Walt Disney World Marathon

[tigerfan1]

We are planning a trip to WDW for the first week of January '08...I've been told this is the same time as the WDW Marathon.....has anyone been there during the marathon?....how are the crowds?.....does it become like middle of summer crowds because of this event??

 

[CinderellaPug]

Unfortunately, I can't answer to crowd levels, but I can tell you the half marathon is on Saturday, January 12 and the full marathon is Sunday, January 13. You mentioned you were going the first week of January. Depending on check out date, you might miss the marathon weekend crowd.

 

[tigerfan1]

that is good news.......we made our reservations already, we are checking in jan 2 '08 and staying thru jan 9....the lady with disneu said she thought the marathon was while we were there so i hope u are right

 

[Bob P]

Not at all. Marathon weekend has little to no effect on park attendance. But it does mess with driving and Disney transportation on the two race mornings (half marathon on Saturday and full marathon on Sunday).

 

[kaybird]

I have to disagree a little, we were very surprised at the ammount of marathon crowds in the parks this January, lasted about 4 days, could tell who they were by their medallions. We found it much busier than the last week of August, which really surprised me, as I had not thought it would make much difference. Think with your dates you should miss the masses though.

 

[AdamsPrincess]

You will be missing the Marathon if you are going the first weekend, but what I can tell, just from the past 4 years we have ran the marathon is that you will experience crowds for people who are there for New Years.

 

[Maverick Mike]

I'm registered for my first WDW Half-Marathon this year, and cannot wait. I walked a half last year, and am running my first half here in St. Louis in April. So, then, I have an excuse to go back to WDW next Jan for a few days!

I can't wait!!

MM

 

[tigerfan1]

can anyone confirn for sure when the dates for the next marathon are??

 

[dixiedizfan]

Forget the marathon ... The first week of January next year will be packed, marathon or no marathon. New Years Day falls on a Tuesday, and I guarantee there will be crowd levels of at least a 9 that whole week, since most schools in the southeast, and also Britain and parts of South America will have that whole week off.

 

[tigerfan1]

MY daughter is supposed to return to school on Jan 3rd in south carolina...we are keeping her out an extra week for this trip.....so saying all schools will be out that week is quite a broad statement

 

[Honeibee]

http://disneyworldsports.disney.go.com/dwws/en_US/events/marathon/listing?name=Marathon2005EventListingPage

Hey Mike, you should be over at the WISH Events/Competition Forum with us!

 

[dixiedizfan]

MY daughter is supposed to return to school on Jan 3rd in south carolina...we are keeping her out an extra week for this trip.....so saying all schools will be out that week is quite a broad statement

Actually I said most, not all. Doesn't matter anyway, since there will be hoards of families who, like yourself, will keep their kids out of school the remainder of New Years week, since they'd only be missing a couple days.

 

[ruvidu]

My new PassPorter says that Jan is one of the lowest attended months and your should be fine.

 

[HopperFan]

Marathon is being moved next year which will make it harder for those of us with kids in school to attend. Last two years we were there the entire week before - New Years on - and everything was crowded (year before only the long weekend). We are out of school until the 7th and I expect it to be crowded again next year. Many from UK & Euro & SA are still out on holiday then and with the exchange it makes for a great vacation for them, and plenty of us are out of school still. I expect it will still be crowded even without the marathon. Hotel rates at the same off site hotels doubled from last year to this - and they still booked them. Early January is no longer a quiet time at the world. To me it was as crowded as some summer days - BUT it's not hot and sweaty.