Traveling during princess half marathon February 2017

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

We have selected February 24 - March 5 as our travel dates to Disney World. Family of four (two adults, 2 1/2 y.o. and 9 y.o.). This is our first trip to Disney and we have no idea what to expect! The Disney Princess Half Marathon is scheduled Feb 23-26. For those of you who are in the know, what can we expect at the resorts and in the parks on these days, and the days surrounding the marathon? Will RD not be worth trying to make due to the marathon crowds? Will navigating the parks in the mornings be a problem? Will transportation be over-crowded? Anything else we need to know about the marathon that may affect our travel dates?
If this helps: We will be staying at a moderate resort (debating POR or CSR) and plan to tour all of the parks during our stay.

 

[J.Casto79]

We just got back from visiting during the Star Wars Half Marathon. My 4 year old actually participated in the kids races. It was fun and the medal is a unique souvenir. I honestly can't tell you that I noticed any crazy attendance. You see some people in the parks wearing their shirts and medals, but the days around the races were actually the less crowded.

The worst mess we saw was due to staffing cuts or whatever. On Tuesday 4/12 (2 days before the start) we stayed for Wishes. The Monorail was down and they were only running 2 ferries. It literally took us an hour and a half to get to the car. Thursday 04/12 which was also the night of the magic after hours, we didn't think it was crowded at all. I mean it was, but it wasn't crazy. We left just after the afternoon parade and got right on a ferry. We had a double stroller and didn't have any issues navigating with it.

 

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

We just got back from visiting during the Star Wars Half Marathon. My 4 year old actually participated in the kids races. It was fun and the medal is a unique souvenir. I honestly can't tell you that I noticed any crazy attendance. You see some people in the parks wearing their shirts and medals, but the days around the races were actually the less crowded.

The worst mess we saw was due to staffing cuts or whatever. On Tuesday 4/12 (2 days before the start) we stayed for Wishes. The Monorail was down and they were only running 2 ferries. It literally took us an hour and a half to get to the car. Thursday 04/12 which was also the night of the magic after hours, we didn't think it was crowded at all. I mean it was, but it wasn't crazy. We left just after the afternoon parade and got right on a ferry. We had a double stroller and didn't have any issues navigating with it.

Thank you for the reply. Although we will not be participating in the race, we were worried about how attendance would be affected by racers and their families. It sounds like you guys had a great time! I can handle the occasional blip with transportation, but we are hoping for shorter lines overall by traveling during off-season. Thanks again!