Marathon weekend end planning. Help!!!!

[regul8ter18]

My Dad and I are going to run the full marathon next year and are starting to plan for it. I have a few hotel questions that I need some help with.

1. Which hotels could my mom walk right out of and watch us?

2. Has anyone stayed at the Wilderness lodge during marathon weekend and how does that transportation work?

3. Has anyone stayed at the Animal Kingdom and how does that transportation work?

Thanks
Court

 

[minniebeth]

My Dad and I are going to run the full marathon next year and are starting to plan for it. I have a few hotel questions that I need some help with.

1. Which hotels could my mom walk right out of and watch us?

2. Has anyone stayed at the Wilderness lodge during marathon weekend and how does that transportation work?

3. Has anyone stayed at the Animal Kingdom and how does that transportation work?

Thanks
Court

The only hotels I've had personal experience with viewing runners are at the Polynesian and the Contemporary. You can walk out of both and see the runners pretty much right there.
Not sure about any other hotels, but this link, from the Run Disney site has a section for spectator resources and I think it has some of the information you may be looking for:

http://espnwwos.disney.go.com/events/rundisney/wdw-marathon/index?page=spectator-resources

All resorts (for Marathon weekend only) have transportation to and from the races that weekend (mostly buses, monorail resorts you can use the monorail.)

Hope that helps a little~
Good luck to you and your dad in the marathon!

 

[Kira G.]

You can view the race from the outside of both the Poly & the Contemporary, but depending on how fast you run you may be running by the Contemporary pretty darn early! Another good spot to watch from is the Yacht/Beach Club, where you can see the runners near the end of the race.

We've stayed at Wilderness Lodge for the half a few years ago, and transportation was fine. For the full I stayed at the Beach Club Villas, and just walked back to my room after the race (you do have to walk through Epcot, so make sure you plan your tickets accordingly).

Have fun! How great to be running a race with your Dad!

 

[stitchfan18]

The Boardwalk is another resort that you can see runners from. We could see runners from our balcony on the Villas side. In fact, we were there during marathon weekend before I knew what marathon weekend was and thought at first that there were a lot of health conscious people out for a run that sunday morning...

 

[cloudnut220]

We stayed at the Contemporary this year for marathon weekend and it was super convenient. Those not running could just walk out and see folks, then ride the monorail to the finish. Transportation on the monorail to the start for runners felt better than the buses in previous years.

 

[stitchfan18]

We stayed at the Contemporary this year for marathon weekend and it was super convenient. Those not running could just walk out and see folks, then ride the monorail to the finish. Transportation on the monorail to the start for runners felt better than the buses in previous years.

Glad to hear the positive report at the contemporary! We're staying there next year and I'll be spectating the half. How was the monorail at the TTC? The only report I heard was from the day of the marathon, and my brother said the line for the monorail at the TTC was HUGE!

 

[minniebeth]

Glad to hear the positive report at the contemporary! We're staying there next year and I'll be spectating the half. How was the monorail at the TTC? The only report I heard was from the day of the marathon, and my brother said the line for the monorail at the TTC was HUGE!

We stayed at the Polynesian last year and the Contemporary this year for Marathon Weekend. We watched the Marathon runners in front of the Contemporary, so great! Our biggest mistake though, was not getting right on the monorail after our runners passed by. We waited, had some coffee, etc. By the time we got to the TTC, we waited almost 50 minutes to get from the TTC to Epcot. We almost missed our runners finishing! The lines were crazy long. I'm thinking there were problems with the monorail, so that's probably not typical. My suggestion is to go right over to Epcot though, better to wait there and have more than enough time. Besides, watching the finish line is really fun and high energy. You can't help but cheer everyone on!

 

[cloudnut220]

Glad to hear the positive report at the contemporary! We're staying there next year and I'll be spectating the half. How was the monorail at the TTC? The only report I heard was from the day of the marathon, and my brother said the line for the monorail at the TTC was HUGE!

We didn't have any issues as runners at the contemporary.

 

[regul8ter18]

Thank you so much for your help. Since I posted last I have come up with more questions.

I am not worried about transportation for my dad and I it is more for my mom. I would like to find the easiest way to get from the wilderness or animal kingdom lodge if we choose to stay at one of those.


thank
Courtney

 

[stitchfan18]

Thank you so much for your help. Since I posted last I have come up with more questions.

I am not worried about transportation for my dad and I it is more for my mom. I would like to find the easiest way to get from the wilderness or animal kingdom lodge if we choose to stay at one of those.


thank
Courtney

Where do you want your mom to see you? On the course or at the finish? AKL would be easy to catch you during the race. She could take a super quick bus trip to AK and catch you around mile 17-18. If you want her to catch you at the finish she can take a boat to the contemporary when they open then take the monorail to epcot to avoid the traffic on the roads.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

I stayed at AKL this year.

Marathon morning, got up at 1:45am, was downstairs by 2:45am. They had breakfast (bagels, bananas, water) for the runners. I caught the first bus at 3am, no traffic whatsoever.

Could not have been a better experience.

 

[Mary976]

I think the monorail hotels are very nice for spectators. We were at the Contemporary for me to run the half and it was nice for me too...very convenient to get to the start.

Anyway, DD and her cousin were able to sleep in a bit then walk right outside, see me, and go back to the hotel.

DH actually came to see me at several places, he got around using the monorail (he was at the TTC, the Poly, then the finish at Epcot).

To the OP, WL might be good because you can take the boat over and camp out at the TTC area or catch the monorail from there. The big issue at the non monorail hotels is that it can be harder to get around via car or bus while the race is going on.

Good luck!
Mary

 

[regul8ter18]

Thanks everyone. There have been some changes to the plan my sister is now going to run the half and her dream resort is the AKL so I have some more questions.

1. Has anyone used the chear squad before?

2. how is transportation for spectators from the AKL?


you would think that I have never ran a Run Disney Race before but I have.
Thanks so much again,
Courtney