Advice....Marathon 2015...Crowds?

[karenbaco]

Got a great deal on air and booked a trip not realizing it was Marathon weekend. I am taking my foreign exchange student who has never been. We only have 2 days at the parks and now I am thinking we won't see much . Can anyone comment on how the crowds are for rides during Marathon weekend? Any tips or strategies? We will be there 1/8-1/14 and Marathon is 1/7-1/11. Like I said we only have 2 Park days.
Thanks

 

[mountdew1]

The biggest impacts from Marathon weekend are traffic/closures, and having to share the park paths with runners still on course. Weds is Expo at WWoS only, Thurs is Expo, and early AM 5k at Epcot (done well before park opens). Fri is Expo and early AM 10k at Epcot (done before park opens). Sat is Expo and Half Marathon, runners may still be at the Epcot area when the park closes, but the biggest impact with be the World Drive down to one lane early AM in the MK/Contemporary area. This mostly affects people trying to make 7-7:30 AM ADRs, and any early morning MK tours. Sun is the Full Marathon. Same issues with early morning MK area road closures, and then runners will still potentially be in AK, DHS, and Epcot once the parks open. AK will clear out first, with DHS not clearing out til 11-12, and Epcot still having stragglers as late at 1:30-2.

All that said, yes, runners do go to the parks. However, many choose not to go to the parks as well, choosing instead to rest or rehab. (We need to be up & on buses at 3-4 in the AM, so have a full day already before parks even open) So while the hotels and resort restaurants may be full, the parks aren't that bad. Key thing is to allow for extra time when going anyplace in the morning Sat/Sun, and try to take Disney transportation whenever possible as the drivers should know the detours already.

 

[Cando86]

The biggest impacts from Marathon weekend are traffic/closures, and having to share the park paths with runners still on course. Weds is Expo at WWoS only, Thurs is Expo, and early AM 5k at Epcot (done well before park opens). Fri is Expo and early AM 10k at Epcot (done before park opens). Sat is Expo and Half Marathon, runners may still be at the Epcot area when the park closes, but the biggest impact with be the World Drive down to one lane early AM in the MK/Contemporary area. This mostly affects people trying to make 7-7:30 AM ADRs, and any early morning MK tours. Sun is the Full Marathon. Same issues with early morning MK area road closures, and then runners will still potentially be in AK, DHS, and Epcot once the parks open. AK will clear out first, with DHS not clearing out til 11-12, and Epcot still having stragglers as late at 1:30-2.

All that said, yes, runners do go to the parks. However, many choose not to go to the parks as well, choosing instead to rest or rehab. (We need to be up & on buses at 3-4 in the AM, so have a full day already before parks even open) So while the hotels and resort restaurants may be full, the parks aren't that bad. Key thing is to allow for extra time when going anyplace in the morning Sat/Sun, and try to take Disney transportation whenever possible as the drivers should know the detours already.

I'll be there during this time as well and this was very helpful! Thank you!

 

[MistressGracey]

I ran the princess half in February and i'm coming down for the WDW Half in January as well..from experience, like the other posters said, the runners have a very early start time (we often wake up around 3 am to make it to our corrals on time)....You would be best to tour in the mornings/early afternoon...After the races we typically will ice and rest up for the afternoon and not choose to hit the parks until later in the day or that evening..

 

[DOOM1001]

I ran the princess half in February and i'm coming down for the WDW Half in January as well..from experience, like the other posters said, the runners have a very early start time (we often wake up around 3 am to make it to our corrals on time)....You would be best to tour in the mornings/early afternoon...After the races we typically will ice and rest up for the afternoon and not choose to hit the parks until later in the day or that evening..

You get up late,the first buses start to arrive to pick up the runners at the resorts at 3am and I'm usually on the first one which means I'm up at 1:45-2am.After running the races by 2pm you're wiped out and ready to get a meal in you and go back to bed.Depending on how I feel will determine if I even leave the hotel to hit a park or DTD later in the night.I remember my first full marathon a couple of years ago,I was with my mom who was just a spectator,she however got up with me in the middle of the night and she then took Disney transportation all over WDW to see me in different parks,she said it was so hectic along with getting up at 2am that she was beat,we went back to the room and she slept from like 3-4pm until 8am the next morning.I also fell asleep around 4pm but got up at 7pm,got something to eat in the hotel and just walked around trying to prevent my legs from getting too stiff.I joke with her as to who ran the marathon,the one who took a 3 hour nap after the race or the one who slept like 15-16 hours after.Basically what I'm saying is even runners with annual passes like I have might not even do much of the parks with so much going on.With the expo before the races,getting up so early many runners don't even buy park tickets,there's even a party at DTD for runners on Sunday night which I've never made it out to.So runners can do a full weekend of events with hitting the parks and many do, as you'll see the crowds are very manageable.

 

[bumbershoot]

The good thing is, you'll likely beat any runners to attractions, because after we've raced we aren't moving all that fast.

I would say it's mainly transportation during the races you need to worry about, which really means morningtime on the Saturday and Sunday. Take Disney transportation those mornings. (and I"m not a Disney transportation enjoyer normally)

 

[thundersparkle]

FYI at our hotel we were woken up at 5 am and 3 hours later it's still screaming, booming club music that is shaking our 5th floor room with some guy on a megaphone screaming "RUN BI&*CHES RUN!" every 2 seconds. This is in the back of a set back resort. I assume the guy is on a boat in the lake (Ft. Wilderness Lodge). It's horrible. it stinks. Resort flyer in rooms only talked about crowds and road closures for marathon (makes sense) not that we'd be in the middle of a blaring club at 5 am. Do not go if you're not a marathoner & you're staying on property. I'm already so mad, if I had little kids I'd probably be even worse.