January visit during marathon weekend?

[Poohbear88]

We were thinking about going in early January during the marathon weekend how busy are the parks? What days do they run? Is it a different park everyday??

[faline]

The races are run on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Friday races are essentially within Epcot. The 1/2 marathon on Saturday starts and ends at Epcot but travels to the Magic Kingdom. The full marathon on Sunday weaves through all 4 parks. These events have become increasingly popular. A few years' back, the ony real impact was on the traffic while the race(s) were running. Now, I believe, there is also more of an impact on park attendance as well.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

We were there last year during marathon weekend.

It does bump up attendance, but nothing crazy although it was much busier during the weekend than before or after it. If I remember correctly, the Sunday afternoon/evening (after the full marathon) was actually CRAZY in the parks, with even CM's remarking on the number of people.

Transportation can be a bit of a challenge too, since roads are closed and you often have to take alternative routes.

But, all in all, it really wasn't bad, and I would go back at the same time again.

Oh! If you're going to be there already ... why not join in the fun? We did the 5K Family Run, and it was a blast!

[Melanie]

This year, the races will be Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with the Expo at Wide World of Sports beginning on Wednesday. So the impact will be a little more than in the past.

To expand a little on what's already been said, the races Thursday and Friday will only be in Epcot, and the Saturday race in Magic Kingdom and Epcot. These are all before park opening. On Sunday, the race begins in the Epcot parking lot and then goes to MK, AK, DHS and finally through Epcot. By the time time the runners get to DHS and Epcot, the parks are open, so guests are impacted. Monorails will be busy and roads will be closed. And yes, I agree that the parks were a bit busier that weekend this past January, and it was warm!

[cer]

The races are run on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Friday races are essentially within Epcot. The 1/2 marathon on Saturday starts and ends at Epcot but travels to the Magic Kingdom. The full marathon on Sunday weaves through all 4 parks. These events have become increasingly popular. A few years' back, the ony real impact was on the traffic while the race(s) were running. Now, I believe, there is also more of an impact on park attendance as well.

This year with the new races/challenges, there will be runs on Thursday thru Sunday. Runners will arrive to go to the Expo beginning on Wednesday in order to pick up their race packets. Just be aware, it is now much more than just a long weekend. Please know it is a great group of people and for those who are running multiple events, they likely will not be hitting the parks hard, but their families/spectators might.