b4 or after marathon---which less crowded

[debm]

We are looking at a quick trip in January. I was supposed to go run the 1/2 marathon on the 9th but am not going to be able to do that now. We still want to go to the parks. Just wondering if anyone has experience around that time. Should we go the week of Jan. 2nd? or the week of the 9th? I'm guessing it will be more crowded after the race. Anyone know?? Thanks!!!

 

[NCRedding]

We have been 1/2-1/9 before and it was very quiet. Since the weekend after the marathon is MLK weekend, I expect it to be more crowded after the marathon.

 

[Jynohn]

We went last year from Jan. 1st to the 10th. I was actually very surprised by how crowded the parks still were for the first half of the trip, but they thinned out considerably by mid-week. I think the way the holidays fell last year caused people to extend their trips a few days longer than they normally would have. By the day of the marathon there were quite a few runners and their families around, but no way near the same crowd levels as earlier in the week.

Because of our experience last year, I planned this trip for the 7th-14th. I think the crowds will be a lot lighter the second week in January then the first week, when there are still a lot of people left over from the holidays. The marathon didn't seem to make that much of an impact.

Have fun!

 

[PanamaMike]

I arrived two days before the 2000 marathon and stayed for 2 weeks.
I was at Epcot the day of the race and if not for the runners going through the park, I never would have known the event was going on. The lines were almost always non-existant and some rides would send us around a second time since nobody was waiting to get on.
Had the added bonus of above average temps for January so even the nights were warm enough for shorts.