Marathon Weekend 2025

[pinkxray]

I have stayed at SSR, BLT, YC, and Dolphin. Next up is Copper Creek. SSR we drove, I don't think I’d like dealing with multiple buses stops on race weekends. BLT was fine, dolphin seemed to have a very fun atmosphere since there were tons of runners. I tend to pick where I want to stay for what our other plans are, so we end up near MK nowadays. I would love to stay at Pop since it seems so fun with all the runners. Would also love a crescent lake resort to spectate so hopefully one day when we get tired of MK resorts.

 

[GuinnessRunner]

SAFD: Team on-site for me as well. There are not any that I would reccomend against but my two favorites for MW are Boardwalk and Pop. Love the energy both of them have with all of the runners. I sleep pretty soundly so the nightly action on the boardwalk never bothers me, although the fireworks at Epco can get loud depending on what room I am in. The ability to walk to Epcot (and HS) from Boardwalk, and all the dining options that allows for, is one of the other major plusses for me, although I do miss the option of a food court for QS. For solo trips, I like POP as well, especially a preferred room closer to the Skyliner. I've gotten so that I enjoy a ride on the Skyliner as much as I love a good monorail loop and the two food court options (with a short walk to AoA) are great.

 

[marty3d]

SAFD: Team onsite here as well. My first choice is any of the crescent lake resorts. Our absolute favorite is Boardwalk but we usually end up at Swan/ Dolphin as I’m also team Marriott and redeeming or earning points for the week help with the expense.

This year I stayed at Pop for the first time as I was solo and couldn’t justify the cost of a deluxe resort and I loved it it felt like everyone was a runner, cast members went out of their way to acknowledge and celebrate runners which really made it nice for a solo trip! And the skyliner! I think I will be staying there for any future solo trips.

 

[matt and beth]

SAFD: We have DVC so always stay on site. We love so many resorts and enjoy them all. Probably could say AKL, CCV, or BWV are our favorites. Never had an issue getting to or from the races.

Happy Father’s Day to all. Because of my father and the runners boom of the 70s and 80s I run today. And have passed it on to my own kids. Just the purest, cheapest, and easiest of ways to exercise. Plus… so much fun. Missing my dad but thankful for the first race he signed me up for at 10.

 

[Zutroy]

SAFD: I love all the monorail resorts, and have stayed at all three for races. I think the Polynesian wins out because you can walk to the TTC to hop on the monorail, it has the best pool, great atmosphere. The rooms are the weakest of the monorail resorts, and the new theming is boring.

Bay Lake Tower is a close second. I stayed there for this year’s marathon, and had a villa with a full kitchen and a separate bedroom. Walking to MK is great, but it’s the longest monorail trip of the three.

The Grand Flo club level is amazing, especially since Irv—who worked forever at the Poly club level—now works there. The major downside is the noise. The rooms open onto the main atrium, and you hear people being loud well past 11 pm.

 

[flav]

SAFD: If I am on vacation, I prefer to be driven so I always stay onsite. My family used to stay at Deluxe which were affordable when we used to go, mostly in August. Race weekends are my indulgence so I choose Pop for my first two and really liked it, especially the runners’ energy, the strong theming and the practicality of the rooms. I like the Skyliner but it is not a decisive advantage considering the 50$ surcharge for it compared to the All Stars where I stayed for the last two Springtime Surprises. Even ignoring the fact that I can stay four nights at an AS, three nights at Pop, two nights at a Moderate or one night at a Deluxe for roughly the same price, I would still choose a AS or Pop over many resorts.

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

SAFD: Team on site! I love having the busses to take us to and from the races. I love the staff all knowing what we are doing and cheering us. We are DVC so makes it easier for us to always stay on site. We own at AKV, so for most of the DVC races we have been luckliy enough to get Club level at AKL. I love getting club level on race weekends because I tend to only get one park ticket so we spend soo much time at the resort on race weekends compared to normal vacations. So club level is so nice to have. Also having access to food and drinks all the time included in the price is wonderful. Also I love AKL for race weekends since it has the most to do without leaving the resort. Never had an issue with busses from AKL. They have it down over here. This coming race weekend will be the first time for wdw race we will not be at our fav AKL and without club level but Copper Creek Cabins will be a new fun. I basically love relaxing places on my run weekends and CC Cabins fit the bill. Also I need place with hot tubs... hot tubs are my go to thing to relax after a race.

