Marathon Weekend 2026

[marty3d]

There are runDisney buses, but I am not sure if they will have started back up for spectators that early. I would think they would be running by then, though. The concern I would have with a Minnie Van is the same concern I'd have driving with the potential for closed roads. I booked a room at Bay Lake just for the monorail because my parents are bringing my son and they get confused easily. LOL

Also - we don't know for certain what the course (and therefore road closures) will be next year. With the amount of construction going on I wouldn't be surprised to see more changes. A monorail resort might be the safest choice - I assume the monorails continue running at that time?

 

[KSellers88]

Also - we don't know for certain what the course (and therefore road closures) will be next year. With the amount of construction going on I wouldn't be surprised to see more changes. A monorail resort might be the safest choice - I assume the monorails continue running at that time?

My family took the monorail in 2018 and 2023 when I ran the marathon and did not have any issues so I *think* it continues running. Very good point about the course!

 

[Grabnar]

Late for the training plan party but I used Hal Higdon's Dopey this last year, did pretty well until I got covid the last month which messed with my joints and I ended up with a hip injury. Still finished the races though!

 

[accm]

Long time lurker, first time poster. I know we are a ways away, but I was lucky enough to secure a bib for Goofy and this will be my second MW after the Marathon in January. We are DVC members and have booked a room at the Boardwalk for MW, but are second guessing if that is best for our situation. My wife, with our two young kids (5 and 2) want to be at the finish line for the Marathon rather than spectate from the BW. I will have a 1:45 HM POT, so I anticipate being in corral A. Assuming RD keeps a 4:30 start time next year, I anticipate finishing prior to their ability to use the International Gateway entrance (will have park ticket for Epcot) and make it through the park to the finish line. What are their options to get to the finish line for a roughly 8:00 arrival to the front of the park? Does boardwalk have a regular park bus? Can/Should they get on a RD bus bringing people back to the resort, or is Mini Van an option? We were at GF last MW and the ease of monorail was great. Trying to decide if we want to keep our Boardwalk reservation or look to switch at the 7 month mark.

Theoretically, they should be able to take one of the finish line buses if everything stays the same as it was this year. I think since the buses are running, I'd assume Minnie Vans would also be able to reach the front of the park
I personally like the monorail resorts since it makes it easier for my husband to bring my kids to see me in MK, but I'm not sure how easy they'd be to book at the 7 month mark.

These are the bus times from this year:

 

[marty3d]

Theoretically, they should be able to take one of the finish line buses if everything stays the same as it was this year. I think since the buses are running, I'd assume Minnie Vans would also be able to reach the front of the park
I personally like the monorail resorts since it makes it easier for my husband to bring my kids to see me in MK, but I'm not sure how easy they'd be to book at the 7 month mark.

These are the bus times from this year:

View attachment 949235

At least from the Yacht Club, the buses were not running back to the Finish Line. It was FL to Resort only. My DW was told to try a park bus instead. Ended up taking Uber on the Half marathon morning. On Marathon morning she just ended up spectating from BW.

 

[accm]

At least from the Yacht Club, the buses were not running back to the Finish Line. It was FL to Resort only. My DW was told to try a park bus instead. Ended up taking Uber on the Half marathon morning. On Marathon morning she just ended up spectating from BW.

Weird. There were definitely people getting on the bus at Wine and Dine last year as I was getting off at BW. I wonder if it's just bad training, since I asked a couple different people and got different answers.

 

[KSellers88]

Weird. There were definitely people getting on the bus at Wine and Dine last year as I was getting off at BW. I wonder if it's just bad training, since I asked a couple different people and got different answers.

Yeah, it would definitely make sense for them to allow people to get on them if they are going back to the Finish Line anyway. That is interesting.

 

[VTDisFam]

Theoretically, they should be able to take one of the finish line buses if everything stays the same as it was this year. I think since the buses are running, I'd assume Minnie Vans would also be able to reach the front of the park
I personally like the monorail resorts since it makes it easier for my husband to bring my kids to see me in MK, but I'm not sure how easy they'd be to book at the 7 month mark.

These are the bus times from this year:

View attachment 949235

This is the graphic I saw that made me think they could take the return busses back to the finish line, but Minnie Van may the best option with two car seat aged children if they aren't letting guests back on. Otherwise hold out hope that Poly DVC availability holds out until June.

 

[Fenway1970]

Also, the Dopey plan has a half marathon as the first long run, while the Intermediate plan is 8 miles.

This is my reasoning for doing Higdon's Novice 2 marathon plan instead of the Dopey plan as well, it also starts at "only" 8 miles. 18 weeks is a lot of weeks to be doing double digit long runs and I sure appreciate easing into them instead of diving in at 13 via the Dopey plan.

Based on these posts I was looking at the Higdon Intermediate 2 plan and it does look interesting. Might take a look at that over the next few months as I fine tune the training schedule.

As far the Dopey plan starting with a 13-miler in the first week, I've historically accommodated that with a half marathon in Philadelphia in September (the Philadelphia Distance Run) that usually lines up perfectly with Higdon's Dopey Week 1 or is at most off by one week. I'll start a half marathon plan at the end of June-ish to train for the PDR and then springboard into Dopey training.

The hard parts of all that are what you'd expect, training in summer heat for the half and then trying to get in all those long runs in December when it gets colder and sunset is earlier.

 

[LSUlakes]

Random question, but for anyone with a AP, was there any room discounts available for marathon weekend in 2025 and do you recall what was the offer? TIA

 

[Herding_Cats]

Random question, but for anyone with a AP, was there any room discounts available for marathon weekend in 2025 and do you recall what was the offer? TIA

Yes. Link here.

