Marathon Weekend 2022

[The Expert]

I think I’ve said this before, but if anyone’s going to the expo early in the week and is willing to pick up some extra things, please let me know!

I’ve never done anything like this before, but I’d be willing to pay for the help! I’d like some things for my first marathon but I can’t be there until Saturday so I’m guessing everything will be gone by then. I’d rather support someone here than the excessive eBay shoppers.

If all goes well I could return the favor at Princess weekend!

I'm landing at MCO at 9am and will head over to the expo after a quick stop to drop my bags at VGF. I normally don't want to fight the madness that first morning, but I might as well, since it's my first Dopey. I'm also doing the Princess 5K, but don't know my schedule for that yet. Feel free to DM me!

 

[lhermiston]

Perfect! Thanks, Billy!

I'll run point for the half marathon and marathon pre-race meetups. I am very tall and very handsome (50 percent of those things are true), so I'm easy to find in the morning. I tend to get on the first bus and get there early. I will accept shots. Past Marathon Weekend participants will recall my expensive and exquisite "DIS" signs. I've also attached a picture of myself.

Half Marathon outfit: Mr. Incredible (see profile pic)

Marathon outfit: Buzz Lightyear

See you all in a week!

 

[Cabius]

Since the subject of driving has come up, this question is about toll roads from MCO to
Disney. Is it best to just take a lot of one dollar bills and a bunch of quarters? Also I just
read about a "Visitor Toll Pass" that is available at MCO and they claim there is no charge
to use it and they just charge your credit card for the tolls..sounds like a winner.....has anyone used this? thanks

I've used the Visitor Toll Pass in July 2021. They only had pickup in one terminal, and I was at the other -- not the end of the world, but I spend 10 minutes searching and then 15-20 minutes running to the other terminal and back. Then I forgot to return it when I dropped off my rental car, and got charged $10. Ah well.

You can also avoid tolls altogether, though you end up on some janky backroads around the airport.

 

[jrsharp21]

Here is the info on Hertz Plate Pass:

https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/productservice/index.jsp?targetPage=USplatepass.jsp
National's program:

https://www.nationalcar.com/en/support/car-rental-faqs/use-toll-lanes/other-state-toll-options.html
Most of the other rental agencies have something similar if you do a Google search.

 

[Kerry1957]

I'm landing at MCO at 9am and will head over to the expo after a quick stop to drop my bags at VGF. I normally don't want to fight the madness that first morning, but I might as well, since it's my first Dopey. I'm also doing the Princess 5K, but don't know my schedule for that yet. Feel free to DM me!

DM sent. Thanks

 

[cburnett11]

Just looked at the marathon map closely enough to notice that you no longer run through the MK toll plaza. Maybe that changed in 2020, but I always liked that part.

 

[avondale]

So, bouncing my current thoughts off you all...

I am registered for "just" the marathon and have a flight arriving on Saturday. My mother (74 yo), sister, and her son (6 yo) have flights arriving on marathon Sunday. We are planning to stay the week after the marathon to visit the parks. Prior to when my family arrives, my nephew will be back in school for a week, possibly with most of his peers not wearing masks. (Their mask mandate is supposed to lift Jan. 1.)

My thoughts/concerns are not that we are going to get covid and get horribly sick - we are all fully vaccinated and boosted (6 yo hasn't had booster), and so far, breakthrough omicron cases are generally mild. I hope none of us will get covid, but it seems like nearly everyone may eventually get omicron.

My biggest concern is that one or more of us will catch something that causes one or more of us to have symptoms like covid, and then we'll end up spending a lot of our trip sitting in our hotel room because we can't go to the parks. (I don't know if Disney is actively screening for people with symptoms, but it would be irresponsible to go to the parks with symptoms.)

Any thoughts about this? Compared to a lot of you, we are arriving relatively late, so we still have some time before our 7-day cancellation window arrives. But I have to say that I'm leaning toward canceling.

Following up on myself.

My family and I decided to cancel this trip. There is just too much likelihood that one or more of us will get sick and cause us to be stuck in our room and/or not be able to fly home at the end of the trip. Not to mention the very unlikely but very undesirable case of my mother getting sick enough to be hospitalized - in Florida, nowhere near home. I know this sounds like a very negative view of the risks, but that's what we're comfortable with.

I'm going to be calling RunDisney to beg for a refund.

@DopeyBadger, would you please take me off the marathon meet-up spreadsheet?

I hope all of you attending marathon weekend stay safe and healthy and enjoy the races you are hoping for! I will be eager to read about them here.