 

[BigEeyore]

SAFD: We are DVC so on site for us! Home resort is AKL, which I absolutely love (I treat myself with a Savannah view - post race coffee and breakfast on my balcony looking at animals is sooooo lovely). BUT....sometimes getting back to AKL after the marathon can take awhile due to traffic on Osceola b/c of road closures for the race. SO for MW I would give Poly the edge because of being able to walk to and from the TTC and just taking the monorail to/from the race

 

[hauntedcity]

SAFD: we are fortunate enough to have Disney Vacation Club, so we are always onsite. For races, we have stayed at SSR (our home resort), OKW, and Animal Kingdom. We just had a waitlist come through for Kidani Village for January, and my wife and I are so excited! It's a bit of a long bus ride, but that's no problem if you plan ahead. We don't usually do park days when going for a race, so the best part is spending lots of time on the balcony watching the animals on the savannah.

 

[Herding_Cats]

SAFD:

If I could pick, it would be a 1br or larger at a DVC resort. In-room washer/dryer, race transportation, etc are hard perks to beat. And depending on the resort, it's not a huge price difference from a value or mod if you rent points. I really enjoy OKW and SSR (where we bought a small contract a year ago) because of their proximity to DS and its many food options (and busses directly to other resorts for things like the HH meetup) AND because they have a very relaxed feel compared to some of the other resorts we've stayed at.

Spoiler: I used all of my words explaining things that probably don't need explained

I have done both on-site and off-site, for very different race trips. For MW we have always been onsite. We have jumped around a lot during race weekends because we were checking off resorts from our list (I think the only dvc resorts we are missing at this point are BW, BLT, and CCV.) Word of advice....don't change resorts on a day you race, unless it's MAYBE the 5k. Definitely don't change resorts on marathon day if anyone in your group is running it. My first MW we started at OKW and then changed to BR for a night on marathon day. That was horrible, even with our room being ready a few hours early! For our 2nd MW we started at GF for a night, then 2 nights at Poly, and then 4 nights at SSR. This was OK, mainly because we always rent a car and packed so we didn't need our big luggage bags until we got to SSR, and did a bunch of park days. But it was still unnecessary work to pack up that many times.

And then I convinced DH to buy a small contract for SSR, and that's where we stayed for the entire trip for our 3rd MW. And that (staying in 1 room the whole time) is 100% the way to go. We stay in a preferred room for MW to be close to DS. That opens up a lot of food options with a very reasonable walk. The resort is really built for having a car (IMO), especially for race weekend because the busses only stop at the main stop, which is also the last stop for park busses. That means you can't use a park bus to get dropped off closer to your room. But if you have a car, you're parking right outside your building, there are elevators in all of the buildings, and it's so much less chaotic feeling than a resort like AoA with its massive food court and small children everywhere.

For off-site, we squeezed in the inaugural SS 10k during a spring break trip. We traveled with BIL/SIL and their kiddos, and rented a house for a weeek. SIL "ran" the 10k with me (I had undiagnosed-at-that-point PF in my left foot/achilles and ended up having to walk about half the race.) What's good about off-site? There's no "Disney pressure." You are completely free to do whatever you want, and you don't feel like you're missing out on park things. Having your own pool (in many cases) is great, saving a ton of money on meals when you can cook your own is a huge plus. Staying off-site when traveling with a larger group with only a few runners is a great way to save a good chunk of money in what is usually an already-expensive weekend.

 

[Cabius]

SAFD:

We stay at the Poly, which is our DVC home resort.

I love love love the hotel in general, but love it for MW in particular for two reasons.

1 - The walk to the Epcot monorail from Pago Pago is super convenient getting to and from the event.

2 - It's really easy for my wife to sleep in with the little ones, and walk over to the TTC at a semi-reasonable hour to cheer me on. And if they want to meet me in EPCOT, herding little ones (we're up to four!!) onto the monorail is a lot easier than her driving or bussing them all solo.

 

[Let's Get Kronk]

SAFD: I'm definitely team on-site as well. I just love being fully immersed in the Disney bubble and I never have a car so I also love all of the transportation options that staying on-site provides. My favorite resort is YC and I've stayed there a couple of times including for Dopey this past January. I did Beach Club as well the year before for Goofy which was also really nice, but there is just something about YC that I like just a little bit more. I also stayed at CBR for Wine & Dine last year and honestly it wasn't my favorite. The busses to the races make like 6 stops (5 around the resort and then Riviera) and it took forever to actually get to the races. I also found the resort to just feel too big for me. I did AoA for SS in April and I loved it. I got pixie dusted from a Little Mermaid room to a Cars suite and it was just perfect. I am staying at Pop for Wine & Dine and MW because I have heard awesome things about it and because my running group will be there for MW. The Skyliner is basically a must for me anymore if I'm not staying right on Crescent Lake.

