Watching My Daughter Finish the Disney Princess Half Marathon Was Pure Magic

https://www.moretimetotravel.com/watching-daughter-finish-disney-princess-half-marathon/

I was raised at Disneyland, and my husband grew up going to Disney World. Between the two of us, Disney has always been in our family DNA—fireworks, castles, and memories sewn together over the years. But this trip felt different. This time, we had not ventured to Disney for the rides or the Cronuts (half croissant, half donut, and a must during every visit). We were there to cheer on our daughter and her best friend as they ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon — 13.1 miles of endurance, sparkle, and pure Disney magic, accompanied by some 12,000 other runners.

Our Home Base: Disney’s BoardWalk Inn

Using our Disney Vacation Club points, we were staying at the BoardWalk Inn. The BoardWalk (ala Atlantic City’s famous landmark) has a nostalgic vibe — striped awnings and the reflections of popcorn lights on Crescent Lake, with laughter echoing over the water and down the planks of the boardwalk. Our balcony offered a glimpse of EPCOT twinkling in the near distance, a serene reminder of the day to come.

The night before the race, our villa was a royal dressing room. I made tutus for the girls— one yellow with a red rose (for Belle in “Beauty and the Beast”), and the other blue to match Sleeping Beauty. Both girls tried on their tiaras to make sure they did not hurt (and would stay on while running). They prepared with loose clothing that wouldn’t chafe or cause rashes as they covered the course on foot. The little girl I once dressed as a princess for breakfast at Cinderella’s Royal Table was now dressing up as a princess again — this time to run through the castle as an adult, rather than eat inside it.

Race Morning – The Calm Before the Castle

The alarm rang at 2:30 a.m., which was simply too early when your brain feels like it’s drifting in the space between night and morning. We all walked over to the BoardWalk bus stop with our coffees, looking for that magical race bus that would take our competitors to the starting line for the suggested 4:00 am arrival time. The bus was filled with runners in costume and numbered bibs, accompanied by their more bleary-eyed fan clubs (like us parents) in tow. All of us were tired but anticipating the start of the half marathon.

When we arrived, the starting line was a mob scene, with runners sorted by their group start time and thousands of other people milling about. Our team started at 5:39 am. There were no special tickets for spectators, so we planned it out: we would try to see them at the Magic Kingdom (the halfway point) and then have breakfast in the area before heading to EPCOT for the finish.

Main Street Magic

As we approached the Magic Kingdom, it wasn't exactly dawn breaking over the horizon. The air hummed with music and cheering, and the aroma of coffee wafted our way from the concession carts. Onlookers lined the street, craning for a glimpse of their runners. I've always enjoyed Main Street at night, but I’d never seen it at dawn.

And then — we saw them! It was 6:45 a.m. My daughter and her friend flew down Main Street, U.S.A., their tutus flouncing, their tiaras sparkling, and Cinderella’s Castle glowing a pale pink in the distance. I yelled their names loudly. They waved and smiled — two actual princesses running toward their dreams. As they disappeared into the crowd, I took pictures through my tears.

A Recharge at the Contemporary and Quick Refuel

After a walk through the park as the sun was rising, we caught the monorail to the Contemporary Resort for breakfast — a little parental triumph after waking up early. The Contempo Café was crowded with other spectators, most of us staring at our phones tracking our runners’ progress through an app that the race organizers had provided.

I got an omelet and hot coffee, relishing the heat. Out there somewhere, my daughter was still running and walking, with the help of her best friend who had run marathons before. Their first goal was to avoid the balloon ladies—a band of race volunteers who sweetly swept up behind slower runners and offered them an escape hatch off of the course if they were failing to stay ahead of a 16-minute mile pace.

The Finish Line: Victory and Tiaras

We arrived at EPCOT with plenty of race finish time to go. The mood was electric — music thumping, volunteers waving signs, and families clapping against the barricades. Most cellphones didn’t work at all due to the crowd size, and the tracking app malfunctioned.

Then, my husband saw them—still together, still smiling. The tiaras were mostly in one piece, and the sparkle skirts glinted like crazy under the morning sun. They finished, hand in hand, at 8:49 a.m., well ahead of the training pace my daughter had anticipated.

When we finally arrived to see the girls in the Reunion Area, my daughter hugged me. “I cannot believe I did that,” she said.

“I can,” I told her. “You can do anything.” Then, we jumped on a bus and made our way back to the hotel, foot-sore, but glowing.

Half a Day in the Parks

We took showers and rested up, gathering our strength to spend the second half of the day at EPCOT, which is our favorite park as a family. Visiting EPCOT was easy to do, because we were staying at the BoardWalk — just a five-minute walk from the International Gateway.

The girls walked proudly with their medals glinting in the sunlight as they entered the park. Members of the cast congratulated them, and one called out, “Royal runners coming through!” It was a marathon day for us, and it was perfect: a few rides, a meal, some laughs, and that unparalleled feeling of being right where we were supposed to be.

Fireworks and Full Hearts

As the sun went down, it was time to enjoy EPCOT’s legendary nightly fireworks. We love them — always have. As a kid growing up at Disneyland, fireworks were an exclamation point to every visit. For my husband, who grew up on Disney World nights, they were the pulse point of his family memory. And now we watched them with our daughter, and suddenly the show was a link between all our childhoods. The sky turned gold, pink, and blue — the colors of their tutus — as the “Symphony of Us” fireworks music played over the Disney sound system. I had tears in my eyes again and was grateful for the unbroken chain of happiness Disney seems to promise every generation of its fans.

The Real Magic

My daughter running that race was more than just a proud-mom moment. It was a reminder that Disney’s magic doesn’t reside in castles or fireworks — it lies in courage, friendship, and belief. It’s in the way a little girl can grow into a woman who still wears a tiara, only now she earns it herself. This Disney trip will always be the one where the princess didn’t wait to be rescued. She ran her own race — strong, joyful, and crowned in light.