Best resort for Marathon weekend 2014?

[ANGRebel]

We will have 6 adults and two kids (3 & 1). Any thoughts on the best room choice? SSR is our home resort, and a GV is not an option. We've thought THV or try for 2BR at BLT if there's any availability at 7 months. Any thoughts or tips would be appreciated as this will be our first trip as DVC members!

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[Kygirls]

I don't have an answer, as we are brand new DVC owners at SSR, but we are also looking to come for the marathon in 2014 in we are bringing a crew. I am interested in the answers you receive from the experts.

 

[mistergq]

Stayed at Tree House Villas with 5 adults and 1 child for this past marathon weekend and would do it again for 2014.

Tree house only has two bedrooms for adults. The bunk beds are not good for adults because you will bang your head when you wake up in the middle night if you are on the bottom bunk.

So adults 5 and 6 need to sleep in the living room on the pull out couch.

At 3:00 AM, SSR sent one of the DVC vans around the tree houses every 15 minutes to pick up runners and dropped them off at the main bus area. It was very smooth process, but only ran from 3:00 to 3:45.

 

[bjakmom]

As far as getting around for/during the marathon - especially if any of you are spectators - I would do BLT. We just stayed at OKW for the marathon and loved it - just DH and I - but the transportation to/from and in between the marathon would be awesome from BLT.
For the 1/2 marathon I didn't even make it into the MK - waited at T&TC so I could jump right back on the monorail and beat him to the finish line (many people reported long lines at MK going back to T&TC that morning).
For the full marathon I ended up taking the resort monorail over to BLT from T&TC and walking to MK since they weren't opening the monorail until 5:30 AM to take people to MK (the resort monorail was by-passing the MK stop until then). If you were staying at BLT you would be right there already.

 

[bigtony777]

As posted above, BLT would be the best for spectators getting around to see those running. It would also be a great location for visiting MK on marathon day. Even more so than normal as the bus transportation is not great until late afternoon that day due to road closures.

Now if some were not running and wanting to visit HS or Epcot, then Boardwalk or Beach club would be bar far the best choices. Again due to buses and road closures for other resorts.

Other than the monorail resorts and being able to walk from OKW, I don't think there is much of a difference if you are only looking at transportation to and from the race for runners.

 

[madduck]

Do many people actually walk from OKW? Is it possible to walk from BWV?

 

[bigtony777]

Do many people actually walk from OKW? Is it possible to walk from BWV?

I know there were several that walked to the start line from OKW. There were some directions on the second 2013 marathon thread. They do not want for you to walk, but if I were staying there I would do it. It wouldn't be that much more of a walk from where the buses drop you off.

The walk to BWV would be much longer. You could walk back after the marathon if you had a ticket to get into Epcot. Depending on your speed (3 hour plus), you could do the same for the half. I found the bus back to the resort much better than getting there. The runners leaving are spread out much more than getting there so the traffic is not nearly as bad. I was back at BWV within 15 mins of crossing the finish line of the marathon and maybe 20 mintues on the morning of the half.

 

[drusba]

You cannot really walk to the Epcot lot. You need to arrive at 4 a.m. to get ready for start of the race. You cannot walk from the Epcot resorts because Epcot is closed and you would need to walk through it. You cannot walk from other resorts including OKW because walking outside the resorts along the roads is frowned upon and there are no sidewalks (some still do it). They have buses that run from the resorts to the Epcot lot

For OP, for a group your size, room size and number of beds may make a large difference. AKV Kidani, BLT and OKW 2BRs all provide the extra sleeper chair and can give you 2 queens in the second bedroom (in dedicated units at Kidani and BLT and all units at OKW). OKW provides the largest space, followed by AKV Kidani.

 

[ANGRebel]

What would be the chance of getting a 2BR at BCV or BWV for marathon weekend at the seven month mark?

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[tripletsmama]

What would be the chance of getting a 2BR at BCV or BWV for marathon weekend at the seven month mark?

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We stayed at BLT for the actual marathon, but for the 11 nights before it we were at BCV. When I was looking to switch from BCV to BLT I noticed that 2 bedroom lock offs and dedicated (but NOT the 2 queen bed category) were still available at 7 months.

