Marathon Weekend 2024

[Bree]

SAFD: I’m local and have an AP so I do not really spend that much time in the parks during race weekends. I tend to pop into a park for specific things like lunch at Nomad Lounge. If I get on a ride, great. If not, it will be there for me another day.

 

[striker1064]

SAFD: Every trip prior I've had an AP, so runDisney trips involved very little park time. It was weird to be at WDW and not go to the parks at least a little, so I did - usually to Epcot to eat, or to DAK for a safari ride. However, unlike a lot of people, I did not grow up going to WDW (my parents didn't have a lot of money and couldn't afford it), so I have no nostalgia and need to go to the parks. I'm very content to do things around the resorts and simply mosey/eat/drink when I know I'm there to run.

 

[Barca33Runner]

SAFD:

I’ve been to every Marathon Weekend since 2012. We have attended in groups of 3 to 13 and have done no parks, all the parks, and everything in between. I’ve also had periods with an AP and, much more often, without one.

As an out-of-state, mostly one to two trip a year person it would be odd to go to Disney and not do any parks. The only year we didn’t do any was 2013, which was my (and my sister’s, the only other constant on all the trips) first full Marathon. We were still very much noobs and thought it would be weird in the parks without kids (an opinion we’ve left in the past). It was a short trip that was almost entirely focused on finishing the Marathon. It was a great trip even without parks but I don’t think we’d ever do things that way again.

Most of the years since we’ve been running Dopey and burning the candle at both ends. This is definitely a passable option, but it wouldn’t be my current choice (both for race considerations and Disney considerations).

Race-wise, the sleep considerations for Dopey lead me to prefer to do parks only up through Thursday. I like having the later days leading to the longer races clear for recovery and sleep.

Disney-wise, I have been growing increasingly disenchanted with the day guest experience at the parks. We stay off-site most of the time during Marathon Weekend, due to the size of our group, and the disadvantages for off-site visitors (they really fit this classification much better than perks for Disney Hotel Guests) make visiting the parks on such busy days completely unsatisfying. I much prefer, and am fortunate to have the option of, doing fewer parks during Marathon Weekend and scheduling another trip on-site during a lower crowd period (I know these are growing fewer and farther between) later in the year. Even more than that, I prefer to spend my time at the parks at holiday parties or after hour events. Events where Genie+ and the entire idea of multiple lines doesn’t exist.

TL;DR- Any amount of park time during an RD trip is feasible and can be enjoyable. It’s really individual preference both factoring your enjoyment of the parks and your race planning (and whether your race planning can supersede your own and your group’s vacation plans).

 

[DopeyBadger]

SAFD:
For me, the agreement between my wife and I is that I participate in 99% of the activities that the rest of the family does. So it's a Disney vacation first, and a runDisney race weekend second for me. But when I runDisney I like to race full go PR level in most every race. So I try to do both when I go. Lots and lots of parks, and lots of hard racing.

2017 (Dopey) I covered 109 miles and 188,000 steps in 9 days; Finished in 43rd place for Dopey (no HM). All three races were PRs.

2018 (Dopey) I covered 105 miles and 172,000 steps in 8 days; Finished in 20th place for Dopey with a 5:45 cumulative finish. Three out of four races were PRs.

2020 (Marathon) I covered 100 miles and 206,000 steps in 7 days; Finished in 237th place with a 3:35 finish.

2022 (Princess 5k, 10k, HM) I covered 132 miles and 224,000 steps in 9 days; Finished in 9th place for Princess Challenge.

 

[princesspirateandrunner]

SAFD: We’re in Georgia, and have been to the parks many times, so we don’t feel like we HAVE to do park days during rD weekends. That said, we sometimes do. For this past MW, DH and I didn’t do any park days, though DS25 and his girlfriend did do HS and AK. For PW, we probably won’t, especially since we’ll have one fewer days than we did for MW. If we get in the DL Half, we’ll definitely plan on doing both parks, because we’ve never been to DL, and I can’t imagine going there and not seeing what those parks are like.

 

[surfde22]

SAFD: runDisney trips are first and foremost Disney vacations. This year, during Dopey, it was our 17 month old’s first trip and I wouldn’t have missed park time with him for anything. And since I’m the major adult Disney fan in my family it would be weird for me to say no to park time. I still run the races for time mostly, but lots of park time too.

