Riding rides during the marathon

UK_Disney_Dopey_Hopeful

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jun 9, 2019
Hi everyone,

so ive done a lot of reading on this forum and watched a lot of YouTube videos of people taking time out of the race to ride expedition everest.

what i was wondering is, would it be possible to ride other rides at different theme parks instead if you werent keen on this one.

I know Magic Kingdom will be a no as everything ride wise is likely still to be shut. But im thinking like perhaps Tower of Terror when you get to HS (Or for those who dont mind running across the park, Slinky dog dash)

I guess Epcot is a bit pointless to stop for a ride as you are so close to the end anyway but if you dont have a park ticket for after the race could you perhaps do single rider on Test Track (NB: I will have park tickets so this more just a theoretical example)

I must admit, i really like the idea of doing Tower of Terror, but nobody seems to have mentioned this ride so im guessing its a no and its only everest youre allowed to do
 
Several people here have done ToT and Rock n Roller Coaster. I’m always ready to just get done and chicken out of attempting to ride them. This is more a social anxiety issue for me; not wanting to be the smelly, sweaty guy in the queue and on the ride (not that it’s not explainable at mile 23 of a marathon, but I digress). I think you’re slightly more at the mercy of the length of the queue for those rides than EE typically.

ETA: The most recent course has passed very close to ToT, it’s a slight detour to RnRC, but anything else in Hollywood Studios you’d be considerably off course. I don’t know how successful you’d be trying to detour back to Toy Story Land if they don’t change the course. Same with Epcot, although I’m pretty sure I’ve heard of people riding Test Track. Focus for Epcot for many is determining what beverage and/or food with which to cross the finish line.
 
You have to plan it carefully. If you ride Everest, and stop for characters, the lines for ToT and RNR will be longer by the time you make it to studios. I know people who skip Everest and do the Studios rides instead. I like Everest, so I'll pair that with some smaller rides (last year it was Frozen and 3 Cabeleros). Some rides will let runners go thru the fast pass line (I've had excellent luck with this at Frozen),.
 
I don’t know how successful you’d be trying to detour back to Toy Story Land if they don’t change the course. Same with Epcot, although I’m pretty sure I’ve heard of people riding Test Track. Focus for Epcot for many is determining what beverage and/or food with which to cross the finish line.

I know people who did the toy story rides as part of their marathon - but they skipped frozen and some of the characters. They also ran the equivalent of an ultra with all the back and forth. Lol.
 


You have to plan it carefully. If you ride Everest, and stop for characters, the lines for ToT and RNR will be longer by the time you make it to studios. I know people who skip Everest and do the Studios rides instead. I like Everest, so I'll pair that with some smaller rides (last year it was Frozen and 3 Cabeleros). Some rides will let runners go thru the fast pass line (I've had excellent luck with this at Frozen),.

I like the idea of riding Frozen. It would be near the end, so if the timing was off, one could just skip it. How was the experience of riding it for you? I have never ridden a ride, and want to try this year.
 
So now that the maps are out, I can see that EE will be at about mile 17. Judging by yesterday's long run, that would put me at about 3 hours. With a 5 AM start, the park wouldn't be open, and therefore the ride not running yet?
 
So now that the maps are out, I can see that EE will be at about mile 17. Judging by yesterday's long run, that would put me at about 3 hours. With a 5 AM start, the park wouldn't be open, and therefore the ride not running yet?
Correct
 


Looks like TOT or Frozen for me then! I feel a bit nervous going off course to do a ride, but it is probably the only marathon in the world in which you can do that! Oh, if for some strange reason I am doing very well time wise, all bets are off!
 
EE is looking very good for me.

AK opens at 9:00 on race day. I'm in corral E starting around 5:15am. At my easy long run pace of 13:30 min/mile it will take me 3 hours and 50 minutes to run the 17 miles, arriving at EE at 9:05am.

I'll wait to see what @DopeyBadger calculates for balloon lady arrival into AK to see how much cushion I have.
 
EE is looking very good for me.

AK opens at 9:00 on race day. I'm in corral E starting around 5:15am. At my easy long run pace of 13:30 min/mile it will take me 3 hours and 50 minutes to run the 17 miles, arriving at EE at 9:05am.

I'll wait to see what @DopeyBadger calculates for balloon lady arrival into AK to see how much cushion I have.

Worst case, the balloon ladies will get there at 1015am, assuming a 6am start and a 3.5 hour half.
 
Last edited:
EE is looking very good for me.

AK opens at 9:00 on race day. I'm in corral E starting around 5:15am. At my easy long run pace of 13:30 min/mile it will take me 3 hours and 50 minutes to run the 17 miles, arriving at EE at 9:05am.

I'll wait to see what @DopeyBadger calculates for balloon lady arrival into AK to see how much cushion I have.

Balloon ladies are projected at EE (Mile 17) at 10:19am based on a 16 min/mile and starting time of 5:47am.
 
Hi fellow RunDisney runners!

Several Facebook groups have chimed in on this and it seems to be a hot topic of discussion....

Seems like a lot of runners are planning on heading straight to HS after the 5K to catch a boarding group for ROTR!

Anyone have that plan on their agenda as well?!
 
I can't even begin to wrap my mind around the idea of riding a roller coaster DURING a marathon....:scared:
 
I can't even begin to wrap my mind around the idea of riding a roller coaster DURING a marathon....:scared:
I'm convinced it saved me in 2018 at my first dopey and first marathon. As I waited for the ride I regretted the wait so much because I was nervous about my pace, but after I had such an adrenaline rush that it carried me through. I honestly don't know if I would have finished had I not. It gave me the boost I needed!
 
This whole thread is blowing my mind...this coming April will be my first run and I'm such a rule follower it would never occur to me to run off-course for rides! Is it something that's genuinely allowed or is it more of a sneaky thing you do? Also what are balloon ladies?

I thought I was just going to run 13 miles with some nice scenery but this sounds like it might be a little more insane than I anticipated.
 
This whole thread is blowing my mind...this coming April will be my first run and I'm such a rule follower it would never occur to me to run off-course for rides! Is it something that's genuinely allowed or is it more of a sneaky thing you do? Also what are balloon ladies?

I thought I was just going to run 13 miles with some nice scenery but this sounds like it might be a little more insane than I anticipated.

It's definitely allowed! Unfortunately the Half Marathon distances don't typically offer the opportunity for riding rides as the parks aren't yet open when runners come through. The full marathon is really the only shot at it, which is in part why I finally signed up for it!
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Latest posts







Top