Marathon Weekend 2027

[PrincessV]

I know I’m a broken record, but… rD DID at one time require PoT for more times. And guess what? Course congestion/etiquette/walkers where runners want to be/runners where walkers want to be was no different. At various times I’ve had PoT and not had PoT: neither made any difference in my race experience. After doing these races for 14 years, I do not believe there is anything that will resolve the essential things that make rD races weird in terms of racers of many different paces sharing a section of course other than eliminating photo stops - and I don’t imagine anyone wants that. The best thing I’ve done for my own sanity is let go of any notion of being able to run/walk my own pace for the entirety of any rD race and accept that I’m at the mercy of the crowd around me and its prevailing pace.

 

[lukemorenus]

I know I’m a broken record, but… rD DID at one time require PoT for more times. And guess what? Course congestion/etiquette/walkers where runners want to be/runners where walkers want to be was no different. At various times I’ve had PoT and not had PoT: neither made any difference in my race experience. After doing these races for 14 years, I do not believe there is anything that will resolve the essential things that make rD races weird in terms of racers of many different paces sharing a section of course other than eliminating photo stops - and I don’t imagine anyone wants that. The best thing I’ve done for my own sanity is let go of any notion of being able to run/walk my own pace for the entirety of any rD race and accept that I’m at the mercy of the crowd around me and its prevailing pace.

Agreed - over the decades I've just accepted that Disney races have their own quirks and just to embrace it, because it's really cool overall

 

[RuntheMouse]

I know I’m a broken record, but… rD DID at one time require PoT for more times. And guess what? Course congestion/etiquette/walkers where runners want to be/runners where walkers want to be was no different. At various times I’ve had PoT and not had PoT: neither made any difference in my race experience.

I have to disagree with the bold. This past MW was the first time I’ve run the marathon with a POT and it made a HUGE difference in my experience. I had hardly any congestion and had a great experience, my best rD race yet. I said before I was done with rD if I didn’t have a POT and this locked in that decision.

 

[PrincessV]

I have to disagree with the bold. This past MW was the first time I’ve run the marathon with a POT and it made a HUGE difference in my experience. I had hardly any congestion and had a great experience, my best rD race yet. I said before I was done with rD if I didn’t have a POT and this locked in that decision.

I’m sure it does help some people - I imagine especially those at the faster end of things. But as a middle of the packer, having a PoT that put me in a middle of the pack corral made no difference in my experience compared to no PoT and starting in a middle of the pack, or even back of the pack, corral. There have been a couple races in which I was inexplicably placed in A and started in the back of it, and yes - that was an entirely different experience from a D-P start! But when folks start talking about PoT for slower paces, BT/DT and it didn’t magically fix anything.

 

[accm]

SAFD: I have a localish half the first weekend of May that I'll be going for a PR and a new POT when my current one expires. Then at the end of May I'll be running a local 5k with my son. It'll be his first timed 5k, so he's looking forward to that.

SAFD: My goal for spring races is to improve my current POT for Marathon/ Dopey/Goofy as I'm only within 30 seconds of the current B cutoff. I'm also in the lottery for Broad Street - my plans really revolve about whether or not I get in as it's my best chance to improve my POT. I'm also registered for the Ottawa 5k, 10k and Half at the end of May. The Half is my backup race for POT if I don't get in to Broad Street but I've never managed to crack 2:08 in a half before and not confident I can do it this year. That will be it for races for me until Chicago in the fall.

I'm not sure exactly where you're located, but the race I'm doing in May is only a few hours from Ottawa, and should be a pretty good choice for POT:
https://raceroster.com/events/2026/105731/georgina-spring-fling-2026

They really should. For a race that really seems to preach inclusivity they're basically saying if you can't run faster than a 2:22 half or a 5 hour marathon, we don't care if you're seeded correctly or not. I'm sure it's beyond frustrating to be on that bubble and capable of running very close to those times only to get pushed into a later corral because of the rampant lying.

The other way to look at it is that they're inclusive to new runners, and it would be frustrating to be put in the last corral just because you don't have a POT. I think with the way Disney races are setup, with people frequently stopping for pictures, you're going to have a really hard time keeping people properly seeded throughout the race.

 

[fatmanatee]

So far... no themes today! Will continue to check the website here and there but unless they change from the usual Tuesday reveal we might be looking at one week before CrD.

 

[KCO5988]

The other way to look at it is that they're inclusive to new runners, and it would be frustrating to be put in the last corral just because you don't have a POT. I think with the way Disney races are setup, with people frequently stopping for pictures, you're going to have a really hard time keeping people properly seeded throughout the race.

This is also very true.

