Marathon Weekend 2025

[AJollyHoliday]

My “baby” is about to be 22 and I STILL look longingly at OPS (Other People’s Strollers) pretty often, lol! I miss that basket on wheels a lot.

^^^This!! I so miss our stroller days when we could just load it with all our stuff! Now DH is our Disney sherpa carrying the backpack with the snacks and water bottles. I typically carry a crossbody bag and it has ranged from tiny (couldn't fit my sunglasses) to bigger to fit some small snacks. I think I am going to order the Lululemon festival bag, but by the Quince version since it is way cheaper. I also have a Dooney & Bourke I might revive. Purses are my thing, always have been since I was a little girl.

 

[fatmanatee]

Thanks for the responses all! Assuming I end up in B I think I might be able to make it before early entry ends, depends on photo stops and stuff but seems like I have a decent time period to work with.

 

[disneyrunnergrl]

This is off-topic from the training and bag talk right now but I'm thinking ahead to the possibility of riding Everest during the marathon, which I missed in 2022 because it was shut down for a refurb! Does anyone who ran this year have a good estimate for how long it would remain open to racers? I know at some point they stopped letting people through for a quick ride but not sure when that happened.

Looks like you got some answers but I’ll add one more point of data. My photo is time stamped 8:15 and it was a walk on through the lightning lane at that point. I started from corral C at 5:12.

 

[3princesandaprincess]

This is sort-of off-topic, but for me is tangential to a MW trip. Does anyone have a favorite alternative to a loungefly backpack for park touring? I know some people will say, "You don't need a bag at all!" but I really like having somewhere to store my wallet, a couple of ponchos, a couple of pins to trade, a couple of water bottles, and clip a popcorn bucket. And I don't need a full-sized bag for that. I have a cute Merida loungefly, but it makes my shirt ride up in the back and that gets really annoying, which helps me to not impulse buy a race weekend loungefly every year.

I took a Lululemon crossbody bag for our last trip! It worked perfect. I didn’t carry a water bottle in it, but could have clipped to it. (We travelled with kids who had a stroller… water bottles mostly stayed there!). We took Brita water bottles so we could refill easily at water fountains.

 

[fatmanatee]

Looks like you got some answers but I’ll add one more point of data. My photo is time stamped 8:15 and it was a walk on through the lightning lane at that point. I started from corral C at 5:12.

Yeah I was trying to figure out the closure time from last year's thread and wasn't having much success, was worried that it either closed earlier or there might be too much of a line building up by the time I'd get there. This is definitely doable.

 

[kps7795]

My “baby” is about to be 22 and I STILL look longingly at OPS (Other People’s Strollers) pretty often, lol! I miss that basket on wheels a lot.

You're preaching to the choir. It seemed like such a pain in the a$$ at the time, but I miss it so much. I recall *****ing to my wife about how much of a pain it was pushing the stroller up and down the ramps to get onto the monorail and that it must be nice to be one of those parents who only have a backpack to carry things. I would love to go back in time and slap myself on the back of my head.

 

[RunningAriel]

I was firmly in “you don’t need a bag” camp but I needed to change that up and searched high and low for the perfect small bag. I’ve done 2 park trips with this bag and I love it. It holds everything I need but isn’t bulky.
https://www.patagonia.com/product/atom-sling-bag-8-liters/48262.html

I second this bag! I have it in 4 colors. It has been all over Europe and the US, packed really small into my carryon and held up on an 8 hour rainy hike no problem. I use it has my day to day purse as well. I can fit a travel umbrella, 16oz water bottle, small wallet, packable rain jacket AND snacks! Oh and the carry straps on the outside held my Nanopuff jacket when it got too warm to wear it.

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

I am wondering if it would be a good idea to buy genie plus and get a LL for Everest? I am slower so I am afraid by the time I get there they will close off LL. But I really want to cross this off my list.

 

[Disneyhanna]

I am wondering if it would be a good idea to buy genie plus and get a LL for Everest? I am slower so I am afraid by the time I get there they will close off LL. But I really want to cross this off my list.

It wouldn't be a bad idea if it's a big bucket list! Plus AK genie+ is usually way cheaper than the other parks. You didn't hear it from me, but the grace period for being late is generally much greater than the 15 minutes most people cite, so even if you scan in late they will with 99.999% certainty let you in (and 9/10 times the sensor will still turn green, Slinky is the only one I've scanned in super late and it turned blue but they waved me thru without a second glance). So I would book the earliest possible you think you could make it there and then know the grace period is very generous...like two hours generous...not speaking from experience or anything

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

It wouldn't be a bad idea if it's a big bucket list! Plus AK genie+ is usually way cheaper than the other parks. You didn't hear it from me, but the grace period for being late is generally much greater than the 15 minutes most people cite, so even if you scan in late they will with 99.999% certainty let you in (and 9/10 times the sensor will still turn green, Slinky is the only one I've scanned in super late and it turned blue but they waved me thru without a second glance). So I would book the earliest possible you think you could make it there and then know the grace period is very generous...like two hours generous...not speaking from experience or anything

Ohh soo good to know.

