where to stay for 1/2 Marathon

bkgrim

bkgrim

Member
Original Poster
We are dvc members with reservations at one of our home resorts for this years 1/2 in January. We are staying at Saratoga springs for now. What resort is the quickest to get to Epcot for the start of the race? Will they have a monorail running from the contemporary (bay lake towers ) or is everything just buses.:wave:
 
joel_maxwell

joel_maxwell

Permanent Resident of EPCOT
bkgrim said:
We are dvc members with reservations at one of our home resorts for this years 1/2 in January. We are staying at Saratoga springs for now. What resort is the quickest to get to Epcot for the start of the race? Will they have a monorail running from the contemporary (bay lake towers ) or is everything just buses.:wave:
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The monorails probably wont be running that early since you will be required to get to the start line at least 2-3 hours before the race starts (and they are 6am starts?). You would need to check which resorts are host resorts. They will have buses running to the start line since you are required to be there so early.

All of this is not through experience, just what I have read from others that have done the January races.

Good luck.
 
GoofyRacer11

GoofyRacer11

Active Member
All of the Disney resorts provide transportation to the expo and the races in January. So I'm sure you will be fine with any resort you pick.
 
B

Babylon Control

Member
If you go on the official marathon site, you can download the race booklet for 2010, which is full of helpful information such as the following:

Monorails will run on race morning between the hours of 3am and 4am to get race participants to the start of the race. You must board the monorails before 4am in order to be at the race on time.

Buses will operate from all non-monorail resorts and will run between the hours of 3am and 4am. The last bus will leave the resorts at 4am, therefore participants must board the buses before 4am in order to be at the start on time.

Here is a link to the pdf copy of the 2010 race booklet. This is the same booklet you will receive when in your race kit when you get there for the 2011 marathon. Read through this past year's book. It will answer a LOT of questions. I'm not running until 2012 but I found this book to be dead helpful in answering my questions. Here the link http://adisneyworldsports.disney.go.com/media/dwws_v0222/en_US/media/amateurSports/PDF/Endurance/WDWMarathonProgram.pdf
 
joel_maxwell

joel_maxwell

Permanent Resident of EPCOT
Babylon Control said:
If you go on the official marathon site, you can download the race booklet for 2010, which is full of helpful information such as the following:

Monorails will run on race morning between the hours of 3am and 4am to get race participants to the start of the race. You must board the monorails before 4am in order to be at the race on time.

Buses will operate from all non-monorail resorts and will run between the hours of 3am and 4am. The last bus will leave the resorts at 4am, therefore participants must board the buses before 4am in order to be at the start on time.

Here is a link to the pdf copy of the 2010 race booklet. This is the same booklet you will receive when in your race kit when you get there for the 2011 marathon. Read through this past year's book. It will answer a LOT of questions. I'm not running until 2012 but I found this book to be dead helpful in answering my questions. Here the link http://adisneyworldsports.disney.go...urSports/PDF/Endurance/WDWMarathonProgram.pdf
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and this is why I wanted someone with more experience with Disney races to answer. Wow. Completely didnt think they would run the monorails.
 
lukacseven

lukacseven

Well-Known Member
I've stayed twice at Old Key West. Great location for the races. The start line is directly across from the property entrance. The bus ride to and from the races is very short. I stayed last year at Kidani Village. It's quite a distance from the start/finish line. The ride to the start is actually nice because it allows you some time to sleep, but after the race, you get stiff from sitting for the extended time.
 
Phonedave

Phonedave

Well-Known Member
GoofyRacer11 said:
All of the Disney resorts provide transportation to the expo and the races in January. So I'm sure you will be fine with any resort you pick.
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No so for the Wine and Dine.

They specifically state that transportation is only from host resorts.

I am not at a host resort.

I am at a loss as to how to get there. It is a 10:00 PM start, so everything will be running.

