What affect does the WDW Marathon have on regular Magic Kingdom park guest?

[chris4disney]

We plan to be at Magic Kingdom the day of the Marathon (Jan. 12th). We have never been to WDW during the Marathon weekend, so I'm not quite sure what to expect. If the Marathon route is similar to the last Marathon, it looks like Magic Kingdom is the first park and I would assume that most runners would be through Magic Kingdom before it even opens at 9:00am. Is that a good assumption? We are staying at Coronado Springs and I've already seen a notification on Disney's website that there are going to be some road closures near Coronado because of the marathon. I'm assuming we shouldn't have an issue getting out in the morning via Disney bus.

 

[Mr. Drauer]

Road closures definitely impact buses more than anything else. Many have expressed here in the past that bus delays have occurred and with the course going throughout the entire resort, travel time to parks are impacted. Bus arrivals at resorts are impacted because of the road closures. Plan on extra time if you bus, or grab an Uber/lyft to ensure that you get where you need in a timely fashion. You are correct in assuming that runners should be through MK prior to opening, though it is possible that they could impact your getting there early for rope drop.

 

[gharter]

I realize the January Marathon is larger, but we were there during the Star Wars Half Marathon in April this year and really didn't notice any difference in park volume. The worst part was certain roads, and parts of the walkway in the parks were closed temporarily while they were running.

 

[Nanceliz319]

following this so I know which park to visit when we go this next trip. Is the actual marathon on a Saturday?

 

[winthropf]

i have been to WDW a number of times during the marathon. the road closures have a big impact on getting to the park. in the past, the marathon route cut off access to the MK bus load/unload area and one time i was told to take a bus to Epcot and then the two monorails to get to MK. My solution after that was to take taxi/Uber/Lyft to the Contemporary and walk to MK.

 

[Callsdodisney]

We were there year on marathon weekend.

Saturday (half marathon day) we had PPO reservations in Epcot. I asked at the front desk about this- they advised giving 20 extra minutes to get there via bus. I gave it 30 extra minutes, and we were close to an hour late for our reservation. Thankfully everyone else was too, but it was stressful nonetheless. Because of road closures, all busses went to the TTC (? I think?) and we were unloaded in the middle of the parking lot onto a monorail to get to Epcot. Guests going to MK were put on the other monorail. The traffic getting to the TTC was almost at a standstill, and busses seemed to be having particular trouble because of their size (they couldn't scoot in to an open "hole" quickly enough).

We talked to some of our UBER drivers later that week, and they said they would't come anywhere near WDW on those mornings, because they'd get paid something like $10 for a fare that took 45 minutes to complete. It just wasn't worth it for them. I'm sure some drivers will be out and about, but I wouldn't bank on that being your solution.

If you can get to MK by boat, that's probably your best bet. The Sunday of marathon weekend we took the boat to Disney Springs and had no issues.

 

[chris4disney]

We are flying into mco on Saturday morning Jan 11th with flight arriving at 10:30am. We'll take Magical Express to Coronado Springs and then planned to go to Epcot. Since it will be probably after lunch, is our best option to take a bus to Epcot at that point? Then how about sunday morning? We planned to go to magic kingdom first, again coming from Coronado Springs. Is Disney bus our best option?

 

[YawningDodo]

following this so I know which park to visit when we go this next trip. Is the actual marathon on a Saturday?

Marathon Weekend consists of four races--5K on Thursday, 10K on Friday, half marathon Saturday, full marathon Sunday. I'm not sure how much the short races interfere with traffic, but my assumption is that one can expect delays on Saturday morning as well as Sunday.

 

[dbb727]

following this so I know which park to visit when we go this next trip. Is the actual marathon on a Saturday?

No. Saturday is the half marathon and Sunday is the marathon. (Thurs is a 5k and Friday is a 10k but these don’t have as much impact since they finish earlier). This year’s courses haven’t been released yet but typically the half and full will start near Epcot and go through MK by mile 5-6, with the goal of all runners being out of that park prior to 9am opening.

So once you are within MK, you’ll won’t be impacted but as others have stated, it can be very challenging to get there early in the day. The course often goes through the bus drop off area at MK, so until the course markers are cleaned up, buses go to TTC causing further delays in addition to the road closures. If you are planning to rope drop or have an ADR, I’d allow an extra hour, in addition to whatever “normal” travel time you were planning. Better yet, just sleep in and head to the parks after 11am. Or brunch at california grill

Interestingly, they recently announced the full marathon will start an extra half hour earlier this year at 5am, but since they haven’t released the course yet, it’s not clear if this is due to a new route, increased attendance or maybe to clear roads faster.

 

[Nanceliz319]

thank you!! Staying a shades of green. Good days to walk to the poly monorail and take it to one of the parks (epcot or MK)

 

[Biggen]

We visit during the marathons seemingly every year, and there really is no effect whatsoever unless you are driving around really early in the morning. Its not even worth worrying about.

 

[ciaoaloha31]

Just an fyi, they are changing the marathon course this year and runners will go through Blizzard Beach (not far from Coronado). They haven't released the map yet but I would plan extra extra extra time to get where you need to go. Once you get to MK, like others said, there will be no impact as runners will be out before park opening.

 

[dtchgrl]

Ugh. We will be there in the midst of all of this. Main concern is that early morning Saturday Jan 11th, we switch resorts (driving) from Swan to likely Ft. Wilderness. From there we plan to boat to MK for RD. Will we even be able to drive from Swan to Ft. Wilderness that morning? I'm not at all familiar with roads in WDW. Is there a link where I can see a map of road closures and detours?
Thanks!

 

[bookbabe626]

.

 

[BarlowFamily]

Ugh. We will be there in the midst of all of this. Main concern is that early morning Saturday Jan 11th, we switch resorts (driving) from Swan to likely Ft. Wilderness. From there we plan to boat to MK for RD. Will we even be able to drive from Swan to Ft. Wilderness that morning? I'm not at all familiar with roads in WDW. Is there a link where I can see a map of road closures and detours?
Thanks!

I'm not sure about the possible road closures between Swan and Ft. Wilderness. I did want to let you know that Ft. Wilderness let us "check-in" VERY early a few months ago, 7am. Our site wasn't available, but we were able to park by the main check-in building/trail rides. You could take the Fort bus to the boats and the head to MK. Or perhaps online check-in and drive yourself to TCC to park, since Resort guests don't pay again for parking at the parks. Good luck!! Have a great trip!

 

[rteetz]

Ugh. We will be there in the midst of all of this. Main concern is that early morning Saturday Jan 11th, we switch resorts (driving) from Swan to likely Ft. Wilderness. From there we plan to boat to MK for RD. Will we even be able to drive from Swan to Ft. Wilderness that morning? I'm not at all familiar with roads in WDW. Is there a link where I can see a map of road closures and detours?
Thanks!

This may be a problem yes. You’ll be able to get through but there will be delays and reroutes. The half runs from the Epcot parking lot up world drive to MK and back. So you’ll likely need to go the back way via Bonnet Creek parkway and then onto vista boulevard. Depending how early you would have issues with world drive Due to the race being there.

 

[Unlimited N2O]

how are peoples experiences with taking an uber to the contemporary on Sat/Sun morning and walking to MK?

 

[Micca]

What affect does the WDW Marathon have on regular Magic Kingdom park guest?
Makes me feel shameful and lazy