A Different Take on Marathon Weekend

[PeterPan09]

A friend of mine calls people like this "Air Thieves", people who are using up perfectly good air that could be better utilized by an actual human being.

I have an odd feeling that no matter when this charming individual goes to WDW there is SOMETHING that is going to be terrible for him and ruin his day.

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

I have a solution for Mike: Check the dates of marathon weekend, and book your Disney vacation another time!

That said, I was at Disney for marathon weekend 2009 as a guest. The races did not at all disrupt my plans, but DID inspire me to start running!

 

[VernRDH]

Wanker is it!!

We received info in our room and saw it on the TV about the delays. DH had to drive FIL to the airport on Sunday morning, we were concerned about getting out of POFQ. DH said it was so easy, two turns and he was back on his way to MCO. Transportation can be an issue at anytime at the World, and Mears runs the ME, not Disney.

He also commented that he dislikes the disruption of marathons in cities like Boston or NYC, so obviously he has some issue with athletes participating in such events. Apparently, we should hold all our events in the middle of the night in the middle of the desert or forests so as not to DISTURB this guy. Sheesh, has he not seen how these races are taking off, people are participating more and more and the money to be made and raise for charity is growing? Hey I may not be fast but at least I am out there doing it, not sitting on the couch blogging about how athletes are ruining his life.

 

[Mark214]

I agree with some previous posts that Disney can do a better job of letting their customers know about what to expect on Marathon Weekend. Perhaps when you check-in, the CM can hand you the paper describing what to expect and give you a quick verbal warning about it. I have been to Disney on previous marathon weekends and the resort CM's don't even know anything about the marathon expo and how to get to it.

Maybe Stacy can record a special "Top 7 ways to work around the marathon" special that can be aired on the resort tv channels.

 

[Kira G.]

I agree with some previous posts that Disney can do a better job of letting their customers know about what to expect on Marathon Weekend. Perhaps when you check-in, the CM can hand you the paper describing what to expect and give you a quick verbal warning about it.

That's actually exactly what happened for us when we checked into the Beach Club. The CM handed us a paper (which went over road closures, impact on ME and many other things) and also discussed it with us. However, it sounds like that did not happen for many people, which is too bad.

However, this guy clearly says in his comments that he knew it was Marathon weekend, and yet he chose to come anyway. It sounds like he arrived with a bad attitude about it, since he dislikes the big city events as well, and just proved himself right! I think "Wanker" about sums it up!

 

[Mouse Skywalker]

Wow, sounds like to me someone needed to do a little advanced research. Tony's Townsquare for breakfast during the Half Marathon just sounds like a bad idea. Although it would be a great place to watch the race and take pictures of the runners.

The line "whoever decided to put this race through the parks should be fired." Really??? Because they bring in 55,000 people to run over the weekend. Sounds like a pretty good idea over a traditionally slow attended time.

And can I just say, 155k isn't that much to write home about on TSM.

BTW: jeanigor was with me and took a lot of the pictures used on my blog. He's a new WISHer so be nice to him... But he got a lot of the pictures of our fellow WISHers.

http://www.disunplugged.com/2010/01/11/temperature-low-but-spirits-high-for-2010-disney-marathon/

 

[danyella522]

What a whiny bum! I scheduled our disney vacation, not knowing there would be a marathon going on while we were there. It inspired me to sign up for the full marathon next year

 

[sunshine girl]

Wow, I can't believe that guy!

 

[crewmatt]

Yea I guess I'm a runner so my perspective isnt quite what a non runner's would be. And the friends of mine that werent runners were clearly down there to support us.

1-I believe the course did run pretty close to toy story mania - but yes it was a bit of a blur for me at that point too, so maybe I'm imagining it.

2-Disney had LOTS of info about how the marathon would be happening that weekend and that travel/etc could be impacted. It was all over, my friend got a note in his room about it, there were road signs.

