Non Host Resorts for Race Day

[MM311]

I'm sorry if this question has been asked before, feel free to delete or move it if it has....

So, my wife is running the Wine and Dine Half Marathon and I am running Mickey's Jingle Jungle 5k but we are staying at the POP Century which is not a "host resort". My question is how difficult will it be for us to get to the races from our resort? Thanks in advance for any help

 

[Texas84]

Basically you're on your own

 

[MM311]

That's what I was afraid of, when you say I'm on my own do you mean I need to catch a cab, or do I basically need to bus hop until I get to a host resort? Are there even buses running that early in the morning, since the 5 k starts at 7am.

 

[Kristia]

I think you have to catch a cab because there won't be any buses running yet to your resort that early in the morning.

 

[MM311]

Thanks for your help guys, I'm sure we can make it work

 

[fmingo36]

Yes-you'll need to get a cab. You won't be able to bus-resort-hop because the buses from non-host resort will not be running early enough for your to get to your 5K or late enough to get back from Epcot after the W&D. You could always rent a vehicle so you know you'll have your transportation taken care.

 

[dreamfinder]

Cab or rental. Yes, the race starts at 6:45-7 (whatever it is), but they want you there before that just so everything can start on time. The earliest the park buses normally start running in the AM is about 6:30, no way you would be able to get on the bus, travel to park, and then make it from the bus depot to the start area.

Then getting back could also take a while. Even if you went back to the bus depot, it may take a while before a bus is scheduled to return to the resort as they often get reassigned to do another pickup at that time. My DW waited about 1 1/2 hours after MK opened before a bus finally took her back to the resort. (We had done the Halloween 5k the year it finished at the TTC and then went to the MK to watch rope drop)

Your wife could end up at a host resort for the transportation, I believe Beach/Yacht are still hosts so at the worst she takes the first DHS/Epcot bus and then heads over from there. But getting back, will be tough. May be able to sneak out the international gateway, take a bus from Beach/Yacht to DTD and transfer to POP there, but that would be pushing it.

You may seriously want to look at a car rental as 3 cab rides could end up costing you about the same, and with a rental you don't need to hang around waiting for a cab to show up.

 

[Fievel]

We made this mistake for the Everest challenge a few years back. You'll have to go to a host resort to get transportation to the start line or get a cab. On the way back, you'll have to get a cab. We managed to go from AK to pop century to downtown disney to our resort....but it wasn't as late as it'll be after the race.

 

[MM311]

Thanks again everyone for the help, now I have to figure out if I should try to switch my reservation to a host resort or just deal with getting a cab.

 

[Kristia]

If you go with a rental it is really easy to get one. Alamo has a rental site on property at the Car Care Center near the MK. They will pick you up at your hotel, take you to get the car and return you to the hotel after you drop it off. Like dreamfinder said, it may be cheaper to rent a car and you can just rent it for the day you need it.

 

[Texas84]

If you go with a rental it is really easy to get one. Alamo has a rental site on property at the Car Care Center near the MK. They will pick you up at your hotel, take you to get the car and return you to the hotel after you drop it off. Like dreamfinder said, it may be cheaper to rent a car and you can just rent it for the day you need it.

I had no idea. That is GREAT info!

 

[Kristia]

I had no idea. That is GREAT info!

It is super convenient! We have done that a couple times when we wanted to go to Universal for the day and didn't want to rely on Mears.

 

[tink65]

I ran the Wine & Dine 1/2 in 2011. We were originally booked at CB & I worried about transportation obsessively! I finally was able to move to POR which was a host resort and was able to breathe easier! My family in particular appreciated having the transportation provided! Made for a lot less stress!