Avoiding Marathon Week? - The DIS Discussion Forums

MomTo3PrincessesInNJ · 12-10-2012, 08:11 AM

We just came home from our first Disney vacation and we had a blast -- now it's time to plan our next trip!

We were all set to go back for a short trip in Jan 2014 to celebrate our middle daughter's 5th birthday. I was looking forward to being IN Disney World ON her birthday.

Our plan was to fly out Wednesday 1/8 after school and have Thursday 1/9 (her birthday) as our first park day. We would then fly home Sunday afternoon.

H will only let the girls miss 2 days of school so we can't go earlier in the week -- has to be Wed to Sun. I've started planning and I saw that the week we picked is set to be the Marathon Weekend.

Should we forget about that week and go a week later?

I'm not sure how much the marathon impacts crowds.

Suggestions?

Axel · 12-12-2012, 02:25 PM

We've gone over Marathon weekend before and didn't notice too much of a crowd impact (many of the people who partake in the marathon don't go to the parks on their race days, but some do and it's fun to see the medals!).

What does get impacted is the bus service! DO NOT plan on buses running on-time while the Marathon is going on (hours for the race can be found online somewhere, I'm sure). They close certain portions of the roads for the race. So for the marathon days, just plan to do a park which can be accessed easily by monorail. We were staying at BLT so we just hopped on the monorail to EPCOT on marathon day. While that was the park with the higher crowd level (EPCOT is where the marathon finishes), we were there in time to see the end of the race.

Watching the marathon is fun in and of itself! People wear all sorts of fun costumes (we saw Cruella, Buzz, Rapunzel, and even a Cinderella in full ball gown!) and do all sorts of amusing things (one guy was finishing the race with a beer in each hand--one from Norway and one from Germany--and told us he was re-fueling his carbs!). Plus the runners love it if you stop and cheer for them, many of them gave us high-fives as they passed and thanked us for encouraging them as they neared the last half-mile.

12-10-2012, 08:11 AM	#1
MomTo3PrincessesInNJ Mouseketeer Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: 1,019 miles from Disney World Posts: 208	Avoiding Marathon Week? We just came home from our first Disney vacation and we had a blast -- now it's time to plan our next trip! We were all set to go back for a short trip in Jan 2014 to celebrate our middle daughter's 5th birthday. I was looking forward to being IN Disney World ON her birthday. Our plan was to fly out Wednesday 1/8 after school and have Thursday 1/9 (her birthday) as our first park day. We would then fly home Sunday afternoon. H will only let the girls miss 2 days of school so we can't go earlier in the week -- has to be Wed to Sun. I've started planning and I saw that the week we picked is set to be the Marathon Weekend. Should we forget about that week and go a week later? I'm not sure how much the marathon impacts crowds. Suggestions? __________________ Me, H & Our 3 Princesses (ages 7, 4, 1) 1st trip: April 2001, ASMu (High School Sr. Trip) 1st Family trip: November 2012, AoA-Nemo Adults Only/My 30th : January 2013, Pop! 2nd Family trip: November 2014 (currently planning)

12-12-2012, 02:25 PM	#2
Axel Introduce a Little Anarchy. 1979-2008 Pi a la ModeJack, I swear… Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: With the Winchesters. Posts: 4,470	We've gone over Marathon weekend before and didn't notice too much of a crowd impact (many of the people who partake in the marathon don't go to the parks on their race days, but some do and it's fun to see the medals!). What does get impacted is the bus service! DO NOT plan on buses running on-time while the Marathon is going on (hours for the race can be found online somewhere, I'm sure). They close certain portions of the roads for the race. So for the marathon days, just plan to do a park which can be accessed easily by monorail. We were staying at BLT so we just hopped on the monorail to EPCOT on marathon day. While that was the park with the higher crowd level (EPCOT is where the marathon finishes), we were there in time to see the end of the race. Watching the marathon is fun in and of itself! People wear all sorts of fun costumes (we saw Cruella, Buzz, Rapunzel, and even a Cinderella in full ball gown!) and do all sorts of amusing things (one guy was finishing the race with a beer in each hand--one from Norway and one from Germany--and told us he was re-fueling his carbs!). Plus the runners love it if you stop and cheer for them, many of them gave us high-fives as they passed and thanked us for encouraging them as they neared the last half-mile. __________________ September 1996::WDW 25th Anniversary::Fort Wilderness\\October 1999::Millenium Celebration::FW\\November 2001::WDW 30th Anniversary and 100 Years of Magic::FW\\December 2004::Purchased DVC::FW\\ November 2005::WDL 50th Anniversary::Saratoga Springs Resort\\December 2006::Year of a Million Dreams::SSR\\August 2007::Pirate and Princess Party::Boardwalk\\November 2007::YoaMD::SSR\\February 2008::with Lissy::Villas at the Wilderness Lodge\\August 2008::with Nora::Old Key West\\December 2008::with Shianna::SSR\\February 2009::What Will You Celebrate?::Beach Club Villas\\January 2010::Un-Birthday:::Animal Kingdom Lodge\\May 2010::Dad's 65th/With Molly::OKW\\January 2011::Un-Birthday::Bay Lake Tower\May 2011::With Nora::BCV\\May 2012::One More Disney Day::OKW\\January 2013::Damon's First Trip::OKW\\March 2013::Spring Break with Sarah::OKW\\May 2013::College Grad!::VWL\ You must always remember to smile. restaurants eaten at: 143/251 tumblr.twitter

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