Oh Crap, I Forgot About The Marathon In January...

[MikeWazowski]

Is what I said when doing some final planning today for my January 2004 trip from the 10th to the 20th. Should I be nervous about the crowds.

Anyone else a little worried about the amount of people that will be in WDW. What day is the marathon? The wheels are finally in motion for our trip in Jan.

 

[NCRedding]

We went to WDW the week before the marathon in 2000-leaving on Saturday before the marathon. We found that the crowds lessened during the week from the holiday time high to the marathon time. I would think you would actually be facing greater crowds later in the week since you're going over the MLK weekend--our school system plans teacher workdays to correspond with MLK to give us about 5 days off. Either way, I don't think the crowds will be too bad.

 

[karebear1]

I'll be down there the same time. When I reserved through MS they told me that it is crowded on the weekend, with over 50,000 people running this marathon I would think so! BUT that it usually clears out by Monday. THey run the marathon early Sunday morning. Hope that helps,.......... and hope it's true!

 

[wdwrich]

Hi! We were at WDW in Jan 2003, and our trip spanned both the marathon weekend as well as MLK weekend. MLK weekend was the only time we felt the parks were busy. Hope this helps.

 

[wdwguide]

The marathon folks as a group are some of the nicest people in the parks - you almost want them to be around.

 

[HauntedMansionGeek]

Not to worry...we've been there at marathon time since the marathons began.
Initially we worried about the crowds too, but it has never ended up being a problem at all.

Keep planning your January trip and have fun!

 

[Tiggerafferty]

DH ran the marathon last year and is running the half this year so we will be there in Jan too!

The crowds were not bad at all last year. The marathon is early Sun morning and ends around 12 noon at EPCOT. So skip EPCOT that day and you will probably only see a few runners. Because most of the runners and their family and friends are at the finish line, the parks are really not crowded on Sun. The rest of the week, the crowds are light. Last year the longest we waited for anything was 20 min for Test Track. Just about everything else had not line or a less than 5 minute wait. It was GREAT.

Have a great trip.

 

[bratray]

hi

we were there jan 2003 and we did have a couple of problems with the marathon- we stayed at the AKL and took the bus to EE for MK-the bus couldn't take us straight through to MK because of the marathon and dropped us at the the TTC- that was no biggie
but when we got to MK for EE i noticed that there were lots of people already in the park and it wasn't even 8:00 am yet- well i asked the CM if we could go in as well and he asked if i had a member of my family running in the marathon- i told him no- and he said EE at MK today was only for the marathon family members and we would have to wait till 9:00 to enter- well it was only 7:45 am and i wasn't gonna wait another 60+ mins to get in to a park that was already crowded!
so we went to epcott- it was virtually empty- they had some area's roped off because of the runners but it didn't interfere with any of the rides- we could of rode test track 5 times in a row if we wanted
i won't go again at marathon time- but jan is a great month for very low crowd capacity- the only problem is the weather- one day it was 70 and the next it was only 45 in the am and we were wearing gloves and ear muffs

lisa

 

[karebear1]

bratray- did this happen on the actual day of the marathon?

 

[bratray]

hi

yes it happened on EE day for the MK which was on a sun- the day of the marathon- i think what bothered me the most was that no one was ever notified that EE for MK that day was not open to the general public- just the marathon "family"
we could have slept in a little !

lisa

 

[karebear1]

thanks bratray. It's realy a shame that they didn't notify other guests- I agree. But I thank you for letting us know!

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

I was there on the weekend of the marathon last year and it was not busy in the slightest. The rides were walk ons but it was COLD and RAINY and GREY. We will not be going back in January solely because of the bad weather we've experienced on two seperate trips at this time. The crowds were nothing though

 

[BoyLovesBuzz]

Look at it this way, with the park full of Marathoners, there will likely be little to no wait at the Turkey Leg Cart

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I don't know-- but here's hoping you don't have huge crowds to deal with AND that the weather isn't bad.

 

[bjakmom]

We'll be there that weekend also - I remember reading a post that, after the morning marathon crowds in MK, the park was not crowded for the rest of the day. So bratray has given me the idea to start at Epcot (easy enough, we'll be staying at BWV) and then take the monorail over to MK at about 11:30 before the marathon gets to Epcot. Does that sound like a good plan? Do the families move over to Epcot from MK or does the half marathon end at MK, leaving all the families there for the day?

 

[Tiggerafferty]

The half Marathon ends at the TTC just outside of MK. So family and friends - and some runners - will probably stay in the park. But a lot of them do go to the parking area outside EPCOT for the Marathon finishers. It is really amazing to see the number of people that are at the finish line to cheer on the runners.

Your plan to start out at EPCOT and then go to MK is not a bad plan. The half marathon ends between 9 and 10 am so most of the spectators will be gone by the time you get there.

Have a good time.

 

[Maddle]

But no one has said "WHEN" the Marathon is - which weekend?
Thanks!

Maddle

 

[Tiggerafferty]

The marathon activities are the weekend of Jan 10-11th with the actual marathon on Sunday 11th.