 

[The Expert]

I think with the way Disney races are setup, with people frequently stopping for pictures, you're going to have a really hard time keeping people properly seeded throughout the race.

THIS. I have started in B for the past few years thanks to CrD access. I stay far right and tend to blend in to the pace pretty well for a while. The moment I stop for a character with any amount of line, I'm rejoining the race in the middle of the scrum that never lets up. I think the only runners getting any kind of course-long crowding relief are the runners starting out of A and B, making minimal stops with short lines and keeping a faster pace.

 

[Fenway1970]

But as a middle of the packer, having a PoT that put me in a middle of the pack corral made no difference in my experience compared to no PoT and starting in a middle of the pack, or even back of the pack, corral.

I would agree with this for the actual race, i.e. once you cross the starting line. For '24 and '25 I was in C because I still had a valid POT. This year I did not and was placed in F (despite an accurate self-estimate that really should have been higher than F). The biggest problem I had was the extra waiting around to get to the starting line. Fortunately, we had mild weather this year, so we weren't freezing our butts off at 4:30 AM, but even so I am motivated to clock a decent POT in time to get back to at least C next time.

But yeah, for my experience anyway there was very little difference between C and F once we were on the course. The only really bad part was the walkway to MK, which was a real logjam especially for the half.

 

[Disneyhanna]

In exciting news, the Delta calendar is now open for Marathon Weekend dates

I'm debating booking the cheapest option and hoping for a schedule change, or paying $50 more for the flight I actually want

 

[RuntheMouse]

But yeah, for my experience anyway there was very little difference between C and F once we were on the course. The only really bad part was the walkway to MK, which was a real logjam especially for the half.

I feel like I was in a different race than everyone commenting here! The difference between C & D for me was night and day! In D I could never get in a groove and was beyond frustrated throughout the entire race. In C this year I had so much room, picture lines were short and I even got great on course pics which never happens.

If my experience was a fluke, I don’t know how I feel about this going forward. This was the race that got me excited about rD again.

 

[fatmanatee]

I feel like I was in a different race than everyone commenting here! The difference between C & D for me was night and day! In D I could never get in a groove and was beyond frustrated throughout the entire race. In C this year I had so much room, picture lines were short and I even got great on course pics which never happens.

If my experience was a fluke, I don’t know how I feel about this going forward. This was the race that got me excited about rD again.

Trust your experience. I ran out of B last year and didn't run into big crowds after stopping for the first pics, it was pretty smooth sailing the entire time. Heard this year had longer lines even in the early corrals but I'm not really concerned about it just yet.

 

[The Expert]

In exciting news, the Delta calendar is now open for Marathon Weekend dates

I'm debating booking the cheapest option and hoping for a schedule change, or paying $50 more for the flight I actually want

The schedule will 100% change, so take the gamble. That said, I don't book this far out, but I do start stalking the flights I want and watching the price. When it hits a sale, or the right upgrades show up, I grab it then.

 

[DisneyParrothead]

The schedule will 100% change, so take the gamble. That said, I don't book this far out, but I do start stalking the flights I want and watching the price. When it hits a sale, or the right upgrades show up, I grab it then.

I’ve booked my flights already. I fly out of Denver, and United rarely have sales out of DIA. I don’t book Southwest anymore because their prices aren’t any better.

 

[PrincessV]

I feel like I was in a different race than everyone commenting here! The difference between C & D for me was night and day! In D I could never get in a groove and was beyond frustrated throughout the entire race. In C this year I had so much room, picture lines were short and I even got great on course pics which never happens.

If my experience was a fluke, I don’t know how I feel about this going forward. This was the race that got me excited about rD again.

I think there is a certain amount of hit or miss, but also a couple more concrete factors:

A corral - let’s use D in this case - isn’t necessarily the same pace/estimated finish time from year to year, or even race weekend to race weekend. So any comparison of a certain corral letter is a bit apples to oranges. I’ve run races in which corrals were only A-D, where both C and D were no PoT, and races with corrals from A-P, here PoT was spread out through many corrals.

But also - sometimes you happen to start and/or fall into a big bunch that happens to be moving at a good pace for you. I’ve had that happen in both early and dead last corrals and it’s great! A bit flukey? Maybe… I’d bet that if anyone did a deep data drive they might find that in those cases the range of paces overall was tighter, or looser, or optimal weather may have given a huge chunk of the field a boost, or rD spread out the starts more, or more or less popular character stops had an impact, or course narrowing early or late bunched things up or spread folks out - I think there are a gazillion factors that come into play with a Disney race that together can make one experience vastly different from another, regardless of starting corral.

