Marathon spectator Qs

[supersnoop]

Does anyone know if the Starbucks on Main Street is open for spectators? We have some family parking at Epcot and then taking the monorail over to MK but would like to get some coffee between MK and watching our group at the finish line. Their goal is to not move the car to avoid having to pay for parking!

If anyone can offer insight into a place to get some good coffee (espresso-based drinks, not drip, and one drinks decaf) during the marathon that would be great! They were thinking of possibly getting a bus from a resort or Ubering to Disney springs but I'm not sure how long that would take/if there is an easier way of getting some good caffeine to keep them awake!

Starbucks was not open for the 2022 Princess Half or 2023 Marathon Weekend Half. The shops on the west side of main street were open, but the running route prevented spectators from getting to the east side. I'm told that some people got coffee somewhere, but it wasn't Starbucks.

 

[supersnoop]

Any suggestions for getting from Animal Kingdom to the finish line? My family wants to watch me run by in that park (mile 15) and also watch me cross the finish line. I don't think there will be park-to-park buses. I'm guessing either a bus to a nearby resort and transfer to an Epcot bus, or a bus to Poly and monorail to the Epcot. Would Uber/Minnie Vans be able to make the trip with so many road closures?

 

[jmasgat]

Any suggestions for getting from Animal Kingdom to the finish line? My family wants to watch me run by in that park (mile 15) and also watch me cross the finish line. I don't think there will be park-to-park buses. I'm guessing either a bus to a nearby resort and transfer to an Epcot bus, or a bus to Poly and monorail to the Epcot. Would Uber/Minnie Vans be able to make the trip with so many road closures?

If you look at the road closure map (which I can't seem to directly link, but it's on the page I link to below), you'll see that the stretch of Osceola from AK (i.e. heading eastbound) is not affected by any closures. So they could uber/lyft from AK by going Osceola to Victory Way to Buena Vista to Epcot Center Drive.

https://www.rundisneyexpo.run/walt-disney-world-marathon?show=clq36sh150027356nwdkvgfw7

If you went by bus, I would pick something over in DS area, or one of the All Stars, just to stay out of the way of closures,

 

[StarGirl11]

A member in my family requires mobility. Will they run buses with disability access from WL to EPCOT? Ideally they want to get to MK to see me for the Marathon but sounds like they will have to go to EPCOT 1st.

I know this is older but hoping you see this in time to talk with someone at the expo. So here’s the thing runDisney does have buses for those who can’t use the normal buses for whatever reason. However there are two issues here 1. You need to request them in advance and 2. I don’t know if they’ll run them for spectators.

I would try asking about it at the expo worst they can say I figure is they can’t help for some reason

 

[Josh_the_Eagle]

Hello All, DW is doing Dopey and I want to bring myself and the kids along to cheer her on the course. I've reviewed the spectator guides, road closures, and done the math on her expected pace, so I think the below feasible is from a timing perspective. Just wanted to double check on logistics with you fine folks. Notes: I will have my own car, park rez for AK, and I'm an AP holder.

1. Leave AofA 6am for Epcot. Park at Epcot. Monorail to MK via TTC. Be on Main Street by 7ish
2. Monorail back to Epcot. Drive to AK. Looking at the road closures, I'll need to loop around and come up Sherberth road from US192. Be in park by 8:30. I think this connection is going to be the tightest
3. Leave AK back to Epcot to finish line by 10:45. As others have noted, road closures don't impact this leg so this one should straightforward.

Comments, feedback, reality checks all welcome Thanks!

 

[DopeyBadger]

1. Leave AofA 6am for Epcot. Park at Epcot. Monorail to MK via TTC. Be on Main Street by 7ish

About 10 min drive for AoA to EPCOT under normal circumstances. Might be a little more traffic given road closures.
About 10-15 min walk to Monorail station and through security
About 40-55 min from EPCOT Monorail to standing on Main Street

So in total about 60-75 min. So leave AoA at 6am and arrive at 7am on Main Street is best case scenario.

Main Street is Mile 8.5. Average finish time of ~5:50 hrs in the Disney M, and an average start time of 5:23am. This puts the average arrival time at Main Street at 7:30am. So this means you're going to be arriving on Main Street around when it should be the busiest with other spectators. I've run by as one of the first 100 runners, and even then it was quite packed. So while the timing might work, it might still be quite busy and you may have difficulty finding a good viewing spot.

1. Monorail back to Epcot. Drive to AK. Looking at the road closures, I'll need to loop around and come up Sherberth road from US192. Be in park by 8:30. I think this connection is going to be the tightest

About 40-55 min from Main Street to EPCOT.
About 10-15 min walk from Monorail station to car.
About 15-20 min drive to AK under good condtions.
About 10-15 min walk from parking spot to inside park. Park opens at 7:30am for EE and 8:00am for Normal.
About 5-10 min walk from entrance to Dinoland

So in total about 80-115 min. Unless you left at 7:10am from Main Street (which is an incredibly tight turn around from arriving), it seems like this one might be too tight. I guess it depends on what time you think your person will arrive on Main Street and arrive at Dinoland in AK.

 

[supersnoop]

Hello All, DW is doing Dopey and I want to bring myself and the kids along to cheer her on the course. I've reviewed the spectator guides, road closures, and done the math on her expected pace, so I think the below feasible is from a timing perspective. Just wanted to double check on logistics with you fine folks. Notes: I will have my own car, park rez for AK, and I'm an AP holder.

