Marathon Weekend 2020

[rteetz]

We will be at Wilderness Lodge for SW, Beach Club for W&D, and Pop for MW. We called WDW for January reservations and can always apply discounts later when they come out.
Do you think we are runDisney addicts? Are you? Good, then there are a few of us!

See you there!

 

[flav]

That was a big reason why I booked it now, to at least lock the rates in. Then, if they do have any lower rates, I can always rebook. I'm also not sure if the rates at Pop and AoA are going to increase when the gondolas open.

I tought that the rates would be updated when they come out in June/July and that is the rate ones get even if they booked before. Can anyone confirm either way?

 

[YawningDodo]

I tought that the rates would be updated when they come out in June/July and that is the rate ones get even if they booked before. Can anyone confirm either way?

Also want to know this. I know I want to stay at AoA and I've pretty much decided on the marathon-only itinerary. If there's any disadvantage to booking now I'd like to know, because otherwise it'd make me feel better to jump on it and be sure I have the room reserved.

 

[rteetz]

I tought that the rates would be updated when they come out in June/July and that is the rate ones get even if they booked before. Can anyone confirm either way?

Yes rates can/will be updated if there are increases in prices.

 

[IamTrike]

Yes rates can/will be updated if there are increases in prices.

I pinged a travel agent. They said Disney told them they will have pricing on 4/4 for Marathon weekend.
That would put pricing out about a week before DVC/AP registration.

It will be really interesting to see what travel agents have at that point. I wonder if the gondola's will push the cost of the AOA/POP up enough that it's close to POR/POFQ?

 

[IamTrike]

Also want to know this. I know I want to stay at AoA and I've pretty much decided on the marathon-only itinerary. If there's any disadvantage to booking now I'd like to know, because otherwise it'd make me feel better to jump on it and be sure I have the room reserved.

From 2011-2018 I booked MW through a travel agent. Looking back at email threads I usually had rooms reserved by Feb or Early march. We never had a room rate increase, but I know that that is possible. Most years I was asking for room quotes by the end of Jan, but we've typically travelled with a group of 3-5 couples.

 

[flav]

I pinged a travel agent. They said Disney told them they will have pricing on 4/4 for Marathon weekend.
That would put pricing out about a week before DVC/AP registration.

It will be really interesting to see what travel agents have at that point. I wonder if the gondola's will push the cost of the AOA/POP up enough that it's close to POR/POFQ?

Please let us know if you get a quote by that date. The TA I wrote to said they had no idea when they would get group rate or what is happening with their contract.

 

[flav]

From 2011-2018 I booked MW through a travel agent. Looking back at email threads I usually had rooms reserved by Feb or Early march. We never had a room rate increase, but I know that that is possible. Most years I was asking for room quotes by the end of Jan, but we've typically travelled with a group of 3-5 couples.

Just to clarify, the increase we were writing about is if you book a resort room only (deposit one night) before the rack rates are out. If you were booked in February through a TA, then you likely had a group rate (200$ deposit), not a room only reservation directly with Disney.

 

[YawningDodo]

I'm realizing after my last post that I'm pretty sure WDW is still doing that thing where you have to cancel and re-book if you need to modify your reservation. My itinerary isn't 100% nailed down since there's a difference of +/- one day that'll depend on what airfare I can get, and I don't think I want to deal with rebooking if I don't guess right, since airfare is going to have to wait until at least April, maybe June.

Really hope the gondola doesn't shoot AoA up to moderate prices. I've got a fairly high budget for it above rack rates of previous years buuut I'd rather have that money for special event tickets or more table service dining or whatever else.

 

[IamTrike]

Just to clarify, the increase we were writing about is if you book a resort room only (deposit one night) before the rack rates are out. If you were booked in February through a TA, then you likely had a group rate (200$ deposit), not a room only reservation directly with Disney.

Yeah they were group rates. I was working with an agency that usually pre-bought blocks of rooms at a group of hotels for Marathon weekend. Rates were usually pretty good. Now that Disney made its harder for TA's to do that, I has a sad.

 

[kirstie101]

For those of you that have done Dopey already and are now considering something other than Dopey, why are you not doing Dopey again?

