Kidani and Goofy's Challenge?

[KLEONARD]

I have registered for the "Goofy's challenge" in 2011. I had reservations from January 6th to the 13th in a 1BR at SSR.
It will be my DW, DD and me. I have participated in the "Goofy's challenge before, 2009. Staying at SSR was nice because they had several buses running early in the morning to accomodate the people from the DTD hotels that were instructed to walk over to SSR to catch the bus. My bus was about 20 people and 6 of us were staying at SSR. No problem, and the driver went a completely different route to EPCOT parking, maybe 10 to 15 minutes.

Well, DW and I decided to change the reservation to Kidani at AKL. The 1BR has the extra bath and my DW and DD can stay up to chat in the living area while I crash early for the races.

Does anyone have experience running the half or full and staying at AKL? Any tips on the early morning transportation would be appreciated.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We usually stay at OKW because my husband and his friend can walk to the start and not get out of bed until 5AM instead of 2:30AM.

All the resorts have buses that will take you to the start. Just make sure the driver knows where he/she is going. They reserve a lot of charter buses and sometimes the driver doesn't know how to get to the Epcot parking lot, especially with roads blocked all over the place.

Enjoy your challenge. My husband and his friend did the first one. They took the half marathon very casually, not really racing it. But they were serious about the full marathon the next day.

 

[KLEONARD]

Thanks Deb.
Like your husband, I have run the races before. For my first Disney marathon I stayed at Dixie Landings. This was before Goofy's Challenge was offered. It took almost an hour to get to EPCOT because of the traffic. My last time down for the run was a piece of cake. The bus from SSR did not stop once for traffic and dropped us off right at the entrance to the parking lot. I bought the VIP package and thought it was worth the money. A large heated tent, photos with characters, padded floor that was comfortable for all the runners to just plop down. They also had limited furniture and plenty of food.
The lines to the private port-o-johns were non-existent. The VIP runners were allowed back into this tent at the end of the race to relax, more character pictures, and more food and drinks. The back of the tent dumped out into the return bus lines. Oh yeah, they also had a VIP bag check that went really quick.
I also run with a group that travels from Indiana to WDW for the race. The whole group has a traditional after race dinner at O'Hanna on Sunday night. The last time we had 16 total, runners and family. We laugh at one another trying to get up the stairs from the lobby. The elevator is considered cheating.