I guess popular wisdom is not to do 4 parks on marathon day. Oh well. I'm sure I'll find something else to do that day. (I've never been one of those "must do all 4 parks in one day" people anyway, so I'm okay with not doing it (Monday is not an option with my currently planned schedule), I just thought it would be fun for post-marathon afternoon).

I think I just wasn't thinking the timeline through. I figured an hour per park (which is really only if there are minimal crowds, and even that's probably grossly underestimating my time) plus half an hour to get between parks (I hadn't decided on buses or Minnie Van yet, but those were my options), which is 5.5 hours. Since I'm slow, I probably won't be finishing the race until 1:30ish, and then figure 30-45 minutes to get back to the hotel and 30-45 minutes to shower/change/grab lunch/do my hair ... that means I'm not getting to park #1 until 3ish, which means that even if everything goes perfectly, I need park #4 to be open until 9 (which Epcot generally is, even during offseason, I think). That seems like a lot of potential for disaster.

I probably should have thought about the timeline before coming up with this idea. I have a few months to figure this out, right? (Maybe I'll "plan" for all 4 parks, but if by park 2 I think it's not going to happen, I'll just stay in park 2 the rest of the day)

(The walking I don't mind at all ... I'm used to being on my feet for a long time. )

It’s doable - you just can’t solely rely on Disney transportation and it would be easiest if you were staying at at YC/BC or BW or Swolphin. You could go straight to Hollywood Studios, from DHS to AK and then take an Uber to the Contemporary. From there, I would walk to MK, see the Mouse, take the monorail back to Epcot and see the Mouse right before Illuminations when the line is the shortest and then walk back to your hotel after you’re done!
 
It’s doable - you just can’t solely rely on Disney transportation and it would be easiest if you were staying at at YC/BC or BW or Swolphin. You could go straight to Hollywood Studios, from DHS to AK and then take an Uber to the Contemporary. From there, I would walk to MK, see the Mouse, take the monorail back to Epcot and see the Mouse right before Illuminations when the line is the shortest and then walk back to your hotel after you’re done!

This is intriguing ... and answers my "where to stay" question. Hmm ...
 
I guess popular wisdom is not to do 4 parks on marathon day. Oh well. I'm sure I'll find something else to do that day. (I've never been one of those "must do all 4 parks in one day" people anyway, so I'm okay with not doing it (Monday is not an option with my currently planned schedule), I just thought it would be fun for post-marathon afternoon).

Popular wisdom ...PFFFTTTT!!!
If that's what you want to do, I have no doubt you can find a way to make it happen. This past Marathon weekend (the day after, though) we did three of the parks. We met friends at HS for lunch then out to AK for our full park day (and Pandora FP). We came back to our room at BW and did an unplanned Epcot visit.

So, if you plan for (and are satisfied with) limited park time, it is absolutely possible to do all four parks if your goal is to do all four parks.

Having said that - the other part about getting a picture will make it slightly tougher. I recommend getting a FP to either the HS or MK Mickey picture opportunity. Those seemed to have the longest stand-by waits. Staying at the Boardwalk/YC/BC area would most definitely help!

Good luck!
 
I think you could do all 4 parks after the marathon if that's what you really want to do, have 1 main goal for each park and be done & move on to the next. Even with just disney transportation/walking from Studios to EP or the other way (granted no long waits or breakdowns I guess where you are stuck for an extended time). Sometimes you can hit Disney transport with luck and no waits, knock on wood of course. Like, we were back to our room and all showered at 12:30. We then ate lunch at Sports then got to MK. So we had a half day & at first I was fine but all of sudden just tired & feeling a little funky (my stomach can get off after long running easily) so the thought of hopping all over the place just sounds tiring to me versus chilling in one park taking our time (like staying at MK we did some ride, dinner & the fireworks at a slowish pace). But, if you really really want to then go for it, worse case you change plans that day, but you could have it as a plan just in case you want to go for it. And of course depending on when you finish will cut into your park time so hard to know, but map it out with estimates and see if it's possible just as a maybe plan.
 


I guess popular wisdom is not to do 4 parks on marathon day. Oh well. I'm sure I'll find something else to do that day. (I've never been one of those "must do all 4 parks in one day" people anyway, so I'm okay with not doing it (Monday is not an option with my currently planned schedule), I just thought it would be fun for post-marathon afternoon).

