Best DVC Resort for runDisney races?

[Docmom]

Doing our second Disney 5k during Marathon weekend in January (fledgling runners). We own at AKV but would rather stay at Beach Club or Boardwalk. Both have openings now but who knows at our 7 month point in June. My question to any of you who've done the races is what are the better resorts to stay at for easier access to the runDisney busses? We just did the Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend 5K and stayed at Beach Club. The bus system was ok except for Saturday when we wanted to go to the Expo and it took forever for the bus to show up (apparently they were having bus issues that day). Would it be wiser to book AKV then switch in June, or just wait until June and hope BCV or BWV are still open? What about OKW or SSR? My concern with either of those is the bus system. We're having to get up extremely early so would prefer to not be on a bus more necessary....or have crazy long walks to the bus stop. Thanks!

 

[bwvBound]

I think it depends on the specific race. Each race has its own list of "host" hotel locations. You'd want to be at a DVC associated with one of the host hotels in order to access the special busses dedicated to the race event.

 

[jbish]

I did the Princess Half in 2014 and stayed at our home resort BLT (which may be hard to get if it's not your home resort for marathon weekend). This worked out so great for us. I could ride the monorail over to Epcot for the start. It was an easy ride back after the race. Getting to the expo wasn't an issue as they had buses running.

As for "host" hotels, at least for my race, every Disney hotel was a "host" - that basically just means they'll have expo buses running. I would think for the biggest event, the marathon, they open up the host hotels to nearly everything.

I think the key in picking a place to stay is ease in getting to the race (as that's the time that transportation matters the most!).

 

[ZellyB]

For Marathon weekend all resorts are host resorts. We rented points at BCV for January, but I'm not sure any specific location is necessarily superior to another. You can't walk to the start of the races even if you are staying at an Epcot resort, so you will be on a bus or monorail (or private vehicle if you drive) regardless of where you stay. From what I've heard from most people, there's not much difference in bus service between most of the resorts, but that a monorail resort might be more convenient rather than relying on a bus. We stayed at Shades of Green one year and found the buses very convenient and readily available.

You might want to ask this question as well on the runDisney forum for more input.

 

[twinsouvenirs]

This is a great question. I am wrestling with this right now--we have a reservation for wine & dine at VGF but I really want to stay somewhere 'cheaper'... but the monorail access/walk to TTC access is priceless. That said, all the other resorts are booked up anyway! I always feel in the middle of the action at OKW--it is so heavily DVC and it seems like DVC is all runners there on the run weekends

 

[kristenabelle]

Larger races - Marathon weekend, Princess - have all hotels as host hotels. Tower of Terror Ten Miler (older race) only had a select few. The runDisney website usually posts them in advance.

 

[bumbershoot]

They are all considered host resorts for the current rundisney events. It's always been that way for Princess and January, and now that Wine&Dine has more events they list all resorts as hosts. Dark Side this year started that way; all resorts are hosts.

I don't think there's anyone better than the other.

For Princess this year the monorail was ONLY available for the Half runners that morning. It was NOT available for 5K or 10K. FWIW. Not sure how the January runs were. But I wouldn't expect the monorail. In fact even if I were running the longer distances for January or Princess going forward I wouldn't book based on the monorail. (I booked Bay Lake for it based on previous years, and it was less than a month out that they announced it wasn't available for 5 and 10K)

If staying at Boardwalk, you still have to take a bus to get to the start. And the only way you can walk back after the race is if you have a ticket that you were going to use that day at Epcot (or you have a hopper you were going to use that way).

So really, stay where you want to stay. Any resort can have bus issues, FWIW.

 

[ludari]

For marathon week I prefer to stay at one of the resorts that has monorail access just to have different transportation options.

 

[Docmom]

Thanks! I didn't realize the monorail also was available for some of the races. We're just doing the 5K at this point but eventually want to move up to 10K and half; at that point staying at a monorail resort may make more sense for the added option. We have an annual pass so going through EPCOT to get back to the room isn't an issue from that perspective but at the Star Wars half they said we couldn't get into the park to walk back until 9....and we didn't want to hang around that long so just took the bus back. I will say one of my favorite parts of our last trip staying at Beach Club was taking a morning walk on our last day, going into EPCOT and grabbing a quick breakfast at the Boulangerie in France before we had to head home...pure Disney magic.

 

[Csel]

Any recommendations for a DVC hotel to stay at for the Wine and Dine. We are west coasters, hoping to do the wine and dine in 2017 and would like to use our DVC points. This will be our first trip to WDW

 

[officer tigger]

I did the Star Wars 1/2 marathon two weeks ago and stayed at Saratoga Springs Bandstand area. I found this resort to be very quiet and easy to fall asleep so I could catch the 3AM bus. When I got on the bus it was filling up fast but there was another one behind it ready to take on passangers. Leaving ESPN all the resorts were lined up in a parking lot and Saratoga had the shortest line. But like others have posted, I believe every Disney resort is considered a host resort.

 

[bumbershoot]

Any recommendations for a DVC hotel to stay at for the Wine and Dine. We are west coasters, hoping to do the wine and dine in 2017 and would like to use our DVC points. This will be our first trip to WDW

Same answer as above, really! Wine and Dine is just another rundisney event now, since they changed it from a night run. All resorts are hosts now, unlike before. Pick one, ride the bus, enjoy.

but at the Star Wars half they said we couldn't get into the park to walk back until 9....and we didn't want to hang around that long so just took the bus back.

That ended at WWoS, yes? That's the difference. For the ones that end at Epcot, there's the possibility of walking through to get to BW etc.

 

[tidefan]

I actually think the walk to the 1/2 marathon corrals would be shorter from some parts of OKW than from the Epcot parking lot...

 

[bumbershoot]

I actually think the walk to the 1/2 marathon corrals would be shorter from some parts of OKW than from the Epcot parking lot...

No doubt. That's why people used to do it. Alas, it's not allowed anymore.

 

[Docmom]

I did the Star Wars 1/2 marathon two weeks ago and stayed at Saratoga Springs Bandstand area. I found this resort to be very quiet and easy to fall asleep so I could catch the 3AM bus. When I got on the bus it was filling up fast but there was another one behind it ready to take on passangers. Leaving ESPN all the resorts were lined up in a parking lot and Saratoga had the shortest line. But like others have posted, I believe every Disney resort is considered a host resort.

Thanks for the insight. I was concerned Saratoga would have longer waits but sounds like it was smoother than at Beach Club!

 

[Deb & Bill]

I actually think the walk to the 1/2 marathon corrals would be shorter from some parts of OKW than from the Epcot parking lot...

That's why you can't do it. You will be kicked out of the race if they catch you walking from OKW or POFQ/POR. Everyone must come from the buses or cars at Epcot main entrance.

 

[SuperRob]

My wife and I just booked VGF for the Star Wars Dark Side half in April. Should we consider switching to another resort at the 7-mo window if we can? We booked a week, and we'd prefer to stay at VGF overall, but if it would be more convenient to be somewhere else, please let me know. It's our first runDisney event, and I want my wife to have a great experience.