 

[Let's Get Kronk]

I am wondering if it would be a good idea to buy genie plus and get a LL for Everest? I am slower so I am afraid by the time I get there they will close off LL. But I really want to cross this off my list.

This raises an interesting question that I do not know the answer to: are you still able to redeem LLs if you haven't scanned into that particular park? Obviously when you visit a park normally, you have to scan into the park before you utilize your LLs. But, we don't scan in when we run the marathon. I am curious if that would affect the ability to use Genie+ at all.

 

[Psymonds]

Does anyone have a thread or a read on when parks open on marathon day? DW is unlikely to get up early but I'm wondering which park she wants to go to that day and trying to see if she would see me run.

OTOH she usually doesn't see me run and she probably wants to enjoy her rope drop at a park.

 

[Cabius]

Does anyone have a thread or a read on when parks open on marathon day? DW is unlikely to get up early but I'm wondering which park she wants to go to that day and trying to see if she would see me run.

OTOH she usually doesn't see me run and she probably wants to enjoy her rope drop at a park.

The last two years, they've opened at fairly normal times:

MK - 9AM
EPCOT - 10AM
DHS - 9AM
DAK - 8AM

HOWEVER, there can be severe delays getting to a park if you rely on driving (including Disney busses) to get there, due to road closures. This works out great if you aren't one of the folks stuck in traffic -- MK crowds are super light for the first couple of hours for those within monorail/launch distance -- but can be a total drag if you aren't so lucky.

I'd say if you can avoid the roads via monorail, boat, walking, or skyliner, go for it! If you're reliant on driving/bussing, then plan for delays.

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

This raises an interesting question that I do not know the answer to: are you still able to redeem LLs if you haven't scanned into that particular park? Obviously when you visit a park normally, you have to scan into the park before you utilize your LLs. But, we don't scan in when we run the marathon. I am curious if that would affect the ability to use Genie+ at all.

Ohh... I did not think of that issue... bah...

 

[Psymonds]

The last two years, they've opened at fairly normal times:

MK - 9AM
EPCOT - 10AM
DHS - 9AM
DAK - 8AM

HOWEVER, there can be severe delays getting to a park if you rely on driving (including Disney busses) to get there, due to road closures. This works out great if you aren't one of the folks stuck in traffic -- MK crowds are super light for the first couple of hours for those within monorail/launch distance -- but can be a total drag if you aren't so lucky.

I'd say if you can avoid the roads via monorail, boat, walking, or skyliner, go for it! If you're reliant on driving/bussing, then plan for delays.

hmm... I'll take that into account.

It's also her birthday so she gets to choose park: so maybe I'll adjust where we book so she's not reliant upon busses.

 

[fatmanatee]

Ohh... I did not think of that issue... bah...

I thought there was a guy who did a bunch of rides during the marathon this year? I could be mistaken but he even had a Guardians VQ, he did as much as you could feasibly do during the race. Trying to see if I can find him again.

 

[Herding_Cats]

I am wondering if it would be a good idea to buy genie plus and get a LL for Everest? I am slower so I am afraid by the time I get there they will close off LL. But I really want to cross this off my list.

I wonder about needing to tap in.

This raises an interesting question that I do not know the answer to: are you still able to redeem LLs if you haven't scanned into that particular park? Obviously when you visit a park normally, you have to scan into the park before you utilize your LLs. But, we don't scan in when we run the marathon. I am curious if that would affect the ability to use Genie+ at all.

Yep. This is the question I have.

Does anyone have a thread or a read on when parks open on marathon day? DW is unlikely to get up early but I'm wondering which park she wants to go to that day and trying to see if she would see me run.

OTOH she usually doesn't see me run and she probably wants to enjoy her rope drop at a park.

They won’t release the actual hours until mid-December (whatever they post to start with will almost always get changed to earlier) but they usually hold off on Epcot just because of how much disruption there is from the finish.

I thought there was a guy who did a bunch of rides during the marathon this year? I could be mistaken but he even had a Guardians VQ, he did as much as you could feasibly do during the race. Trying to see if I can find him again.

Was it Brandon Knight? He does a LOT of shenanigans

 

[azrivest]

I thought there was a guy who did a bunch of rides during the marathon this year? I could be mistaken but he even had a Guardians VQ, he did as much as you could feasibly do during the race. Trying to see if I can find him again.

Did you mean Brandon i.e. brandon_runs_the _world on Instagram?

He wrote that he rode a total of 13 rides and also took a detour to get McDonald's before going back into HS

 

[fatmanatee]

Did you mean Brandon i.e. brandon_runs_the _world on Instagram?

He wrote that he rode a total of 13 rides and also took a detour to get McDonald's before going back into HS

I think that’s the guy! He mentions doing Guardians and I would think you’d have to tap in for that? Cant imagine CMs waving racers through.

EDIT: watched his 2023 vid and confirmed that he got into Guardians via VQ. Doesn’t completely answer the question about G+ but it’s something.

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[Bree]

It was Brandon Knight with the shenanigans. Long live the hashbrowns Super nice guy.