Help! Marathon weekend Jan 17'

[ajenali]

We will be in WDW Jan 7-10, didn't realize it was marathon weekend until everything had been booked. We have only been to WDW once before, 10+years ago in June. I was hoping for lighter crowds in January, but now I am not sure what to expect. Any help? Is it going to be summer crowds while we are there? I'm definately not a runner so not sure what kind of crowds to expect.

Any suggestions on what parks to do what days to avoid big crowds? Is the marathon actually inside the park, meaning are there going to be barracades throughout the park?

Please help

 

[Quellman]

For the 5k race on Thursday it only impacts EPCOT and it is usually wrapped up before park opening.
For the 10k race on Friday it only impacts EPCOT and it is usually wrapped up before park opening.
For the Half marathon on Saturday it may impact Magic Kingdom and Epcot early mornings. But Magic Kingdom should clear quickly.
For the Full marathon on Sunday it hits all 4 parks. Expect to see runners in Animal Kingdom Hollywood Studios and EPCOT throughout the morning.


The runners themselves impact the paths, but not barricaded such that you cannot access areas or attractions. There will be cones set up as a 'runners lane' and crossing points. Take a moment to cheer on people as they go on by.


Crowds will still be lighter than in June for sure. The weather will help too. I can't help you with park recommendations, but lots of sites like , wdw info, touring plans, all ears, kenny the pirate all have crowd calendars that you can view to get a feel what they think crowd levels will be like during your time there.

I hope you have a magical time.

 

[DatFan]

Overall only slight to moderate impact on Park crowds.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We were there for marathon weekend this past January. The crowds weren't bad at all. It was the traffic that was a nightmare. My only advice is to avoid MK on Sunday unless you are staying at a monorail resort, WL or FW. The traffic there is a nightmare for the buses because runners use that road.

 

[lizabu]

I've gone during that time and while marathon day is a little busy right after the parks are so empty

 

[Keels]

For the 5k race on Friday it only impacts EPCOT and it is usually wrapped up before park opening.
For the Half marathon on Saturday it may impact Magic Kingdom and Epcot early mornings. But Magic Kingdom should clear quickly.
For the Full marathon on Sunday it hits all 4 parks. Expect to see runners in Animal Kingdom Hollywood Studios and EPCOT throughout the morning.


The runners themselves impact the paths, but not barricaded such that you cannot access areas or attractions. There will be cones set up as a 'runners lane' and crossing points. Take a moment to cheer on people as they go on by.


Crowds will still be lighter than in June for sure. The weather will help too. I can't help you with park recommendations, but lots of sites like , wdw info, touring plans, all ears, kenny the pirate all have crowd calendars that you can view to get a feel what they think crowd levels will be like during your time there.

I hope you have a magical time.

Actually, the 5K is on Thursday. It is only at Epcot and is over with before the park opens.
Same goes for the 10K on Friday.

 

[Accident]

Most schools don't go back until jan 9 (locals) so I tihnk your in for a crowd..

marathons don't really add to the crowds in the parks, just some interesting road closures when the longer races that go between parks are happening. they all happen overnight so it's just some extra time needed for those that head to the parks early (bus will take a little longer, you might get redirected to a different road or three to get to where your going if driving)

 

[Quellman]

Actually, the 5K is on Thursday. It is only at Epcot and is over with before the park opens.
Same goes for the 10K on Friday.

Updated! thanks, I think i was having a brain fart. My mind was like, there is something wrong, but couldn't rfigure out what it was. I think it was before my second cup of coffee.

 

[Harambe]

We will be there ,too. We are planning our resort day (no parks, just Disney Springs and OKW) on Saturday, and although we are braving MK on Sunday morning, we are going about our business, and as another poster pointed out, we will cheer for the runners if we see any stragglers! Then we will go to Epcot for an early dinner and back to our resort. Apparently there are some Marathon related "parties" at Disney Springs on Sunday night so avoid that.

Other than that, make sure to make some ADRs and Fast Pass+ reservations, and you will be good to go!

 

[mountdew1]

The biggest impact on your day will be road closures Sat/Sun AM. If you have a PPO ADR, or early morning tour, allow extra time due to road closures, especially if it is at MK.

Weds/Thurs/Friday you shouldn't notice a thing unless for some reason you try to go to WWoS. Sat MK will be clear before the park opens, Epcot will have runners until about 10-10:30. Sun MK will be clear pre-park open, runners go through AK, DHS then Epcot last so they will clear out in that same order. Once again, allow a little extra time to get to ADRs and FP+ as there will be locations in the park where the crowd will be held and sent in bunches as the route runners one way or another.

Other than that, you may notice higher than normal hotel occupancy or ADRs at resorts. Many runners will take it easy pre/post run, or not even go to the parks so they have to sleep/eat somewhere.

 

[rteetz]

We will be in WDW Jan 7-10, didn't realize it was marathon weekend until everything had been booked. We have only been to WDW once before, 10+years ago in June. I was hoping for lighter crowds in January, but now I am not sure what to expect. Any help? Is it going to be summer crowds while we are there? I'm definately not a runner so not sure what kind of crowds to expect.

Any suggestions on what parks to do what days to avoid big crowds? Is the marathon actually inside the park, meaning are there going to be barracades throughout the park?

