Marathon and Resorts

[sugahjunior]

Does anyone have an idea of where the runners tend to stay Marathon Weekend? Do they cluster in particular resorts? Or are they pretty spread out across the property?

Thanks.

 

[TMM]

Something I would like to know as my husband and I are running the marathon.

Are you running or trying to stay away from us all

 

[Bob P]

When we did it in 2004 people were pretty spread out. We stayed in CSR which was convenient for the registration at WWOS but not that convenient getting back after the race.

 

[babybunrab]

I agree with Bob P. I ran into people staying all over the place. Some folks stayed in monorail resorts, which may be more convenient if you do the marathon since it ends in the Epcot lot.

As I'd said in another thread, if you finish early, the bus transport isn't all that bad, so staying at CSR worked out fine for me a couple of years ago. This year, I waited for others, and the busses were really swamped.

 

[sugahjunior]

Trying to stay away (no offense to the runners who are undoubtedly working amazingly hard). We have rented DVC points for Sunday through Thursday and are going to switch to a resort (most likely AKL but POFQ is a possibility) for Friday and Saturday.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Okay, it seems like it doesn't matter where the runners stay because of the bus transportation for them. My question is for the families of the runners. DH is running his first Disney marathon. Me, my 2 dds (6 and 8 at the time) and ds (5) as well as my MIL and FIL will be there to watch him run (and vacation). What would be the most convenient resort for us to stay at. We always stay at GF and I wanted to try something different since this will be a shorter (5 night) trip for us. My original thought was to stay at WL and take the boat over to MK to see DH or take the boat over and switch to a monorail and watch DH at GF and then monorial over to TTC and get on the Epcot monorail to watch him finish. Is this a good idea or would we be better off staying at the Poly - boating over MK and back and then walking over to the TTC monorial over to Epcot to watch the finish. Or would we just be better off at the Epcot resorts. THen my other thinking is - since we go annually in the summer and this is an add-on trip should we just stay at a value or moderate and use the bus transportation. Any ideas. I really need some advice from the families who have done the marathon. I'm partial to the WL idea because it seems more "wintry" but that idea may just be in my head!

 

[babybunrab]

Oh! Sorry about that, I was thinking from the runner's perspective (though I didn't find it at all crowded that week-end--certainly not like the summer)! I'd stay at the Poly. I think the walk to MK, then being able to take the monorail to Epcot is your best bet. I believe this is how my dad got around two years ago when he was cheering us on!

WL is a great resort, and I prefer it over the Poly or GF, but you don't have that monorail, which would work well for your plan, I think.

 

[Deb & Bill]

The boat might not be running early enough from WL if you want to see your husband run through the MK. The race starts at 6AM and the runners for the half have 3.5 hours to complete it. So he would have to be through the MK by about 7:30 or 8AM. If he is running the full, he would also be through the MK by about 7:30 or 8. You can take a bus over to Epcot from any resort the morning of the race to see the start. Then you can take the monorail over to the MK. I bet the course is about 5 miles to MK. If he does a 10 min mile, he should be through by 7AM.

If you stay at an Epcot resort, you would have to take a bus to get to the start of the race since the International Gateway doesn't open early for the race.

We stayed at OKW and WL and took a bus to Epcot at 4:45AM to see my husband go through Epcot at the beginning of the race. But with the course change, they won't go through Epcot until the end of the race.

 

[HopperFan]

They stay EVERYWHERE ! And this coming year is will be even more since they split the races into two days so they could accomodate even MORE runners.

I would stay at a MK monorail resort with your group and little ones.

We were there in Jan for our DS to run the Half-Marathon. Since it was a "race trip" we chose the ASMo resort. Many discussions with the folks at Disney as to how the rest of us could get to the MK to watch him run through. (1) We could drive, BUT, many roads will be shut down early, traffic is bad from runners coming in from offsite and no guarantees where in the MK parking lot they would let us in because the 1/2 ended there. Now I do think the 1/2 is going to end at EPCOT next year so this may no longer be an issue. (2) We have to catch the runner's buses to EPCOT (which only ran 3-4 am) and then get the monorail to MK. So we arrive at TTC at 4:45 only to be told they are not letting anyone over there until 5:45. But the man took pitty on us and let us ride the monorail around the lagoon for an hour. We were the first train to let out into the park, had awesome seats and then waited over an hour for him to come by. It was a great experience !

BUT, again it would have been so nice to be at POLY, GF or CR so we didn't have to get up so early. The folks getting on at those stops looked rested and refreshed ! I don't know about your idea of WL boat............none of the traditional transportation was operating that early except the monorail if you want to watch in the MK and be able to be in a front row to see him.