I’d say go for it! What’s the worst that can happen? You get in three parks and fall asleep on the monorail, doing a continuous loop between MK and Epcot? And skip that showering stuff. Clean yourself up in a bathroom at the bathroom outside Epcot and off you go. Sounds like a fun challenge.
 
I think I just wasn't thinking the timeline through. I figured an hour per park (which is really only if there are minimal crowds, and even that's probably grossly underestimating my time) plus half an hour to get between parks (I hadn't decided on buses or Minnie Van yet, but those were my options), which is 5.5 hours. Since I'm slow, I probably won't be finishing the race until 1:30ish, and then figure 30-45 minutes to get back to the hotel and 30-45 minutes to shower/change/grab lunch/do my hair ... that means I'm not getting to park #1 until 3ish, which means that even if everything goes perfectly, I need park #4 to be open until 9 (which Epcot generally is, even during offseason, I think). That seems like a lot of potential for disaster.

I probably should have thought about the timeline before coming up with this idea. I have a few months to figure this out, right? (Maybe I'll "plan" for all 4 parks, but if by park 2 I think it's not going to happen, I'll just stay in park 2 the rest of the day)

(The walking I don't mind at all ... I'm used to being on my feet for a long time. )
I really don't mind walking either. There is just something about a Disney Marathon with the time spent standing around before the race and then walking to the corrals that makes that day particularly long.

I think if it's a goal and you plan for it there's a way to do it. You just need to come up with a challenge name for it.

It’s doable - you just can’t solely rely on Disney transportation and it would be easiest if you were staying at at YC/BC or BW or Swolphin. You could go straight to Hollywood Studios, from DHS to AK and then take an Uber to the Contemporary. From there, I would walk to MK, see the Mouse, take the monorail back to Epcot and see the Mouse right before Illuminations when the line is the shortest and then walk back to your hotel after you’re done!

Both are really good suggestions. If you were staying at one one of the Epcot resorts you could even check out the lines as you walk back to your resort. If they aren't too bad you could knock it out on the way to your hotel. Then you could hit your hotel room, then boat/walk to HS. The Uber from AK to the contemporary would probably be the biggest timesaver over the car as it eliminates the whole mess at the TTC.
 
Okay, so here's my next question:
Obviously time is an issue. Uber/Lyft/Minnie Van will definitely be a transportation choice to help with that, but I'm guessing security can also create time issues. Will I save a decent amount of time without a bag? I usually do bring a purse with me to the parks, but if it'll save time, I can stuff my phone, camera, and an ID into my pockets and skip the bag. (The downside of that is no room for snacks, which means stopping in the park to buy food and losing time there, but I can maybe just pick something up at Starbucks since I'm stopping there anyway).
 


Okay, so here's my next question:
Obviously time is an issue. Uber/Lyft/Minnie Van will definitely be a transportation choice to help with that, but I'm guessing security can also create time issues. Will I save a decent amount of time without a bag? I usually do bring a purse with me to the parks, but if it'll save time, I can stuff my phone, camera, and an ID into my pockets and skip the bag. (The downside of that is no room for snacks, which means stopping in the park to buy food and losing time there, but I can maybe just pick something up at Starbucks since I'm stopping there anyway).

Depending on the time of day and year, being able to skip bag check can save you a tremendous amount of time. One thing in your favor, though, is that Marathon Weekend is significantly later this year than it has been the last two years. The crowds that you will see during that weekend should be significantly reduced from what we've seen post-race lately.
 
Okay, so here's my next question:
Obviously time is an issue. Uber/Lyft/Minnie Van will definitely be a transportation choice to help with that, but I'm guessing security can also create time issues. Will I save a decent amount of time without a bag? I usually do bring a purse with me to the parks, but if it'll save time, I can stuff my phone, camera, and an ID into my pockets and skip the bag. (The downside of that is no room for snacks, which means stopping in the park to buy food and losing time there, but I can maybe just pick something up at Starbucks since I'm stopping there anyway).
Yes no bag would definitely save time.
 
I have a question for all of you WDW experts.

We are staying in two Beach Club Villas units - one studio and a two-bedroom. My two brothers-in-law and their spouses are staying in the 2 bedroom. They all have the same last name, and they each have their own MyDisneyExperience accounts. My first bro-in-law connected the hotel reservation to his name, and so now all 4 names are connected to the same MyDisney account. My other bro-in-law wants to link the same reservation into his MyDisney account, and can't figure out how. Whenever he types in the rez number and his last name it says it is already connected to another account. Before we called I thought I would throw the question out to ya'll.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!
 
