Marathon Weekend 2025

[The Expert]

SAFD I'm still kicking myself for not stopping for Merlin at the HM last year, so hoping he's out again. But my fav on the marathon course is the Adventurer's Club cast, especially if they give them microphones and just let them riff the whole time. With each year, I'm sure there are fewer and fewer people who remember the club, but I hope they keep them around as long as the actors are still available.

 

[nancipants]

SAFD: I don’t make many character stops because I’m slooooow, but so far my favorites have been the Tower Bellhops.

All I want from the marathon is Clarabelle. She’s my favorite and she doesn’t have a meet and greet at WDW and is only in some special parades. I’ve only gotten a picture with her as part of the Sanderson Sisters on DCL, but I want one with just her! (If she’s out during another race, don’t tell me, because I’ll cry.)

 

[Herding_Cats]

SAFD: I don’t make many character stops because I’m slooooow, but so far my favorites have been the Tower Bellhops.

All I want from the marathon is Clarabelle. She’s my favorite and she doesn’t have a meet and greet at WDW and is only in some special parades. I’ve only gotten a picture with her as part of the Sanderson Sisters on DCL, but I want one with just her! (If she’s out during another race, don’t tell me, because I’ll cry.)

Clarabell is usually out during the full, somewhere around the poly/cone alley (who knows what that will mean with the new course though!) and I love how sassy the CMs make her.

I really want to be able to stop for a princess at some point, but idk if that'll every happen during MW since they're never out. Most of the lines are so long for the uncommon characters that I don't stop. I really enjoyed the Robin Hood characters a couple of years ago (although I cannot remember if I stopped or not?!)

 

[BigEeyore]

SAFD: My "should I stop for this character?" criteria: Any rare characters and any common characters in special outifts!

My favorite run Disney character photos I've ever gotten are Elvis Stitch (W&D) and the Ewoks (RIP SW races)

 

[azrivest]

SAFD: My favorite was Agent P last year.

I wish the Star Wars characters weren't selfie only, it's been like that every time I've seen them in my past few races.

Otherwise I wish I could get a real picture with Merida. She's my fav princess and she's always on break when I go by her spot!

 

[The Expert]

I really enjoyed the Robin Hood characters a couple of years ago (although I cannot remember if I stopped or not?!)

We did! I have a pic with Robin and Lil John from that year.

 

[marty3d]

SAFD: I also love the rare or attraction based characters - the Grave Diggers, Tower Bellhops and I have to agree with @The Expert that the Adventurer's Club cast are by far my favourites! I think I may still miss the AC most of all.

 

[Naomeri]

SAFD: I always stop for chipmunks once per weekend. I would stop every time, but Chip & Dale usually have a long line, and I always seem to get in line for them right before a break.

I would like more villains on course--the Gaston they had at the W&D half this year was great! Interacting without delaying the line at all. I would also like to find Haunted Mansion characters somewhere while it's still dark out--seeing them at mile 10.5 of the W&D half just seemed silly for a slow person like me

 

[lahobbs4]

SAFD: I rarely stop but my favorite so far was the crew from Up (Mr. Fredrickson is the literal cutest) and Jafar. I will always stop for Donald Duck.

I would love a race photo with Chewbacca, Moana and Maui, or Judy Hopps. Also, my dream would be a stop with all the dog characters of Disney but played by real dogs (Bolt, Dalmatians, Copper, Lady & the Tramp, etc... A girl can dream).

 

[DisneyParrothead]

SAFD: the first character I ever stopped for was Marie. I’m a cat mama and love the AristoCats.

This past Princess I stopped for Esmeralda and Meg. I’ve never seen them in the parks and any rare character gets my attention. It all depends on what the line looks like.

 

[matt and beth]

SAFD:

Elvis Stitch was a must last year. Almost always stop for Officer Hops. Tigger for my DD and of course Mickey.

 

[Baloo in MI]

SAFD:
I don’t usually stop, I love checking out each of the characters but usually prefer to just keep moving along. I have, of course, stopped for Baloo. Oh, and the Country Bears!

 

[MissLiss279]

SAFD:
I love seeing Darkwing Duck and Launchpad McQuack!
It would be fun to see some other Disney afternoon characters- Gummi Bears, Talespin - I mean I guess we see Baloo, some of the other Rescue Rangers…

 

[Barca33Runner]

SAFD: Anything Disney Afternoon. I’d also like to see some Encanto characters in the future. I’m guessing they might become more common after their area opens in AK.

 

[Disney at Heart]

I don’t stop much for characters. The first character I ever stopped for was Mushu in Japan, I stopped once for Baloo just outside Animal Kingdom when we used to run out behind Everest, and I saw Ezra and Sabine once just past ESPN Zone at the Boardwalk, but didn’t know who they were at the time (might have been a Star Wars race). All these had no lines! I stopped once for Donald running into Epcot near Imagination, and waited forever, so I never want to do that again. Mostly, I just look at the characters and keep going. The marathon, in particular, takes me so long that I just want to finish and get off my feet!

 

[dobball23]

SAFD: I don't usually stop for characters. But in my first marathon (and first Dopey) in 2018 I stopped for Scrooge McDuck and Launchpad McQuack. I was going to surprise my wife and let her see the photo in our Photopass account, but I had to share it with her first. Luckily there was no line!

I am usually running to get a good time, so usually seeing the characters as I run past is fun enough for me.

 

[PrincessV]

SAFD: ~heavy sigh~ The 501st Legion at SW races in FL. Those were the best! Any time I see the Adventurers Club, I’ll stop for an KUNGALOOSH! and a pic. Outside of that, I’ll mostly just stop if I feel like taking a break, see a short line, and know who the character is. That last part used to be a no-brainer, but they keep introducing new ones I’ve never seen before as an oldster without young kids in my life lol!

 

[SheHulk]

SAFD: My only real character-related regret is, in 2014 or 2015, they had a doghouse set up with 3 dog characters: Pluto, Bolt, and maybe Dug? Music playing was "Who Let the Dogs Out?" naturally. I was too undertrained to feel comfortable stopping in line for a picture in those days, but I still wish I had stopped there. I don't think I've seen that setup since, though I've seen each of them individually.

 

[cburnett11]

SAFD: I think I only stopped twice in my first 9 Disney races and both times it was with my adult DD. We stopped in the AK parking lot for the grave diggers back in 2018 and the 2nd time was to ride teacups in 2023 during the half.

I guess I had so much fun stopping that one time in 2023 that the next day (during the Goofy full) I decided to stop for every possible photo pass. That was so much fun that I did all the available pics again at Princess Challenge 2023 and Dopey 2024. There were plenty of characters that I did not know in the marathon this year. At this year’s princess I stopped everywhere in the 10k and then decided to just run the half hard.

I haven’t decided what I’ll do for the upcoming Dopey. I think I’d make a special stop for Figment or if any characters were in the old “futuristic” EPCOT costumes. But I’ll probably be stopping everywhere again because it’s a nice little break and a fun game.

 

[superchime]

SAFD: I am not fast so I don't stop for a lot of characters, but I like to when I can. I think my favorites so far are Perry the Platypus and Wall-E (he was before the race, though). I would love to stop for Mushu but I think I've only seen him out a couple of times and the line is always too long for me. I also love to stop for selfies with the cast members in World Showcase and Jeff Galloway if I spot him at the finish line. Oh, and Jogging Jack Sparrow! So I guess my favorite character stops are the unofficial ones!