3-Honestly the marathon weekend had to have brought in more than 40,000 people to the parks that weekend (not all runners). It can't be all that bad if that many people are happily willing to shell out for a disney vacation to come down. I've already signed up for 2011

4-Disney did an awesome job of making sure the race had minimal impact on the parks. During the half marathon I went to magic kingdom, we did every single ride (minus teacups - not for me) by 11 am. All the water stops were conveniently located outside of parks, and they had the courses broken down immediately.

5-yes I agree this guy is probably a couch potato who can't imagine walking an extra 20 feet to use his fastpasses, or to wait an extra 5 minutes. This is Disney, I doubt waiting a minute for the runners to pass through significantly increased your TSM wait. Even with FP you're looking at 10 minutes during a busy time of day

 

[Duanerice]

I agree Disney did not notify people very well. We never got notified and we were at POP. Just so happens I got up early on Saturday and went to the food court for a bite to eat. I saw all these people lined up for a bus and thought, hmm.. so I asked someone where the busses were going. She told me to EPCOT. So I'm thinking my wife is asleep, won't be awake for 3 - 4 hours might as well get a few hours of park time in. So I hop on the bus.

When we got to EPCOT I just followed the crowds like you do at Disney. There were a lot of people there, wonder why I didn't know the parks were open this early. Grabbed a cup of coffee and just kind of wondered around. The crowds kind of took off down a path so I followed, always looking to see the back stage areas of Disney. We walked for a while then there were even more people standing in line. Thousands of them. Thinking there was something special going on, I jumped into line. I was able to get close to the front too, no one seemed to mind.

Donald and the gang came out and were entertaining the crowed for a while then all of a sudden everyone started running. I didn't want to miss out, so I went with them. They took a strange route to get into EPCOT but hey, what did I know?

I kept following and following. Went through EPCOT, although not much of the park was open which was disappointing. Took off out the back and we just kept running and running. I kept running because I didn't want to lose my place in line. Asked someone again where we were going and they said Magic Kingdom. Thought OK, but wondered why the busses weren't running. So I stayed with them and soon we were at the Magic Kingdom. It was fun and at least more of the park was open although Buzz wasn't open yet.

As we were exiting the park I again asked someone where we were going. They said back to EPCOT so I thought OK, need to catch the bus back to the hotel anyway. Got back to EPCOT and they served a continental breakfast. That was really nice of them. Since it was still a little chilly I decided to grab a bus and went back to the hotel. Got back to the hotel, showered and hopped into bed right about the time my wife was waking.

Sunday I got up early again and went to the food court for some coffee. Sure enough there were the busses again. I asked someone where they were going and they said EPCOT. I said, wait, yesterday I did this and I only got to go to EPCOT and Magic Kingdom. They said, yea but today you get to go to EPCOT, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Well, I had a few hours until my wife would get up so I hopped on the bus ......

Overall I do wish Disney would do a better job telling everyone the event was going on but hey, you are still at Disney....

enjoy,
Duane

 

[Dolce27]

First off, while 2010 was the first time I've run the WDW marathon, I knew about it for years. It's one of the top marathons and you can't help but hear about it when doing any type of WDW research.

Second, as your bus pulls up to your hotel, there are signs out front for the EXPO transportation - surely anyone checking in would have a clue that something is going on.

Third, I ran the full so I can't say how transportation was that day but I had no problems the morning of the 1/2. I wanted to go to EPCOT. I took the MK bus that pulled up shortly after I stepped out front. It did take us to the TTC instead of the main gate (oh the horror!) and I took the monorail to EPCOT (another small wait since everyone was having to take the monorail that morning. But seriously - not a bad wait.). EPCOT was dead. I enjoyed my morning that day with non-existent lines. I cheered on the runners as I passed them. Sometimes I had wait a minute or two for the runners to clear before I could cross but the CM's did an excellent job of getting guests across the paths. It just gave me another opportunity to cheer on the runners struggling out in that cold - all wet and miserable. One of the other DIS posters was at the MK that morning, enjoying an empty park, and riding Buzz Lightyear a gazillion times in a row.

It was poor planning on that man's part but he won't admit to it.