1. Leave AofA 6am for Epcot. Park at Epcot. Monorail to MK via TTC. Be on Main Street by 7ish
2. Monorail back to Epcot. Drive to AK. Looking at the road closures, I'll need to loop around and come up Sherberth road from US192. Be in park by 8:30. I think this connection is going to be the tightest
3. Leave AK back to Epcot to finish line by 10:45. As others have noted, road closures don't impact this leg so this one should straightforward.

Comments, feedback, reality checks all welcome Thanks!

I think you're cutting it close.

My family is planning to watch at those same locations, but they're going to get up with me and go to the starting line at 3:30am.

• Starting line: Epcot Rocket parking lot
• Mile 3: view from Bus area or opposite side of parking lot (if available, not listed as valid viewing area)
• Main Street: Mile 8.5 (The monorail seems to run frequently for spectators - they'll have an hour to get there at my pace; longer if they skip mile 3)
• Animal Kingdom Park: Mile 15: They plan to take the monorail to the Contemporary and take a bus to the park from there. At my pace, they probably have 90 minutes.
• Finish Line: bus to Epcot via resort transfer or Uber. I'm not confident I'll maintain pace, so they'll probably have two hours.

Can you park at the TTC that early, or will roads be closed? I'd try to park there so your car is closer and it won't take as much time to get to Main Street. Magic Kingdom is supposed to open at 8:30, so I'd think the TTC would be accessible.

 

[Josh_the_Eagle]

So in total about 80-115 min. Unless you left at 7:10am from Main Street (which is an incredibly tight turn around from arriving), it seems like this one might be too tight. I guess it depends on what time you think your person will arrive on Main Street and arrive at Dinoland in AK.

Thanks for the breakdown. I might skip main street and go to AK

 

[Josh_the_Eagle]

I think you're cutting it close.

My family is planning to watch at those same locations, but they're going to get up with me and go to the starting line at 3:30am.

• Starting line: Epcot Rocket parking lot
• Mile 3: view from Bus area or opposite side of parking lot (if available, not listed as valid viewing area)
• Main Street: Mile 8.5 (The monorail seems to run frequently for spectators - they'll have an hour to get there at my pace; longer if they skip mile 3)
• Animal Kingdom Park: Mile 15: They plan to take the monorail to the Contemporary and take a bus to the park from there. At my pace, they probably have 90 minutes.
• Finish Line: bus to Epcot via resort transfer or Uber. I'm not confident I'll maintain pace, so they'll probably have two hours.

Can you park at the TTC that early, or will roads be closed? I'd try to park there so your car is closer and it won't take as much time to get to Main Street. Magic Kingdom is supposed to open at 8:30, so I'd think the TTC would be accessible.

Thanks for the feedback. I'd be fine doing the earliness and going with the DW (I've done many RD races), but I don't really want to deal with my 12 and 9 year old at that hour Might end up skipping Main Street

The bus to AK via Contemporary is an interesting option. Looking at the road closures, I don't think they will be running park bus services from the Monorail resorts directly. I wonder if they will run bus service to the parks from the TTC until 9:30 or so.

Parking at the TTC is a good thought. If I could do that it would make this all much more doable. I don't know it will be open in time. Best I can tell from looking online, TTC generally opens an hour-ish before the earliest park entry to MK. For Sun, that would be the TTC opening at 7:30am and I'm hoping to be heading out by then. Maybe it opens sooner on that day to support bus service as theorized above. Would be nice to be able to find that out for sure.

 

[fatmanatee]

Main Street is a really cool scene if you can make it work but you def have to be there early.

 

[GollyGadget]

Thanks for the breakdown. I might skip main street and go to AK

Skipping Main Street is your best option given the sleeping requirements of children. As mentioned, Main Street gets CROWDED and you have to arrive early if you want to see your runner. You can’t just arrive a few minutes prior.

Alternatively, you could cheer at TTC. There are lots of spectators here but the crowd isn’t as deep so it would be a lot easier to find a spot. It’d also cut out one of the monorail legs, shortening your commute time. There’s ~8 miles between TTC and AK. The pace of your runner will dictate if this is feasible or not.

 

[Josh_the_Eagle]

Skipping Main Street is your best option given the sleeping requirements of children. As mentioned, Main Street gets CROWDED and you have to arrive early if you want to see your runner. You can’t just arrive a few minutes prior.

Alternatively, you could cheer at TTC. There are lots of spectators here but the crowd isn’t as deep so it would be a lot easier to find a spot. It’d also cut out one of the monorail legs, shortening your commute time. There’s ~8 miles between TTC and AK. The pace of your runner will dictate if this is feasible or not.

Thanks for the feedback. I think the TTC is going to be the best bet. That takes my plan from relying on pixie dust to pull off to aggressive but reasonable.

Good luck to all the runners!

 

[GollyGadget]

Thanks for the feedback. I think the TTC is going to be the best bet. That takes my plan from relying on pixie dust to pull off to aggressive but reasonable.

Good luck to all the runners!

How’d it go?

 

[BlueStarKRK]

Starbucks was not open for the 2022 Princess Half or 2023 Marathon Weekend Half. The shops on the west side of main street were open, but the running route prevented spectators from getting to the east side. I'm told that some people got coffee somewhere, but it wasn't Starbucks.

Oh goodness! That's rough