Crowd Levels and Hotel Availability during Marathons

[MsAlimar]

Hi Everyone,

This is my first time posting although I've been lurking for years. This site was a great help when I was planning our trip for Sept 2012.

We are planning another trip for the first week of May 2015. I just found out that the end of our trip coincides with the Tinkerbell Marathon. I'm concerned about crowd levels in the park and the hotel being booked if I don't reserve right away. We "could" change the dates but we were looking forward to going that particular week for 2 reasons: 1) coincidentally, good friends of ours are planning to be there the same week and 2) it will be my birthday that Friday and I would love to spend it in Disneyland.

My questions are:

How crowded will the parks be that Thu - Sat?
Will the hotels fill up? If so, how soon should I make our reservations?
Are the reservations cancellable or changeable if something comes up?
Should I call the hotel directly and ask them?

We don't usually reserve things this far in advance and we only decided to go on that particular week a few weeks ago. I am scared to wait too long and find that the rates went way up or that the hotel is full. We are planning on staying at the Disneyland Hotel. There will be 2 adults and 2 kids going.

Here's our itinerary in case it helps.

Friday, May 1, 2015 - Monday, May 4, 2015 - San Diego
Monday, May 4 - Sunday, May 10, 2015 - Disneyland Hotel.

 

[Itinkso]

The hotels are beginning to fill up beginning May 7 - 10. I checked Best Western Stovall's and it is already booked up as of Saturday for May 7-9.

If you have an idea of where you would like to stay, you should make reservations now to be safe.

 

[CastMember 02]

i work at a DGNH and we are sold out days after disney announces races

 

[kim3339]

I second trying to make reservations now if you can. Hotels are starting to get a little full and it'll just get more booked as time goes by, and the 3 resort hotels usually sell out for race weekends.

As for the crowds, you will notice an increase in people. Most of the runners will be coming in Thur and Fri. But how crowded is kind of up in the air as this is a new weekend for the race. (It used to be in January) The other factor is that w/ the date in Jan., a lot of runners went for a "girls weekend" and w/ it now Mother's Day, people might be going as a family. Saturday afternoon and evening should be fine as the runners will be back at the room resting and the same w/ Sunday morning as the runners are finishing and showering up before the parks. The runners will be out of the parks on all 3 days before park opening so park hours won't be a problem; they may move MM around though.

To give you an idea of the size of the race, the 1/2 will have about 15-17,000 runners, the 10k will have around 8,000 runners. There will be some overlap w/ people running both races.

If you want to eat at Naples in DTD or Wine Country in DCA Friday or Saturday night, try to make reservations as it will be really crowded w/ runners carbing up before the run.

 

[jina]

We signed up for the 5K which is on a Friday and booked HoJo's which so far appears to have plenty of rooms - I booked early because I did not want to take any chances and there was no up front deposit- I can always cancel if I need to closer to the date but I'm pretty sure we're going to stay there and not spring for on site. The best western across the street was already full. We've never been to DL for a race and are hoping it will not be too bad crowd-wise for the morning hours.

I just visited last week for my b-day. I pre-ordered a 6" cinderella cake (gluten free which is a huge deal as I'm not used to even being able to eat dessert when I go out unless it's ice cream) which was served at Storytellers for my b-day lunch before going to the airport and was a wonderful end to a great trip. Just something to consider if you're going there especially for your b-day. May 8 (the Friday) is our anniversary - I hadn't thought about ADR's- I'll have to mark 60 days out for that day so we can celebrate someplace nice, Blue Bayou or Carthay Circle perhaps.

 

[kim3339]

We signed up for the 5K which is on a Friday and booked HoJo's which so far appears to have plenty of rooms.

Just a tip about HoJo's, a lot of times if you're running and tell them you're running they will give you a discount. Not sure how big it is or if it's every race weekend, but it might help lower the room price for you.

 

[sechelt]

Monday, May 4 - Sunday, May 10, 2015 - Disneyland Hotel.

I agree with pp's that the on-site hotels book quickly and you should book as soon as possible. It's been a few years but when we booked GC, we could cancel up to four or five days before the reservation date, without penalty. I can't remember for certain but I think we needed to pay for the first night up front, which was fully refundable if we cancelled within the specified time.

 

[MsAlimar]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

I just finished making our reservations for the first week of May for the Disneyland Hotel. The representative confirmed that if I make a room only reservation I could cancel up to 5 days prior and get a full refund. I had to put down the first nights deposit.

I doubt we will change our plans but it's still 9 months away and it's nice to know that we have our rooms reserved but can still make changes if necessary.

I'm already getting excited to go!