Disney Marathon

[rigsby25]

We planned and reserved a villa January 8 - 15. Unbeknownst to us at the time, the Disney Marathon is the week that we are going. What a surprise! My daughter wants to know when we're going in January because she wants to do the marathon! Can any one tell me any experiences with this. Whether you participated, got put out, didn't like about that time period, etc. I know I don't like to go when they have that cheerleading thing, because I don't like the shrill giggling, etc. from the teenagers - although I love that they are having fun and they are always well behaved. So - are the villas crowded? Parks? Roads closed? Please comment!

I realize this may be the wrong place to post, but I didn't see any other category that fit. I want to learn all I can as soon as I can about this weekend.

Thanks!

 

[mla1977]

For DVC-related questions for that weekend, you're in the right place. I've done the half marathon and I'll be doing the marathon this January. Check out the WISH boards for more information about the races. There is a sub-forum for events/competition.

 

[loritemp]

I have friends who have done the Disney marathon several times. A few of their comments:
-The race starts early so it really shouldn't impact your travel around the resort and even so, it is only one morning.
- The race itself is really fun when you are near a resort or in a park but when you are on those long stretches of raod between those sites, it can be really boring!
- None of my friends have run this race (and they are all seasoned Disney folks) have thought it leads to a huge increase in crowds. The only comment one of them ever made was be careful the day of and the day after the race, you could get stuck behind some super slow walking finishers!

I plan to run the Princes half next year and am not concerned one bit about the increased crowds!

 

[Chuck S]

We had an appointment at the Grand Floridian on marathon Morning this last January. It sure tied up traffic. And the resort busses were a mess, too. So there were traffic and bus problems that morning, and what seemed like higher than normal crowds for the parks even in extremely cold weather.

 

[KateB]

My DH and I are going to attempt to complete the half marathon in January. Fingers crossed... We are also bringing my parents for their very first visit, so I hope that it isn't too crazy.

 

[MaleficentFan]

We were there about three years ago during marathon weekend... it didn't affect the crowds at the park at all. We were staying at GF... we did hear some cheering and cow bell ringing for the runners in the early morning. But it wasn't so loud it woke us up... we only heard it because we were up and out on our balcony. I had an appointment at the spa for a massage the day after the marathon... it was the busiest I have ever seen the spa! If you're planning to do a massage or visit the spa, plan in advance and make your appointment several weeks in advance!

 

[RedSonya]

I ran the marathon a few years ago. Getting around WDW both Saturday and Sunday morning is difficult due road closures. The parks weren't overly crowded and there wasn't much giggling, but some groaning.

My DH didn't run, but was my support person. He saw me at the 4 mile point, 9 miles, 17 miles and at the end! The monorail works great. Everyone wears their medals and appreciates the congratulations.

If you can stay at OKW, you can walk to the start, thus sleeping longer. BLT has the monorail. All other DVC resorts have the bus.

 

[MickeyT]

We stayed at OKW in a 2 Bedroom last year. Six of us (DW, DS's and DBL's)did the 1/2 marathon. Other than bus traffic and some early morning park detours you will be fine. This year we stayed at BC and got around fine. Of course with it being freeeeeezing nothing was crowded in the parks.

We really enjoyed talking to runners from all over the place.

 

[Ms.Minnie]

We usually go to DW in Jan so we have experienced the marathon several times. I have never participated so I can’t give an opinion of the race itself but it is fun to see the runners running down the BW & into Epcot (we always stay at the BW). My one piece of advice would be to have your dining reservations in place as early as possible during that time because it is busier then normal during the marathon & the restaurants tend to be all booked up for last minute reservations. I know this from personal experience....

 

[rigsby25]

So it starts at Old Key West? That's where we're staying! I'm going to take a look at the wishes board then.

 

[mla1977]

The marathon and half marathon both start at Epcot. There are buses from each resort to the start on race day. The only resorts that it is near are the MK area resorts, and the YC/BC and BW resorts.

