January crowds after the Marathon & MLK

[CapeCodTenor]

I found out that the Dinsey Marathon next January will be the 4th - 7th. How long after this, and MLK weekend do the crowds thin out? Does it thin out quickly, or throughout the week for both? And regarding MLK weekend, do the crowds start to build up the week before that weekend, or is it just that weekend that it gets crowded? Thanks for letting me ask all these questions, I'm just trying to get an understanding of the time period I'm looking at going.

 

[oxfordcircus]

I've not been during the MLK weekend, but that's the time I am also looking at this year. I understand that the marathon crowd thins quickly, but all three days of the MLK weekend will be pretty crowded, though not bad by other holiday standards. I'd be interested to hear someone's observations from 2006.

 

[munchkin bunchkin]

We arrived on Jan.15 th (day before MLK)and stayed till the 20th and there was hardly any crowd at all. We could actually walk at a leisurely pace and stop with out being bumped into!The wait time for rides was at the most 10 min or less!

 

[susykt4]

We were there this year during Marathon Weekend and it didn't really affect us at all. We were there from Thurs the 5th thru Friday the 13th. The crowds were pretty low the entire time, but they decreased after the weekend. Tues and Wed were extremely low crowds in MK, DQ and Epcot. Crowds picked up a little on Thurs and Fri but still short waits.

I would go back during Marathon Weekend in a second. We stayed at Pop and it was supposedly sold out (I don't know that for a fact, but heard people talking about it on the bus) We wouldn't have known! The food court wasn't crowded, the buses weren't bad, etc. We even went to Epcot (marathon ends there) on marathon day and weren't at all bothered by extra crowds. I thought this was a fantastic time of year to go!!!

 

[dreamscometrue47]

We arrived on MLK day in 2006 and were at the MK around 1:00 pm. We listened to the Dapper Dans on main Street and then headed over to Adventureland which was our plan. We got FP's for Jungle Cruise and had no wait for Magic Carpets, Pirates and Tiki Birds, and even got in the Country Bear Jamboree in Frontierland and then it was time for our jungle cruise fp. We had ADR's for LTT at 4:45 and then watched the spectromagic parade. It was VERY crowded on Main street for Spectro as it was only showing that night and one other night during the week.

There were no crowds at all after MLK day. I would go that week again in a heartbeat.

 

[rkandmjsmommy]

The maraton is on a Sunday, in 2004 we arrived Sat and in 2006 we arrived Monday, we LOVE this time of year. We celebrated dd's bday both years. Crowds are NON existent, weather both years was wonderful, So far its our favorite time to go. I have heard MLK weekend is REALLY crowded
Have fun

 

[Robo]

The MARATHON fills WDW the way a "free Kleenex night" would fill a soccer stadium...
The people that were coming already will be there, but don't expect any "extra attendance".

The marathon simply has no appreciable effect on crowd levels.

The event itself takes place early on a Sunday morning and all vestiges of it are removed almost immediately.

And there are no "throngs of people" attending who fill the parks during this time.

We've been to WDW during this event and, except for a few signs about it, we simply didn't even know it was happening.

 

[welovedis]

Actually, Disney now splits the race weekend, so the 1/2 marathon and the 5K & kids races take place on Saturday and the full marathon takes places on Sunday.

We've been there twice at this time of year, and usually arrive late the week before, then stay for the week after. Our dates this year were the same as the above poster's --the 5th thru the 13th.

I will say that the crowds will be appreciably low, esp during the week after the marathon, most runners leave afterward, some stay but Jan crowds are pretty low anyway. The longest wait we had during our trip was during an EMH night at Epcot for Soarin, probably 20 mins or so.

Also, just an FYI, while some are saying the marathon doesn't affect thing, you need to know that they do have road closures in place around WDW to accomodate the runners. The 1/2 marathon runs from about 6am until 9: 30 or so Saturday and in the full, runners can take up to about 7 hours to finish. Traffic was sluggish on those days, and depending on where you were going, it can be delayed a bit. The marathon ends in Epcot's parking lots (i think this is the case this year as well) and so there are many spectators and runners in that area getting bussed.

I would not avoid taking a trip because of it, just wanted to mention this so you are aware of the potential slight delays that might occur.