I have a question for all of you WDW experts.

We are staying in two Beach Club Villas units - one studio and a two-bedroom. My two brothers-in-law and their spouses are staying in the 2 bedroom. They all have the same last name, and they each have their own MyDisneyExperience accounts. My first bro-in-law connected the hotel reservation to his name, and so now all 4 names are connected to the same MyDisney account. My other bro-in-law wants to link the same reservation into his MyDisney account, and can't figure out how. Whenever he types in the rez number and his last name it says it is already connected to another account. Before we called I thought I would throw the question out to ya'll.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!
It sounds like its already connected to someone. Usually with DVC reservations only the person who booked can control anything. At least that is how its been in my experience.
 
Okay, so here's my next question:
Obviously time is an issue. Uber/Lyft/Minnie Van will definitely be a transportation choice to help with that, but I'm guessing security can also create time issues. Will I save a decent amount of time without a bag? I usually do bring a purse with me to the parks, but if it'll save time, I can stuff my phone, camera, and an ID into my pockets and skip the bag. (The downside of that is no room for snacks, which means stopping in the park to buy food and losing time there, but I can maybe just pick something up at Starbucks since I'm stopping there anyway).

As a show of solidarity, and in according with #science, I will try this for you tomorrow and will report back!!

Seriously, though ... Mr. Keels and I did three parks in 3.5 hours with bags and not Disney transport on NYE with no problems. The only park we didn’t make it to was MK, and that’s only because I’m not a masochist. We drove ourselves to AK, drove back and parked at our hotel (Dolphin) and then walked to DHS and then over to Epcot.
 
I have a question for all of you WDW experts.

We are staying in two Beach Club Villas units - one studio and a two-bedroom. My two brothers-in-law and their spouses are staying in the 2 bedroom. They all have the same last name, and they each have their own MyDisneyExperience accounts. My first bro-in-law connected the hotel reservation to his name, and so now all 4 names are connected to the same MyDisney account. My other bro-in-law wants to link the same reservation into his MyDisney account, and can't figure out how. Whenever he types in the rez number and his last name it says it is already connected to another account. Before we called I thought I would throw the question out to ya'll.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

I think it's as easy as deleting the names from your first bro-in-law's and then having the second bro-in-law add the resort reservation to his account and the names [assume his spouse] to his account. What you will have is two separate MDE accounts each with the same resort reservation #, one with bro-in-law #1 and spouse and the second with bro-in-law #2 and spouse. If it becomes a reservation ownership issue as @rteetz indicated then a quick call to DVC member services can fix things for you.
 
As a show of solidarity, and in according with #science, I will try this for you tomorrow and will report back!!

Seriously, though ... Mr. Keels and I did three parks in 3.5 hours with bags and not Disney transport on NYE with no problems. The only park we didn’t make it to was MK, and that’s only because I’m not a masochist. We drove ourselves to AK, drove back and parked at our hotel (Dolphin) and then walked to DHS and then over to Epcot.

Thanks, @Keels! You're the best DIS scientist ever!
 
I think it's as easy as deleting the names from your first bro-in-law's and then having the second bro-in-law add the resort reservation to his account and the names [assume his spouse] to his account. What you will have is two separate MDE accounts each with the same resort reservation #, one with bro-in-law #1 and spouse and the second with bro-in-law #2 and spouse. If it becomes a reservation ownership issue as @rteetz indicated then a quick call to DVC member services can fix things for you.

Thanks for the tips. He was able to call them and get it sorted out... Appreciate the quick help.
 
Do you generally book your rooms before you sign up for marathon weekend and cancel later. I am planning on running the full in 2019 and wasn't sure how quick rooms fill up. Was planning on a cheaper weekend staying AS movies. Thanks
 
Do you generally book your rooms before you sign up for marathon weekend and cancel later. I am planning on running the full in 2019 and wasn't sure how quick rooms fill up. Was planning on a cheaper weekend staying AS movies. Thanks
You don’t have to book your room before. Packages for 2019 won’t come out until this summer but you can book a room only now if you’d like.
 
I will be in Disney for Dark side but want to sign up for Dopey...... does it sell out? I will be attempting to register from my iPad!
 

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