Marathon Weekend 2027

[fatmanatee]

SAFD: have not gone during the holidays, probably wouldn’t ever want the full experience during the holidays (crowds), but… I kinda want just a taste of it?

Honorable mentions:

- Star Wars Nite at DL
- They used to have occasional dinners at AK where Joe Rohde would show up and meet guests i think, tell stories. Was happening during one of my race trips, tempted but decided against it. Regrets!

 

[Baloo in MI]

SAFD:
I have always wanted to do the Keys to the Kingdom Tour. I am an operations dork, I love to see how things work - the ducks' feet beneath the water so to speak. I think it would be absolutely fascinating. Unfortunately, it would also be pretty pricey to take the whole family and that has always been a deterrent. I did notice they have a discount for annual pass holders. Maybe during a solo trip? I am going to have to do this one day for sure!

 

[PrincessV]

SAFD: nope. There’s probably one day of the year I’ve not yet visited, but I couldn’t begin to figure out what day that might be - I’ve been for every season and every festival since the late 80s! Not a flex: just thanks to close proximity and FL residents rates.

 

[The Expert]

probably wouldn’t ever want the full experience during the holidays (crowds), but… I kinda want just a taste of it?

If you're a regular visitor and set expectations accordingly, it can actually be really fun.

 

[smileyanna]

SAFD: Wine and Dine weekend. I usually sign up for a fall marathon and Wine and Dine just doesn’t work with the training or travel schedule. I’d love to experience a different half marathon course that doesn’t involve running straight to the castle and back!

 

[DisneyParrothead]

SAFD: I’m actually going to the parks the second week of December for the Festival of the Holidays, and I’m hoping I can snag a ticket for MVMCP. The last time my family was at Disney for Christmas, I was 12, well before all these festivals were a thing.

 

[smileyanna]

(Non)-Update to my “Goofy vs Dopey” conundrum: still undecided, but I just got my DVC marathon weekend reservation for Friday-Monday, not Wednesday-Monday.

If I’m doing Dopey, it’s going to have to involve a split stay with one of the All Stars resorts.

 

[Naomeri]

SAFD: I want to do Disney during the holidays. I went in 2021, but it was still semi-Covid times, so it wasn't the full-on experience.

 

[pluto377]

SAFD- I'd like to go during Halloween. Also, I've been during the holidays, but never been to the holiday party. Hopefully will get to check that one off when we go down in November for my son's band trip.

 

[lhermiston]

SAFD: Great question!

Up until this last year, I would have answered with Christmas time. In December, I got to check off a a big Disney bucket list item for myself and go to WDW for a holiday weekend with my 11-year-old daughter. I've always wanted to see all of the decorations, snow on Main St. USA, holiday overlays on rides, etc.

The trip was a bit of a mixed bag. We had very low crowds on our Magic Kingdom day, so we were walking right onto most rides. We did Tiana's four times and Tron for the first time, among others. That night we had tickets to the Christmas Party, but there were torrential downpours. I also didn't realize that while you could enter the park for the party at 4, the event itself (including special menu items) didn't start until 7. We did get to do Jingle Cruise, but mostly got absolutely drenched. We bailed at 8 and missed the parade and fireworks, but also what sounds like an absolutely chaotic exit from MK at the end of the night.

The next day we did Epcot and the weather was much more cooperative. It was a really great day, but Living with the Land was down, so we missed that, which was disappointing. We did get some holiday treats and stayed up for the fireworks, which was really nice.

All in all, it was a really nice, memorable one-on-one trip with my daughter. So, I'm grateful.

This is a really long way of saying my current answer is Halloween at Disney would be the time I'd most like to visit now.

 

[Novatrix]

SAFD: I've done a pretty wide range of Disney activities, so I think my answer is to run the Spring rundisney race. (Between when it was Star Wars weekend/Spring Surprise, I've been signed up 3 times and have yet to be able to make it happen.)


As a side note, highly recommend Festival of the Arts to everyone thinking about it. For people who have the opportunity to extend their MW trips, it's always started the Friday the same week as DATW.

 

[Barca33Runner]

SAFD: I picked up the same one at Festival of the Arts back in 2021 and framed it; still love looking closely and finding all of the hidden images.



This was my pickup this year. Eeyore is kind of my spirit animal and Tigger fully embodies the spirit of my dogs:


As for the actual SAFD question, I have yet to visit during the pre-Christmas period and would be interested in doing both Jollywood Nights and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at some point in the future. I have visited close enough post-Christmas to see the parks in all of their Holiday glory, but I think there’s something lost after the anticipation of the Holidays is over.

 

[GuinnessRunner]

SAFD: The Keys to the Kingdom tour is something I’ve always wanted to do but haven’t been able to when there as a family. This question has me thinking that if next year is a solo trip for MW I may look at doing it Wednesday since I try and avoid the expo craziness in the morning anyway.

 

[disneyrunnergrl]

SAFD: Attend Jollywood nights and festival of the holidays. I did make it to festival of holidays this year for the first time but it was a family trip and didn’t get to experience many of the festival offerings. I’d love to see the candlelight processional and all of the holiday story tellers in world showcase.

For anyone thinking of doing keys to the kingdom - highly recommend it. I did it during a solo trip for Princess weekend in 2022 and it was so worth it!

 

[smileyanna]

I may look at doing it Wednesday since I try and avoid the expo craziness in the morning anyway.

This is a great idea, perfect activity!!

 

[jmasgat]

SAFD: Given that I’ve been going to Disney for over 30 years, and my cynicism grows as the perceived quality declines and the relative cost increases, I’m not sure what my answer would be. Can I ask to bring back an event when it was at its prime? If so, I pick the early days of Food and Wine, like 1998, when I took myself for my 40th birthday and did one of the special strolling food/wine tasting events. There were free seminars, unique displays, lots of other lunches and winemaker dinners- it was orders of magnitude better than the rather lame bunch of the same old food booths that it has been reduced to.

I’ll now return you to your regularly scheduled Disney programming.

 

[BigEeyore]

SAFD: I really want to do the Walk in Walt's Footsteps tour at DL someday. Also want to tour the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank.

I did Keys to the Kingdom a few years ago and loved it! Highly recommend.

 

[marty3d]

This is a great idea, perfect activity!!

Do they have group rates?

 

[radiodome21]

SAFD: Christmas time. We went a few years ago on December 30th, and while the Christmas decorations were still up and the parks were packed, it still didn't feel like Christmas. I'm a December birthday, and to me, Christmas is over on 12/26. I'm very and black on white on that. So I don't really count that time as a Christmas at Disney. More like News Years at Disney with Christmas decorations still up. This past year my son and I watched a lot of YouTube videos on the Disney Christmas parties and decided we should try and make one. We did go to MNSSHP when we did Wine & Dine HF, and I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. So this year we're going to Disney after the kids finish their finals and then fly back on Christmas Eve. We're DVC members so we secured a room for the stay.