The Beignet Dash at Port Orleans French Quarter

If you’ve stayed at a Disney resort you know all about the different activities that are offered there. Anything from nightly movies by the pool, crafts, campfires, yoga, and more. It seems like Disney taking their activities at the resorts up a notch by offering fun runs! There’s a handful of resorts that do a small mile and half run around their resort once a week. As soon as I found out about it from a friend I knew this was an activity I wanted to check out! Luckily, I found the perfect one to try first on my trip in July. The Beignet Dash at Port Orleans French Quarter! Why do I think it’s the perfect one, you may ask? Because you get some of Port Orleans French Quarter’s famous beignets after your race!!

When I first found out about the Beignet Dash a couple of weeks before a trip I tried to do a little research. Oddly, there was not a lot to be found so I’m not sure if this is something that Disney will have all the time. What I did find was every Sunday morning Port Orleans French Quarter hosts their Beignet Dash starting at 8 am (they ask you to arrive at 7:30 am for registration). The little bit that I did find online asks for you to reserve your space before arrival by calling the Disney recreation line which I did about a week before my trip. I did notice that some people did not pre-register but keep in mind that even though some people didn’t, it’s always better to go ahead and reserve your spot before the race especially as this race grows in popularity.

I was not staying at Port Orleans French Quarter when I registered for the race, so I made sure to give myself plenty of time to get from my resort to Port Orleans French Quarter in plenty of time for registration. The sign in was by the Sassagoula River between the pool and building 5 which is very easy to get to from the main dining and resort check-in desks. There were cast members from the recreation team helping everyone sign in and register if needed. The cast members had everyone sign a waiver which is standard whenever you participate in a race or another recreation event at Disney. Once you signed the waiver you are given a race bib to write your name on and pin to your shirt. Since we arrived early we had plenty of time to get signed in, check out the map of the race course, and stretch before 8 am when the race started. The race did start right on time which made it even more important to arrive before 8 am. The cast members had everyone group together behind the starting line. If you chose to run then they asked you to be in the front of the line but and if you were going to walk they asked you to be in the back, so you didn’t get trampled on by the runners. I chose to walk to enjoy the scenery, so I was in the back. Once we were in place, the cast members explained that there will be people along the path to keep everyone going in the right direction and cheer us on. After explaining that and few more rules they really just wanted everyone to have fun and enjoy the run! Then the race began, and we were off. The race path was on the sidewalk around the river and went into the Riverside portion of Port Orleans as well as French Quarter, so you were able to take a good look at the differences in the buildings and areas between the two parts of the resort. The path also took us by Boatwrights and the main dining area at Riverside but pretty much keeping us around the river. It was a nice mile and a half walk and a great way to get some cardio in early in the morning (as if we don’t get enough around the parks all day!).

After the race, we are given a medal which is a cute souvenir of your race and a chance for a photo with the door greeter at the resort whose costume is very fun and playful and fits well into a Mardi Gras vibe of French Quarter. There were also signs to hold while taking our photo using lines like “Will run for beignets,” “Beign-Yay!” and “#FQBeignetDash.” It was a great chance to grab a photo of the Sassagoula River as your background. Once we received our medals and got a photo, we could get what we really came out for, beignets! You are given a voucher when you sign in at the race for your beignets and you have all day during the day of your race to get them from Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory which is the main dining area at French Quarter. The voucher you received is good for 3 beignets and Disney has just revamped the beignets to be Mickey shaped! I grabbed my beignets right after my race as well as most people who took part in the race did. If you have the time I would recommend waiting until later in the day because it was pretty crowded in the dining hall. Everyone else in the race was grabbing their beignets, as well as resort guests, were there to get their breakfast. I wasn’t planning on going back to French Quarter later in the day, so I knew I had to grab my order of beignets then. If you can’t wait to get your order though, don’t worry because it is placed in a to-go bag, so you can always just grab your order and head out. I grabbed my order and found a seat though because I couldn’t wait to dive into those amazing beignets!

I have to say, if you have never tried the beignets at Port Orleans French Quarter then this fun run is a perfect chance to. You don’t have to be an avid runner to do the race, you can walk it and children are welcome to join in too. There is a cost to do the race, but it is only $15 a person which is cheap by Disney standards. Since Disney is not heavily advertising this race on their website, I do recommend calling ahead to the recreation line at 407-WDW-PLAY and pre-register instead of just showing up. I would hate for anyone to just show up the French Quarter on a Sunday morning and find out they aren’t doing the race that week. I also am aware of other races at other resorts available on different days of the week. After doing the Beignet Dash at Port Orleans French Quarter I do plan on trying out every single one of them so stay tuned for those posts and maybe I’ll see you at the next resort fun run!!

If you’d like to plan a trip and stay at Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter Resort, be sure to contact the official travel agent of The Disney Nerds Podcast, Once Upon a Time Travel.