I believe that YC/BC is a host resort, so I may just go to EPCOT, call a brisk walk through EPCOT a warm up, and then catch the bus from YC

-dave
 
Phonedave

Phonedave

Well-Known Member
Babylon Control said:
And this is why I'm starting to hate this board. Everyone here is so negative and condescending all the time!:fork:
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He made that comment to himself.

He posted what he THOUGHT was the answer, but then added that he was not sure about the monorails, and he hoped somone with more experience would answer. Somone did, with information to the contrary, so he basicly posted "this is why I wanted someone with experience to verify what I said"

There was nothing negative or condescending

-dave
 
Erin_Akey

Erin_Akey

New Member
bkgrim said:
We are dvc members with reservations at one of our home resorts for this years 1/2 in January. We are staying at Saratoga springs for now. What resort is the quickest to get to Epcot for the start of the race? Will they have a monorail running from the contemporary (bay lake towers ) or is everything just buses.:wave:
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We are DVC members too and are staying at Kidani Village for the half. It was my understanding that we would have transportation from any resort on property. SOOOO excited for my first half!!!! :sohappy:
 
joel_maxwell

joel_maxwell

Permanent Resident of EPCOT
Babylon Control said:
And this is why I'm starting to hate this board. Everyone here is so negative and condescending all the time!:fork:
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WOW. That pitch fork is so cheerful. :D

Phonedave said:
He made that comment to himself.

He posted what he THOUGHT was the answer, but then added that he was not sure about the monorails, and he hoped somone with more experience would answer. Somone did, with information to the contrary, so he basicly posted "this is why I wanted someone with experience to verify what I said"

There was nothing negative or condescending

-dave
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Thanks Dave. At least you got it.

I really am truly amazed that the monorails will be running at 3-4AM instead of just running the bus system.
 
dreamfinder

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
Erin_Akey said:
We are DVC members too and are staying at Kidani Village for the half. It was my understanding that we would have transportation from any resort on property. SOOOO excited for my first half!!!! :sohappy:
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For the marathon weekend in January, correct. They will have transportation from every resort to both the check in/expo at WWoS, as well as to and from the race start/finish. For the expo everything should be buses, and for the race the monorail resorts should have the monorail running, and everyone else takes a bus. That is one benefit of shelling out the big bucks to stay at a monorail resort in January. You can sleep in a bit as the monorails tend to run later than the buses due to not having to cope with a road closure.

For other races, such as the Wine & Dine and Princess half they will only run transportation for the expo and race from the specified host resorts. It all depends on what race you are dealing with.
 
Erin_Akey

Erin_Akey

New Member
We decided Kidani was too far away. We moved to OKW since someone said it was right across from start of Half. I have never stayed there!
Hope we like it!
 
lukacseven

lukacseven

Well-Known Member
OKW is very spread out. I stayed there 2 years and we requested a building in close proximity to the main building. If not, it's quite a walk. Although there are multiple bus stops, the marathon events only leave from the main building and everything is outdoors (but covered). The morning of the races, there are cast members in golf carts offering rides to get the bus to people in the further buildings. As far as the unit, I stayed in the 2 bedroom. It's much brighter and much more spacious compared to Kidani the secondary bedroom is huge and has a walk-in closet. The kitchen is also set-up more open, but the TV is in a werid spot (under the kitchen island). Had a great view of the golf course.
 
dreamfinder

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
Erin_Akey said:
We decided Kidani was too far away. We moved to OKW since someone said it was right across from start of Half. I have never stayed there!
Hope we like it!
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OKW and POFQ are both pretty gosh darn close to the starts. OKW is nice, but the pre-refurbed rooms are starting to show their age. We stayed there this year. Warning, if you have non runners in your party, they may be able to hear the start fireworks. Our unit was about as far away from the main building as possible, and right next to the road. My wife got a rude awakening at 6am when the fireworks went off.

The rooms are bigger than anywhere else, but as lukacseven said, the tv is in a funny place and the resort is a bit spread out. Our biggest issue was the size of the CS window. It was small, and didn't have much of a selection. And there was no covered seating for it, so in the cold/rain, you pretty much high tail it back to your room unless you hide in the store to eat.
 

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