Marathon Weekend 2026

[camaker]

Well, I thought I'd try to go in and make my CBR reservation for MW, but when I try to log in to My Disney Experience I get a "You're not eligible to use this service" message. At least their IT is consistent in its incompetence.

 

[fatmanatee]

Just out of curiosity I tried to book the same room and dates I had for All Star this year. Almost a 12 percent increase! Sheesh.

 

[KCO5988]

Add me to the run before sunrise GA folks. I don't feel safe leaving my development before dawn though, even though I live in a very safe town. I tried it once to run to the high school track (which I do feel safe at in the morning) and was very uncomfortable feeling the entire time because the route is mostly lined with woods on one side. If I go up and down every street in our development, I can get 3.5 miles, so I do lots of repeating haha.

Trying to decide between Pop and Sports. I love the skyliner, but for a 6 night stay Sports is about $400 cheaper. So, by girl math, if I stay at Sports, I can do the Princess Challenge for free... right?

 

[sandam1]

Well, I didn't book my hotel today, but I did book my flights.

I'm staying on the dark side at Universal and will probably be booking something in the next day or so. I'm hoping to be able to afford to upgrade to the Grand Helios for a couple of nights, but for right now, I'm booking the significantly cheaper Stella Nova for the entire trip. And then let the stalking for a better deal begin...

 

[pluto377]

What service do you use for renting points?

I've used David's several times. For OKW, SSR and a few others it's $20/pt. The fancier resorts go up to $25/pt. They have a cancellation policy that will credit you the amount to use for a future trip. So it is a bit of a risk, but I know that if I had to cancel MW I would definitely go to Disney again at some point so it's not a big deal to me.

 

[GuinnessRunner]

I did the same thing; rented DVC points. For five nights, I got OKW for ~$170 more than All-Start Sports is listed at today and ~$165 less than POP. See you there!

Add me to the DIS party at OKW. Booked it several weeks ago and seeing the prices today I am very glad I did.

 

[dobball23]

Add me to the DIS party at OKW. Booked it several weeks ago and seeing the prices today I am very glad I did.

Forget the DIS pre-race lightpost, we may need to have a meet-up for those at OKW!

 

[Disneyhanna]

I don't use the brokers for rentals except for the occasional confirmed reservation. Their cost has gotten so high and if you want any sort of insurance it pretty much removes any savings you'd get over Swan/Dolphin. I've had great luck renting on the Disboards but you do have to be ready BEFORE 11 months usually, if you're going after a studio that's not OKW/Saratoga at a popular time.

I just checked and my Riviera rental is the same price as Pop standard

 

[Novatrix]

Add me to team OKW for now. I'm down for the disboards crew taking over the Gurgling Suitcase or one of the quiet pools.

Just closed on a BC contract last week, so anxiously hoping to get a waitlist in before the 7 month window opens.
Who knows, I might have an OKW reservation up for grabs if it matches!

 

[Herding_Cats]

Add me to team OKW for now. I'm down for the disboards crew taking over the Gurgling Suitcase or one of the quiet pools.

Just closed on a BC contract last week, so anxiously hoping to get a waitlist in before the 7 month window opens.
Who knows, I might have an OKW reservation up for grabs if it matches!

boat ride for you all down to dockside margaritas at DS and all of the SSR people can walk over and join you!

 

[Disney at Heart]

Heat in GA definitely slows me down, but I just run how I feel, without all the scientific calculations! In the summer, I carry a handheld Amphipod for anything 10k+ filled with half ice, half Gatorade; refill it with water and use Gu along the route if i need to for a longer run; and have a cold bottle of Nestle Quik chocolate milk immediately afterward. I change from wearing a cap to a visor to let sweat evaporate off my head. I also keep a Buff around my wrist that I can use to blow my nose in the spring pollen, wipe the sweat from my face as it warms up, and wet it when I pass restrooms/water fountains to cool me down as it gets extremely hot. And always R/W/R!

Being an older runner is actually freeing, because no one, even me, expects me to be fast! Luckily, retirement means I can run when it is most comfortable for me. Cold in the winter? Wait until at least 10:00 am or, occasionally, in the afternoon at the warmest time of day. Hot in the summer? Get up when the birds start to chirp and get out there as soon as it is light enough to see! Cold and Rainy? Watch the radar and get out there as soon as there is a break in the rain. Hot and rainy? Plan to go out during a refreshing shower.
I can also choose location: Hot? Choose a shady route. Cold? Choose a sunny route. Very windy? Run in the neighborhood where there are trees and houses to block it.

DH booked Art of Animation today for January. With DS joining us each trip, it's nice to have a separate bedroom and two bathrooms, and the prices are so HIGH right now. We will be watching for military and passholder discounts, and may change things up, but for now we have something booked. We recently changed our W&D reservation from GF standard room to a SS, Congress Park, one bedroom, because the discount was just too good! Transportation is not as good, but the Disney Springs access is great!

 

[FlyingDonut]

I'll be at BLT for Marathon Weekend, but my wife and I own at OKW. Running around OKW/SSR and walking to DS is great. We rented points because of (what seemed like) the delay in cash availability. We might add one night somewhere for Sunday night though.

Heat in TX is officially here. I've been running in the morning because it doesn't get cool(er) until 11PM. No great strategy except to apply more sunscreen than I think I need.

