Hey there! Hi there, Terrence! I am so happy to welcome you to planDisney and excited to hear you will be at the Most Magical Place to Race. Even though you are not running, you can cheer on the athletes who put their heart and
soles into this weekend.
Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend has four running events: a 5K on Thursday, a 10K on Friday, a half-marathon on Saturday and a marathon on Sunday. These races begin super early in the morning–5:00 a.m. for most. The marathon is even earlier.
The 5K and 10 end by 8:00 a.m., so you are unlikely to experience any impact on your plans. At most, it may take a little more time for
Disney transportation to make the routes, especially if you are headed to
EPCOT, the starting and finish lines for the races.
The half marathon ends at 9:30 a.m. and goes through
Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. I think most runners should be well on their way to EPCOT before
Early Entry hours at Magic Kingdom, but you may want to allow additional time to get to the theme park with traffic and road closures. The races are not likely to have an impact on
Disney's Hollywood Studios or
Animal Kingdom Theme Park.
The marathon, as you might guess, goes a little longer. Runners may be logging their last strides around 12:30 pm. Based on last year's course, I would tell you that you can cheer for runners going through Animal Kingdom and EPCOT. The marathon will start earlier this year, and the course has changed. Looking at the course map for this year, I think runners will most likely be in Hollywood Studios and EPCOT after the parks have opened. This is just a guess, though. I'll know more after Sunday. The way it was done last year, cones were set up in the parks to create safe routes for runners. I loved being in the parks, feeling the energy, and hearing the encouragement. For early entry, I would plan an additional 15 minutes to travel to the parks to create a cushion for traffic and road closures.
Did you know you can check bus times on the
My Disney Experience app? I love this feature to give my family a "5-minute warning" to head out the door for a bus. It has saved us from running a few times when a bus is not scheduled to arrive for another 20 minutes. It's a great feature! And generally, resort transportation starts 45 minutes before a theme park opens.
Terrence, I hope you have a magical trip to Walt Disney World. With the early morning start times for runners, you might find some extra Pixie Dust with lighter-than-usual crowds in those morning hours.
See 'Ya Real Soon!
Jana