January Marathon Schedule

[Evaluna]

Hi, im looking on the RunDisney page, and i dont see the schedule of the january 2022 marathon. Do you know which parks will be affected by the marathon??
Thanks

 

[BuckeyeBama]

The races generally have no impact at all in park attendance on any of the race days.

 

[Livelovedance]

Hi, im looking on the RunDisney page, and i dont see the schedule of the january 2022 marathon. Do you know which parks will be affected by the marathon??
Thanks

I've only been in a park during a race as a runner for Princess Weekend races, but I think the only potential impact on a park guest during a race would be blocked walkways in certain areas. For example, the Princess half marathon ends in Epcot and the park has been open at that time (this may not be true for everyone but I'm not fast lol). I've loved it from a runner's perspective because you get cheers and applause from the crowds to help push you through that last leg of the race, but I'm not sure what (if any) inconvenience that would cause.

 

[camaker]

Hi, im looking on the RunDisney page, and i dont see the schedule of the january 2022 marathon. Do you know which parks will be affected by the marathon??
Thanks

All of the parks will be impacted by the marathon at various times. It doesn’t affect their opening or capacities, though. While the course will take up some of the streets/pathways in the park, they have crossing points designated so that park visitors can get where they need to go without impacting the race.

 

[GreatLakes]

We don't have all of the information for that weekend as of yet. The biggest impact will be transportation early in the morning on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday is the half and it will likely go from Epcot to MK and back so going to those parks might take a little more time due to closures. Sunday the full generally goes to all 4 parks with the later part of the race going from DHS to the Epcot IG via the boardwalk but we aren't sure if that will remain the same route. Other than the traffic delays there is really no impact. The area that the runners use is marked off.

 

[jmasgat]

As people have noted, the actual park impact is pretty low. But don't underestimate the travel to/from parks, most particularly on Sunday. There will be road closures that last until mid-day at least, so you may want to pick parks accordingly. Disney used to post a map showing the road closures with specific days/times.

Here's a link to a web page that has image/list of the road closures (and course maps) for 2020 for reference. Courses can change, but this will be close enough to get a feel for things.

https://thecastlerun.com/rundisney-marathon-weekend-road-closures-course-maps-and-bus-schedules/

 

[trompettecon]

The races generally have no impact at all in park attendance on any of the race days.

Except for the fact that there are no reservations available at HS until January 6th!

 

[camaker]

Except for the fact that there are no reservations available at HS until January 6th!

That’s not due to the race weekend, though. It’s due to the fact that it’s so close to New Year’s and a lot of places are still on their winter breaks. Crowd levels at Marathon Weekend are driven by its proximity to New Year’s. The earlier it falls, the more crowded the parks are. This year is an “early” year for the race weekend, so we can expect higher crowds.

 

[trompettecon]

That’s not due to the race weekend, though. It’s due to the fact that it’s so close to New Year’s and a lot of places are still on their winter breaks. Crowd levels at Marathon Weekend are driven by its proximity to New Year’s. The earlier it falls, the more crowded the parks are. This year is an “early” year for the race weekend, so we can expect higher crowds.

Still makes no sense. Why would HS be available between Xmas and NY, the busiest time of the season... And the only park to be full...

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Still makes no sense. Why would HS be available between Xmas and NY, the busiest time of the season... And the only park to be full...

Agreed - it is not logical. Could be a system glitch, or it could just be random. But these races have never really impacted park attendance.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Hi, im looking on the RunDisney page, and i dont see the schedule of the january 2022 marathon. Do you know which parks will be affected by the marathon??
Thanks

Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot will be affected by the marathon, not due to increased crowds, but rather due to some walkways that will be blocked off sometimes for runners to go through after those parks open at their usual time that day. They usually let a group of runners through, then a group of park guests, and then the runners and so forth. Some runners like to go on rides during the marathon if they are running through the park after it opens. The most likely candidates here are Expedition Everest (although it will be closed during the marathon in 2022), Tower of Terror, and Rock N Roller Coaster.

Likewise, there may be some race only character meet and greets that only runners are able to experience. For instance during the 2020 marathon, they had a Princess photo op for runners in the France pavilion while World Showcase was open. So while park guests could see the Princess taking photos with runners, only runners could get in the line. Something to prepare children for if it happens.

All that said, we have no idea what character photos during the race will look like for the 2022 marathon if they're even available due to the pandemic.

Overall the crowd impact will be small, but during the marathon, there may be some additional park congestion due to runners being in main areas of the parks. Allow yourself extra time in the range of 5-10 minutes to get someplace.

 

[Bree]

Still makes no sense. Why would HS be available between Xmas and NY, the busiest time of the season... And the only park to be full...

Many Annual Passholders are blocked out 12/17 to 1/1. I live near Orlando and in my county kids don’t go back to school until 1/6. I’m sure it’s the same for many other areas too.

 

[GreatLakes]

Except for the fact that there are no reservations available at HS until January 6th!

That isn't due to race weekend. The majority of runners won't be down before the 5th and most of the runners I know that come down on the 6th aren't doing parks. That is our arrival day and we are just going to the expo and doing other things on property.

If it was the MW crowd that was causing parks to be at capacity you'd see it the 7th through 10th, not before the 6th.

 

[camaker]

Interestingly, I went in and made park reservations from the 4th through the 12th for Marathon Weekend and all parks were showing available for all days. Not sure if that was due to my ticket type or if they opened up additional capacity.

 

[trompettecon]

Interestingly, I went in and made park reservations from the 4th through the 12th for Marathon Weekend and all parks were showing available for all days. Not sure if that was due to my ticket type or if they opened up additional capacity.

Yeah. Saw that. I think they had a site glitch.

 

[Disney at Heart]

Can’t make my park reservations for January because my AP expires December 18 and can’t renew for 3-4 more days (60 days out). So, no valid ticket, no park passes! Aggravated.

 

[camaker]

Can’t make my park reservations for January because my AP expires December 18 and can’t renew for 3-4 more days (60 days out). So, no valid ticket, no park passes! Aggravated.

I ran into that same problem for W&D. Ended up getting around it by buying regular tickets for our stay and booking parks with them. Then when my AP became eligible for renewal, I called and had the cost of my regular ticket applied to my renewal. It went very smoothly.

 

[GreatLakes]

Can’t make my park reservations for January because my AP expires December 18 and can’t renew for 3-4 more days (60 days out). So, no valid ticket, no park passes! Aggravated.

I still have one day left on the last no-expiration park hopper I bought back in 2010 so it lets me make reservations as needed. I really miss that option. Whenever I have to use that last day it will be a $54 admission. Had I known they were going to get rid of them I would have stocked up on a bunch at that time.