What should I expect on Marathon Sunday?

My current schedule has us visiting the Magic Kingdom on Sunday
January 11th, which is the date of the 2009 full Marathon. I now
that the Marathon goes through all four parks. What should I expect
to find when I get to the MK turnstyles? How will the opening
procedures be different? Will there already be spectators lined up on
Main St? Will part of the park be closed off to us normal guests?

(Similar but less important question goes for Epcot on the day of the
half-marathon, but we're not arriving there until about noon, so I'm
not as concerned...)

Any advice or prior experience is appreciated!
Paul Lalli

On Dec 29, 10:27 am, Paul Lalli <mri...@> wrote:
> My current schedule has us visiting the Magic Kingdom on Sunday
> January 11th, which is the date of the 2009 full Marathon.   I now
> that the Marathon goes through all four parks.   What should I expect
> to find when I get to the MK turnstyles?   How will the opening
> procedures be different?  Will there already be spectators lined up on
> Main St?  Will part of the park be closed off to us normal guests?
>
> (Similar but less important question goes for Epcot on the day of the
> half-marathon, but we're not arriving there until about noon, so I'm
> not as concerned...)
>
> Any advice or prior experience is appreciated!
> Paul Lalli

Paul,
We were there twice for Marathon Sinday. In 2005, we took a bus from
the BW to MK at around 8:15 AM. About 75 minutes later, the bus
dropped us at the TTC - not the MK bus depot. I was told by a front-
desk CM that there would be no problems or changes. Obviously, that
was wrong.

In 2007, we opted to stay closer to home and visited Epcot. Other than
being stopped (for runners) several times when crossing from one side
to another, it wasn't bad at all.

On Dec 29, 10:34 am, Steve Russo <sru...@nycap.> wrote:
> On Dec 29, 10:27 am, Paul Lalli <mri...@> wrote:
>
> > My current schedule has us visiting the Magic Kingdom on Sunday
> > January 11th, which is the date of the 2009 full Marathon.   I now
> > that the Marathon goes through all four parks.   What should I expect
> > to find when I get to the MK turnstyles?   How will the opening
> > procedures be different?  Will there already be spectators lined up on
> > Main St?  Will part of the park be closed off to us normal guests?
>
> > (Similar but less important question goes for Epcot on the day of the
> > half-marathon, but we're not arriving there until about noon, so I'm
> > not as concerned...)
>
> > Any advice or prior experience is appreciated!
> > Paul Lalli
>
> Paul,
> We were there twice for Marathon Sinday. In 2005, we took a bus from
> the BW to MK at around 8:15 AM. About 75 minutes later, the bus
> dropped us at the TTC - not the MK bus depot. I was told by a front-
> desk CM that there would be no problems or changes. Obviously, that
> was wrong.
>
> In 2007, we opted to stay closer to home and visited Epcot. Other than
> being stopped (for runners) several times when crossing from one side
> to another, it wasn't bad at all.

Good to know, Steve, thanks. We'll actually be driving the first
couple days of the trip (doing an early lunch at DTD, and don't trust
Disney busses to get us there in time), so I'll make sure to head out
all the earlier Sunday morning.

Paul Lalli

On Dec 29, 11:08 am, Paul Lalli <mri...@> wrote:
> On Dec 29, 10:34 am, Steve Russo <sru...@nycap.> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Dec 29, 10:27 am, Paul Lalli <mri...@> wrote:
>
> > > My current schedule has us visiting the Magic Kingdom on Sunday
> > > January 11th, which is the date of the 2009 full Marathon.   I now
> > > that the Marathon goes through all four parks.   What should I expect
> > > to find when I get to the MK turnstyles?   How will the opening
> > > procedures be different?  Will there already be spectators lined up on
> > > Main St?  Will part of the park be closed off to us normal guests?
>
> > > (Similar but less important question goes for Epcot on the day of the
> > > half-marathon, but we're not arriving there until about noon, so I'm
> > > not as concerned...)
>
> > > Any advice or prior experience is appreciated!
> > > Paul Lalli
>
> > Paul,
> > We were there twice for Marathon Sinday. In 2005, we took a bus from
> > the BW to MK at around 8:15 AM. About 75 minutes later, the bus
> > dropped us at the TTC - not the MK bus depot. I was told by a front-
> > desk CM that there would be no problems or changes. Obviously, that
> > was wrong.
>
> > In 2007, we opted to stay closer to home and visited Epcot. Other than
> > being stopped (for runners) several times when crossing from one side
> > to another, it wasn't bad at all.
>
> Good to know, Steve, thanks.  We'll actually be driving the first
> couple days of the trip (doing an early lunch at DTD, and don't trust
> Disney busses to get us there in time), so I'll make sure to head out
> all the earlier Sunday morning.
>
> Paul Lalli- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Will I see you on the plane (early SWA on 1/10)?

On Dec 29, 11:22 am, Steve Russo <sru...@nycap.> wrote:
> On Dec 29, 11:08 am, Paul Lalli <mri...@> wrote:

> > Good to know, Steve, thanks.  We'll actually be driving the first
> > couple days of the trip (doing an early lunch at DTD, and don't trust
> > Disney busses to get us there in time), so I'll make sure to head out
> > all the earlier Sunday morning.
>
>
> Will I see you on the plane (early SWA on 1/10)?-

Nope. I'll be flying down 1/8 and running in the 5k at Animal Kingdom
on the 9th. My friend is flying down from BDL on 1/10 to start the
"real" part of the vacation. :-)

Paul Lalli

> My current schedule has us visiting the Magic Kingdom on Sunday
> January 11th, which is the date of the 2009 full Marathon. I now
> that the Marathon goes through all four parks. What should I expect
> to find when I get to the MK turnstyles? How will the opening
> procedures be different? Will there already be spectators lined up on
> Main St? Will part of the park be closed off to us normal guests?
>
> (Similar but less important question goes for Epcot on the day of the
> half-marathon, but we're not arriving there until about noon, so I'm
> not as concerned...)
>
> Any advice or prior experience is appreciated!
> Paul Lalli

Was there earlier this year and visited Epcot on the Sunday. Queues to get
into the parking lot but the park itself was fairly quiet. People we spoke
to afterwards said MK was very busy. Nice to watch the runners at various
stages along the way. Met a couple of girls from Canada who were running in
the marathon. Hope you enjoy.