So, today New Balance announced what the new runDisney themed shoes would be for 2016. I’ve got to admit that I may just be making a purchase of one of them at the Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend next week. However, this new is really exciting with the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend Expo starting on Wednesday. So, let’s take a look…
If you’d like to read the official announcement from New Balance, click here. The first shoe mentioned is the new Dumbo Vazee Pace shoe. Since New Balance always does a great job of balancing out men’s and women’s shoes, this shoe appears to be more the men’s shoe. Of course, I’m sure there will be plenty of women who will purchase this shoe as many women have purchased he men’s New Balance runDisney shoes in the past. This is just my first opinion of the shoe. This shoe will be available starting at this weekend’s expo for $124.95.
In addition to the Dumbo Vazee Pace shoe, there will be an Ariel Vazee Pace shoe available. My wife’s favorite Disney princess is Ariel. So, I’m pretty sure that she might want a pair of these shoes. Like the Dumbo Vazee Pace shoe, this one will be priced at $124.95 at the runDisney race expos starting this weekend.
If you want to know a little bit about the Vazee Pace shoes, I thought I’d include this review by a fellow runDisney enthusiast Justin whom I met at the We Run Social meetup during the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend.
The other shoes being offered are a Red Carpet Mickey and Minnie 860V6’s. The above graphic comes from The Main Street Mouse web site, which you can find here. This is the only place I could find an image of the Mickey and Minnie shoes. The price for the Mickey and Minnie shoes are $139.99. Here’s the little video announcing the Mickey and Minnie 860V6’s.
Just like I did with the Vazee Pace shoe, I thought I’d give you an quick review of the New Balance 860v6’s for you to check out.
For me, that Red Carpet Mickey shoe is looking awfully tempting for the Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend Expo. Back in 2014, I purchased, these bad boys…
This is the 860v4 shoe. So, it’s an older model that I’ve loved wearing! In 2014, they added these special inserts for the race weekend you were running in hopes that people would buy new inserts for each race. The inserts haven’t exactly stayed in place. So, I’ve never tried running in these shoes. However, they’ve been awesome for walking around the theme parks and race expo’s. So, I’m sure that the new version will feel good to me. Hmmmm.
There will also be kid versions of the Dumbo and Ariel shoe. Only, the kid versions will be 860v6’s. They will sell for $79.99. If you want a pair of the shoes, you will need to sign up in the New Balance virtual queue. If you are heading to the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend, you can sign up through the queue (clicking here) starting at 6am EDT. You will need your bib number when you sign up. The Wednesday, January 6th sign up is for runners in the races only. All others will be able to register through the virtual queue beginning Thursday, January 7th and Friday, January 8th at 6am EDT each day. Kudos to New Balance to letting the registered runners go first and have first pick of the shoes. If you’ve been around runDisney for the past few years, you know that there are people who will buy up shoes to sell on eBay. So, this Virtual Queue is a good thing when demand is high.
Last year’s shoes were underwhelming for me and others as well. I think this year’s shoe is much more interesting. So, if you thought the lack of lines last year will hold this year, you might want to think again. For those not going to the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend, you might want to pay attention on social media to see how people are talking about the new shoes. The times to sign up are for the marathon weekend only. When they post information about the Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend, I’ll post a quick blog post with the information about that weekend next week.
So, what do you think? Do you like the new shoes? Do you think they will sell better than last year’s shoe? I’d love to hear your comments below.
Why I runDisney 
I LOVE the Ariel shoes so much and will be getting a pair at Star Wars weekend! Also, I just found out that women can wear kids shoes-you size down either 1.5 to 2 sizes so I plan on testing that out this weekend at the New Balance store
I might be getting a pair of the Ariel shoes for my wife at the Star Wars Half Marathon Expo next week as well as those Mickey ones for me! Last year’s shoes were not inspiring for me. So glad to see New Balance come back with some awesome new options!
I found last years boring and will be tempted by this years offerings. Ariel is tempting but Mickey is my man so if I can fit in a “mans” shoe, that will be my first choice. I just may have to get both.
LOL! I’m sure that New Balance would have no problems with you getting both. I totally agree that last year’s shoes were a little boring. They just weren’t my jam. This year, I need the Mickey shoe for me and my wife wants the Ariel shoe.