 

[rteetz]

For those of you that have done Dopey already and are now considering something other than Dopey, why are you not doing Dopey again?

I have done Dopey 3 times and doing it again (at least planning too) in 2020 so not specifically part of this question but I think for many its a one and done type thing. Its a great accomplishment and a great thing to say you did. It is also a big expense and a big amount of time though. If I did Goofy or only the marathon I wouldn't need to get up 4 days in a row at 2:30AM. I wouldn't need to arrive Tuesday or Wednesday at WDW. I could probably do a but more at the parks too.

 

[PrincessV]

For those of you that have done Dopey already and are now considering something other than Dopey, why are you not doing Dopey again?

I did Dopey (with a DIY half to replace the canceled half) in 2017, again in 2018, then took a break for 2019, and plan to return to it for 2020. I did "just" the 10K and marathon this year for a few reasons:
1. Money; my bank account needed a break from the expense of Dopey
2. My body needed a break from the long back-to-back training runs needed for Dopey
3. I had what felt like a perfect experience for Dopey 2018, including a huge and unexpected marathon PR, and knew a 2019 Dopey could never measure up in comparison. I was right, as the marathon nearly did me in this year and would've been so much more disappointing had it been part of Dopey. I have no regrets at all!

 

[PaDisneyCouple]

DW and I have a general rule where we don't fly in the winter months, if we can avoid it. It just seems like 1 storm can paralyze air traffic for days. (though we usually cruise during hurricane season) We've had some very light discussions about doing MW at least once, after hearing it is an experience beyond all other rD events.

It feels like the WDW marathon would be a good first marathon experience. But I know I (at least) would be drawn to Goofy, or possibly Dopey. We'd likely get DopeyBadger training plans for whatever we do. I think finish in the upright position would be the goal.

Thoughts or things to consider?
Thanks!
DH

 

[rteetz]

DW and I have a general rule where we don't fly in the winter months, if we can avoid it. It just seems like 1 storm can paralyze air traffic for days. (though we usually cruise during hurricane season) We've had some very light discussions about doing MW at least once, after hearing it is an experience beyond all other rD events.

It feels like the WDW marathon would be a good first marathon experience. But I know I (at least) would be drawn to Goofy, or possibly Dopey. We'd likely get DopeyBadger training plans for whatever we do. I think finish in the upright position would be the goal.

Thoughts or things to consider?
Thanks!
DH

Flying anytime is a risk really. I have done Marathon Weekend 5 years in a row and come from WI. I have yet to have a delay. Not saying it wouldn't happen but to me I see it just as likely in the other months because other storms around the country can impact travel where you are even if nothing is happening where you are. Even technical glitches (which there seem to be more as of late for some reason) will cause delays and cancellations.

I definitely recommend doing MW no matter what races you choose.

 

[DopeyBadger]

For those of you that have done Dopey already and are now considering something other than Dopey, why are you not doing Dopey again?

I did the first five Dopeys. Knew the streak needed to end eventually because I couldn't forsee pulling off Dopey and Boston Marathon (in April, of which I have still yet to actually qualify for) so close together (financial and training reasons). So I opted out of Dopey 2019 (decided on Chicago 2018 instead) which ended up being the right choice for me. Now I'm planning to come back in 2020 and have decided to run the marathon as a stand-alone event. Not because I don't enjoy Dopey because I loved the challenge of it. Finished 20th in 2018 and still need to nail that Sextuple PR. But because I've turned my focus to my "A" goal of getting a BQ. In the past, I've tried to do that at an October marathon and follow that up with Dopey in Jan. But this time, I'm seeing if trying for the BQ at Disney will work in my favor (like the training conditions in late Nov/Dec over late Aug/Sep). But I truly loved Dopey and plan to do it again sometime, but not every year like I had been doing.

 

[IamTrike]

I've done the official Dopey in 2014 and 2018. And an unofficial Dopey in 2013. For me it's a time and cost thing. I enjoy the 5 and 10k. In 2018 we dressed up as the 3 caballero's for the 5k and Jose and Panchito chased Donald between all the different character stops.

