Marathon Weekend 2023

[The Expert]

I only referenced MLK holiday in that Disney/rD seem determined to avoid that weekend vs. winter break and I wonder why that is the case. Purely from a crowd standpoint, I wouldn’t think it’s a sound decision; although I could understand if they had slightly more altruistic reasons for avoiding an rD event overshadowing the MLK holiday weekend.

I think altruism is the cause here. I help plan events as part of my job and MLK is definitely one of those weekends we avoid unless our event is explicitly tied to it in some way. It's less about overshadowing and more about potential accusations of blindness to a holiday's importance. There is much more sensitivity to this the last few years.

 

[nekonekoneko]

I was referring to the same weekend structure as always Thursday-Sunday and yes, using this year as example, I would definitely take my chances with crowds on January 11-15 rather than the 4-8.

I only referenced MLK holiday in that Disney/rD seem determined to avoid that weekend vs. winter break and I wonder why that is the case. Purely from a crowd standpoint, I wouldn’t think it’s a sound decision; although I could understand if they had slightly more altruistic reasons for avoiding an rD event overshadowing the MLK holiday weekend.

ETA: I’m not on a full vendetta against MW being the first week of January. We’ve gone every year since 2012 and the crowds have always been far worse during the first week vs. the second week of January (for lack of a better way to frame the dates) so I definitely have a preference. It’s likely that there just isn’t a great solution (crowd-wise) to years like 2023.

Oh, trust me, MLK is a very busy weekend, already. They don't need us making it any worse!

 

[Jason Bryer]

We are considering the HS ticketed event on January 3rd. We can get in at 7pm but the event doesn't start until 9:30. Is the wait time for the rides really less? Would you do the event versus just a full day at HS? Thanks for any insight.

 

[matt and beth]

SAFD:

Got our split stay WDW resorts setup. Got the Airline all set up. Did the late night after hours HS tickets. And made reservations for Disney Dive Quest at Epcot. Lastly a Beaches and cream reservation after the marathon.

 

[Naomeri]

We are considering the HS ticketed event on January 3rd. We can get in at 7pm but the event doesn't start until 9:30. Is the wait time for the rides really less? Would you do the event versus just a full day at HS? Thanks for any insight.

I haven’t done a HS after hours, but I’ve done MK (back in January 2020) and the wait times were SUPER low. I’m doing both HS and MK after hours events at Princess Weekend

 

[PrincessV]

SAFD: still stalking better resort rates, but not finding much. I’m booked offsite at Hilton Bonnet Creek’s race rate, which is good compared to regular rates and better than WDW’s onsite comparables, but it pains me to pay the extra resort and parking charges! I do want to pamper myself a bit, though, this time, and with not knowing if I‘ll be doing all of the full or only half, I feel like I need to be at that end of Buena Vista to get back to my hotel if I only run half because of the road closures at the other end of the course.

No ADRs: I’m still not eating indoors or in busy public places. I haven’t booked any park reservations yet because my AP allotment’s full with days between then and now. No airfare - I’m local-ish and drive.

 

[PrincessV]

So W&D was not the race I’d hoped for in trying to decide whether to go back to training for the Jan. Full or not… my body was all sorts of “NOPE” from start to finish. I made the mistake of going to EP the day before - not for very long, but a looong walk from my car to enter, standing in the queue x2 for GOTG, walk back to the car, plus the expo walking was maybe too much. And nothing I found to eat felt good, so my nutrition was off. I should have made it a resort day and brought my lunch from home. Lesson learned there.

At the race itself my right foot felt weirdly tight and “off” from the start. No clue why. But I adjusted my gait a bit and kept going until it worked itself out… but I think that adjustment did something up the chin because stabbing IT band pain hit my knee later in the race - something I haven’t dealt with in YEARS! Ugh. Had a lot of general knee and ankle pain rom the stupid ramps post-race, but my back (which is the pain that really takes me down) was fine and I didn’t have the overall joint and muscle pain, so uncomfortable though the race was, in retrospect I think it actually passed the test for “can I start building mileage again”? I clicked a 13.97 distance, plus the long walk to and from my car, not to mention the party later, and I’m definitely viewing it as a 14-miler lol!

But. If this marathon is hot again, all bets are off. My Floridian heat tolerance has deteriorated enormously (hi menopause!) and while I was physically fine in the W&D conditions, I was miserable. I understand now why so many Floridians become snowbirds later in life if they can!

 

[lookingforsunshine]

tter resort rates, but not finding much. I’m booked offsite at Hilton Bonnet Creek’s race rate, which is good compared to regular rates and better than WDW’s onsite comparables, but it pains me to pay the extra resort and parking charges!