 

[nekonekoneko]

your best bet would probably be to join some dvc fb groups or through a broker at this point

Oh I already rented points, 10 months and 3 weeks ago, from someone on this site! ^_^

 

[EDS19]

I've been excited all year for this race weekend, but the recent variant outbreak has made me a little more hesitant. Wanting to stay healthy for the race and not wanting to have family exposed. Because the current variant is so contagious, I’ve been making decisions to be more cautions here at home (like I haven't been training at the gym for the past week or so, just running outside or at home.) I thought I had already done a good job planning my WDW trip to be extra cautions (like wearing N95 or KN95 masks, etc.) But today I had the thought to review my plans to see what parts would make me feel the most uneasy. For me the thought of riding on the resort buses, crammed in together, early in the morning as the parks opened and late at night as the parks close, really made me feel uncomfortable. Once I realized that I searched the prices of rental cars. When I had looked several months ago, they were pretty pricey for the days I needed. But Now I can get 4 days for well under $200. And while I can’t guarantee I won’t get sick, I know I will feel betting knowing I did all that I could to try and stay healthy.

I've seen mention of some ideas people have had along these lines. I'm just wondering if there are any other tips or tricks you guys are doing to stay EXTRA safe as you visit the parks.

 

[marty3d]

I've been excited all year for this race weekend, but the recent variant outbreak has made me a little more hesitant. Wanting to stay healthy for the race and not wanting to have family exposed. Because the current variant is so contagious, I’ve been making decisions to be more cautions here at home (like I haven't been training at the gym for the past week or so, just running outside or at home.) I thought I had already done a good job planning my WDW trip to be extra cautions (like wearing N95 or KN95 masks, etc.) But today I had the thought to review my plans to see what parts would make me feel the most uneasy. For me the thought of riding on the resort buses, crammed in together, early in the morning as the parks opened and late at night as the parks close, really made me feel uncomfortable. Once I realized that I searched the prices of rental cars. When I had looked several months ago, they were pretty pricey for the days I needed. But Now I can get 4 days for well under $200. And while I can’t guarantee I won’t get sick, I know I will feel betting knowing I did all that I could to try and stay healthy.

I've seen mention of some ideas people have had along these lines. I'm just wondering if there are any other tips or tricks you guys are doing to stay EXTRA safe as you visit the parks.

We made the same choice. Added a rental car as the buses/ monorails are our biggest concern. We’re also going to eat outdoors as much as possible and wear masks in line/large crowds including the corrals. We are all more than 14 days since our boosters. Between masks and vaccines, we are feeling pretty comfortable. Nothing is 100% safe but it wasn’t pre COVID either. People with colds and flu typically didn’t isolate and certainly didn’t wear masks. Marathon weekend has always been at the height of flu season. Ultimately everyone needs to decide what their comfort level is because that changes based on everyone’s circumstances.

 

[1GoldenSun]

I'm only running the marathon but I'm going to Orlando on Thursday so I can watch the 10k and the half. I live in Tampa so I'm driving. I've decided that I won't use Disney transportation except for to the race on Sunday morning, and I may decide to drive there as well. I'm going to stay out of buildings as much as possible--restaurants, shops, and indoor rides--with the exception of the expo.

I think the chances are high that I'm going to get COVID before too long anyway. I teach at a university and only about half the students wear masks. I've avoided it so far but with omicron I think it's almost inevitable. I just want to get through the marathon first.

If I do get sick while in Orlando I'm only an hour and a half from home. I understand the hesitation of those of you who have to fly.

Hopefully we can all stay healthy, and if we can't all stay healthy then hopefully we can at least stay healthy until we're home again!

 

[PrincessV]

COVID safety… yes, I’m getting very concerned about the situation. I’m in a high-risk category for complications from respiratory illness, and I live in FL, where we have no safety protocols implemented, so I waver between feeling like WDW is a really stupid thing to do and remembering that I’m exposed everywhere I go. I’ve been working from home through the pandemic, but I’m required to go back to the office next week - yep, right in the thick of the worst of the COVID spread, and with no mask or social distancing requirements. Faced with that, I think I’ve become kind of fatalistic about it all and outdoor time at WDW doesn’t feel much worse.

Anyway, here’s my game plan to limit my personal risk:

• Driving myself everywhere: no public transportation.
• N95/KN95 mask on at all times in public, in corrals, and for any parts of races when I can’t keep distance from others.
• No indoor eating, and no eating anywhere near others outdoors.
• Sunglasses and brimmed hat (I’m short, so I’ve got this idea that the hat brim + glasses might help dispel droplets falling from taller people? I’m no scientist, so IDK but it can’t hurt.)
• As little indoor time in public as possible. I’ll have to go inside for the expo, but I don’t have to do indoor rides. That one hurts.
• My usual habit of never touching my face or eating without first washing my hands thoroughly.
• Avoiding crowded areas, which will likely limit or eliminate my time in parks.
• Staying in the back and far sides of corrals and seeking less congested parts of the course to run, even if it adds distance.
• Limited socializing with friends, and only outdoors and masked.

