2005 world marathon....crowds

[Misty89]

i noticed that the 2005 world marathon is jan 9th 2005...i read the parks are pretty slow ( not crowded), except when the marathong is in going on.....we are playing with dates jan 3 to jan 9th.....we for sure DONTwant to be there when there are major crowds....so should we plan on a earlier date or how long do the marathoners hang out after the race...if we shot for the 11th- 17 would there still be large crowds of marathoners????



thanks

 

[ironz]

I have never been there for the week before the marathon, but have stayed the week after the race 3 times now. I would bet that the week after the race is less crowded, because many families are done with their holiday/school break and head back home. The week following the race isn't bad at all. The weekend of the race...it seemed busier this year than in 2000 and 2003, but I don't think it was so much due to the athletes, as opposed to people at the tail end of their holiday break.

 

[littlegreydonkey]

I was there to run the marathon this year and spent the week before and week after there and didn't notice any extra crowds on race weekend. The longest queue I stood in over 9 park days was 20 minutes for The Land (go figure) everything else was 5-10 minutes. the only noticeable difference on the Monday after race day was the number of people wearing medals and limping. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[karebear1]

I was there at marathon time this year too. Didn't run it- I'm planning on that for next year! Anyway..... I would agree with little donkey- I was actually in EPCOT on Sunday the day of the marathon- there were no crowds- if it hadn't been for the marathoners- I think the park would have totally been empty. No crowds all week (we stayed the week after the marathon)at all. If you can, you should watch the marathon for a while. My DH and I sat on the Boardwalk and watched all those runners go by. It was so much fun and very inspirational. One other little tip- the restaurants may be more crowded during this time because of all the runners be sure you make PS's if you want to eat in the world, and make your WDW resort ressies now- rooms will go fast too. I was really surprised that the parks weren't full because of this, but they weren't- maybe the runners only come for the weekend and don't do the parks?