The fine print was that it excluded Friday and Saturday nights. More specifically, "Sunday-Thursday stays" was the language used.

 

[smileyanna]

My wife, with our two young kids (5 and 2) want to be at the finish line for the Marathon rather than spectate from the BW

I don’t have any additional info about getting to the finish line at that time of day.

Just a comment that the runDisney finish line in the Epcot parking lot puts spectators pretty far from their loved ones. It will probably a more “up close and personal” moment for your young kids to cheer at the Boardwalk or right at the entrance to the Epcot backstage.

Totally understand if your family wants to see you finish! It’s an awesome moment! But putting it out there that it’s going to be a lot of extra travel effort for a POV that the 5 and 2 year old may not be able to appreciate.

 

[nancipants]

I don’t have any additional info about getting to the finish line at that time of day.

Just a comment that the runDisney finish line in the Epcot parking lot puts spectators pretty far from their loved ones. It will probably a more “up close and personal” moment for your young kids to cheer at the Boardwalk or right at the entrance to the Epcot backstage.

Totally understand if your family wants to see you finish! It’s an awesome moment! But putting it out there that it’s going to be a lot of extra travel effort for a POV that the 5 and 2 year old may not be able to appreciate.

Agreed - when I did my first Princess half my family missed me cross the finish line because it was so crowded.

For the marathon, they met me at AK (after park open) and watched me run through the spine of Epcot, before going to the reunion area. If they’d had better access to Boardwalk, I would have told them to cheer for me there instead. It’s much less crowded and you can get right up to the course.

If you want them to come to the finish line area, I’d recommend going closer to the start of the chute near photopass as it’s usually less crowded.

 

[Zutroy]

This is the graphic I saw that made me think they could take the return busses back to the finish line, but Minnie Van may the best option with two car seat aged children if they aren't letting guests back on. Otherwise hold out hope that Poly DVC availability holds out until June.

You definitely cannot take the buses from the resort to the finish line, since you need to be screened for security again. The buses from the finish line go to the resorts, and then back to the morning bus drop off location. You basically retrace your path from race morning, except now people are trying to get into Epcot and you have to cross the road where racers are entering the park.

 

[accm]

A good spot near but not quite at the finish line where it's easier for both spectators and runners to see each other is right by the final turn before the finish line. My husband and kids have seen me here both time I ran the marathon, and it was honestly the best feeling - seeing the people I love the most and knowing I was about to finish my first marathon. I'm not 100% sure if this is an area you're supposed to stop at or if my husband just timed it well.

 

[AZMermaid]

SAFD

Via Napoli
ABC Commissionary (but mourning HBD elimination)
Skipper Canteen
Yak and Yeti

 

[PrincessV]

Random question, but for anyone with a AP, was there any room discounts available for marathon weekend in 2025 and do you recall what was the offer? TIA

Note from a budget-oriented AP: I wound up paying - gasp! - RACK RATE for an All Stars room this year. At $204/night, that was significantly less than any rooms being offered with AP, FL resident, or general public discounts for the nights I needed. My point? Check every type of discount for which you qualify AND rack rate, because the discounts in recent years are very narrowly restricted to certain room types at certain resorts for certain days and certain lengths of stay. I’ve been stalking a couple random days in May for a while, and the difference between the lowest rack rate and the lowest AP rate is hundreds of dollars, with the rack rate coming in at the low end because only the most expensive categories are being offered with an AP discount.

 

[The Expert]

Note from a budget-oriented AP: I wound up paying - gasp! - RACK RATE for an All Stars room this year. At $204/night, that was significantly less than any rooms being offered with AP, FL resident, or general public discounts for the nights I needed. My point? Check every type of discount for which you qualify AND rack rate, because the discounts in recent years are very narrowly restricted to certain room types at certain resorts for certain days and certain lengths of stay. I’ve been stalking a couple random days in May for a while, and the difference between the lowest rack rate and the lowest AP rate is hundreds of dollars, with the rack rate coming in at the low end because only the most expensive categories are being offered with an AP discount.

All of this, AND check Expedia (they often have room blocks at Disney resorts and Swan/Dolphin), the Marriott app (for Swan/Dolphin/JW all on property) and also DVC rental sites.

 

[jmasgat]

Random question, but for anyone with a AP, was there any room discounts available for marathon weekend in 2025 and do you recall what was the offer? TIA

I booked my room for MW25 in February 24 at Pop at rack rate and it was never discounted after that. I could have maybe gotten 1 night (Monday) at AP rate, but not the others. As noted, they do not offer room discounts on all rooms/resorts. And they may offer one discount type but not the other--I have seen the GP discount for a room, but not the AP for the exact same room/dates.

Also, in that lovely, weird Disney resort logic, they sometimes show availability for rooms for a longer period of time than you want, e.g. 6 nights, but not that exact same room type for 4 nights. Then you can try to play the game of "make the longer reservation and call and try to cancel the nights you don't want".

Honestly, it's one situation where an AI overlord assistant would be useful to try and run through the billion permutations of their reservation system.

 

[mmm_texas]

All of this, AND check Expedia (they often have room blocks at Disney resorts and Swan/Dolphin), the Marriott app (for Swan/Dolphin/JW all on property) and also DVC rental sites.

Does the JW have runDisney bus access? I've stayed at the Swan Reserve for previous races, and buses do pick up from there, the Swan, and the Dolphin.