Going to be at Disney World during Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon and I have ??'s

[ctc917]

So I haven't been at Disney World during one of these events and I was wondering if someone who has or someone who attends the Marathon could help me with some questions I have.
Should we just skip Disney World the whole weekend?
Should we skip Magic Kingdom and Epcot only and visiting Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios would be ok?
If we do go to Magic Kingdom on Sunday, which is the last day, is driving there a crazy thing to do or should we use the bus system if visiting that Sunday is our only option, meaning we only have a limited amount of days at Disney World.

Any other suggestions or ideas on what people did while this Marathon was going on would be helpful,

Thanks

ctc917

 

[bumbershoot]

Don't skip it.

Use the bus in Sunday. It's a half marathon and they'll be out of MK before park opening but the roads are still being used by runners. Let the bus drivers take you especially that day.

 

[DOOM1001]

I've done all the RunDisney events except for Princess but since the start times for the races are essentially the same as most race weekends there isn't really a difference.What you need to know is that with a 5:30 am start time for the 10k and half there won't be that much of an issue as the slowest runners in the half will probably finish at Epcot around 10:15-10:30.My point is that's the longest race and the majority of runners will finish just after Epcot opening time and by 9am Magic Kingdom will be cleared and ready to open with many guests having no clue 20,000 runners went through there.During the main marathon weekend in January the full is the one event where you have runners finishing as late as 1-2pm and running through all 4 parks with several major streets closed causing backups and delays,for Princess the issues are not as big a deal.I would say to avoid driving yourself as bus drivers will know what routes to take to best get you there.Epcot may have some delays near opening even if taking a bus but even so I would still go there by bus,another option to get to Epcot is to go to MK and take the monorail to Epcot.

 

[mountdew1]

Fri & Sat for the 5k and 10k you won't notice a thing. If you have some 7AM tour at Epcot you may see runners as your arrive, but thats about it. Only the first 2-3 miles of the 10k are on public roads, and those should be cleared out by about 6:30. Sun for the half you may run into road closures over by the MK if you have an early morning tour or breakfast at one of the MK resorts. As a PP said, the last runner for the half should be on course at 6:30, and maintaining the required pace means they are through MK by about 8. So getting to MK and MK resorts pre 7:30 can be tough, but after about 8:15 you won't notice a thing except for the runners leaving on the exit side of the road. The last mile or so is in Epcot, so you may run into delays getting to Epcot until about 10-10:30, or if you are in the park before that time you will have to follow CMs directions about when and where to cross parts of the park. Other than that, it's really low impact.