How busy is marathon weekend at the parks?

[lovemy4sweeties]

I just now realized that right in the midst of our stay, is the marathon weekend. Does the marathon go through all of the parks? Is it a lot busy during that time? Are rates at the Fort higher during this time? I'm wondering how to plan our stay? What should I expect for this weekend?

 

[des1954]

There are several marathons during the year at WDW. The BIG one is in January and encompasses Fri, Sat & Sun. I think it's either the 2nd or 3rd weekend of the month. This particular weekend is extremely busy at the parks and at the resorts - including FtW.

The smaller marathons held during the rest of the year have little impact on the crowds that I've noticed.

There is a triathalon at FtW in, IIRC, May. FtW will be very busy with joggers, bicyclist and swimmers (hence, triathalon), but the rest of WDW absorbs the increase without much impact on the park crowds.

I hope this helps.

 

[lovemy4sweeties]

We plan to be there from Jan 1-14. I think the big marathon weekend is Jan 9-11. So, how busy is busy? Busy enough that it might be a better idea to stay offsite for that weekend? That might be beneficial anyway. I could book the dining plan for our first 9 days, then come back after the weekend for 3 more nights w/o the dining plan. Would that work?

 

[des1954]

Busy as in.... the theme parks and resorts are cram-full!! My niece ran the full marathon this past January and I live 30 minutes away from WDW & was over there every day - and we've been at FtW many years during the marathon. So..... NO - DO NOT STAY OFF SITE if you are planning a trip for this particular weekend!!!

A lot of internal roads are closed to general traffic and only the Disney busses are allowed prior to 11am each day. Epcot & MK parking lots have a lot of spaces devoted to tents for the runners, so parking is limited, at best. Stay on site if you can & use Disney transportation.

I've never used the dining plan, so I can't answer on that one. Maybe others can testify to the merits of the dining plan. I know my DBro used it one trip & commented that all you did was think of what or where you were going to eat next.

 

[PolynesianPixie]

We've been there for the big marathon weekend, as well as a Minnie marathon. The days leading up to it gradually get more and more crowded, but I certainly wouldn't avoid the resorts because of it. In fact, if you are planning to come to Disney those days, it is probably best to be there already and rely on Disney transportation. The days between New Years and the Marathon are fairly slow, though. If you can get into the parks on the morning of New years day, you will be amazed at how few people actually make it!

 

[lovemy4sweeties]

Thanks for the head's up Debbie. I actually meant, what if we stay off site and not visit WDW for that weekend. Maybe do some other stuff in Florida that doesn't involve Disney. Would that be a good idea? It does seem like a hassle to pack everything up and go somewhere else, then come back for a few more days after the weekend, but we thought about doing that anyway either before our WDW stay or after. This way it would just be in the middle. Honestly, one of the perks for going in January for us is the lack of crowds. With 4 small kids, it just doesn't feel safe to be in huge crowds kwim?

I looked into the marathon weekend info and noticed there are some kiddie races on the Friday and Saturday. It didn't list any other info (as to times, prices etc). If we do decide to stay at the Fort throughout the weekend, I might be interested in registering my kids for the kiddie races. Since you live so close, I was wondering if you remember hearing anything about it?

 

[lovemy4sweeties]

We've been there for the big marathon weekend, as well as a Minnie marathon. The days leading up to it gradually get more and more crowded, but I certainly wouldn't avoid the resorts because of it. In fact, if you are planning to come to Disney those days, it is probably best to be there already and rely on Disney transportation. The days between New Years and the Marathon are fairly slow, though. If you can get into the parks on the morning of New years day, you will be amazed at how few people actually make it!

Thanks Ami . You didn't find it too overwhelming to be there on the marathon weekend? So, the days leading up to it gradually get busier....what about the few days afterwards?

 

[PolynesianPixie]

Deb may know more about it, but there are several races throughout the weekend. There is a family fun run that is a mile. A 5K, a half marathon and a full marathon. There may be others that I don't know about. If you run the half Marathon on saturday (the Donald) and the full marathon on Sunday (the Mickey), then you get the Goofy award! I think that's fitting don't you???? I have a friend who runs the goofy on a regular basis. He runs the hills around our community...straight up for several miles as training! I get winded just driving past him!

 

[PolynesianPixie]

Thanks Ami . You didn't find it too overwhelming to be there on the marathon weekend? So, the days leading up to it gradually get busier....what about the few days afterwards?

It was more crowded than I anticipated, but nothing a few fast passes couldn't fix! Within 2 days after the marathon, everyone left!

 

[lovemy4sweeties]

I get winded just driving past him!

Yes, I'm getting winded just reading about it

 

[ntsammy5]

I know my DBro used it one trip & commented that all you did was think of what or where you were going to eat next.

Yeah, it was all about food, which was OK for one trip. We had ADRs for every night and ended up eating in Epcot most of the time. If you don't mind pre planning and then taking 1-2 hours a day out to eat, then it's great. We normally don't eat like that and it was fun, don't get me wrong. We were there for a wedding and DDP was free (well not really) and Debbie is wrong because I added her to the room reservation so she was on the plan too!

As for the marathon, the transportation was crazy. I don't remember the parks being that crowded, but we were in and out all weekend so I didn't really pay attention. I do know that Sunday evening we went to MK and it was the LEAST crowded I've ever seen it. All the runners were recuperating. DD wanted cheese fries so we went to Cosmic Rays and there wasn't a line at all. Never saw that before.

Epcot was the start and finish for the marathon and half marathon though, so avoid Epcot on Saturday & Sunday, at least before 2PM. There were a bunch of people in Epcot on Sunday who had no idea it was being run and they weren't very happy. All of WS and part of the area by Spaceship Earth was totally blocked off and you couldn't get from one side to the other of FW without going through special paths that were controlled by CMs then you had to run across to avoid runners -- they wouldn't let you cross until there was a gap.

Monday we were in Epcot and that wasn't bad either. We walked up to R&C for lunch and they seated us almost immediately. Epcot wasn't that crowded -- you can see the picture of R&C no one was there.

Here's a few pictures with Deb, DBIL, DD, and the son-in-law at MK. A picture from R&C with out waiter Denis, a few near China in WS where we saw DD, and the paking lot in Epcot at 8:00 am on our way over from TTC where we saw DD running twice. Like Debbie said they run through all the parks so traffic is pretty much shut down in the morning. WSe saw her at TTC and SoG.

 

[ntsammy5]