Each journey begins with the smallest step, and in the case of the Run Disney Dopey Challenge, that small step is the 5k. As we mentioned in our Ultimate Run Disney Guide, 5ks can be done by just about anybody, so we weren’t too stressed about this race, just excited.

Each Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend race has a mascot and this year the 5k was dedicated to Walt’s very first creation: Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Given that Oswald is the poster child for the 5k and put onto the medal we were pretty confident he would be a pre and post-race character.

We were not disappointed.

In addition to Oswald, Run Disney also brought out Dopey (it’s his challenge after all), Sporty Mickey and Cheerleader Minnie. Since you can only realistically see one character before the race starts we decided it would be Oswald.

Given its short distance, the 5k is easily handled within Epcot, so we only needed to run a bit through the parking lot before heading into World Showcase, around the backstage area for a bit, making a small detour near Test Track and then finishing up in the parking lot. All in all it was a nice, tight race through one of the prettiest Disney locations to see in the dark.

Characters

As with every Run Disney race, there were a good variety of characters to see along your journey. We didn’t stop to see them all, but we made sure to make note of who was there.

It’s important to note: Not all characters translate between years, so just because we saw someone in 2019 doesn’t mean you’re going to see them in 2020 and beyond. We are listing out the characters here more so as a reference point.

Here are the characters we saw and their locations:

• Flick and Princess Atta from Pixar’s A Bug’s Life — Located just before the back entrance to Epcot
• Norwegian Ice Handlers from Frozen — Outside Norway Pavilion
• Pinocchio — Inside the Italy Pavilion
• Movie Genie from Aladdin (as opposed to Tourist Genie from the end of the movie) — Inside Morocco Pavilion
• United Kingdom Goofy (Wears a kilt and hat!) — In between the United Kingdom and Canada Pavilions
• The Epcot Ball
• Racer Donald (Wears checkered flag gear) — Outside Test Track

Don’t forget, each character has a line to see them. If you’re character hopping, make sure you factor in additional time to wait in line. The good news? The lines go really quickly as there isn’t much time to screw around with the characters. You get in, get your picture, and get out!

It’s also worth mentioning that each park’s landmark, such as Spaceship Earth, has multiple photographers around them, so the lines are never too long.

Having done plenty of other Run Disney races we’re pretty used to the on-course characters, but the 5k had some really unique ones we’ve never seen before! We’ve never come across themed versions of the big five outside of Wine and Dine and we’ve never seen Goofy or Donald in these outfits.

The line for Goofy was massive, so we didn’t snap a personal picture with him. However, our love for Donald didn’t allow us to pass him up (our matching Donald and Daisy outfits didn’t hurt either).

They say you never participate in Run Disney race for a PR, so we didn’t even pay attention to our chipped time. The only thing we paid attention to was the good time we had on the course.

One down….three to go!