What to expect on Marathon Day?

[solferino]

Our last day there is on Marathon Day, so I understand that the parks might be a bit more crowded than usual and openings, bussing, etc may change.

It is also our DD's birthday, so I'd really like the day to be special for her. I'm planning on picking up the birthday badge the day before so we're not futzing around trying to get that.

Based on her love of the MK on the last trip, I'm anticipating that's where we'll spend the last morning. I'd love to do CRT that day for bfast but we're still beyond 90d for ressies so I can't count on that at this time.

If you've been on marathon day in the past, (or any other Disney special-event day) could you help us plan a lite-itinerary.

Our flight doesn't leave til about 6PM from MCO, so I'm anticipating being able to stay at the park til 1:30 or so.

 

[RoyalCanadian]

Traffic is awful during the morning of Marathon Day. It took us about 45 minutes to get from SSR to CR for Chef Mickey's breakfast on Marathon Day '05 -- you'd be going essentially the same route from POFQ to MK for CRT. Disney bus transportation wasn't making any better time.

I can't comment on the possibility of driving to EPCOT and taking the monorail from there to TTC and then on to MK.

 

[Bangerang]

We were there last year so my DH could run and race traffic is a bear. There are ways around it however. Here is a link to the race course for this year.

2006 Marathon Course

If you go in the back way past Fort Wilderness, you should miss most of the congestion.

If you are open to a creative suggestion. Have breakfast at the Wilderness Lodge and lunch at CRT. Mention to the WL gate guard that you are visting for breakfast (Whispering Canyon or counter service) and to look around. They will give you a temporary parking pass. After breakfast, hop the boat to MK. Parking passes do have time limits, but since you are not staying the whole day, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[solferino]

We're using Disney transportation, but I do like the breakfast at WL idea. And I'm so keeping my fingers crossed that we can get ressies for lunch at CRT that day. DD would just love to do her birthday there. Even if we do get the ressies we won't tell her until then.

 

[momimouse27]

Could someone tell me the dates of the 2006 marathon?

 

[Bangerang]

The half marathon runs on Jan. 7 (Sat) and the full marathon runs Jan 8 (Sun). This is the first year they have held the two races on different days so there will be two days where traffic will be screwed up. The good news both start at 6 am so most of the hold up on Sat. should be resolved fairly early.

solferino, we are big fans of the Disney transportation system. Unfortunately, there are no direct routes from POFQ to WL. You could pick-up the WL bus from the TTC but I think most of the route runs along the race course. I don't know if or how they change it on race day. If you won't have a car while you are there, you may want to consider taking a taxi to WL.

 

[riu girl]

I didn't realize that the marathon on Jan 7 is the half marathon. We will be at at Disney all day Jan 7 (check out Jan 8) so would you suggest perhaps we should plan to hang around our hotel around lunchtime. Should the traffic situation be back to normal by then?
Thank you
Suzy V

 

[Bangerang]

You won't have to wait that long on Sat. The race starts at 6 and there is a 3.5 hour time limit so the event should be mostly over by 10. The full marathon has a 7 hour limit. Here is a link to the half course. 2006 Half Marathon Course

MGM and AK won't be affected at all by the race course on Sat. EPCOT will be crazy in the morning. The race ends in the parking lot so you have alot of runners and families hanging out. If you are driving you may want to avoid it since a good chunk of parking space is unavailable. The monorail is a great option though. This past Jan. my DH and BIL ran the full. We drove to POLY, cheered them past the half, got breakfast, walked to TTC, caught monorail to EPCOT, cheered them across the finish, then reversed the route back to WL. We stayed out of the parks, so I can't comment on crowd levels inside but my guess is a lot of families (minus their runners) stay at EPCOT after the race. That is our plan this year. My DH is running the half and full. (You get a Goofy medal if you finish both....appropriate?) On Sun., we'll cheer him across the finish, then tour EPCOT, while he goes back to the room and soaks in the tub.