beloved restaurants, several of them at Disney), and much of the team comes directly from Italy. Their own pitch to runners says it best: carbs to perform, protein to recover, Italian food to celebrate. House-made pasta the night before a race, a celebration dinner after—either way, you’ll leave happy. And gluten-free options are available.
simplycapri.com · @simplycapriorlando
Flamingo Crossings · 114 Ruby Red Pl, Winter Garden
Reader Bonuses
Bonus downloads and resources created specifically for readers of The runDisney Companion will live here. New materials will be added as they are completed.
[The first reader bonuses are in development.]
Stay Connected
New Companion resources, meaningful corrections, and time-sensitive updates will be announced by email to subscribers. You can also follow The Castle Run on Instagram or visit the blog for ongoing runDisney planning, photography, and race-weekend coverage.