 

[gillep]

DH ran the full marathon last year and we are planning on doing it again this year!!!!! We found the crowds to be much lighter than expected and over the week that we were there we didn't think that the marathon made the parks any more crowded. Although we had all of our ADRs made ahead of time we planned on way too much travel time and were able to move all of our ADRs up to sooner times with no issues at all and were even able to add people to our reservation again with no issues!! My only complaint was how early they had spectators get to the race as they stopped running busses from the resorts at 5:30 so unless you wanted to watch the start (which I never do) you were waiting for a long time at the spectator areas.

 

[drusba]

If you are arriving Jan 8 (half marathon day) you should not have any traffic issues unless arriving in the morning. Jan 9 (marathon day) in the morning will have some bus traffic issues. Parks really do not get real crowded with marathon. If you are doing the marathon you should sign up now as they do have limits to number of participants. I have not participated but have watched (can sit on my balcony at BWV boardwalk view and watch them go past BC/YC). The marathon this year had one major issue -- it was colder than you can imagine it would ever be in WDW (in the high 20s when races started both days).

 

[DenLo]

Here's the maps for both the half marathon and marathon:

Half Marathon: http://adisneyworldsports.disney.go...ts/PDF/Endurance/WDWHalfMarathonCourseMap.pdf

Marathon: http://adisneyworldsports.disney.go.com/media/dwws_v0222/en_US/pdf/09MARATHONMAP.pdf

It does look like OKW might be a good location for the start of the races. I would not trust the Monorail to be open early in the morning before the marathon. That is something you would need to check out before race day if you plan to stay at BLT or another monorail resort.

We were at BLT during the Princess Half Marathon in March and just happened to be looking out the balcony door and noticed that there were horns and cheering going on. And then it dawned on us the race path went right down the street in front of the CR and BLT into MK. This was going on around 6:30 AM. By time we left for the park the race was over and it did not impact us what so ever. We walked to MK that morning for the rope drop at 9:00 AM. Later that afternoon we went to Epcot and then had dinner at Cape May and then returned to Epcot for a Summer Concert with Jose Feliciano. We took some photos for two runners dressed up for dinner wearing their marathon medals (and tiaras which they wore during the race). Should of taken some photos of them ourselves but didn't think of it.

I would think that if you plan to drive anywhere around MK or Epcot early in the morning on a race day you could be impacted. I think that Disney has the event well organized and everything is cleared out in time for the parks to open.

 

[2010Goofy]

I apologize in advance that I'm going to be long-winded but I thought I'd share my thoughts/opinions.

DW and I ran Goofy this year and ran the half in '09. We stayed at BLT in 2010 and rode the monorail to Epcot for the start which was MUCH eaiser and more convenient than 2009 when we stayed out at All-Star Sports and had to take the buses.

The monorail starts running early (4am, maybe earlier) so it is a very convenient way to get to the event if it is accessible to where you're staying.

We had an absolute blast running these events, especially Goofy, and will do so again. I would absolutely recommend to anyone. There are some portions on the full course which are not very exciting but that's true with every marathon I've run - and ugh, the stench going into AK! There are a lot of people running these too so the course can be pretty congested at times. Ultimately, I find the Disney half/full to be more about the experience then trying to run for my best time. I also think you miss out on the experience if you don't take in the unique aspects of the event. I mean where else can you stop and take pictures with Mickey, Goofy, Donald, in front of Cinderalla's Castle, etc etc etc?

Traffic was pretty bad both days but Sunday was worse which makes sense because it does go thru all 4 parks and lasts up to 7 hours as opposed to the half which only goes into MK and Epcot and has a 3:30 cut-off. We thought it would be easier just to take the bus back to BLT after the full marathon but that trek took more than 45 minutes.

As for crowds in the park: we didn't find the crowd levels unbearable either year. Admittedly, this year was hard to judge because the weather was pretty miserable on Sat and Sun. I will say that it was very cool walking around with our finishers medal and getting congrats from people

Ok, that's enough! If you have any questions though I'm happy to answer.