I signed up for the VIP tent the instant I got the email -- before all the furor and condemnations about it on all the lists I’m on, so I was afraid to admit it to anyone. As I told several of you, it was not the warm tent, the food, or the massages that got me to ante up, it was the tiny little addition at the bottom “and special character appearances.” I am the Disney Dead most likely to schedule three or more character meals per trip, who would gladly sacrifice a PR for a picture with the Seven Dwarves, who… well, I could go on, but I think you get my drift. I’ll admit I had secretly hoped also that I might actually get a post-race massage for the first time at any Disney race, since it was a perk of the tent.
As many of you anticipated, my experience with the tent was not all that great. The same food you got post-race (oranges, bananas, banana cakes, Dansani water, etc.) was available in the tent pre-race, as well as coffee. (Obviously it was all available in abundance post-race as well.) The tent was air-conditioned, which was nice post-race, but not all that big a deal. I did get my photo with Donald after the half without standing in line, but saw no other characters during the time I was there for either race. I also had chairs or stools at tables available to sit on, rather than sitting on the pavement. And the indoor/outdoor carpet for stretching. The lines at the reserved portapotties moved quickly (I’d guess they had about 6, but don’t hold me to that in a court of law – I have a lousy memory.) By the way, after the marathon I signed up for a massage, but after waiting a half-hour, there were still 36 people signed up ahead of me. Someone in Disney garb said they were sending in more massage folks, but I got tired of waiting and left anyway. I suppose the good news is the folks that were giving massages there were going way over 10 minutes, so if you got a massage, it was a very good long one. If I’d finished in the 3-5 hour range, I might have gotten my massage, but I don’t think that’s in the cards for me.
That’s my review of the tent. I suppose you’d have to decide for yourselves whether any of that was worth the $50. The bottom line for me was that I spent more of my time pre- and post-race outside the tent because that’s where the people I wanted to talk to were – the Deads, Penguins, and the WISHers. I’m not sorry that I did it, but I’m not sure I’d do it again, unless it was pouring rain on race day. (Don’t mind the cold; don’t care for rain.)
Wendy
