Crowd question (W&D 1/2 Marathon)

[Angel Ariel]

How quickly do the crowds tend to dissipate after a RunDisney event?

We're thinking of heading to the Wine & Dine 1/2 marathon in November..just us, no DD. I know the weekend itself will be more crowded...will that continue into Monday?

 

[goofy4tink]

I was there last year..it got crowded starting on Friday..then by Sunday night, it had thinned down a lot. I left on Tuesday and the parks were pretty good on Monday. Leaving on Monday this year.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Right now we're planning on staying til Tuesday, so that's good to hear. Were you in Epcot at all over the weekend? Since we won't have DD, we thought we might try and take in more of the culinary demonstrations and such that we couldn't in October b/c we had her (I know we'll need to book in advance for some). Was Epcot crazy crowded because it was the last weekend of the festival?

 

[TDC Nala]

Epcot is crazy crowded on every weekend of the festival.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I know it's more crowded on the weekends. I didn't word that well...is it *more* crowded than other weekends because it's the last weekend?

I'm not worried about riding rides or even the food booths. If we go, I'll be going to the Finish Line party for participant families and will have access to all of that there. Since we didn't get a chance to go to any of the demonstrations last time, I don't really have an idea for what the demand is for them (not the special ones...I know those need to be reserved ASAP when they are opened, but the daily ones).

 

[TDC Nala]

It's so crowded on every weekend that it has become hard to tell whether or not it is MORE crowded on any particular weekend. Used to be you could tell based on which weekend. Now you can't. It's just all crowded. Big crowds Friday night through Sunday afternoon/ evening no matter when you go.

We also don't yet know what the effect will be of the extra week that's been added at the beginning of the festival.

As far as the seminars/demonstrations (assuming you are interested in the ones at the Festival Center) only some of the celebrity chefs (there are a couple of Disney restaurant chefs that could be considered "celebrity" to the festival crowd and demand will be higher for them) will sell out ahead of time. As far as wine, if John Lasseter shows up, he will sell out quickly.

 

[wmpenguin]

So for a family that will be there that week and want to avoid all W&D marathon crowds, are we screwed? I just looked at the info and saw that the race goes through AK, DHS, and Epcot. The race is at night - how will the daytime be affected at the parks? I was planning to go to Epcot earlier in the week and just avoid it during the weekend, but are all the other parks (and driving) going to be affected that day? Will there be a lot of roadblocks, and starting when? Also there is a 5K that morning at AK, I guess I should avoid AK that day too?

 

[TDC Nala]

Daytime in the parks will not be affected at all by the wine and dine half marathon. I don't drive there, but there were no issues taking buses.

Avoid World Showcase on the weekends if you are not interested in the festival. Future World will not be that busy. The festival itself will cause no appreciable difference in the other parks. Some other events might (i.e. Jersey week, Columbus Day weekend, fall school breaks).

I'm betting that 5k may be over before you even get to AK.