What are the crowds like during race weekends?

[kingd4066]

We booked our trip last year, now as the dates for all these events come out I get more and more worried! Food and Wine is going on with the concert series, and at the end of our trip the Tower of Terror 10 mile race will take place. I would love to hear what people think about the crowds during race weekends? Should we avoid DHS? Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[siskaren]

According to easyWDW, DHS is actually the best park to visit on October 4. The park closes early that day because of the ToT race (which starts at 10 pm), so a lot of people are going to avoid it because of that, plus Epcot has F&W and MK has evening EMH, which are going to attract a lot more people to those parks. F&W is really only an issue on weekends.

 

[kingd4066]

I did notice that touring plans also has it as a good day. I just wondered what people who have been there during race times thought...
We were there in November 2013 during F&W, really not bad at all. It was pretty empty throughout the park, just back in the world showcase it got crazy in the evening on the weekend. When we went back during the week and it was great. Really, like going this time of year....
Thanks for replying.

 

[SingingMom]

We've been there during the marathon in January the past two years and it really isn't that bad. We like to watch the runners and cheer them on for a bit before heading into the park!

 

[MomNY]

I was there during the half marathon in February. The crowds were medium-light from my perspective (the crowd calendars I looked at online seemed in agreement, rating my days as 3-5 each day). My guidebook indicated that crowds are "marginally" affected by the race. I definitely saw the presence of the race at every park every day (a lot of runners wearing costumes and medals, especially at whatever park the race was held at on a certain day), but it didn't really seem to create a huge difference.