Lowest crowd weekend?

[JAMIESMITH]

Which of the current Run Disney weekends at Walt Disney World would you say boasts the lowest crowds in the parks? I am considering a week long family vacation planned around one of these events so I can do a 10K/Half Challenge, but crowds are a deterrent. Would I be better off planning the trip to start early and end the day of the half or start the trip on the last day of the expo and stay past the day of the half?

 

[FFigawi]

Which of the current Run Disney weekends at Walt Disney World would you say boasts the lowest crowds in the parks? I am considering a week long family vacation planned around one of these events so I can do a 10K/Half Challenge, but crowds are a deterrent. Would I be better off planning the trip to start early and end the day of the half or start the trip on the last day of the expo and stay past the day of the half?

Crowd-wise, you're always better off extending your trip past the end of the races and into the following week. Unless the week after the race coincides with a vacation week (February vacation, spring break, etc.), crowds will be lower on weekdays than weekends.

 

[SheHulk]

I don’t know which weekend has lightest crowds but conventional wisdom says you should save your legs/feet and extend your vacation after the races are over, not before. I’ve made the mistake of commando touring in the days before the marathon and my feet were tired before the race even started on race day.

 

[Ariel484]

When you say a 10K/Half Challenge, keep in mind that there's no bonus medal for doing that during Marathon Weekend in January, so if getting a challenge medal and shirt is important to you, you can at least eliminate that race weekend.

I agree with FFigawi and SheHulk that if it were me, I'd extend the vacation to happen AFTER the races. Star Wars weekend sometimes falls around Spring Break, so my guess is that this weekend would be the most crowded and the warmest/most humid. The January weekend is sometimes pretty crowded too because that's the one with the most runners, and if it's early in the year you still have holiday crowds to contend with.

Wine & Dine usually happens over Veterans Day weekend at the end of Food & Wine, so once those things come and go I think crowds would die down after. Princess weekend...I think sometimes that's around the Daytona 500? I remember the airport being insane that weekend in 2017.

So if it were me and crowds/getting a challenge medal for the 10K/half were my main concerns, I'd probably pick between Wine & Dine and Princess, and of those two I'd pick Wine & Dine because I prefer the theme, I'd get to see the Christmas stuff, and I'd catch the end of Food & Wine. Princess would be my second choice.

 

[bphilb]

I went for 13 days for Wine and Dine this past year and the crowds were pretty manageable the week before the race, but it got very crowded the next weekend. The weekend after was Jersey week, the last weekend of Food and Wine and Veterans day and it brought is a lot of visitors.

 

[GreatLakes]

I have found the crowds pretty low the days after W&D and after marathon weekend easily manageable. The races are at "low" crowd times of the year. That is in quotes since the current "low" crowds are not what they used to be.

I agree with the others. Do your races and then stick around for the parks. A lot of the runners leave the morning after the last race of the weekend.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

So if it were me and crowds/getting a challenge medal for the 10K/half were my main concerns, I'd probably pick between Wine & Dine and Princess, and of those two I'd pick Wine & Dine because I prefer the theme, I'd get to see the Christmas stuff, and I'd catch the end of Food & Wine. Princess would be my second choice.

These are actually the two race weekends I'd like to experience most. Thanks!

I went for 13 days for Wine and Dine this past year and the crowds were pretty manageable the week before the race, but it got very crowded the next weekend. The weekend after was Jersey week, the last weekend of Food and Wine and Veterans day and it brought is a lot of visitors.

This is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you!