Marathon Weekend Question

Hello , I totally blew it when planning this trip. We will be arriving in the afternoon of the January 10th, the day of the big Marathon race. We always always go to Epcot on our first day. According to the website, there is an after party for runners and guests at Disney Springs from 2-8 pm. Does anyone know historically whether the runners tend to stay at Epcot or go to the after party, or just go home and crash? We would probably get there around 2 - 3 pm.

I'm hoping that they're run, they'll eat, they'l leave.....LOL

Thanks!

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Originally Posted by javaqueen11

I'm hoping that they're run, they'll eat, they'l leave.....LOL

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A lot of runners do go to the parks, especially Epcot that day. It's a fun way to unwind, get a few pictures with holding the medals with characters, that sort of thing. I'll certainly be in Epcot after I finish the race. It's hardly 'New Years' or '4th of July' type of crowds though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by javaqueen11

Hello , I totally blew it when planning this trip. We will be arriving in the afternoon of the January 10th, the day of the big Marathon race. We always always go to Epcot on our first day. According to the website, there is an after party for runners and guests at Disney Springs from 2-8 pm. Does anyone know historically whether the runners tend to stay at Epcot or go to the after party, or just go home and crash? We would probably get there around 2 - 3 pm.

I'm hoping that they're run, they'll eat, they'l leave.....LOL

Thanks!

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You will be fine. You are coming in late on the last day of the five day event. Some runners and families will stay, others will leave for home that night. They are a great group of people.

They will likely finish the run (which ends in the Epcot parking lot), take some time getting pictures and their medals and then go back to their hotel room to get cleaned up, eat, recover some, maybe even nap. They likely won't be back out and in the parks until in the early to late evening (depending on when they finish). You will see a lot of medal clad, stiff-legged people, but I don't think you will find the parks uncomfortably crowded at all.

Thank you for your responses. I'm sorry if I came off as mean about the runners. (Lame attempt at a Bugs Life joke) You all certainly do deserve to celebrate after accomplishing a marathon. I had just realized the dates and panicked. My husband was insisting that we change plans and avoid Epcot that day, which would cause us to have to shift our days and Fast Passes all around (This Fast Pass in advance stuff is making me crazy, but that's a whole other thread. Lol) I was hoping to convince my family that if there is an after party somewhere else, a lot of people would probably go to it and we'd be fine at Epcot. Momentary freak out. As always, we will take a deep breath and shake it all off. Our mantra is, "Even a 'bad' day at Disney World is better than a good day at work."