Marathon Weekend 2018

[Andie16]

Hi everyone, I'm trying to figure out which resorts would work best for my family to have a low hassle opportunity to watch me run by in the marathon before they head to the finish. The monorail resorts are the obvious choice, but I am curious about Wilderness Lodge as it looks like the course passes the lodge fairly closely on World Drive. Is it practical for spectators staying at Wilderness to walk out to the road to cheer? I'm guessing that I'm missing some complication as this location isn't mentioned anywhere as a good spectator location.

 

[rteetz]

Hi everyone, I'm trying to figure out which resorts would work best for my family to have a low hassle opportunity to watch me run by in the marathon before they head to the finish. The monorail resorts are the obvious choice, but I am curious about Wilderness Lodge as it looks like the course passes the lodge fairly closely on World Drive. Is it practical for spectators staying at Wilderness to walk out to the road to cheer? I'm guessing that I'm missing some complication as this location isn't mentioned anywhere as a good spectator location.

The marathon doesn't really pass Wilderness lodge. It passes directly by the Contemporary though even then spectating from the contemporary isn't great. I think the best bet would be to go to the Magic Kingdom for spectating.

 

[Simba's Girl]

Hi everyone, I'm trying to figure out which resorts would work best for my family to have a low hassle opportunity to watch me run by in the marathon before they head to the finish. The monorail resorts are the obvious choice, but I am curious about Wilderness Lodge as it looks like the course passes the lodge fairly closely on World Drive. Is it practical for spectators staying at Wilderness to walk out to the road to cheer? I'm guessing that I'm missing some complication as this location isn't mentioned anywhere as a good spectator location.

I *think* that I am going to try and see DH at MK and AK then try and see him in WS (and beer him) and hang with him during the last mile. It really depends upon logistics of getting to MK weather or not I see him there. I'm not telling him I'm doing any of that so shhhh

 

[Davidg83]

I saw the question on Sunday and it took me awhile to decide if I was going to answer or not. I don't race for the bling and medals have never been a consideration when registering.

Don't get me wrong, I love that feeling when I cross the finish line and earn that medal. But, eventually they just end up in a rarely looked at corner in my basement. It happens to be the same corner my treadmill is in so I had a good 40 minutes tonight to decide.

Easily, my favorite is from the 2014 Hot Chocolate 15k in Chicago. For one, I just really enjoyed that race, but mostly because it's shaped like chocolate.

I have done 2 Hot Chocolate races and I love the chocolate bar medals! I also love that you get a bowl of chocolate at the end lol

 

[Chaitali]

My husband is going to be spectating as well as this is going to be my first full marathon and he's started researching. Here are some good articles with information.

http://www.runnersguidetowdw.com/rundisney-spectator-tips/ For marathon spectating locations this article recommends up to 3 of the following: TTC, Magic Kingdom, behind Poly or Grand Floridian, Animal Kingdom, Boardwalk, Epcot and Finish Line.

http://www.disneylists.com/2016/01/disney_world_marathon_p6/ This one has more spots listed, including the contemporary, Hollywood Studios and Wide World of Sports.

Most recommend not making it a surprise so that you can have a plan with your runner and so that it's easier for them to see you.

 

[DOOM1001]

Hi everyone, I'm trying to figure out which resorts would work best for my family to have a low hassle opportunity to watch me run by in the marathon before they head to the finish. The monorail resorts are the obvious choice, but I am curious about Wilderness Lodge as it looks like the course passes the lodge fairly closely on World Drive. Is it practical for spectators staying at Wilderness to walk out to the road to cheer? I'm guessing that I'm missing some complication as this location isn't mentioned anywhere as a good spectator location.

The Polynesian has the best viewing location of the monorail resorts.You walk out of the lobby and make a right and follow the signs to the viewing spot which gets you a really close view of the tightly packed runners on cone alley.I think the GF has a similar viewing area,I've never gone there to see a race but I still see more people viewing it from the Poly.

 

[JClimacus]

Hi everyone, I'm trying to figure out which resorts would work best for my family to have a low hassle opportunity to watch me run by in the marathon before they head to the finish. The monorail resorts are the obvious choice, but I am curious about Wilderness Lodge as it looks like the course passes the lodge fairly closely on World Drive. Is it practical for spectators staying at Wilderness to walk out to the road to cheer? I'm guessing that I'm missing some complication as this location isn't mentioned anywhere as a good spectator location.