 

[Disneyhanna]

The busses to the races make like 6 stops (5 around the resort and then Riviera) and it took forever to actually get to the races.

Did they switch up the direction? For MW 2024 going to the races, they stopped at Riviera and then did the CBR loop on the way to the races. Going back to the resorts it was the opposite direction, so Riviera was dropped off first. I considered walking to the Aruba bus stop from Riviera since it was the last stop before going to the races

 

[Let's Get Kronk]

Did they switch up the direction? For MW 2024 going to the races, they stopped at Riviera and then did the CBR loop on the way to the races. Going back to the resorts it was the opposite direction, so Riviera was dropped off first. I considered walking to the Aruba bus stop from Riviera since it was the last stop before going to the races

I stayed in Jamaica and I believe we were the first stop. On the 5K day, the driver didn't really seem to know where he was going and looped all the way around and back to Jamaica before some of us were like "can we please go to the race now" and he still had to stop at Riviera. It was the same route (minus the accidental double stop at Jamaica) for the other two races. It just took way too long.

 

[camaker]

I stayed in Jamaica and I believe we were the first stop. On the 5K day, the driver didn't really seem to know where he was going and looped all the way around and back to Jamaica before some of us were like "can we please go to the race now" and he still had to stop at Riviera. It was the same route (minus the accidental double stop at Jamaica) for the other two races. It just took way too long.

I've stayed at CBR the last couple of MWs and it seems to be random what order they use. Basically, if they come in one entrance then Jamaica will be the first stop and if they come in the Riviera entrance, it will be the first stop. I generally request to stay in Jamaica/Aruba and if Riviera is the first stop I'll get off there and walk to the room so I don't have to go all the way around the resort. Totally agree that the size of CBR can be a drawback, especially the year I was there when the central island was closed. I don't use the food court, though, so as long as the Sodastreams are in the outlying islands, the size doesn't bother me.

 

[DisneyParrothead]

SAFD: team on-site as well. There are so many options. I've stayed at several through the years since college (thank you parents DVC!) and you really can't go wrong. I use the buses on property, and if I want to go to *gasp* Universal for a day, I Uber. I never have a rental, and Uber is super convenient for me. My favorite resorts right now are Coronado and Pop. I loved staying at the Boardwalk with the family DVC, but my parents sold it years ago, and it's way out of my budget.

 

[GollyGadget]

Hi y’all! Reminder that the Proof of Time deadline is only two weeks away.

Please note that if you submit a proof of time from an alternate race distance, an industry standard calculation will be applied to equate your finish time.

• Proof of time must be provided from an officially timed race on a USATF certified course reflecting results between January 1, 2022 and July 1, 2024, and must be one of the below listed distances.
• Participants will be placed in the last start group if appropriate race distance is not submitted for proof of time or if the data provided is incomplete or cannot be verified.

Full Marathon Proof of Time: Results for a 10-Mile, Half Marathon or Marathon

Half Marathon Proof of Time: Results for a 10K, 10-Mile, Half Marathon or Marathon

Please note: We cannot accept relays, trail runs, self-timed, training or Virtual Runs as proof of time

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[kps7795]

Hi y’all! Reminder that the Proof of Time deadline is only two weeks away.

​

Even though I submitted my information when I registered (which I know is unwise), I still had to triple check to make certain runDisney had my information.

 

[GollyGadget]

Even though I submitted my information when I registered (which I know is unwise), I still had to triple check to make certain runDisney had my information.

Samesies!

 

[PrincessV]

SAFD: for years, I rented a villa with full kitchen and laundry at Wyndham Bonnet Creek for less than the AP rate at a WDW Value. That would still be my first choice, but the people I rented from are retiring from the rental game and IDK if I’ll try using anyone else. Fortunately, I’m also never planning to do Dopey again, so I can live without the full laundry, at least.

I won’t say “never” again, but I’m not sure I’ll stay onsite again. I did this year, and I really, REALLY missed having a kitchen, or even a kitchenette. I’m also unwilling to pay WDW “Deluxe” prices. I may try the Flamingo Crossing properties next time.