My bad. But I got more for you! This post is more about Disney logistics than it is about surviving the races.
1) If you can go to the expo on Thursday, I highly recommend it. My dad and I went back to the expo on Friday and it was packed. The line to get in was looong. On Thursday you might actually be able to get in, and breathe, and move a little. Thursday was still crowded, but Friday was 10 times worse.
2) If you want your merch, I’d get it early! I didn’t buy anything extra, but I did hear stories of them selling out of certain shirts and things. So, if there’s something you think you want, but it immediately. (Note: Disney is one of the few marathons that doesn’t seem to sell all the merch options online. Usually you have plenty of time to buy your finisher shirts in the weeks following the marathon. Not here.)
3) On the day of the half marathon, I took one of the very first shuttles right before 3am. Then I had a bunch of time to kill in the Epcot parking lot. I didn’t love having tons of time to kill. (I got there before they even opened the corrals.)
So, the next day I went out to wait for the shuttle much closer to 4. But that was very nerve-wracking! There were many more people waiting at the bus stop. And full buses kept passing us without letting anyone new on! I got there totally fine.
And then if you get there on the later side of things, it’s way more crowded to try to get to your corral. They have a row of port-a-potties along the route you’re walking to get to your corral, and the lines are so long as the race starts that they almost totally block the route. So, it’s this interesting adventure to try to wiggle through the crowd. “Don’t mind me. Don’t have to pee. Excuse me. Sorry. Yep, not getting in line. Just trying to get to my corral…”
I’d recommend just going early and having the time to kill. It might be slightly boring, but it put me way at ease.
4) Bring the nutrition you love. I made sure to pack Gatorades. (Disney uses Powerade.) And I packed my Shot Bloks that I like and some Luna protein bars. I wanted to make sure I had everything I liked to eat/drink ’cause you never know what you can or can’t get ahold of in Orlando/at Disney property. So just have your stuff. (This pretty much goes for all races…)
5) At the expo, I went to the talk by the race director/staff where they talked about the course, best spectator spots, and things like that. I found that to be really helpful. For one thing, they told us there’d be Powerade and water at every single water stop in the marathon. The first tables would always be Powerade, and water would always be in the back. So, I never wondered if it would be water or electrolytes.
I also heard the warning early that we’d be running over a small patch of grass. So, I knew that was coming. Just generally, I felt really prepared and didn’t have a lot of surprises.
I think that covers all my logistical advice. If you have things to add, please let me know in the comments!
We went to the expo on Friday and you are right…it was SO crowded! It was hot, too, with that many people in one space.
I’m not surprised to hear that after getting a glimpse of Friday… Thursday seems to be the way to go!
And I thought Thursday was busy at the expo! Ha ha, I’m just not used to these huge events. Glad we went when we did! I would have enjoyed that talk about the event – we specifically laughed and commented as we ran over that patch of grass…
lol. I love the huge events. They’re my favorites… Although this seemed to be one of the hugest of the huge events. 😛
Yeah, I usually don’t study the course or go to the talk, but I was happy that I knew everything that was coming. I’d imagined I’d be a little confused and have a little laugh if I didn’t know the grass was coming. 🙂