YC and BC are great because the runners pass along the boardwalk right out the back door. Another good viewing option from any resort is to take the bus to HS. They run right by the bus stop on exiting Studios. Not a lot of people there watching either.

 

[VAfamily1998]

Hi everyone, I'm trying to figure out which resorts would work best for my family to have a low hassle opportunity to watch me run by in the marathon before they head to the finish. The monorail resorts are the obvious choice, but I am curious about Wilderness Lodge as it looks like the course passes the lodge fairly closely on World Drive. Is it practical for spectators staying at Wilderness to walk out to the road to cheer? I'm guessing that I'm missing some complication as this location isn't mentioned anywhere as a good spectator location.

We stayed at Boardwalk for the 2017 marathon weekend. It was very easy and convenient for my husband to step outside and cheer me on along the walkway from HS to the Boardwalk. From a runner's perspective, this was an especially great place because it was a just a few miles from the finish, where I really needed that extra motivation to get through!

 

[Andie16]

Thank you for the spectator ideas everyone! The Boardwalk / Beach Club area would be great, but I think my kids will want to see me finish. Or is the finish line overrated / too chaotic for small kids? I'm leaning toward paying up for the Polynesian so that they can watch me run by and then meet me at the finish, but I do love the Beach Club.

 

[Dopey Devon]

Just booked the hotel, decided on Pop Century so we can save a few £'s for food and merch! Now that dark side is finished and the hotel is booked I'm getting a bit excited - Dopey will be my next runDisney race although my mam keeps suggesting a girlie holiday at the start of novemeber...Debating wine and dine but she doesn't know this yet!

 

[pixarmom]

Thank you for the spectator ideas everyone! The Boardwalk / Beach Club area would be great, but I think my kids will want to see me finish. Or is the finish line overrated / too chaotic for small kids? I'm leaning toward paying up for the Polynesian so that they can watch me run by and then meet me at the finish, but I do love the Beach Club.

We've stayed at both Poly and in the Epcot resort area multiple times each for runDisney races. Poly is great for those of us who are spectating and want to reach as many viewing spots as possible. As a runner, I prefer BC/YC/BWI. We also have experience with small kid spectating, so I'll comment on that along the way.

The benefit of Poly is the ability to see runners at both the TTC and then just walk over to the viewing spot outside the Poly. For half marathons, that's followed by a hop on the monorail to see runners going into epcot and then again at the finish line. For the full, the TTC/Poly is followed by bus to WWOS and then bus to the finish. But as you mentioned, they could also just see you at TTC, Poly and then hop the monorail to the finish. Our spectators can cover lots of ground when staying at Poly!!

On the other hand, that's proven to be a bit too much ground to cover for our youngest spectator. We've switched to BC/YC/BWI for race weekends because I prefer bus over monorail for runDisney events and Poly just seems crazy busy with guests and visitors. So now our youngest stays at the resort with our older teens while my husband zooms around via cab to random locations and surprises me.

My entire family does come out to see me at the end. We haven't purchased a chEAR squad package with seating, so even when my family was in the finish line area, I don't think they've ever seen me cross. For the 2017 marathon, they were in Epcot instead (park ticket required) and that was my favorite! Our youngest spectator FAR preferred the Epcot viewing location over the actual finish. It's too crowded for him at the finish, there are huge gate-like barriers between spectators and runners there, and again, he can't see me cross anyway. In Epcot, he's closer to me as I run by - I could actually hear him, read his sign, and talk to him. He felt more a part of it all. And that boost as I'm running through Epcot and near the end is really helpful!

As for random vs. planned spectating locations, I actually prefer relatively random. I don't want them to worry about getting to a specific spot in time - too much pressure for them, and Disney transportation can be unpredictable. The one time we planned meeting locations, they didn't make it to the planned spots and then I started to worry about them. (I don't run with a phone, so I guess that problem is unique to me.) Even if I did have a phone, I just want to run and not worry about finding them. Having my family pop up unexpectedly is really fun and energizing for me. I was thrilled to see my husband at places I didn't expect on the course last year!

Good luck with your decision!

 

[Andie16]

We've stayed at both Poly and in the Epcot resort area multiple times each for runDisney races. Poly is great for those of us who are spectating and want to reach as many viewing spots as possible. As a runner, I prefer BC/YC/BWI. We also have experience with small kid spectating, so I'll comment on that along the way.

