Marathon Weekend 2025

[Baloo in MI]

SAFD:
I love Christmas time, I am just a huge lover of the decorations, the music, the feels. We use to do an annual trip right after Thanksgiving to Disneyland. It would not be very crowded, all the Xmas stuff was up, the music, the parade, the fake snow, it was wonderful!

When we moved to Michigan I no longer needed (or desired) the fake snow and the annual trip moved to DW, and then shifted to January for MW. But I still love the decorations and music. When we bought into DVC we went with Wilderness Lodge and I can just sit in the lobby looking at that tree forever!

 

[Barca33Runner]

SAFD:

My favorite time to go to WDW is any time I can get to WDW. That said, there’s a reason we have made Marathon Weekend and the first couple weeks of September our annual trips.

Very happy to see Marathon Weekend back to what I’ve always felt is its best position, the second weekend of January. I love MW but those additional holiday/no school crowds have taken some of the enjoyment out the last couple years. Well, not just the additional crowds; MW always feels, to me, a little more like an afterthought or something being shoehorned in when it is on the first weekend.

Although it is still hot in early September, I’ll gladly trade the heat for generally lower crowds and cheaper rooms/tickets.

 

[Naomeri]

SAFD: any time is the best time to visit Disney! But weather-wise, I like late fall (October/November) and late winter (February/March) Probably warm enough for pools, but not so hot to make park-time miserable.

 

[disneyrunnergrl]

SAFD: this one is hard, but great question! I love to go anytime of year (even July!) but if I had to pick one, fall/food & wine season! If I can make the trip overlap with MNSSHP, even better. Food & wine is my favorite festival, and I love the Mickey pumpkins on Main Street. I am probably going to miss MNSSHP this year, am going for the opening of food & wine, but trying to be responsible as it will also be peak week for my fall marathon. If the party doesn’t sell out soon though, my willpower might be gone

 

[pinkxray]

Nov/ early Dec is my favorite time to visit. I love having the Christmas decor along with the characters in their adorable Xmas outfits and all Xmas merch available in the stores. I also usually love the weather. Cooler in the morning and evening, Xmas sweatshirt weather, but warm enough to swim during the day.

July- Sept is probably not happening for me. We always traveled in July or August as kids and it was miserable. I stayed at SSR once for the first Tower of Terror 10miler and swore after that trip I would never return in Sept. But… if someone asked me to go, I would

I also enjoy Oct and early spring before it gets too hot.

I love Marathon weekend because it usually not too hard to get it off from work. Not many people want time off right after the holidays. It also gives me something to look forward to once the holidays are over. I do always fear Jan/Feb weather since it is possible CT weather acts up. I missed Princess weekend a few years ago due to an ice storm the day we were do to fly out. As long as we make it out of CT, I love being in FL for a few days away from the CT cold.

 

[runwithperseverence7]

SAFD: Christmas season is by far my favorite time to visit. It’s my favorite holiday and it just seems to have that special feeling. Bummed I never got to be there to see the dream lights though. The first time I brought my kids was at the end of January and I loved it then. It was nice temps and low crowds. Hope I can make during the fall one time so I can see all the decorations.

 

[Cabius]

SAFD: My family usually take a ~10-day trip from Marathon weekend until just before MLK. It's great to catch the tail end of the Christmas decorations, the MW events, and then the relatively low crowds and pleasant weather the week after race weekend. A few times, we've even stayed late enough to catch the opening of Festival of the Arts!

But in general, Christmastime >>>>> all else

 

[flav]

SAFD: I really like to go mid-April. The flowers and warmth are such a contrast to the seasonal grey where I live. I also enjoyed the themes of Springtime Surprise for the last two years. I would like to attend the MNSSHP one day.

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

SAFD: I love xmas holidays time period. I just loove all the decorations. We own at AKL and I cannot get enough of that xmas tree at Jambo. Everything just feels soo magical. And the decorations are just perfect.

 

[sandam1]

BTW The Feed is running a warehouse sale right now with a lot of good sales. So if you want to try something new or need to stock up on your favorites, now is a good time. I happen to have a $25 store credit so I plan on doing some shopping.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

SAFD: I have come to enjoy MW at DW because I get Disney all decked out for Christmas, but without the actual Christmas crowds. Princess weekend comes in second because of the weather and lower crowds.
We did MNSSH with the kids one year and darn near melted in the costumes.
FWIW, the Untapped coffee infused syrup packets came in; can't wait to try them.
I did not manage a run today. Why? Because I joined DD in jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.

 

[azrivest]

SAFD: I don't have a "favourite" time to visit as my trips are always for a purpose, mostly race weekends.

I do want to go at least once during Feb like Naomeri said for the weather, and to finally experience Festival of the Arts. It's always sandwiched between Marathon and Princess.

 

[Cliff Secord]

SAFD: My favorite times to visit are early Feb & Sept, when crowds are relatively lower

 

[nancipants]

I live here, so…. Every season? Seriously though, we avoid the parks during the summer, or only go for a few hours at a time. Christmas is my favorite time, and I also love Epcot in between festivals because it’s so quiet.

 

[PrincessV]

SAFD: One of the niftier things about being local-ish to WDW is that I don’t have a favorite season - I love almost all of them in different ways! Except Spring Break season crowds and traffic: I hold no love at all for that. Early winter is always great for finding low crowds and a general lull between busy seasons. Non-Spring Break Spring is the time of comfortable weather. Summer, while insanely hot and humid, has July 4th at EP and late park closures so I can avoid the sun a still have plenty of time in the parks after dark. Fall offers F&WF and Halloween. Nov-Dec’s holiday decorations and celebrations usher in the holiday season for me.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

I live here, so…. Every season? Seriously though, we avoid the parks during the summer, or only go for a few hours at a time. Christmas is my favorite time, and I also love Epcot in between festivals because it’s so quiet.

IMHO, that would be the way to do it if I lived in the area: go 3-4 hours at at time, especially when you know it'll be a low-crowd day, or in the evenings when the sun has abated (and I still wouldn't be there in the summer).

 

[Herding_Cats]

SAFD:
I loooove going at Christmas (minus the insanely high crowds) probably because that's when we took our kids when they were old enough to remember a trip and the Disney magic was real. So yeah. Emotional ties there for sure. I also really enjoyed going in the spring during F&G.

But race weekends, specifically MW, have made "normal" disney trips feel kind of weird, and like something is missing from the trip.

 

[camaker]

SAFD:
I loooove going at Christmas (minus the insanely high crowds) probably because that's when we took our kids when they were old enough to remember a trip and the Disney magic was real. So yeah. Emotional ties there for sure. I also really enjoyed going in the spring during F&G.

But race weekends, specifically MW, have made "normal" disney trips feel kind of weird, and like something is missing from the trip.

I think the missing component that you're feeling the lack of is called "sleep".

 

[The Expert]

I've seen those and have been intrigued! Do you get the regular or the flavored versions?

Sorry for the delay -- we were traveling. I do the regular and caffeinated versions of the shots/gels. Usually I stick to the regular for shorter races and mix in a caffeine one around midway for HM and longer. I do enjoy the ginger flavored hydration drink mix when I can find it, but I take that during off-course hydration between races.

 

[The Expert]

After having my memory prodded yesterday, I ordered some of the Untapped coffee+syrup to add to my fuel collection. I may have to take some on a run soon. Just to see how well they work in race conditions. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it...

FWIW, the Untapped coffee infused syrup packets came in; can't wait to try them.

For all of the newbies to Untapped, I frequent a coffee shop owned by the same family who started Untapped. They are always interested in feedback, so feel free to pass it through me anytime!