PHM is always my go-to for just how screwy it can get: historically, it has an overall slower field, high desire for photo stops, more new runners, plus some very narrow stretches: I had a MUCH better experience starting in the back of the last corral one year than a year I had an early one with PoT. Could I guarantee that would happen again? Nope!

 

[Fenway1970]

I feel like I was in a different race than everyone commenting here! The difference between C & D for me was night and day! In D I could never get in a groove and was beyond frustrated throughout the entire race. In C this year I had so much room, picture lines were short and I even got great on course pics which never happens.

Oh I didn't mean to imply that either C or F was a bad experience. I loved the races both ways. Just that I didn't find the course significantly more congested running from F than running from C. I had plenty of room for my slow butt.

I guess the photo lines may have been a little longer but I thought they were doing a good job getting the pics snapped and quickly getting runners back on the course from what I can tell. I have a friend who was relegated all the way to G and she was able to get all the pics she wanted.

With that said I don't ever take the Dis races all that seriously, they are fun runs to me, and I'm a proud member of Team Not So Fast anyway so take what I say with a grain of salt.

 

[Disneyhanna]

I feel like I was in a different race than everyone commenting here! The difference between C & D for me was night and day! In D I could never get in a groove and was beyond frustrated throughout the entire race. In C this year I had so much room, picture lines were short and I even got great on course pics which never happens.

If my experience was a fluke, I don’t know how I feel about this going forward. This was the race that got me excited about rD again.

I've started out of B for marathon 3 years in a row, and the course has gotten more crowded with each passing year, and I am keeping the same pace. This year was noticeably more crowded, moreso the lines than the course itself, though I did experience some spots that were tighter than in years past. Not sure if it's more people getting POT or more people stopping with how much social media has exploded. I started out of D for Princess last year with a friend and it was soooo crowded compared to what I am used to out of B. And we kept maybe a 14-15 minute pace so we definitely weren't gaining on anyone.

That said, the time difference for when A to the beginning of D gets released is quite small. If you don't "keep pace" the corrals behind you will catch up very quickly. I stopped for Jack and Sally and I think D corral almost caught up to me! So if you don't stop, you can catch up to early corrals very quickly out of D (or C).

I ran DL this year and was out of A for the 10k and we spent over an hour in line for photos, and got maybe half of them. I ran out of A for the half as well (POT required) and spent 5 minutes in line TOTAL and got all but one photo. Crazy! The photo lines build SO FAST. I now want to get A for Marathon but that will take a lot of hard work. Maybe some day

 

[fatmanatee]

I forget, did they speed up the corral release this year at all, given the heat concerns? I thought no but that could explain why things felt a bit more congested. More people getting POT can also do it.

 

[RuntheMouse]

Oh I didn't mean to imply that either C or F was a bad experience. I loved the races both ways. Just that I didn't find the course significantly more congested running from F than running from C. I had plenty of room for my slow butt.

I guess the photo lines may have been a little longer but I thought they were doing a good job getting the pics snapped and quickly getting runners back on the course from what I can tell. I have a friend who was relegated all the way to G and she was able to get all the pics she wanted.

With that said I don't ever take the Dis races all that seriously, they are fun runs to me, and I'm a proud member of Team Not So Fast anyway so take what I say with a grain of salt.

I get what you are saying. It’s just that my experience was SO much better having that POT. It’s just weird to read that it didn’t really make a difference for so many others.

I treat these as fun runs also but I don’t want it to be a fight to have fun you know? Lots to think about for sure!

 

[Fenway1970]

I get what you are saying. It’s just that my experience was SO much better having that POT. It’s just weird to read that it didn’t really make a difference for so many others.

I treat these as fun runs also but I don’t want it to be a fight to have fun you know? Lots to think about for sure!

Oh I understand completely. And like I said I was getting antsy (and admittedly a little annoyed) having to wait until F was called to the starting line, and also the walkway to MK was quite the cluster for the half. Not sure how that part was out of C but by the time F got there it was pretty much a standstill/walk from the start of the path until we got to the turnstiles. Even the Galloway pace group I happened to be near couldn't run their run interval through there. That was the worst part of any of the four days.

Other than that though I thought it was "normal" congestion everywhere else. The highways/parking lots were pretty spread out, the narrow parts through entrance/exit ramps, parks, and walking paths were tighter. That was true for me out of both corrals. And like PrincessV and Disneyhanna said there are more variables involved than the corral so I try to just have fun with it regardless.

But all things being equal I get you and if given the option I will absolutely take a start from C if I can. I am going to try to get a worthy 10-mile Broad Street POT and hopefully get back up there for 2027.