Marathon Weekend 2024

[Grabnar]

Side topic, but is this normally how busy things are on marathon weekend? I usually come in more off times of the year so this is extremely crowded to me.

 

[cburnett11]

This was my list of characters and photopass:

Mickey
Snow White & Prince
Big Bad Wolf
Goofy
100th Sign
Epcot Ball
Walt Statue
Clarabelle

@Bree somehow I missed the Walt statue. I haven’t toured Epcot recently… where exactly is it and how did I miss?? I’ve already failed my Dopey.

 

[HockeySteve]

Side topic, but is this normally how busy things are on marathon weekend? I usually come in more off times of the year so this is extremely crowded to me.

It's busier this year than normal for MW.

MW is always the weekend before the weekend of MLK. Unfortunately, the timing this year has MW coinciding with the first weekend after NYE, so you still have a lot of kids still off of school and families visiting. (my daughter went back to school on the 2nd and for that I'm very grateful).

Next year should be very different with MW on the 8-12th with the 3-5th being the first weekend after NYE.

 

[camaker]

Side topic, but is this normally how busy things are on marathon weekend? I usually come in more off times of the year so this is extremely crowded to me.

The crowds vary with the proximity of the races to New Year's Day. This year is as close to NYD that I think the races can fall. As a result, there are more schools still on break and more families finishing up a winter break vacation. Next year the race weekend falls on the other end of the spectrum and I expect crowds to be significantly lower.

 

[Baloo in MI]

Congrats to all the 5K runners!! Nice morning run. Looking forward to the 10K tomorrow.

@DopeyBadger
My Bib is 224xx
I listed my 5k/10k at 8:00-10:00
Marathon Time at 4:30-5:00
And ended up with A for 5k & 10k and C for half and full.

 

[Bree]

Side topic, but is this normally how busy things are on marathon weekend? I usually come in more off times of the year so this is extremely crowded to me.

Kids are still on break and AP’s came out of blockout today. Next week things will start to ease up.

@Bree somehow I missed the Walt statue. I haven’t toured Epcot recently… where exactly is it and how did I miss?? I’ve already failed my Dopey.

It was towards the front of Epcot at mile 2.35ish. The line was off to the right, but hard to notice and the girl directing runners was super quiet and in the dark.

ETA: it was right after the 100th sign and Epcot ball photopass.

 

[Z-Knight]

I was going to try with all my strength to just show up and jog/walk it If I could get the nausea to stop. It just wasn’t happening. It was a long 8 hours. Starting to feel better but my body feels like I already ran Dopey. Now to rest so I can make the 10K tomorrow.

Congrats to all the 5K runners today!

dang, i was pulling for you. I'm glad you got past the nausea at least and hopefully the strength comes back after a good rest. see you tomorrow

 

[cburnett11]

ETA: it was right after the 100th sign and Epcot ball photopass

Thanks. Yeah I got the 100th and then took another selfie closer to the ball. I saw some guy appear from a dark area and I thought maybe he stepped off course to look at something. I’m betting this was him coming from this. At any rate, maybe I get another chance in one of the other races this weekend.

 

[Scootin'By]

It was towards the front of Epcot at mile 2.35ish. The line was off to the right, but hard to notice and the girl directing runners was super quiet and in the dark.

I've never run a Disney race and so I'm super curious, how long does stopping for character pictures add to your finish time?

 

[accm]

It's good, isn't it! Tostitos Baked Scoops for the cheese--I didn't have to use my banana this year! I just enjoyed mine during my Epsom salt bath.

They handed out mylar blankets at the end too, even though it was quite warm. I grabbed one for tomorrow morning.

I waited about 45 minutes to get on a bus back to Port Orleans FQ, but otherwise it was a great morning.

I’m glad they handed out the Mylar, because while I was hot finishing the race, I had to use the Mylar while waiting for the bus. We waited over 20 minutes for the bus back to our resort.

For those going to the expo, do you mind sharing if there are more sizes of the Dopey jacket? When I went yesterday they only had XXL and XXXL, but a cast member commented that they’d probably have more sizes today from people changing their mind

 

[accm]

Whoever was in charge of putting the Tostitos scoops in the post run box deserves a raise.

 

[Dopey 2020]

Mind boggling to me, with the crowds I’m hearing about we enjoyed 1-1/2 hours of private pool and hot tub at copper creek. Hitting Epcot later, think you could all head back to your respective resorts say after 3?

 

[marty3d]

View attachment 822962
Mind boggling to me, with the crowds I’m hearing about we enjoyed 1-1/2 hours of private pool and hot tub at copper creek. Hitting Epcot later, think you could all head back to your respective resorts say after 3?

Very nice! I’m still at the airport waiting for my flight to MCO so I won’t be adding to the crowds at Epcot this evening.

 

[nancipants]

Just got my bib. 626xx for 10k, D corral. I put 10-12 min/mile. At least it’s not the last this time?

 

[dobball23]

@Bree somehow I missed the Walt statue. I haven’t toured Epcot recently… where exactly is it and how did I miss?? I’ve already failed my Dopey.

I know where it is and I missed it! I think the pavement was a little wetter than I wanted it to be in that area so I was being cautious to not wipe out.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

I've never run a Disney race and so I'm super curious, how long does stopping for character pictures add to your finish time?

It definitely adds to your clock time, it just depends on the character in question and how long you are willing to wait. When I did the 5K two years ago, there were 20+ minute waits for some of the characters, but since it is untimed, not an issue. For the other races, it is how long to do you want to wait and be standing still.

For most of us, it's a balance of a not-unreasonable time vs enjoying the photo ops that don't exist anywhere else. There are other and much cheaper local races for setting a PR.

I stopped for a pic in front of the castle last time and probably lost ten minutes, but it was totally worth it for the photo. YMMV

 

[Grabnar]

Just got my bib. 626xx for 10k, D corral. I put 10-12 min/mile. At least it’s not the last this time?

How crowded was expo? I did Tron and gave up at MK to chill at the resort, now thinking about going back to get my pics I missed yesterday

 

[The Expert]

@Bree somehow I missed the Walt statue. I haven’t toured Epcot recently… where exactly is it and how did I miss?? I’ve already failed my Dopey.

The line was off to the right, but hard to notice and the girl directing runners was super quiet and in the dark.

I got the 100 and was contemplating the next stop for the ball when I heard the CM yelling "PICS WITH THE NEW WALT STATUE!" They must have swapped out or told her to be louder. I'm glad they did because you definitely can't see it back in there, and I hadn't been to Epcot since they opened that area. Watch for it as you turn right to go over by Connections.

Regarding crowds, MK was packed today! We walked over for our 11am Skipper Canteen res and it was like swimming upstream. We left as the noon parade was going and crowds were 5 deep on Main Street.

 

[azrivest]

I've never run a Disney race and so I'm super curious, how long does stopping for character pictures add to your finish time?

I've waited anything from a few seconds to 60+ minutes for characters. 5ks tend to have the longest lines since it concentrates runners on a shorter distance.

 

[camaker]

View attachment 822962
Mind boggling to me, with the crowds I’m hearing about we enjoyed 1-1/2 hours of private pool and hot tub at copper creek. Hitting Epcot later, think you could all head back to your respective resorts say after 3?

Went to AK mid-morning. With the wind it felt much colder than waiting for the race to start this morning! I ended up just getting lunch and heading back to the resort. I'm pretty much over this cold now and don't need it flaring back up!