 

[Disneyhanna]

SAFD: I am also in the boat where runDisney trips are vacation first, with a side of running (or in my case, jogging). This year was my second rD weekend and my first Dopey, and while I eased up a bit on park time during the race days, I wasn't just hanging around at the resort either. I still went to bed after 9pm every night before the races because I will never not be a night owl, but I tried to at least be back at the resort a few hours before then to wind down.

Monday: 30k
Tuesday: 16k
Wednesday: 15k
Thursday: 29k
Friday: 32k
Saturday: 39k
Sunday: 71k
Monday: 22k

Just over 250k steps total in the eight full days I had. I tried to limit standing around, I find I am not bothered at all by high step counts but I do get an achy back and sore feet when I am standing in line for rides. I wasn't perfect at this since I did do Oga's, mini golf, waiting over 30 minutes to ride the train...but no hour+ waits in ride lines at least. I did take the races very easy, all easy run pace (aside from the 10k where the excitement got to me a bit) and lots of breaks for character photos or walking up overpasses.

I was glad I went down a few days early to fully enjoy the parks first, so I didn't feel like I was missing out on much. I enjoyed the extra day after the marathon as well, though I was pretty ready to sleep in my own bed at that point and so next year I plan to fly home on Monday instead of Tuesday. With the holiday I will try and take advantage of that again to have some solid park time before the races.

 

[corn princess]

SAFD: I'm another one where we rD events are vacations.first, races second. The last time I did a rD event was last year's princess half. We got in on Thursday, that day went to the expo. Did a park on Friday and Saturday (made them earlyish nights) and then the day of the half, did Epcot. I felt fine and feel like the walking helped keep me loose and help me loosen back up after the race.
As I start to plan for next year's marathon weekend and wanting to do the goofy challenge, our plans might change slightly. Flu out on Thursday, do expo. Friday be a short park day, Saturday no parks, just a resort day after the race. Sunday after the marathon probably Epcot. They plan is to start a few days and fly back on Wednesday or Thursday!

 

[BigEeyore]

SAFD: I always do park time, but usually try to be back at the hotel by 7-ish so I can get to bed early. This past MW, we did decide to take Saturday off after the half since I was doing Dopey, and it was definitely the right decision! We played mini-golf, took it easy at the resort (AKL), and hit DS.
When I do "just" Goofy, I like to fly in early on Friday and do parks Friday, Sat, Sunday and Monday and then fly home Monday night. It's a whirlwind weekend!
It really is best to keep moving to aid recovery, and hobbling around the parks is a great way to do that!

 

[_shiny_side_up_]

SAFD: runDisney trips are runs first, vacations second . Well, both for me. My kid is of the age that he's no longer interested in going to Disney so I make my runDisney trips solo. I'll include park time - but mainly just to walk around, people watch and partake in the unique food and drink.

 

[DopeyRunner486]

SAFD: I am an out of state AP so I go fairly often. Race weekends, especially Marathon Weekend, I tend to do less in the parks. Now when I first started these races I was go go go all day in the parks. Now it is not so much. I think it took me 3 days this marathon weekend before I got on a ride. I don't have the need to wait more than 30 minutes for most things. I also don't want to spend all the money on genie on top of everything else. I would rather eat and drink lol.

 

[Dopey 2020]

SAFD: we are AP and make it down multiple times/year. All the trips are pretty much the same as far as family fun, park time, resort time. Races are something I enjoy and fit in the the schedule with as little impact as possible. If I’m tired for the race, so be it, not going to miss Guardians with DD or V&A with my DW because of it. That being said, it’s much easier with the APs as we’ve been there, done that so there is no stress of having to get everything done in one trip. Our first trip was 2008 and we did rope drop to close almost everyday, glad I had no clue about runDisney back then, it would have been impossible.

 

[FFigawi]

SAFD: We’re normally in the parks to eat, drink, and ride a few rides. This is easy to do for a few hours at lunch time, go back to the room for a nap, and head back out for dinner. We let our AP lapse, so our next marathon weekend will probably see less park time and more eating & drinking at the resorts or Disney Springs.

