Should I stay on property for the Jan-2012 WDW Half Marathon?

[LeoBaumer]

I am on week 8 of my 16 week training program and feeling great about my upcoming WDW Half Marathon (1/7/12). I have a couple of questions regarding where to stay, the necessity of using WDW buses, and what options my family has for greeting me at the finish line.

I'm trying to decide if I should pay a premium to stay on WDW property for the sake of using the buses, or save $100+ by staying off property and driving myself to the race (someone else would drive me and my car back). I'm currently booked at WDW's Caribbean Beach Resort in a Pirate Room.

How crucial is it to stay on property and use WDW buses on the morning of the race and is it difficult to drive to/from the race?

Also...Will my family be able to meet me at the finish line? It seems like they may have to pay to get anywhere near that.

Thanks!
Leo

 

[rubato]

I am a huge fan of staying on property, if you can. If it's a money issue, you could always downgrade to a value resort, or the cheaper, non pirate room at a moderate. I was able to wake up at 3, be on the bus by 3:20 and at my corral with plenty of time to spare. I stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter this year, and it was SOOO worth it. If I could afford it, I'd stay at an Epcot resort next time and be able to walk back through Epcot after the full to get to my resort. But, that's probably not in the cards.

As far as your family seeing you, the finish line is in the Epcot parking lot, so that shouldn't be a problem. They may have to pay to park, but won't need a park ticket. But, if you do decide to stay on property, they can take Disney transportation.

 

[FireDancer]

Yes, I would stay on property. I am all for staying cheap but I almost always find it cheaper to stay on property at a Value for one simple reason...a rental car. When I stay on property I don't get a rental car and when I stay off I do. I always end up paying all the money I would have saved to the rental car agency so just stay on property.

All that aside I would at least stay on property the night before the race so I didn't have to worry about getting myself there.

 

[cewait]

I would stay on property for many of the reasons above.

- DME - no need for a car
- Disney buses to the expo and race for both you and famly
- Meal plan
- No need to worry about car and having car get back to pick up family
- early park opening and late closing

Note that you do not mention your length of stay so the $100 delta loses some of its meaning. It means a lot more for one night than it would for a week. Note that if you are comparing off property to on, the CBR Pirate room is not a fair comparison on the Disney side. It is a moderate room that comes at a premium for that class of service. A fairer comparison would be one of the all star or Pop resorts. Essentially you are placing a $90 per night premium on the Disney stay by selecting a Pirate Room ($189) versus a Pop ($99).

Regardless...

If you stay off property, plan on arriving and being in the Epcot parking lot with your car no later than 4AM. You MUST plan on the intersection of Buena Vista and World Drives as your path into Epcot parking. The traditional route into the parking lot (up Epcot Drive) is closed north of Buena Vista for the race. Also, if your car will be shuttled back for family, they will have a few issues getting into Epcot parking before the race is over. I am sure they can get in, but there is a period of time where all access to the Epcot parking lot is blocked.

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

Moving this to the events side of WISH. Hopefully you will get many opinions from those attending.

 

[Danhockey04]

All I have for advice is that if you do stay off property, make sure you know where you are staying. I live 2 miles from the entrance of Disney and there are a lot of sketchy hotels/motels and even areas around Disney. However, there are some very nice places around Disney too, which you could get for less than AS Resorts. Also, some of those resorts may be much nicer than what you would get at Disney. I have stay-cationed at several of the resorts in the area and still have a few I want to try. Either way you choose, you will have fun.

 

[Duanerice]

Not even close - stay on site. I have always stayed on site for the race even though there are times I stay off site when just going to Disney.

It is so much easier for the family, especially if they don't want to go with you at 4am.

enjoy,
Duane

 

[lisamarch]

Run Disney says that WDW closes some roads at 11 pm the night before the marathon and that if you are driving, expect very long delays. Good enough reason!

 

[cewait]

Delays, yes, long no. Plan on taking extra time and detours....

The roads closing early are Overpass Road (the bridge/road connoting BackStage Lane in Epcot with Bonnet Creek and then Epcot Dr. OverPass is where they set up the start fireworks and obviously Epcot is for the start. It closes much later than 11 pm.

All one needs to understand about driving race day AM is avoid Epcot Drive north of Buena Vista. When coming from most resort and most off property resorts, plan on going through the intersection of Buena Vista and World Drive.

The exclusion to long... inclement weather. 2010 proved to have long drives in and out of the parking lot.