Welcome back to Disney Parks Moms Panel, Paula!
While it's great visiting
Walt Disney World any time of the year, your January visit will be the perfect way to warm up from your cold Ohio winter! (I'm just next door in PA, so heading to The Sunshine State in January is often in our plans, too. :-) )
We've visited Walt Disney World during many
runDisney events, so I can assure you that all of the running fun won't really affect your touring. Some
Walt Disney World bus service routes may be detoured to avoid running routes, but if you don't normally pay attention to the roads while riding, you may not even notice the difference.
On prior race weekends, we've seen race routes enter and exit parks, but those parks continue to operate per usual. The difference may be a roped off route that results in non-running Guests getting to their favorite attractions using a different path. Because some family and friends of runners may be cheering them on from the sidelines, you may actually notice some parts of the parks will be
less crowded, too.
At your
Walt Disney World Resort hotel, there may be additional buses arriving very early in the morning, pre-race, to get participants to their starting point. As those races conclude, you'll likely see some happy, excited runners sporting their race bibs and medals throughout the parks and on transportation, too, and it's fun hearing all about their exciting experiences. No additional crowds, just some of them still dressed in race gear.
In short, it's really very easy to avoid crowds when traveling to The Most Magical Place on Earth during a runDisney event.
As you put the finishing touches on your visit, be sure to send additional questions our way, Paula. We love to help!
Andrea