How does RunDisney affect the everyday park goer?

[Gotto]

Hi all. I joined this site a few years ago but never posted.

Just a quick introduction...

I'm 21, a student studying Pharmacy in Manchester, England.
I have visited Orlando, FL around 8 times with my parents, and once with my best friend in 2014.

However, my questions is about the RunDisney. I have never been so early in January, and now because I am a student, timings are quite strict and the only dates I can go are 5th of Jan - 14th of Jan 2016. I plan to go with my best friend, his girlfriend and his brother.

Now I know that the RunDisney event starts quite early in the day (5.30am??) however, I was wondering if and how the marathons are going to impact on how the parks can be enjoyed? It's not mine, or my friend's first time, however, the other two are first timers and I wouldn't want the marathon to give them a bad impression if things are closed o they cant access a certain area of the parks.

So all in all, I just wonder if you guys could shed some light on the situation or share some of your experiences of visiting and not taking part in the marathon?

Also, would it be a good idea to spend our time at US/IOA/SW over the marathon days, or might they be busy due to others doing the same thing?

Please help put my mind at rest as I really don't want to spoil the experience for the first timers. I need to give them the bug!

Thanks for reading!

EDIT: We will hopefully be staying on i-Drive, so will most likely be getting taxi's to Disney instead of driving.

 

[Lucius Best]

Now I know that the RunDisney event starts quite early in the day (5.30am??) however, I was wondering if and how the marathons are going to impact on how the parks can be enjoyed? It's not mine, or my friend's first time, however, the other two are first timers and I wouldn't want the marathon to give them a bad impression if things are closed o they cant access a certain area of the parks.

We've been several times in January that weekend, and we ran the marathon in 2012. You shouldn't really have any problem unless you are staying at a resort directly affected by road closures (like Grand Floridian). There will be some roads closed, but there are detours, so you can still get everywhere, and all the parks and rides are open normal hours. The events start early. The Thursday/Friday runs are short and will be over long before the parks open. Saturday is the half marathon, if you are going to Epcot early you might see some runners finishing up. The full marathon is Sunday, if you are at HS or Epcot in the morning, you will definitely see runners running through the park, but no area of the park is "closed", and it is cool to see the runners.

As far as touring the WDW parks marathon weekend, the marathon will have something like 25,000 runners, but we never felt like the parks were super crowded. January is a very low-crowd time to go. Theoretically those Sat/Sun morning might be a good time to be in the parks riding rides because so many people are running, but may be more crowded in the afternoon. And with runners needing to get up before 4am, many aren't staying out too late.

Also, would it be a good idea to spend our time at US/IOA/SW over the marathon days, or might they be busy due to others doing the same thing?

If I was planning a long trip on the dates you mentioned, and I wanted to visit Universal, I would consider doing a split stay. Benefit of staying at Universal resort is getting front-of-the-line pass to almost all rides, and early admission to Harry Potter lands, so it doesn't matter how crowded it is. Personally, I might do a few days at WDW, then stay at Universal 2 nights to hit US/IOS Saturday and Sunday, then back to WDW. Note that I would be doing that mostly to avoid WDW parks because they are more busy on the weekend days, not solely because of the marathon events.

 

[mrsR123]

I agree that the impact is rather small. Road closures, and therefore transportation delays, are greatest on Sunday because the marathon course is open for nearly 8 hours from the start. The park crowds are not much greater. Getting to and from MK on Sunday is probably the roughest. I would not try to drive my own car on Sunday morning.

If you go, cheer those runners on; it helps so much!!!

 

[FeralCatRogue]

When we went it caused epcot parking lot to be closed the day before the event, so it may be best to use the buses instead of parking yourself in the parks the few days before and of.

 

[bumbershoot]

On the day of the full marathon, take Disney transportation just to make it easier on yourself if going in the morning.