Watching the Marathon?

[jgh]

My dad is running the marathon on Sunday, January 11th. We are going down on Friday, having a park day on Saturday, and leaving after the marathon on Sunday. We don't necessarily want to purchase passes to sit and watch the marathon and we don't want to buy another day in the park.

Are there any locations (such as parking lots, road sides, outside the park gates etc) that are good spots for watching a runner go by and snapping a picture or two?

 

[flatlandcycle]

My dad is running the marathon on Sunday, January 11th. We are going down on Friday, having a park day on Saturday, and leaving after the marathon on Sunday. We don't necessarily want to purchase passes to sit and watch the marathon and we don't want to buy another day in the park.

Are there any locations (such as parking lots, road sides, outside the park gates etc) that are good spots for watching a runner go by and snapping a picture or two?

I would take a look at the official program (p33 digital):
http://as1.wdpromedia.com/media/rundisney/disneyworld-marathon/2015_WDW_Program(1).pdf

Watch for road closures; there is no entry into EPCOT parking between something like 5:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. Traffic is diverted to TTC parking during this period. See Page 6 (digital) for driving/transportation. There is free spectating from inside Magic Kingdom before the park opens. Polynesian/ TTC is a pretty good place to watch from. Stick to the program, and use marathon day transportation, don't rely on non-marathon day routes.
Expect high security and road closures. You will not be allowed to hang out along the course in non designated areas.

There usually is a spectator thread over at Disboards > W.I.S.H. > events/competition.

 

[DOOM1001]

The main areas that don't require park admission are:

1.The Magic Kingdom,you can actually enter MK for free to watch the marathon from Main Street,you're limited to only Main Street but the stores are open and they sell things like cinnamon buns and hot chocolate on the street.It can get crowded but you're in a park

2.Transportation and Ticket center,basically the MK parking lot I've seen the spectators outside the ticket booths

3.The MK hotels,I believe most people are at the GF and the Poly,I don't remember there being any areas for the Contemporary.I know the Poly does give a good viewing area of the runners

4.Outside the entrance of AK.There's a good amount of spectators there but getting there is a pain due to traffic

5.Wide World of Sports.You'll see spectators by areas but the main spot is Champion stadium

6.Outside the entrance of DHS,I remember a decent amount of people there but not a huge amount of room

7.The Boardwalk and Y&B Club,runners don't run by the actual boardwalk area only the back area by the Luna park pool and then they hop over to the Y&B club path by Storm a long Bay before going into Epcot.

8.Finish line outside the entrance of Epcot,you won't be real close to the runners but it is the finish line.