How does the marathon affect park touring?

[a*lil*bit*goofy]

Hello

I am going to WDW Dec 31 to Jan 9th. We are there for New Year's, and then the marathons.

How do the marathons affect park touring? Someone I know who is running it says that in his opinion many go to Epcot for the dining options, and not as much walking as say Animal Kingdom .

So just wondering for the marathon I believe Sunday January 7th, (not sure what it was this year) how would you approach the parks?

Tentatively we have

Mon 1st: MK
Tue 2nd: Epcot
We 3rd: DHS
Thur 4th: Break day
Fri 5th: MK
Sat 6th: AK
Sun 7th: DSprings
Mon 8th: Epcot
Tue 9th: MK

I am also trying to avoid traditional EMH days and those "pay for morning entry" to MK days. I forget what they are called....

 

[hiroMYhero]

After the Marathon on January 7th, runners who don't have park tickets will go to Disney Springs. Stores have special savings for those who are wearing their medals and there are photo ops set up around DS.

If you were thinking of a leisurely day in DS, it won't be. I've been to DS on Sunday for two different Princess 1/2 Marathon weekends and it was the most crowded I've ever seen. After being part of the crowd running the 5K and 10K, being in almost the same type of crowd at DS really isn't much fun.

I think you would have a better time choosing a park on the 7th.

 

[pens4821]

Curious to responses as we may go starting the 6th. Depending on flight we may do park that day (probably MK even though it'll be crowded just for FP and to take it all in). Wondering which park(s) would be best Sunday though. Hoping that after that the crowds will be low.

 

[Accident]

the main thing is allow a little more time to travel if your driving around or taking bus as the races that go between parks will have roads closed for the runners.. they race very early but it could impact the time to early adrs and rope drop. If your driving yourself around, it's a good day to use the buses as it can be confusing for someone not used to the roads to get around a closure. coming in fro offsite it's a little easier and just be aware there will be a map released near the races for what those closures are (and what isn't closed). It's not a huge deal, just something to be aware that you want to not cut it too close to get somewhere first thing in the morning.

park wise, I see very little impact as runners are tired after the race and getting to bed earlier for their middle of the night race start.. generally when they are in the parks, they are just working with rides and fastpass, and roaming around so it'll feel more crowded but the lines will not match..

Now, this year, that week was PACKED with people who weren't racers and it was miserable anyway. that's uncommon and I think the way the holidays fall next year it won't have people who don't go back to school until the second week of jan so it should go back to normal and be fairly quiet.

 

[a*lil*bit*goofy]

We are going that week because my kids dont go back until Tue the 9th. Yep they will miss 1 day I figure it will still be a nuts week, esp with New Years on sunday/monday.

I just want to maximize on assuming many people going home the 6th or 7th.
If racers wont affect the crowds that much then maybe Disney springs saturday and animal kingdom Sunday

 

[gillep]

DH and I go for the marathon every year and the years where the marathon falls the weekend directly following New Years is always crowded. This past year (Jan 2017) was extremely crowded until Monday the 9th, and I expect that this year is going to be just as bad until January 8th. We bailed on MK so many times during that trip, as it was just uncomfortably crowded. I agree that a lot of racers, probably the majority, do go back that weekend after the race, but there are also quite a few, like DH and myself, that stay, our trip is always Wed-Wed.

 

[bumbershoot]

Stores have special savings for those who are wearing their medals and there are photo ops set up around DS.

Not sure if they are doing this anymore. They didn't have the special thing for Princess this year; you could show your BIB to get the free/discounted stuff (what little they actually had compared to the lovely food discounts in past years), so everything was gone on Thursday, pretty much. No good reason to go to DS on Sunday for Princess; we were there and it was useless and NOT packed.

Not sure if they are doing the same for marathon now. But it's worth knowing, for Princess at least. (unless, I hope, they hated the new way as much as I did and change it back)

 

[jwolfpack]

We arrived on Marathon Sunday this year. We did MK that day and didn't notice it to be any more crowded than other days of our trip. Keep in mind that traffic will be a problem on the morning of the marathon. We got stuck in the car for 2.5 hours trying to drive from Universal to Disney (around 9 am). Talking to other folks throughout our trip, we heard stories of people getting stuck on Disney buses for almost 3 hours that day. If you are staying at a hotel where you can walk or ride the monorail to a park, that's the park I would chose for that day.

 

[disnut8]

We were there for the marathon a few years ago. We had plans to go to Animal Kingdom in the morning to meet up with my brother-in-law and niece who were driving in that day and our son and his family were in our group. My husband and I were ready to go first (we didn't have to deal with the grandkids) so we left before my son and daughter-in-law, caught the bus from Pop Century over to Animal Kingdom and while some of the road was roped off for the runners, our bus driver got us to the park without problems. We met up with my brother-in-law and niece and they said they had to take alternative routes to get to Animal Kingdom but it was all fine as they just listened to the Cast Members. My son and his family arrived shortly after all this and said the same thing about the bus situation. After having a ride together, my son and his family were going to Magic Kingdom and the rest of us to Epcot. We took the buses and had no problems. Once at Epcot, some of the walkways were roped off down the middle so we had to stay to one side and even cross the walkway so the runners had a clear path. The Cast Members directing us were cheerful and joked with us about making us cross the road (we started to call ourselves chickens since we were crossing the road) but we didn't have any problems with walking around Epcot at all.

The thing to remember is this is a true marathon so runners will be the top priority and Disney does a great job with that, even to this non runner. I would plan a park day and do that and not concern yourself with anything except getting to the park but use Disney transportation as the bus drivers know which roads will be affected and during which times and on what days.

 

[Simba's Mom]

We've also been there for marathon weekend, and since DH was only doing the half-marathon this year (yup, the one that didn't happen) we went to Animal Kingdom on Marathon Sunday. It wasn't bad at all. Last year, we went to MK on Monday so DH could wear all his medals, and so many runners had the same idea-it was PACKED there. However, if you avoid MK on Monday, you'll probably be OK. It's amazing how quickly marathoners leave after the race. When DH was running the marathon last year, he met several people who were speculating about whether they'd have time to shower after the marathon before their DME pick up time!

 

[a*lil*bit*goofy]

Lots of great info thank you! I would not have thought that the resort transportation (busses) would be an issue. Perhaps staying at POFQ is good as we can boat to disney springs if that is what we do thst day