It’s going to be a constant state of high-alertness and surveillance and I expect it will be exhausting , so I’ll probably spend a LOT of time in my room: I’m bringing my Roku and a couple good books and reminding myself that the priorities are my health and the races - this is not a family vacation for me.

 

[Baloo in MI]

I am heading out with my family in just a few minutes for WDW. This will be our first trip at a DVC and the first time I’ve gone in two years! So a little vacation before the races. We are all vaccinated and boasted, have our KN95 masks and will be as safe as we can. Excited to run the 5K with the family, the half with my youngest daughter and completing my 5th in person Dopey!

Happy New Year to all, and safe travels to everyone headed to Mickey’s house!

 

[Herding_Cats]

OK so I'm hawking the weather (because I'm packing tomorrow) and I have a question about the low temp as correlates to the next day.

So, where *I* live (and this may be true for other places, but IDK because I've never paid attention) when it says, for example on my weather app for Lake Buena Vista:

Thursday 79/57
Friday 68/54
Saturday 73/48
Sunday 81/57
excuse me?? 48 on Saturday?! (also, 3 different apps have pretty different forecasts for next weekend at this point)

That LOW temperature is what usually occurs FIRST THING IN THE MORNING, right? Generally at the midnight-4am? As in, when we would be standing around in the corrals?

 

[jrsharp21]

Does anyone know if you are signed up for Dopey and miss the 5k & 10k, if they will still let you check in on Friday and let you do the half/full (Goofy)?

 

[PrincessV]

That LOW temperature is what usually occurs FIRST THING IN THE MORNING, right? Generally at the midnight-4am? As in, when we would be standing around in the corrals?

For starting race temps, you want to look at the previous day’s overnight low. So if I’m looking at Weather Channel’s forecast for Friday, which shows a high of 69 and a low of 50, that 50 is Sat’s early morning temp.

interestingly both WC and Accuweather show a little drop in Friday… might be something or might be nothing. THAT is why I always suggest bringing layers!

 

[FFigawi]

OK so I'm hawking the weather (because I'm packing tomorrow) and I have a question about the low temp as correlates to the next day.

So, where *I* live (and this may be true for other places, but IDK because I've never paid attention) when it says, for example on my weather app for Lake Buena Vista:

Thursday 79/57
Friday 68/54
Saturday 73/48
Sunday 81/57
excuse me?? 48 on Saturday?! (also, 3 different apps have pretty different forecasts for next weekend at this point)

That LOW temperature is what usually occurs FIRST THING IN THE MORNING, right? Generally at the midnight-4am? As in, when we would be standing around in the corrals?

Normally, the low mentioned on Thursday is really the low the following morning. The 48 would be the low on Sun morning. So yes, it could potentially be 48 while you’re in the start pens. My guess is it won’t get that low and will warm up way too quickly.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Looks like I'm going to need to find some throw-away leggings for Saturday and/or Sunday morning then. I was trying to wait until the last second to see if I would really need them, but if it's looking like low 50s I will absolutely freeze.

 

[Kitty-chan]

It’s going to be a constant state of high-alertness and surveillance and I expect it will be exhausting , so I’ll probably spend a LOT of time in my room: I’m bringing my Roku and a couple good books and reminding myself that the priorities are my health and the races - this is not a family vacation for me.

I hear you, and I sympathize! My plans are pretty similar. No indoor dining, limit time indoors, and no parks time for me on this trip. On my last trip I promised myself to skip the indoor rides, and I didn't have the willpower! And honestly I shouldn't spend much time on my feet anyway, other than a shakeout run and a walk here and there. I'm bringing my tablet for Netflix and books, hanging out in my room. For me, this trip is all about one day, one race: My first marathon on a certified course. As long as I can get that done, I believe I'll go home satisfied and happy.

 

[FFigawi]

Looks like I'm going to need to find some throw-away leggings for Saturday and/or Sunday morning then. I was trying to wait until the last second to see if I would really need them, but if it's looking like low 50s I will absolutely freeze.

You won’t freeze. If you do want to wear throw away clothes, buy some super cheap sweats on sale at Target or Wal Mart or other big box store. Disney will collect and then donate them after the race.