But doing Dopey means I need to fly on Weds not Friday, so since we go sans children we have to ask my parents to watch our kids for 2 days more, we have to pay for 2 more nights in a hotel, you have more meals to pay for and then you have the cost of the race. For us, I'd rather keep the vacation days, and save what usually amounts to about $600-1000 to use for a family Disney trip later in the year.

 

[PaDisneyCouple]

Flying anytime is a risk really. I have done Marathon Weekend 5 years in a row and come from WI. I have yet to have a delay. Not saying it wouldn't happen but to me I see it just as likely in the other months because other storms around the country can impact travel where you are even if nothing is happening where you are. Even technical glitches (which there seem to be more as of late for some reason) will cause delays and cancellations.

I definitely recommend doing MW no matter what races you choose.

We booked flights for DS 2018 that were several hours earlier than we usually book (drive to BWI with morning traffic). And then we sat at the gate for over 2 hours because the navigation computer wouldn't upload the route. It was interesting to be on the plane when they did a ctrl-alt-delete power cycle of the aircraft. It got really quiet. But I did win a large bag of M&M's for knowing who the CEO of SWA was.

The flight ended up departing around the time we should've been arriving at MCO.

 

[IamTrike]

DW and I have a general rule where we don't fly in the winter months, if we can avoid it. It just seems like 1 storm can paralyze air traffic for days. (though we usually cruise during hurricane season) We've had some very light discussions about doing MW at least once, after hearing it is an experience beyond all other rD events.

It feels like the WDW marathon would be a good first marathon experience. But I know I (at least) would be drawn to Goofy, or possibly Dopey. We'd likely get DopeyBadger training plans for whatever we do. I think finish in the upright position would be the goal.

Thoughts or things to consider?
Thanks!
DH

I'll offer a counter to this. In watching these boards over the past couple years it seems like there is almost always someone that has transportation troubles. That being said it's a very small percentage of of the people that are travelling and Disney does make accommodations for some people with genuine travel issues.

All the races are great so I can't advise one way or another between Goofy or Dopey. I think some of that has to do with how often you plan to do this. If you are in good shape and adequately trained it be really tempted to do Dopey if it was a one and done for you.

No matter what you choose give yourself a buffer. At a minimum I'd try and arrive early in the morning on the day before your first race to give yourself a buffer if there are delays if you can afford it even more time would be better. It's no fun to spend the day stressed about making it to the expo.

Get a good proof of time. Corral placement will have an impact on how crowded the course is for you and how long character lines will be if you want to stop for them.

My son thought it was crazy when I told him this, but dressing up in costume makes the experience. I'm a big believer in going over the top for costumes because I like interacting with the crowds when I run. If there is something that visually stands out about you, you tend to get more crowd support. After running Wine and Dine with me though he was convinced.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I’m still saying no to Dopey for Marathon weekend.

I was always committed to at least Goofy since it's an anniversary year, but convinced myself to run Dopey based solely on rumors of new characters for the 5K and 10K medals. Because if those new characters were Chip and Dale, I would be very disappointed I wasn't running Dopey. If the 5K goes back to Pluto and the 10K remains Minnie, then I'm fine with that too. Still hoping for 2021 Light Side returning to Disneyland, which would also mean no marathon weekend for me.

My ideal would be BC but if completely unavailable/unaffordable by the time we get the bibs, I will likely choose POFQ.

I'm already missing POFQ.

For those of you that have done Dopey already and are now considering something other than Dopey, why are you not doing Dopey again?

While I'm running Dopey again, reasons against it included missing less work time and I'm already doing Rival Run 2020 and more time in the parks if I'm only doing 2 races instead of 4. Having done runDisney challenge races before, the 4 consecutive mornings was not as difficult as I feared. I can also see why someone who has ran Dopey a lot would want a change of pace though. It really does define your visit and may dictate everything you do leading up to the marathon and definitely afterwards.

It feels like the WDW marathon would be a good first marathon experience. But I know I (at least) would be drawn to Goofy, or possibly Dopey. We'd likely get DopeyBadger training plans for whatever we do. I think finish in the upright position would be the goal.

For me, Disney World was the perfect first marathon experience. When the wall set in around mile 20 or so, I often found myself getting a boost in part because of the Disney experience even if it was just the character on the mile marker or seeing favorite attractions in the parks.