 

[stitch4336]

Hi Anyone have any experience with SSR on race day?
This will be our first WDW race event - we've done both events at DLR, but you can walk to everywhere there so we had no problems.

SSR is our home resort (but we've never stayed there HA!). I went ahead and booked a ressy for Jan to cover the race weekend but was thinking of moving at 7 months if I find a better option for the race - and it's available!

We have 3 adults for sure - 2 runners, 1 spectator. Possibly adding another spectator or 2. Any thoughts on SSR greatley appreciated! Did the early AM busses to the corrals work fine? Transport back work ok? Thanks!

 

[kaulds]

I stayed at SSR this past year, it was very convenient . The bus line did get long but it went fast. I am going to consider staying there again last year.

 

[Deb & Bill]

When you catch the bus to the start of the race at SSR and OKW, you have to catch the bus at the main building. These buses do not go around the resort picking you up.

You don't want to walk from OKW. They seriously don't want you to do that with the traffic on the road before the race start and the course is fenced. You'd have to climb over a fence to get to the race.

BLT may be hard to get at seven months. Because it is so convenient with the monorail.

 

[stitch4336]

Thanks for the responses! I think we may keep our SSR ressy then
It is my home resort after all - I reckon I should stay there once haha. HEY just realized SSR has a spa! Post race massage - YES please.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We have participated in 2 Marathon weekends. Once we had BLT, booked at 7 months with a waitlist for a 2 bedroom that was fulfilled, and once in AKV, Kidani. Transportation was great, good for each.

The family is doing things again for 2014, and I asked about OKW here, people have given favorable thoughts, so that's where I hope to book at 7 months out.

Bobbi

PS. We are waiting for ROFR on a BLT contract, and if we can get in there, I am still unsure that it would be better than OKW, but I may book it if I can so that we have something when the 7 month window opens.

 

[kkbutterfly]

I just booked my hubs for AKV Jambo house. We stayed at AKV Kidani Village in 2012 and the lines for the buses weren't bad and the resort seemed a bit quieter. I heard there were horrible lines at the All Stars but we only waited a little bit at AKV. Then went to the pool after to recover!

Good luck! I hope to get down there for the weekend. The hubs will be doing Doopy!

 

[ludari]

If you are paticipating in the race you might want to consider one of the "host" resorts listed on the runDisney site. This will ensure you have transportation to the expo and from/to races. If this is not an issue and you have your own transportation (which I wouldn't do because of the traffic) I would prefer something away from the other runners and have those amenities your family prefers (pool, distance to park, resturants, value, etc).

 

[Deb & Bill]

We've been there for several marathons. We've stayed at VWL and OKW for every one. We did try to get BLT two years ago on the waitlist for four nights, but it never came through. We love the space at OKW.

This last year we were at VWL and I drove to Epcot while my runners took the bus. They waited for a long time for the bus and nearly missed the start of the race because the bus was so late. I got there with plenty of time to spare and had I known the bus out front wasn't a race bus, but the ME bus, I would have driven them to the start. You just have to take the long way past OKW, CBR, DHS, etc. It took me about 40 minutes to get to Epcot this time. Took me over an hour the last time and I drove from Epcot.

All the resorts have transportation to the Expo and the races for the Disney Marathon. It's not that way for the smaller races.

If you did sign up for the marathon already, check the schedule because they have added some races to the weekend (Dopey, anyone??).

 

[anna08]

DH did marathon in 2012 and the walk from OKW was so easy - the street that intersects with the starting gates is not completely fenced off and there were
several marathon veterans who were walking easily to their start at 4am instead of waking at 2am to catch a bus from a designated resort. There's very little traffic at that time of day, and police directing people where to go.

I drove DH to the entrance of OKW, he hopped out and walked with the crowd to his starting gate and I drove on to the T&TC to watch at first of many stops. It is not a fun race to try to intersect with your runner - not all resort busses are running, and the monorail system is backed up like I have never experienced before.

I'm sure there are more experienced Disney race participants who can give you better advice - when I posted two years ago the advice was unanimous OKW. You might try to ask on a different board.