MLK and Marathon

[goreesha]

So we'll be at WDW January 11-16. I understand January 10-11 is Marathon weekend, and I understand 17-19 is MLK weekend, and that both weekends get sizable crowds. So my question is, what day will be more crowded, in your experience: Sunday the 11th or Friday the 16th? Just curious as to what to expect.

 

[myhappyplace]

for us this past year:
we arrived on Marathon Sunday and went to DAK. The runners were still going through, but wait times for rides were nil!
we were at MK on the Friday before MLK Day and the waits were the longest we'd had all week in any park. pretty crowded.

 

[goreesha]

Okay, so that last Friday of our trip might be the time to ride less rides and do more souvenir shopping hehe. Oh well. Thanks for the reply.

 

[NotAZoo]

Being there for the same timeframe last year, I noticed the following.

Epcot was the busiest the day of the Marathon since it ends there around Noon. I spent most of my time at the Animal Kingdom that day and didn't have to deal with many crows, just a little manuvering issues since the route goes through the park, although it is the same issue for all parks. Also if you use your own car instead of Disney transportation, be prepared to take some alternate routes as most roads are cut off that morning. Still not a major inconvenience either way.

I felt the busiest timeframe was the weekend days of the MLK weekend. And primarily at the MK which in my opinion is typically busier on weekends no matter the time of the year. Yet it still wasn't as crazy as you would see in the summer or spring months when attendance is typically higher.

Overall M-F was not bad at all in any of the parks and we had very short waits if any. I would also anticipate similar conditions this coming year as well. Some of my cast member friends have mentioned that park attendance has been a little lower as of late. I assume it has something to do with the economy, and since I can't anticipate things changing in the next few months, I would figure it will be light once again.

 

[Philo]

I was there over both in 2007. I spent the marathon day at DAK and it felt busy (due to the marathon going through the park leading to narrowed / closed paths) although as other have said, the wait times were very small.

I honestly can't remember any difference for MLK. I remember one day being really busy at MK but even that only resulted in 30 min max wait. I would happily go there this time of year again!

 

[Todd L]

My brother runs the Marathon every year. He said that while The Hotels are full and dining Reservations are hard to come by The parks arent nearly as crowded as you would think. His wife usually take their little one in to the parks while he runs and according to her there is little to no wait for most attractions.

 

[krisrunsdisney]

MLK is the busier of the two weekends, mainly due to locals having the long weekend. Marathon weekend, the lines aren't too bad. Most runners are at the expo gettting their packets and other goodies. Also, they are trying to not walk around too much to save their legs for the races. However, as mentioned before, resorts are full and ADRs are difficult to get, especially for early on Saturday and Sunday nights. Probably the busiest part is Sunday afternoon, when the run is done. Expect to find lots of people with big shiny medals hobbling around in Epcot, mainly WS due to the availability of alcohol. Rose and Crown should be pretty well packed. Not that I would know that from experience...:lookaroun

 

[NotAZoo]

Wow that is a first for me to see....Spam in a forum based on a name relation to a thread. Love the history on MLK, but whoa, way off topic! :shrug:

 

[dinandmick]

It's been a few years for me, but I have attended for both weekends and found the Marathon weekend to be less crowded than MLK. I know for myself, I was so sore from the 1/2 marathon, that it was painful to walk through the parks!!!

 

[goreesha]

We will be in MK the day of the marathon. What is the route it takes through the park?

 

[krisrunsdisney]

This is the link for the course map of the Full 26.2 mile marathon for Sunday Jan 11:
http://adisneyworldsports.disney.go.com/media/dwws_v0220/en_US/pdf/08MarathonCourseMap.pdf

This is the link for the course map of the Half Marathon (13.1 miles) on Saturday Jan 10:
http://adisneyworldsports.disney.go.com/media/dwws_v0220/en_US/pdf/NEWHalfCourse2009.pdf

The Half should be done by the time parks open on Saturday. The Epcot parking lot will be a bit of a mess all weekend. The Full will affect park walking traffic at AK, DHS and Epcot. There will be cones set up keeping runners on one side and park-goers on the other. There will also be CMs directing you through the cones to cross from one side to the other if needed. Please stick with them. You really don't want a sweaty runner knocking you down because you didn't cross in designated areas when the CM said it was safe.

Road traffic, especially Sunday, will be slow. Disney seems good at keeping the disruptions to a minimum but you will notice a slowdown in running areas. I am thinking that by noon the roads should be clear since all runners should have been to DHS by then. Once in DHS runners don't use the roadways, just parks and paths.

See you in January! And remember, we are NOT almost there, no matter what mile marker the sign says!:wave:

 

[Susan Savia]

I have been wondering this exact same thing as we will be in the World January l0th through 17th. Thanks for all the information...

________________________

Next Trip - January 2009

It's like coming home again......

 

[goreesha]

Wow, thanks for the info. Man, the idea of running a marathon at Disney World is awesome. Too bad I'm a fat slob lol! I'm sure I will walk a marathon's length by the end of the week.

 

[krisrunsdisney]

There's always next year! Lots of people just walk the whole thing. And there's the half marathon; much shorter! All you need is about 20 weeks for training. See you next year at the start? At any rate, see you as I run by in January!

 

[Timmay]

So we'll be at WDW January 11-16. I understand January 10-11 is Marathon weekend, and I understand 17-19 is MLK weekend, and that both weekends get sizable crowds. So my question is, what day will be more crowded, in your experience: Sunday the 11th or Friday the 16th? Just curious as to what to expect.

We always try to make it in on the Sunday of the marathon and to be honest, by afternoon the parks and hotels are dead. EMH at MK this past marathon Sunday was really, really dead. The only time it got busy that week was on Friday...there was a 3 on 3 soccer tournament and cheerleader comp that weekend and the kids started pouring in.