 

[Barca33Runner]

We booked our off property rental shortly after race registration. Part of me can’t help but feel nostalgic for our past weekends at POR and Pop!, but it definitely works better from a cost perspective to stay off property and, in my opinion, is actually a preferable experience getting to and from the races.

Still a bit of FOMO seeing all the WDW resort plans though.

 

[mmm_texas]

I was hoping to book a bounceback offer at one of the resorts once those are released for 2026. However... I just checked for 2025 and 2024, and it looks like Marathon Weekend dates were excluded from bouncebacks both years!

It doesn't look like all runDisney events are always affected. This past Springtime Surprise dates were available for instance. Does anyone have any insights? I'm guessing they just exclude expected high occupancy dates from bouncebacks?

 

[The Expert]

I was hoping to book a bounceback offer at one of the resorts once those are released for 2026. However... I just checked for 2025 and 2024, and it looks like Marathon Weekend dates were excluded from bouncebacks both years!

It doesn't look like all runDisney events are always affected. This past Springtime Surprise dates were available for instance. Does anyone have any insights? I'm guessing they just exclude expected high occupancy dates from bouncebacks?

Bouncebacks are definitely something they use to fill rooms when bookings are lower, and MW does a good job of filling the resorts. That said, they've been doing crazy things with discounts the last year or so, so you never know. One good tactic to use with Disney is to book what you want now and check back every now and then for discounts. They make it super easy to apply new promos to an existing booking on the site. You can always cancel before the final deadline if nothing changes.

 

[KSellers88]

I was hoping to book a bounceback offer at one of the resorts once those are released for 2026. However... I just checked for 2025 and 2024, and it looks like Marathon Weekend dates were excluded from bouncebacks both years!

It doesn't look like all runDisney events are always affected. This past Springtime Surprise dates were available for instance. Does anyone have any insights? I'm guessing they just exclude expected high occupancy dates from bouncebacks?

I am using a bounceback for our stay for Wine and Dine, but the first day of our trip (the Saturday of Wine and Dine) is not covered. The offer started the Sunday of Wine and Dine. It covers us through Halloween, which kind of surprised me.

 

[jrsharp21]

So for the crew that rents DVC points, I keep seeing people talk about cancelation risk. Not sure what links or direct references are okay on the board, so let's say I use a store that focuses on DVC rentals, and I submit a quote for a stay for a studio at OKW 1/6 through 1/12 and get a confirmation of the reservation, it is not actually guaranteed? Trying to figure out how this all works.

 

[MissLiss279]

So for the crew that rents DVC points, I keep seeing people talk about cancelation risk. Not sure what links or direct references are okay on the board, so let's say I use a store that focuses on DVC rentals, and I submit a quote for a stay for a studio at OKW 1/6 through 1/12 and get a confirmation of the reservation, it is not actually guaranteed? Trying to figure out how this all works.

I think the risk is for if you need to cancel, you may not be able to get your money back. ‘All sales are final’ and ‘no refunds’ type of reservation.
For the most part, once the reservation is made, it should be fine; however, it is still another person making the reservation for you and you have to trust that they won’t cancel it on you.
When going through one of the rental sites, they may offer some sort of option if you need to cancel before you check in, but I don’t know what they are.
There are reasons for the no cancellations policy with rentals having to deal with the specific 12 month time frame points can be used in.

 

[The Expert]

There are reasons for the no cancellations policy with rentals having to deal with the specific 12 month time frame points can be used in.

This, and there are huge risks for the owner you're renting from if you cancel. Depending on the timing, the points they used can go into holding with major restrictions on how and when they can be spent, or they could be lost entirely to the owner with no recourse.

 

[Herding_Cats]

So for the crew that rents DVC points, I keep seeing people talk about cancelation risk. Not sure what links or direct references are okay on the board, so let's say I use a store that focuses on DVC rentals, and I submit a quote for a stay for a studio at OKW 1/6 through 1/12 and get a confirmation of the reservation, it is not actually guaranteed? Trying to figure out how this all works.

The brokers (David's, etc) generally have a "set rate" of dollars per point for the various resorts (where OKW or SSR would be less than say GFV or Poly because of location.) People who own the DVC contracts will contract their points to the broker to rent out for them (the broker does the work of filling the reservation so the owner doesn't have to put in the legwork.) Dealing with the general public to try to rent out your points can be very annoying and time consuming. So basically the broker is the facilitator for all of the communication/payment stuff.

When you ask them to quote you a price for a stay they're going to look at how difficult that stay would be to get, if it's even possible. Things like value-category at AKV or club-level will usually get "walked" by savvy owners because there are so few rooms and they are highly sought after. OKW and SSR are pretty much the least sought after because they are "far" from the parks and only have bussing for transportation. And because we are still well outside the 7mo booking window, there should still plenty of availability, so they shouldn't have any trouble giving you a quote.

I will however, tack on that if I look at those dates, all of the "standard" studios at SSR are gone and AKV doesn't have full availability in any studio category. The broker isn't "holding" a room for you just because you asked for a quote. They can just say "yes, it's available right now and this is how much it would cost for us to get it booked for you.

OWK *is* still showing as available for studios on those dates (68pts), as is SSR preferred (86pts) so it seems like people are getting pretty savvy about this whole "stay on points for race weekends" thing.