Disney Marathon, Jan 06, Crowds?? HELP

[kbelic]

Does anyone know what the crowds will be like during the marathon/
1/2 marathon weekend at Disneyworld? I found a websight through Disney, it basically said that the family fun run and 1/2 marathon would be Saturday January 7 @ Epcot. The full marathon is January 8 through all four parks, starting and ending at Epcot. It also said the marathon draws tens of thousands of people to Disney. We will be there form January 7-12, just wondering if anyone has been during previous marathons and if the crowd stick through the week, or just the weekend of the events? Thanks for any input.

 

[Mrsduck101]

I'd love to know the answer to this to. We are arriving Sunday morning and I'm wondering if we will have a hard time getting to Epcot that morning.

 

[mt2]

I have watched 2 of them. (Family running in them). both races finished approximately 2pm (give or take 30 min)

It will be harder to move around in the morning. A couple of the buses weren't running to AK from the Contemporary Resort at 8:00am. That is where we were trying to get to to see our runner.

Approximately half of EPCOT was roped off for runners but single file guests could get by in those areas. The back entrance of WS to the front of FW was where the race was ending. So from France to Mexico forward to FW 1/2 of the walkways were blocked.

If you see any runners, yell for them. By the time they get to AK (mile 17 - 19) they are exhausted. Cheer them on by YELLING!!! They will need the boost in spirit!

I hope this helps. I'll answer if I can.

 

[goodcook5]

the crowds were heavier than they should have been for January, but much less crowded than other times. Wait times were not too long. The marathons end in parking and are well planned to avoid the parks at opening. Most of the runners had cleared the parks and only a few stragglers (sp?) were finishing up. It was cute to see everone wearing their medals which were disney characters in design. The front desk was helpful in pointing out certain spots to avoid and the run misses one of the parks completly. Have fun. Wish I was going

 

[mt2]

I forgot to add that the runners are there (usually) for that weekend only. you will be able to tell who they are by what they eat at the restaurants the night before. Lots of starch. Rice, potatoes, and pasta.

 

[jiminy14]

We will also be there for the Marathon weekend and I have done some limited research on the crowds. Another website reports that 30,000 runners are expected with 16,000 running in the full marathon and 14,000 in the half. Disney has also instituted a new event this year where the runners can participate in both marathons and there are 3,000 runners registered for this. Pre-marathon events begin on January 5th at Wide World of Sports with the marathons scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. The Family Fun run of 5K is also scheduled for Saturday starting at 11:00 AM.
We intend on staying away from MK and AK on those days since we must use the buses to get to those parks. We are staying at BWV so we will probably end up taking the boat to The Studios one day and walking to EPCOT on the next day. From all that I have read, traffic in the morning is jammed and even the Disney buses have a difficult time getting around.

 

[fofinia]

We were at AK two years ago during the marathon. I don't remember any problems getting to the parks. We had a car and drove in no problem. The only thing we really noticed was the area for the runners was roped off in the park. Much like when the parade is coming thru and if you don't want to watch you have to squeeze by behind the people viewing. I don't remember the crowds being heavy. I prefer to go in January because the crowds are so light. So even if people stayed it didn't affect our time at the parks too much at all. Ride lines weren't any longer than I would've expected.

 

[MariDisney]

Our flight lands at 9:30 ish next Sunday, so I plan to have the rental car and be pulling onto property by noon at the latest. If I'm reading correctly, I should feel too much effect from the marathon...or I missed something in the info (quite likely!). Do you think we'll be avoiding most of the marathon impact?

 

[mt2]

Our flight lands at 9:30 ish next Sunday, so I plan to have the rental car and be pulling onto property by noon at the latest. If I'm reading correctly, I should feel too much effect from the marathon...or I missed something in the info (quite likely!). Do you think we'll be avoiding most of the marathon impact?

By the time you get there most of it will be cleaned up. Have fun!

 

[stitchthesnitch]

Lets See There Are No Rooms Left And There Is Barely Any Dining. There Is 29,000 People Running And Imagine Each Person Having 1 Kid.

Its Gonna Be Busy, Following Weekend Also, No Rooms Either.

I Work For The Reservation Center I Know This. Have Any Other Questions??

 

[musicdude]

We were in Disney last January the four days right after the marathon and didn't have to wait in any lines at all. I don't remember getting even one fast pass for anything. It was our first trip to Disney World and the only thing that would have made it more perfect would have been another four days. Have a great time

 

[DMRick]

The only thing we noticed the two times we went that weekend (other than the blocked roads..but that was just the first time when we didn't realize they would be blocked) was the restaurants were very crowded the night of the marathon, and many people were wearing their madallions (however, we were still able to get in, by leaving our names and coming back when they said to). We didn't find the park any more crowded than any other weekend in, say, May. Monday after the run was back to normal, with little crowds and minimal, if any waits. The night before the resorts were very crowded, but then, they often are on a weekend.

 

[disnutt]

This year is going to be something new so you can't reliably predict traffic from the past experiences. This is the first year they are splitting the events. The half-marathon will be run on Saturday and the whole will be run on Sunday.

There are potentially 2 days of bad traffic and crowds. I'm hoping that the split events will help.

 

[NCRedding]

I was there for the 2005 1/2 marathon. I didn't find that the crowds were bad. Of course, the hotel rooms were booked because it is so much easier to get to the marathon if you are staying on-site--but how many of those who are actually running the marathon will be in the parks on the weekend of the event. I did hit the parks when I did the 1/2 but I had an annual pass so I didn't feel I was wasting $$ to go--I wouldn't think too many people are going to spend a park hopper day to go after they compete on Saturday so I think Saturday will good for park attendance.

I do plan on avoiding Epcot on Saturday morning--I plan to park hop later in the day. The 1/2 will be over by 10 am, so crowds should be cleared by lunch time.

The following weekend will be busy because it is MLK weekend, and so many schools have extra days off at this time.