How much does WDW Marathon effect crowd levels?

[StatlerNotWaldorf]

I am in the planning stage of our next WDW trip. Last year we went middle of February and it wasn't bad but wasn't great. So this time I sprung for the touringplans subscription. I am looking at Jan 5th-12th. The crowd levels are really low but at the end of that time is WDW Marathon weekend. My question is will crowd levels still be low? My DW is really hoping for less crowds this time so I really want to get this right. Help!

 

[Robo]

The crowd levels are really low but at the end of that time is WDW Marathon weekend.


My question is will crowd levels still be low?

In the parks, yes.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I am in the planning stage of our next WDW trip. Last year we went middle of February and it wasn't bad but wasn't great. So this time I sprung for the touringplans subscription. I am looking at Jan 5th-12th. The crowd levels are really low but at the end of that time is WDW Marathon weekend. My question is will crowd levels still be low? My DW is really hoping for less crowds this time so I really want to get this right. Help!

It is often hard to get into the MK early in the morning of either Sat (half marathon) or Sun (full marathon) before 9:30 or so. But after than it shouldn't be a problem. There are a lot of runners who just show up for the Expo and the races and don't even go to the parks. And if they don't give a free Monday ticket for a single park to the runners, then I'd expect lots of them to not even go to the parks. But if they give the free Monday one park ticket, expect Monday to be bit busier.

For your days, don't expect any real impact unless you go to the parks on Sat morning.

 

[Dizzytime]

We've been there a few times over marathon weekend and never thought the crowds were especially bad.
The way I always looked at it, it's very seldom there's nothing going on at DW, there's usually a group from somewhere or something special happening. That being the case, I rather be there with marathoners than anyone else. Outside of generally being well behaved, they are occupied with either getting ready to run, running, or recovering from running, plus it's a very exciting event and I've always enjoyed the energy of it all and watching the runners go by. A lot of fun!

 

[mountdew1]

In the parks, you really won't notice them much before hand. You may see a growing number of running/race related tshirts and jackets start to show up as it gets closer, but that's about it. In comparison to other events of this size, significantly less people go the parks around the event. Sat and Sun AM traffic tends to be a bit wonky, mostly if you have an early AM appointment at Epcot, MK, or a MK resort. Just allow extra time if you have one of those. Other than that, you won't really see us. And no, they haven't announced a free ticket on Monday this year, nor did they have one last year. I think it was a one time deal to help boost slow numbers.