Please help

I've gone to Marathon weekend as a runner the past two years. Crowds were not bad at all. Definitely not summer type. You're still going to have long waits for frozen and mine train but they always have long waits.

Don't be afraid of runners either we're quite nice for the most part

 

[Silvercrest]

The biggest impact on your day will be road closures Sat/Sun AM. If you have a PPO ADR, or early morning tour, allow extra time due to road closures, especially if it is at MK.

We don't have early ADR, but are planing on the Welcome Show and RD at MK on Sunday. What time would you suggest heading to the parks by bus? We're staying at POP if that makes a difference.

 

[Harambe]

We are going for park opening, which is 9am on Sunday, Jan 8, so we will be at a bus stop at our resort no later than 7:45. Originally had an ADR at BOG for 9:20, but moved it to 10:25 just in case there are delays. I want to get a FP for 7DMT before the breakfast, but if we don't make it in time due to marathon issues, no biggie. We'll hit it another time. Just be flexible, and don't get bummed if your best-laid plans fall flat. Some of our best memories are things that happened spontaneously in the parks, like one down-right bizarre encounter with Meeko the raccoon from Pocahontas. You can't plan stuff like that!!

 

[mountdew1]

We don't have early ADR, but are planing on the Welcome Show and RD at MK on Sunday. What time would you suggest heading to the parks by bus? We're staying at POP if that makes a difference.

Hard to say at this point. They haven't yet announced/released the course maps for this year yet. MK is usually about mile 5, which means runners should be in the park by 7:50 at the latest, and they will want to open up the second land on World Drive as soon as they can as that stretch of road running to the bus expo causes the most delays. It becomes a single lane, so they send 20 cars one way and wait for them to clear the runners, and then send 20 cars the other way. And I don't even think buses can get to the bus stops before that point due to how the course blocks off that entry point. (I've been running every time I've been there so not sure exactly)

They should provide sheets in your hotel room explaining how your days will be affected, but adding an extra 15-20 mins or so can't hurt on top of whenever you would normally head over.

 

[Silvercrest]

We are going for park opening, which is 9am on Sunday, Jan 8, so we will be at a bus stop at our resort no later than 7:45. Originally had an ADR at BOG for 9:20, but moved it to 10:25 just in case there are delays. I want to get a FP for 7DMT before the breakfast, but if we don't make it in time due to marathon issues, no biggie. We'll hit it another time. Just be flexible, and don't get bummed if your best-laid plans fall flat. Some of our best memories are things that happened spontaneously in the parks, like one down-right bizarre encounter with Meeko the raccoon from Pocahontas. You can't plan stuff like that!!

We have BOG lunch ADR for 11:20, so we should have plenty of time. I wasn't planning on trying an fastpasses until after that. We did the Welcome Show last year, and will probably do it again when we're with the rest of our family on Tuesday (they're arriving a day later than us). We have a basic plan to follow, but are usually pretty flexible and go with whatever happens. As long as I'm where I need/want to be. It's the waiting in traffic that will drive me nuts!

 

[bumbershoot]

Apparently there are some Marathon related "parties" at Disney Springs on Sunday night so avoid that.

Oh gosh no, that's a huge non-issue.

They can call it a party all they way, but all it is is a plea to get runners in to spend money and get a paltry discount on things. Don't avoid DS on Sunday for fear of the "party". There's no party.

 

[Harambe]

Oh gosh no, that's a huge non-issue.

They can call it a party all they way, but all it is is a plea to get runners in to spend money and get a paltry discount on things. Don't avoid DS on Sunday for fear of the "party". There's no party.

That's good to know. Yeah, they were really talking that up on the Marathon website so I thought everybody went! Makes sense that it is just another money venue for Disney.

 

[mountdew1]

That's good to know. Yeah, they were really talking that up on the Marathon website so I thought everybody went! Makes sense that it is just another money venue for Disney.

Nah, it's not a huge thing by any means. And most of the discounts were like 10% off. I think maybe they pushed a DJ one year, but otherwise it's really just the stores offering discounts for runners.

 

[rteetz]

Hard to say at this point. They haven't yet announced/released the course maps for this year yet. MK is usually about mile 5, which means runners should be in the park by 7:50 at the latest, and they will want to open up the second land on World Drive as soon as they can as that stretch of road running to the bus expo causes the most delays. It becomes a single lane, so they send 20 cars one way and wait for them to clear the runners, and then send 20 cars the other way. And I don't even think buses can get to the bus stops before that point due to how the course blocks off that entry point. (I've been running every time I've been there so not sure exactly)

They should provide sheets in your hotel room explaining how your days will be affected, but adding an extra 15-20 mins or so can't hurt on top of whenever you would normally head over.

In terms of courses the Epcot to MK portion should be pretty much the same.

 

[disnut8]

We were there during a marathon weekend with our son and his family and other than the road issues on the true marathon day, crowds were not bad at all. I would highly advise to use Disney transportation during the weekend as the drivers know the routes to take and which roads will be affected. We had my brother-in-law and niece drive down from Gainesville and they had a bit of difficulty getting to the parking lots (they are Disney veterans so knew some shortcuts).