 

[Jason Bryer]

SAFD: This was the first year I did Dopey with a full vacation. ~100 miles over four days. I'm not sure I will do that again as it has taken more than two weeks for my achilles to heal enough to start running. Here's what I have done over the years:

2018: Marathon only with DW and DS. Came down Friday and left Monday. Did Epcot on Sunday.
2019: Marathon only with another couple. Came down Thursday and left Monday. Did Epcot on Sunday but also had a bast going to the dance club on Thursday night.
2020: Dopey with wife (she ran the 10k and half). Epcot on Sunday.
2022: Dopey with friend. We did HS on Thursday and Epcot on Monday (DATW with the DIS crew).
2023: Dopey with family. Parks every day with park hopper. Still very tired.

They were all great weekends, but I think I prefer adult time in Disney with minimal park time. I love eating and drinking in Epcot and just wandering around.

 

[flav]

SAFD: It depends who is running with me and who is traveling with me. Solo, I can endure a lot (walking, sleep deprivation) so it’s intense park wise and I will start resting when I am on the flight back. With many family members, there is a lot of compromise but still, parks everyday. For our next runDisney trip (Springtime Surprise 2023), it will be DD and I. We are running all races together so we will have an identical schedule. We both like the parks a lot but DD needs her sleep to function. We are currently planning intense mornings (run then park rope drop) and will see if we rest/nap in the afternoon or if we try to start our nights at 7PM.

ETA: No Park Hopper and no Fastpass (no intention to buy Genie+) for the first time. So we will have to focus our park visits on our top most wanted rides/food/shows/pictures.

 

[Goofed98]

SAFD: I'm a once a year trip person, it's been MW since 2010, and I cram in everything possible.

Typically get into town on tuesday or Wednesday, expo, I'll play golf with my dad on Thursday and Friday mornings before we pick up mom and anyone else for full park day. Saturday- half- park day as normal.

Sunday- marathon- maybe park, maybe golf, maybe a nap and football, maybe mini-golf, usually leave on Monday.

I'm very much a "burning the candle on both ends" type during our trips.

 

[pluto377]

SAFD: I do solo trips for MW and visit with my family at other times of the year about every other year. So I don't feel like I HAVE to do parks. This year I took it really easy doing After Hours at HS on Wednesday and then doing MK and EP on Saturday after the half. I really enjoyed just relaxing around the hotel and traveling over to Beach Club for the HH meet up. It was great to not feel rushed and to relax. I'll probably do something similar next year.

 

[AJruns]

SAFD: these trips are (so far) a once-a-year event, so seeing the parks is an important part to me. If I did any other distance besides the full it wouldn’t matter what day or what the activities/bedtimes were, but because I’m a little too distracted/worried about my legs I stick to the Sunday and Monday afterwards. Sunday is for MK and I’ve been rotating through the others on Monday. This year I park-hopped for the first time and did three on Monday, so I think next year I will swap that day for one in DL after the half and I won’t feel liked I’ve missed tooo much. I don’t do genie+ or have an itinerary while I’m there, I just wander to keep the legs moving, and eat and ride what I feel like waiting for. I work from my hotel room during the other days and skyliner hop to explore for fun.

 

[Disney at Heart]

Out of state AP here who visits WDW at least 3x per year, usually for 9-10 days, so we visit the parks every day, but don't feel like we have to hit everything. Marathon week, we took it easy this year. When we arrived on Tuesday I had vertigo, and I had just been to the doctor for a steroid shot the day before, telling him if I staggered or crawled to the finish line, I was running Goofy over the weekend!

Tuesday evening we arrived at WDW and went to Epcot. We walked around, and I rode the easy, short-wait rides like Figment, Nemo, and Gran Fiesta, staggering a little, but mostly I could walk straight. Wednesday morning I was feeling better except if I suddenly moved my head, so we did a very easy shake out run around PO and headed to MK, still doing only non-spinning, easy rides and heading back early to Boatwright's for dinner. The rest of the week included expo, HH, running Goofy, DATW (water) and parks every day. I continued to skip some big rides until after Goofy just to be sure my head didn't start spinning again, but by DATW, I had virtual queue for GOTG and did fine, so the last part of our trip I was "full parks."

So, YES to park days on run weekends. Even under extreme circumstances!

 

[azrivest]

Today is National Plan for Vacation Day, and it's been snowing non stop for 3 days and it's a feels like of 1F outside today and I'm depressed. What better endorphin boost than ask my TA to book the Swan for MW.

Now I just need to register...