Transportation from off-site during marathon

[Gala522]

Sunday, January 8 (the day of the full marathon) will be our first day in the World. We're staying off-site in the DTD area. We're typically a rope drop family.

Ideally, we'd like to go to Epcot that day, but Magic Kingdom or Animal Kingdom would also be good options for us. From what I've read, the in-park crowds won't be bad that day, but getting to the parks could be tricky.

Which park will be easiest to get to if we're driving our own car? What kind of delays should we expect?

Is it bad enough that we should consider not getting to the park until late morning (gasp!) or staying at a monorail or Boardwalk property for one night (assuming rooms are still available)?

Thanks for your help!

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

They start the marathon in the WEE hours of the morning just to get runners through the parks as much as possible before they open. .

I would think that the best bet is actually Magic Kingdom. The race goes to Magic Kingdom FIRST to get everyone out of there. The race is out of there before opening so besides a small traffic impact it's not an issue. And even the traffic impact is probably gone by the time of opening.

Epcot is the most impacted because it's open when the racers are finishing so until midday you have a "course" and people running and cheering. I would not recommend it just because of the 'congestion' that creates in the park. Plus the finshi is there so the parking lot is PACKED, lots of extra people around etc...

 

[Gala522]

Thanks for the MK suggestion. That makes a lot of sense.

I'd love it if the traffic issues were resolved by park opening. I searched quite a few posts looking for the answer to this question before I posted. I read a few posts that indicated that traffic going to MK was backed-up until after park opening, but I don't recall reading what time the traffic started to clear. Any ideas?

Thank you!