I stayed there for MW 2022. The pros were the bus in the AM was very easy and they gave you a lot of food and drinks. The cons were you had to walk a lot farther back to the bus after the race. Also there was pool construction, which idk if it still happening but meant there was incessant banging all day long. We ended up getting our resort fee waived because of it though. Note that not all rooms have tubs if you want one— you’ll need a room with two beds.

 

[Barca33Runner]

We are considering the HS ticketed event on January 3rd. We can get in at 7pm but the event doesn't start until 9:30. Is the wait time for the rides really less? Would you do the event versus just a full day at HS? Thanks for any insight.

Not sure if it’s a typo in your post but the HS After Hours is on Wednesday, January 4th not Tuesday, January 3rd. Just in case that changes things.

To the rest of your questions, After Hours have always been the mostly sparsely crowded events Disney has done. Full days are more crowded than Parties (Halloween and Christmas) and After Hours have been even less than those. I’ve never been to an After Hours but the reports I’ve seen from them indicate most rides have less than 10 minute waits if there is any line at all.

The possible curve balls are that Disney has not done an After Hours in a while and it’s possible they have increased the capacity to the events. No way of knowing this until the events start happening. Also, Disney does not commit itself to all rides being open. They include all of them in the list, but they are careful not to guarantee anything. What happens if RotR has had a rough day and they close it for maintenance at the event? Or if there is still a lengthy standby line of day guests when the park closes and the event starts?

For value vs. a regular day. I think there is a lot of value add in being able to get in at 7 because that allows you to see the nighttime spectacular at a park for the price of your event. If you are not getting there until the AH starts I think the value proposition becomes tougher because the AH doesn’t include any advertised additional entertainment (parades, fireworks, character meets, etc); while there should be shorter lines for everything (and there could be some character meets) it will likely be primarily an attraction heavy event and depending on your focus on attractions for your enjoyment of a Disney park mileage may vary.

 

[Let's Get Kronk]

The possible curve balls are that Disney has not done an After Hours in a while and it’s possible they have increased the capacity to the events. No way of knowing this until the events start happening. Also, Disney does not commit itself to all rides being open. They include all of them in the list, but they are careful not to guarantee anything. What happens if RotR has had a rough day and they close it for maintenance at the event? Or if there is still a lengthy standby line of day guests when the park closes and the event starts?

This is what has me nervous for the event. I bought a ticket hoping to ride RotR at least once but my experience with the Orlando Informer Meetup at Universal has made me skeptical for rides like this. The one time I did the Meetup, I wanted to ride Hagrid multiple times but there were so many people in the queue after the park closed and the event started that barely anyone at the event got to ride it even once. I would imagine RotR is going to be a similar experience. So, I think I'm just going to use the DAH event to ride everything else at HS as many times as I can and just wait in line for RotR on a different day if the queue is ridiculous during the event.

 

[GreatLakes]

I don't see Disney moving the race to MLK weekend. Even back when January was generally slow MLK weekend was always busy.

Some years it will be closer to the end of Christmas crowds then others because of when the first is. Most of the schools around here, including my kid's, go back the 2nd, so I think you'll have way less holdover crowds than anticipated. If I were going to MW and wanted park time I'd stick around after and go the week of the 8th.

 

[kristenabelle]

This is what has me nervous for the event. I bought a ticket hoping to ride RotR at least once but my experience with the Orlando Informer Meetup at Universal has made me skeptical for rides like this. The one time I did the Meetup, I wanted to ride Hagrid multiple times but there were so many people in the queue after the park closed and the event started that barely anyone at the event got to ride it even once. I would imagine RotR is going to be a similar experience. So, I think I'm just going to use the DAH event to ride everything else at HS as many times as I can and just wait in line for RotR on a different day if the queue is ridiculous during the event.

Yeah, I'm not sure how Hagrid's load capacity and process and/or the OI meetup attendance (which I assume is probably higher than DAH since there are two parks and not just one?) would impact RotR. My parents got on it during the DVC after hours event, so I'm hoping the experience will be similar.

I agree, though - I love RotR but I'd rather do max re-rides of other attractions if I can, since that's a big part of the appeal of DAH.

 

[steph0808]

A little late answering SAFD (I think it was this week's question) about plans.

I only had airfare and room until last night, when I finally purchased tickets and made park reservations. I need to spend a bit more time rearranging things, but otherwise we can at least go to a park every day of the vacation!

I put us down for Hollywood Studios on Thursday in case they add an extra magic hours to that day (It looks like DHS extra hours have always been Thursday), but is it really likely that they'll add a day to the schedule after it has already been released?

And I need to think about airfare. We are flying out of the closest major airport on Southwest, but I could save money on flights and parking by flying Spirit (either out of major airport or out of local airport). Local airport would save another $100 on parking. Switching from Southwest to Spirit could save $400-ish, so not an insignificant amount. But then, I'll have even more Southwest points to eventually use!

