Epcot after Princess Half Marathon

[jrsharp21]

My wife is running in the Princess Half Marathon this year and we are trying to plan our park plans. Since the half marathon finishes at Epcot my guess is that a ton of the people just go over to Epcot afterward making for a crowded park. We are thinking about heading over to AK instead. Anyone have any experience with this? Just trying to see if it's worth going to AK or if its going to be too big of a mess to head out and it's better just to stay at Epcot?

 

[disnut8]

While I can't speak for this specific half marathon, we were at Epcot for the full marathon a few years ago and we first went to Animal Kingdom (just my husband and I) while my son and his family went to Magic Kingdom. Then we went to Epcot while the full marathon was in the parks (I honestly don't know where it ended up). What we found was things were just as normal as they could be with lots of Cast Members directing foot traffic so the runners were not distracted by anything. And after the runners were done, Epcot seemed the same as normal.


Quite honestly, if in any crowded conditions, Epcot is our favorite place to be because there are so many places to just take a break. For example, the Friday after Thanksgiving, it was a bit more crowded but we found an off the beaten path place to actually sit and be able to watch the first night of the holiday tag of Illuminations.


But consider what your wife will want/need to do after the marathon. You might have to leave Epcot for her to get a breather or changed or whatever. You might not know that until after the race.

 

[bumbershoot]

But consider what your wife will want/need to do after the marathon. You might have to leave Epcot for her to get a breather or changed or whatever. You might not know that until after the race.

Agreed.

Has she done that distance before? Is she generally up for a park right after that distance? I'm a sweaty cramping mess after a half and there's no chance I'm subjecting myself to other (non running) humans with noses lol.

I go back to the room, clean up, soak my feet, etc.

So for me I would look to what parks would be like several hours after my finish.

 

[KristinU]

You may get a handful of extra folks there since the race finish line is there, but I think the vast majority of runners go back and shower up and change before doing anything else (with the exception of the old Wine and Dine after party...in which case we brought clean clothes to change into, but they've changed that up now anyway, so that's moot.) After 13.1 miles I stink!

 

[jrsharp21]

Yea, I am not so concerned with the runners going into the park afterward, but the spectators and families. Me and the kiddos are going to watch her cross the finish line. Then once we meet up with her and congratulate her run, she is going to go back to the room, clean up and relax. She told us to go into the park and do our thing while she is back at the hotel. Then we are going to meet up with her later in the afternoon at Epcot.

Trying to decide if we just do Epcot all day or head over to AK in the morning if Epcot will be a little bit more crowded.

 

[pangyal]

I ran the Glass Slipper last year and found it far more crowded at Epcot after the 10k portion. After the half the next day, we were at MK all day and it was horribly packed...we might have been on the same trajectory as the majority of participants. I'd say to avoid Epcot for the 5k and 10k days, and it would probably be fine for the next day.