Hiya, Riccardo! Welcome to planDisney!
Congratulations on securing a registration for the Dopey Challenge at the
2027 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend. That’s so exciting! It’s a challenging
runDisney event for sure, but it’s so fun and rewarding as well. My fellow panelist
Corey and I will also be running the Dopey Challenge in 2027!
Riccardo, your question really resonates with me, as I also ran the Dopey Challenge earlier this year at the 2026 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend. I stayed at Disney’s Pop Century Resort for the event as well. I’m happy to answer your questions about staying at the resort during the event.
As of this writing, there have been no announcements for 2027 bookings. For reference, 2026 bookings were released in April 2025, while 2025 bookings were released in February 2024. Based on these trends, we can reasonably expect reservations to open fairly soon. In terms of Special Offers on rooms specific to race participants, this is not something that is typically offered.
Disney Parks Blog and the Disney Parks social media pages will often share the latest news as well as upcoming offers across the Disney Parks, so it’s a good idea to check back periodically while you’re waiting for reservations to open.
In terms of transportation to and from the races, I’m happy to report that transportation is provided for Guests staying at Disney Resorts Collection hotels, including Disney’s Pop Century Resort. In my experience staying at the resort, there were always plenty of buses waiting for race participants early in the morning. As one bus filled up, another would arrive right behind it. It was seamless! Note that races were starting at 4:30 AM and 5:00 AM, so the buses started running between 2:30 AM and 3:00 AM. We can expect a similar schedule for the 2027 Marathon Weekend.
The main Quick Service restaurant at the resort is named Everything Pop Shopping & Dining. Resort dining options are still closed when participants leave for the races, given how early it is. What I like to do is buy bread and peanut butter the night before the first race from the merchandise store at the resort I’m staying at. I’ll eat that first thing in the morning before I leave. As you likely know, it’s best practice to keep your nutrition close to what you’re used to before a race, especially long-distance races like half and full marathons.
I hope this answers your questions, Riccardo! Any
runDisney event is a great time, but there’s something really special about taking on the Dopey Challenge. If you have any other questions while you continue to plan your visit, please don’t hesitate to come back and see us here at
planDisney. Until then, I wish you the best of luck in your training!
Happy running!
Olivier