Do the Diz marathons interfere with Park activities?

[DizWacko]

We will be going to Disney the same time as the marathon. I know there are many many people coming to Disney for the marathon, and part of it actually goes through the parks?? Does this make the parks super crowded during these 2 days? What time of day does the marathon start and what time does it end?

Many thanks

 

[ducklite]

The marathon starts at 6:00am, and most runners are done by 11:00ish, so there is minimal interference.

Anne

 

[PCFriar80]

We, the marathoners will be the ones sitting on the benches most of Sat. and Sun.

 

[DizWacko]

But do the extra crowds effect the theme parks themselves or mostly just the routes in which they are running on the Disney World property?

Thanks

 

[maryliz]

I did the 1/2 marathon in January. We arrived on the Thurs and yes, the parks were busier until the Tuesday ... after that, the parks died right down. And when I say "busier", there were some wait times that were 30-45 minutes. Nothing like the summer months, if that's what you're worried about.

MaryLiz

 

[ducklite]

In the early morning you will find transportation around some parts of WDW to be restricted if you are trying to drive your own vehicle. You might need to allow for extra travel time as well. Otherwise it won't be a problem.

Most of teh runners have cleared the parks by the time they open, except Epcot, and that won't be a problem either.

Anne

 

[DizWacko]

That answers my questions, thank you very much for your help

 

[HopperFan]

FYI - The half marathon and marathon have now been split to two days (meaning potentially twice the runners than previous years), so the morning routines will be affected Sat and Sun now. Sat the half should clear out of MK by opening but will end at Epcot followed by family runs. I think Epcot wil be the only park with issues. Sun all parks will have some affect in the morning, with MGM and Epcot seeing the most since they are the last two parks for runners. Driving will be difficult in the early hours and even buses are re-routed.

Many southern states are out of school until the 9th, so many like us are now coming for the entire week before the race instead of just the long weekend. Depending on when you are arriving, that could impact the park attendance.

 

[DizWacko]

Thanks, but do the runners actually enter the theme parks? If you have 10,000 runners, do all 10,000 enter the MK and Epcot? Im really only worried about the theme parks themselves, not the roads or the buses/monorail.

Thanks : )

 

[Kuzco]

I was at WDW during the marathon about 3 years ago. Yes, the runners do come through the parks, but it causes minimal interference. I remember having to stop a few times before crossing certain paths, just to let the runners by. It really isn't a big deal at all.

By the way, attendance was extremely low when we were there during the marathon. We walked on to almost everything. I know things can change in 3 years, though.

I'll be there that week this year as well!

 

[10nis]

Hey there..YES. The runners enter the theme parks :

The half marathon is Saturday, that race starts at EPCOT at 6am...goes around thru MK and finished back at EPCOT. The runners will be LONG gone out of MK when the park opens but will run thru EPCOT w/ the park open.

The full marathon is Sunday. The runners will run thru EPCOT and MK w/the parks CLOSED. They do run thru Animal Kingdom, MGM and EPCOT w/ the parks open. It didn't seem like a problem for park guests to me as I ran thru last year. Disney does a great job roping off the course for the runners/park guests. Actually, the faster runners will finish the races before any of the parks open!!

I have no idea how many they allowed to register this year since they split the half marathon to a new day? Last year it was 24,000 for both races on Sunday.

course map of the full marathon:
http://adisneyworldsports.disney.go.com/media/dwws_v0220/en_US/pdf/06FullCourseMap.pdf

course map for half marathon:
http://adisneyworldsports.disney.go.com/media/dwws_v0220/en_US/pdf/06HalfCourseMap.pdf

 

[HopperFan]

Full marathon must be completed in 7 hours - start is at 6 am. Last year we saw folks still heading towards the MGM studios at noon (we were done Half, eaten, packed and heading home)....after MGM they had to cross over to Epcot. AK had to be open when they were there as well. I imagine only the MK will be clear of runners for regular guests on Sunday. (Saturday shouldn't be a problem except in the Epcot parking lot during the family races and end of Half.)

At MK we watched DS run down Main Street (he entered park around SM) and then he disappeared behind castle. He ran behind it, then through it and over to adventureland and out a back entrance. Spectators were allowed on Main Street only, the rest of park was roped off. But he said there were characters cheering them on back there.

Looks like the registration is closed except through charitable organizations.
Could mean a full house of runners and their cheerleaders

 

[lovesdumbo]

I'm sure things will be different if they are doing the 1/2 marathon on Sat but when we were at WDW during the 2004 marathon the crowds at MK the Saturday before the race were MUCH higher than I expected. A lot of runners had their families with them so I would say yes attendance at the parks is higher due to the marathon. I'm sure it dropped way down right after the race because I think a lot of marathoners went home on Sunday.

 

[ducklite]

Keep in mind that for the full, as stated above the runners are out of the MK before it opens. By the time they hit AK they are somewhat spread out, and it really starts to thin from that point on. So yes, there are runners in the parks while they are open, but you will have no problem moving around.

I don't think the marathon had anything to do with the MK being crowded last year on Saturday. I think it was because it was a GORGEOUS day and a lot of locals with AP's and seasonal passes visited.

Anne

 

[lovesdumbo]

I don't think the marathon had anything to do with the MK being crowded last year on Saturday. I think it was because it was a GORGEOUS day and a lot of locals with AP's and seasonal passes visited.

Anne

We were there in 2004 and it was COLD not gorgeous. Maybe I should have known better and skipped the MK on a Saturday but it was my DS's 3rd birthday and I wanted to celebrate at the Crystal Palace. I'm sure crowds are higher at other times but the crowds were bigger than I anticipated-higher than I've ever experienced before-high enough to make it difficult to move around. We've decided January just isn't for us. We had a very cold trip (well even the 30's one night were better than the sub zero temps at home) and you worried about someone in the family getting the flu (ok that could happen lots of others times too) and we had to worry about flight delays due to snow at home and coming home to a driveway full of snow and a house with broken pipes.

 

[ducklite]

We were there in 2004 and it was COLD not gorgeous. Maybe I should have known better and skipped the MK on a Saturday but it was my DS's 3rd birthday and I wanted to celebrate at the Crystal Palace. I'm sure crowds are higher at other times but the crowds were bigger than I anticipated-higher than I've ever experienced before-high enough to make it difficult to move around. We've decided January just isn't for us. We had a very cold trip (well even the 30's one night were better than the sub zero temps at home) and you worried about someone in the family getting the flu (ok that could happen lots of others times too) and we had to worry about flight delays due to snow at home and coming home to a driveway full of snow and a house with broken pipes.

Oops! My bad. You are right, in 2004 it was very cold! In 2005 it was unseasonably warm. In fact we were at our house taking advantage of the beautiful day to get some yardwork done until about 4:30 Saturday afternoon before heading to WDW to check in.

There was a blizzard in the Northeast a few days before the 2001 marathon, and lots of people had trouble getting out. We were lucky and our flight was more or less on time, but many had been cancelled the two days before, and lots of people were waiting for standby seats. We flew down on Thursday morning to allow DH to acclimate to the warmer weather, and so that we had a little breathing room if there was a weather problem.

Anne