The benefit of Poly is the ability to see runners at both the TTC and then just walk over to the viewing spot outside the Poly. For half marathons, that's followed by a hop on the monorail to see runners going into epcot and then again at the finish line. For the full, the TTC/Poly is followed by bus to WWOS and then bus to the finish. But as you mentioned, they could also just see you at TTC, Poly and then hop the monorail to the finish. Our spectators can cover lots of ground when staying at Poly!!

On the other hand, that's proven to be a bit too much ground to cover for our youngest spectator. We've switched to BC/YC/BWI for race weekends because I prefer bus over monorail for runDisney events and Poly just seems crazy busy with guests and visitors. So now our youngest stays at the resort with our older teens while my husband zooms around via cab to random locations and surprises me.

My entire family does come out to see me at the end. We haven't purchased a chEAR squad package with seating, so even when my family was in the finish line area, I don't think they've ever seen me cross. For the 2017 marathon, they were in Epcot instead (park ticket required) and that was my favorite! Our youngest spectator FAR preferred the Epcot viewing location over the actual finish. It's too crowded for him at the finish, there are huge gate-like barriers between spectators and runners there, and again, he can't see me cross anyway. In Epcot, he's closer to me as I run by - I could actually hear him, read his sign, and talk to him. He felt more a part of it all. And that boost as I'm running through Epcot and near the end is really helpful!

As for random vs. planned spectating locations, I actually prefer relatively random. I don't want them to worry about getting to a specific spot in time - too much pressure for them, and Disney transportation can be unpredictable. The one time we planned meeting locations, they didn't make it to the planned spots and then I started to worry about them. (I don't run with a phone, so I guess that problem is unique to me.) Even if I did have a phone, I just want to run and not worry about finding them. Having my family pop up unexpectedly is really fun and energizing for me. I was thrilled to see my husband at places I didn't expect on the course last year!

Good luck with your decision!

This is awesome - thank you so much for sharing all of this. I was mulling this topic over today and realized that I'd prefer to have family support at the Beach Club area, where I might need a boost before heading to the finish, rather than early in the race when I'll just be trucking along. Since it sounds like this option will also be easier on DH wrangling two kids, I think we'll go this route. I also like the idea of staggering back to our room through Epcot after the race, grabbing a snack along the way.

 

[rteetz]

Happy Sunday! We are almost done with another month. Marathon weekend starts in 247 days!

Sundays are for Disney so today's Disney related question,

I'm assuming most if not all have been to a Disney park at least once. So what keeps you going back?

My answer: I've always been a Disney fan, and my mom is really the one who started it. My first trip was when I was 8 months old. I like to be active on vacations, meaning I don't like to just sit on a beach all day. Disney helps me do that. Disney parks are ever changing, there is always something new to experience.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I'm assuming most if not all have been to a Disney park at least once. So what keeps you going back?

Easy, it's my happy place!

 

[ZellyB]

Really it's a combination of the runs and Disney magic that keeps me coming back. Without the runs we might still go some but not with the same frequency. That said I do love the parks and the escape from reality they provide.

 

[FFigawi]

The races are mostly what bring me back. We drive over for quick trips to eat & drink & ride rides too.

 

[PCFriar80]

I'm assuming most if not all have been to a Disney park at least once. So what keeps you going back?

A few things; DVC, it's a great escape from New England for the time periods we go in later October [F&W] and January [Marathon weekend]. Plus, with the BCVs we have Epcot in "our backyard"!

 

[camaker]

Disney is the one place I've found that I can truly and totally relax. As soon as I set foot on property at the resort all the stress and tension just evaporates.

 

[ywgckp]

I went twice as a kid with my family, and had great times, as far as I can remember, but then went two decades without ever returning.

I went back again when I had my own family. I think it's the only place where my son has as much fun as I do, and we all get to enjoy life as a family away from everyday life.

 

[FelisLachesis]

I grew up watching Disney cartoons as a kid, and when I was 17, I ended up at Disney World, and I just loved it. The way everything is laid out just makes you forget everything for a bit. I loved doing the Space Mountain run, once. I'm not a morning person. (gah, don't remind me when I have to get up on race day). This was a few years before anything runDisney was created.

I wanted to share the magic with my own kids when they got to my age, and so I did. It was a fun time, and that's when we heard about runDisney and the Marathon weekend while we were there. My girl's a runner, so she really wanted to do it! It took a few years to get the money together, but we have it, and here we are!