Princess Half Marathon and going to Parks

[tigger2002]

We are planning to go to EPCOT on Sunday February 23rd, the Princess Half Marathon day. Touring Plans shows that day to be a 5 which doesn't sound bad. From your experience what will the effect of the Marathon be on EPCOT? The park should open on time, right?

 

[Mr. Drauer]

yes, but there are road closures, and the parking lot and entry is a mess. The course finishes in the parking lot, and goes through Epcot, so there will still be race participants going through the park until about 9:30, and it disrupts the flow to get where you want from the front entrance to World Showcase.

 

[azrivest]

We are planning to go to EPCOT on Sunday February 23rd, the Princess Half Marathon day. Touring Plans shows that day to be a 5 which doesn't sound bad. From your experience what will the effect of the Marathon be on EPCOT? The park should open on time, right?

On half marathon day, EPCOT will open closer to 10 am with a 9:30 early entry. So don't expect a standard 9am opening time no.

 

[Disney1stTimer90]

Our plan is to do animal kingdom day on Sunday the 23rd; does anybody know if this would be a bad idea with any road closures/marathon map?

 

[Pyxie]

Our plan is to do animal kingdom day on Sunday the 23rd; does anybody know if this would be a bad idea with any road closures/marathon map?

The marathon is on the 12th (but maybe that's what you mean because you said Sunday?)

 

[fatmanatee]

The marathon is on the 12th (but maybe that's what you mean because you said Sunday?)

This is about a different race weekend.

There are road closures for the Princess Half but i don’t think they’re so bad that you’d want to avoid the parks, AK will still open at the usual time and I think they can reroute you if you’re impacted. Here’s the half map for an earlier race weekend:

 

[Pyxie]

This is about a different race weekend.

There are road closures for the Princess Half but i don’t think they’re so bad that you’d want to avoid the parks, AK will still open at the usual time and I think they can reroute you if you’re impacted. Here’s the half map for an earlier race weekend:

View attachment 926884

Oh right duh. Sorry brain is mush right now.

 

[sponica]

So I did Epcot on Princess 1/2 Marathon sunday last year. I would only do this again if I was staying on the skyliner or a crescent lake resort. We were at POR and the busses to both Epcot and MK were massively delayed, I don't even think they had opened the parking gates by the time the bus pulled in. The park doesn't generally open until 10 and last year the crowds felt higher than the year before when we park hopped to Epcot after 2 on 1/2 marathon Sunday.

 

[tigger2002]

So I did Epcot on Princess 1/2 Marathon sunday last year. I would only do this again if I was staying on the skyliner or a crescent lake resort. We were at POR and the busses to both Epcot and MK were massively delayed, I don't even think they had opened the parking gates by the time the bus pulled in. The park doesn't generally open until 10 and last year the crowds felt higher than the year before when we park hopped to Epcot after 2 on 1/2 marathon Sunday.

We are staying at the Boardwalk so we could hopefully get a jump on the crowds with early entry.

 

[Mr. Drauer]

We are staying at the Boardwalk so we could hopefully get a jump on the crowds with early entry.

just be aware that the course typically goes through Epcot from Figment to the world showcase entrance by the stores, then back through the central hub and exits past Mission Space, so if you are doing something in World Showcase, you would be fine, but otherwise, would have to wait in the crossing areas to get to where you want to go (like Soarin or GotG), if there are still participants on the course.

 

[accm]

Our plan is to do animal kingdom day on Sunday the 23rd; does anybody know if this would be a bad idea with any road closures/marathon map?

I think the road closures should only really impact you if you're staying in one of the MK area hotels.

 

[Disney1stTimer90]

I think the road closures should only really impact you if you're staying in one of the MK area hotels.

We will be at polynesian, heading to AK on Sunday the 23rd

 

[scrappinginontario]

We will be at polynesian, heading to AK on Sunday the 23rd

If you have PH tickets you may wish to consider starting at either MK or Epcot and hopping to AK a bit later. Traffic will affect the drive between the Polynesian and AK in the AM.

 

[Disney1stTimer90]

If you have PH tickets you may wish to consider starting at either MK or Epcot and hopping to AK a bit later. Traffic will affect the drive between the Polynesian and AK in the AM.

Thank you; we were hoping to not need park hopper this trip; we might have to just have a delayed start at AK.

 

[Disney1stTimer90]

If you have PH tickets you may wish to consider starting at either MK or Epcot and hopping to AK a bit later. Traffic will affect the drive between the Polynesian and AK in the AM.

Would it make sense for us to take monorail to Epcot and then a bus from Epcot to AK (if that is possible)?

 

[GBBTomorrow]

Would it make sense for us to take monorail to Epcot and then a bus from Epcot to AK (if that is possible)?

I don't think it would make much difference, since the Epcot parking lot is a zoo for Princess as well. I think your best bet is to take the AK bus from Poly. It's not 100% foolproof, but parks buses generally have ways around the worst of the race congestion. You should really be OK.

The race starts at 5:00, and it goes to Magic Kingdom and back. Let's say the last corral starts at 6:00 AM and those people are doing a 16 minute per mile pace. When they leave Magic Kingdom and pass the Grand Floridian and Polynesian on the way back, they clear that area at about mile 8. So that's 128 minutes, so about two hours. That means the stragglers are out of your area by roughly 8:00.

Animal Kingdom opens for early entry at 7:30, right? So if you feel comfortable missing early entry and rope drop and head out after 8:00 you probably won't have delays. If you want to be there at 7:30, it might be a slower bus ride.

Might the bus get stuck in traffic? Yeah, maybe. But they usually do a really good job. I wouldn't give it a ton of worry.

 

[Disney1stTimer90]

I don't think it would make much difference, since the Epcot parking lot is a zoo for Princess as well. I think your best bet is to take the AK bus from Poly. It's not 100% foolproof, but parks buses generally have ways around the worst of the race congestion. You should really be OK.

The race starts at 5:00, and it goes to Magic Kingdom and back. Let's say the last corral starts at 6:00 AM and those people are doing a 16 minute per mile pace. When they leave Magic Kingdom and pass the Grand Floridian and Polynesian on the way back, they clear that area at about mile 8. So that's 128 minutes, so about two hours. That means the stragglers are out of your area by roughly 8:00.

Animal Kingdom opens for early entry at 7:30, right? So if you feel comfortable missing early entry and rope drop and head out after 8:00 you probably won't have delays. If you want to be there at 7:30, it might be a slower bus ride.

Might the bus get stuck in traffic? Yeah, maybe. But they usually do a really good job. I wouldn't give it a ton of worry.

Thank you!!!

 

[Dave006]

Would it make sense for us to take monorail to Epcot and then a bus from Epcot to AK (if that is possible)?

No the Epcot bus to AK will not start running until 10 AM so that is not a winning plan.

Dave