 

[Herding_Cats]

I know this has been covered somewhere in last year's thread, but I'm going to ask in here because I'm pretty sure there are more new-to-this people who are lurking in here.

The 5k is "untimed" but I keep seeing comments elsewhere that people doing the Dopey Challenge still need to maintain a 16:00 pace. Is this a misunderstanding? Is it so you can get "official results" for the whole challenge? I know that as long as you cross the finish line for all of the races that you'll get your medals, etc. That's not my question. I just can't figure out this whole "but during the 5k you have to maintain pace" vein of comments. It seems like it would be almost impossible to get pics if you're not in A corral and a faster runner and still maintain 16mm pace with the way the lines get.

 

[camaker]

I know this has been covered somewhere in last year's thread, but I'm going to ask in here because I'm pretty sure there are more new-to-this people who are lurking in here.

The 5k is "untimed" but I keep seeing comments elsewhere that people doing the Dopey Challenge still need to maintain a 16:00 pace. Is this a misunderstanding? Is it so you can get "official results" for the whole challenge? I know that as long as you cross the finish line for all of the races that you'll get your medals, etc. That's not my question. I just can't figure out this whole "but during the 5k you have to maintain pace" vein of comments. It seems like it would be almost impossible to get pics if you're not in A corral and a faster runner and still maintain 16mm pace with the way the lines get.

You don't have to maintain a 16:00/mile pace in any of the races to complete the Dopey Challenge. All you have to do is cross the finish line in all four races to get your challenge medals. Some folks are probably confused because Dopey Challenge folks are the only ones who actually get a time recorded for the 5k since they have the chips in the 5k/10k bib.

 

[bryana]

FYI!! Looks like Disney has finally added the capabilities to modify a party size on a reservation without having to rebook an entire reservation based on current availability. Was able to modify party sizes on two different MW reservations for the exact same time we already had booked without issue. Took them long enough.

 

[PrincessV]

I stayed there for MW 2022. The pros were the bus in the AM was very easy and they gave you a lot of food and drinks. The cons were you had to walk a lot farther back to the bus after the race. Also there was pool construction, which idk if it still happening but meant there was incessant banging all day long. We ended up getting our resort fee waived because of it though. Note that not all rooms have tubs if you want one— you’ll need a room with two beds.

Yeah, I’ve stayed there multiple times so I’m familiar with the place. And I won’t use the buses: I only ever drive to races. So that’s a non-issue. Construction noise is a problem, though, so I’ll check that out - thanks for the heads up!

 

[nekonekoneko]

I know this has been covered somewhere in last year's thread, but I'm going to ask in here because I'm pretty sure there are more new-to-this people who are lurking in here.

The 5k is "untimed" but I keep seeing comments elsewhere that people doing the Dopey Challenge still need to maintain a 16:00 pace. Is this a misunderstanding? Is it so you can get "official results" for the whole challenge? I know that as long as you cross the finish line for all of the races that you'll get your medals, etc. That's not my question. I just can't figure out this whole "but during the 5k you have to maintain pace" vein of comments. It seems like it would be almost impossible to get pics if you're not in A corral and a faster runner and still maintain 16mm pace with the way the lines get.

This year's 5k was my first ever run, and I did not have a good showing. I only know my time because my DW ran with me, and she's the Dopey runner. We crossed the 5k in a bit over an hour (so well slower than 16:00/mi), and she still got her Dopey medal at the end, no problem.

 

[Herding_Cats]

This year's 5k was my first ever run, and I did not have a good showing. I only know my time because my DW ran with me, and she's the Dopey runner. We crossed the 5k in a bit over an hour (so well slower than 16:00/mi), and she still got her Dopey medal at the end, no problem.

Right. I knew that it wouldn’t change getting the medals, but I’ve just been trying hard t figure out why people insist that you *have* to keep a 16mm pace for the 5k and for the rest of them just not get swept. If made no sense to me unless it had to do with compiles times or something. Seems to just be one of those things people chronically misunderstand.

 

[PrincessV]

Right. I knew that it wouldn’t change getting the medals, but I’ve just been trying hard t figure out why people insist that you *have* to keep a 16mm pace for the 5k and for the rest of them just not get swept. If made no sense to me unless it had to do with compiles times or something. Seems to just be one of those things people chronically misunderstand.

I think it’s a combination of people misunderstanding and not communicating it very well. Because you DO have to finish without being swept, which more or less assumes staying under that 16:00/mile pace of the sweep, just like the other three races. I feel like this one runs parallel to the many misunderstandings about when and where you can be swept. (The answer to which is it can happen at ANY time if you fall behind the official 16:00 pace that begins as the last people cross the start.)