Okay, so if you’re planning to visit Walt Disney World this weekend and you haven’t heard about Marathon Weekend, you need to DROP EVERYTHING and read this right now because your entire trip is about to get WAY more complicated than you expected. We’re talking about more than 30,000 runners taking over Walt Disney World property for the biggest runDisney event of the year, and that means MASSIVE road closures all weekend long. Like, we’re not talking about a few minor detours.
We’re talking about major roads being completely shut down for hours, making it nearly impossible to drive between parks, hotels, and restaurants during certain times. If you thought navigating Disney World was already complicated, just wait until you try to do it during Marathon Weekend.
Here’s what most people don’t realize about runDisney events: yes, the runners go through the theme parks and get those cool photos in front of Cinderella Castle or Spaceship Earth, but those sections are actually a TINY portion of the total race. The vast majority of the miles happen on the same roads that regular guests use to drive around property.
And when 30,000 runners are using those roads? You can’t. Period. The roads get shut down completely, traffic gets rerouted through bizarre alternate routes you’ve never heard of, and what should take 5 minutes to drive suddenly becomes either impossible or takes 30+ minutes going the long way around. It’s CHAOS, and if you don’t know it’s happening, it will absolutely ruin your carefully planned park day.
Saturday and Sunday each have different races with different routes and different closure patterns, which means you need to know EXACTLY what’s closing when if you want any chance of getting where you need to go. Saturday is the half marathon (13.1 miles), which is bad but manageable if you know what you’re doing.
Sunday is the FULL marathon (26.2 miles that goes through ALL FOUR PARKS), and honestly, Sunday is going to be an absolute disaster for anyone trying to drive anywhere on Disney property. We’re going to break down both days so you know what you’re getting into, but spoiler alert: your best bet is probably to just sleep in and avoid the morning entirely if you’re not running.
Saturday’s Half Marathon Is Going to Shut Down the North Side
The half marathon happens Saturday, January 10, and it starts at 5 AM from the EPCOT parking lot. The event area opens at 2:30 AM (yes, you read that right, people are showing up in the middle of the night for this), and the race doesn’t officially close until 10 AM. That’s FIVE HOURS of road closures affecting the northern part of Disney World property.
The route goes from EPCOT up World Drive to Magic Kingdom, through Magic Kingdom, and then back down World Drive to EPCOT before finishing. So basically, World Drive, which is one of the MAIN roads connecting the south and north parts of the resort, is going to be completely unusable at various points until about 9:30 AM.
If you’re trying to get from EPCOT-area hotels to Magic Kingdom, or vice versa, during the morning? Good luck with that. You’re either taking a massive detour or you’re not getting there at all until the roads reopen.
The EPCOT area itself is also going to be a mess until 10 AM because that’s where the start and finish lines are. So if you’re staying at Beach Club, Yacht Club, BoardWalk, Swan, Dolphin, any of those EPCOT resorts, and you were planning to drive somewhere Saturday morning, you might want to reconsider those plans.
Here’s our advice for Saturday: SLEEP IN. Like, seriously, just don’t even try to go anywhere until after 10 AM and you’ll avoid all of this nonsense. If you absolutely MUST have an 8 AM breakfast reservation somewhere that requires driving across property, you either need to leave your hotel at like 6 AM to beat the worst closures, or you need to cancel that reservation and book something for later in the day. It’s not worth the stress of trying to navigate closed roads and detours when you could just… not do that.
Sunday’s Full Marathon Is Going to Shut Down EVERYTHING
If Saturday’s half marathon sounds bad, buckle up, because Sunday’s full marathon is on a completely different level of chaos. We’re talking about 15,000 to 20,000 runners doing 26.2 miles that goes through EVERY SINGLE THEME PARK. Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, AND EPCOT. The race starts at 4:30 AM and doesn’t close until 1 PM. That’s over EIGHT HOURS of road closures affecting basically the entire Walt Disney World property.
The route is absolutely bonkers. Runners start at EPCOT, go to Magic Kingdom first, then use backstage roads to get over to Animal Kingdom, then head down to Blizzard Beach, cut through Hollywood Studios, pass by the BoardWalk area, and finish back at EPCOT. That’s like… driving all over Disney World property, except people are running it, and all the roads they’re using are closed to normal traffic while they do it.
The southern part of Disney World is going to be especially BRUTAL. Animal Kingdom, Blizzard Beach, Hollywood Studios, all the roads around those areas are going to be a complete disaster from early morning through early afternoon. If you’re staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge, Pop Century, Art of Animation, Caribbean Beach, Riviera, any of those southern resorts, and you need to drive anywhere on Sunday morning, you are in for a ROUGH time.
And unlike Saturday where you can reasonably sleep in until 10 AM and be fine, Sunday’s closures don’t fully clear until 1 PM. That’s basically half the day GONE if you’re trying to avoid the road closure nightmare. Most people can’t just sit around their hotel until 1 PM waiting for roads to reopen, which means you’re probably going to have to deal with the closures rather than avoid them.
Your Transportation Options (And Why They All Kind of Suck)
So what are you supposed to do if you need to get somewhere during Marathon Weekend and the roads are all closed? Let’s go through your options, and fair warning, none of them are great.
Disney Buses: This is probably your best bet, honestly. Disney’s bus system keeps running during the marathon, and they adjust routes to work around the closures. The buses might take longer routes and you might wait longer than usual, but at least they’ll actually GET you where you need to go. The bus drivers deal with Marathon Weekend every year, so they know what they’re doing. If you have the option to use Disney buses instead of driving, take it.
Your Own Car: LOL, good luck with this. We mean, you CAN try to drive, but you’re going to spend a lot of time sitting in traffic, taking weird detours, and probably getting lost because the GPS doesn’t know about the temporary road closures. If you absolutely must drive, leave EARLY and give yourself like double or triple the normal amount of time to get anywhere.
Uber/Lyft: This is honestly the WORST option during Marathon Weekend. Rideshare drivers are often not from the area and have no idea about the road closures. They’ll accept your ride request, show up, and then realize they can’t actually get you to your destination because the roads are closed. Or they’ll take some insane detour that costs you three times what the ride normally costs. Just avoid rideshare during the marathon if you can help it. It’s not worth the headache.
Walking: If you’re staying at a resort that’s within walking distance of a park, this is actually a solid option. EPCOT-area hotels can walk to EPCOT or Hollywood Studios. Magic Kingdom resort hotels can walk or take the ferry to Magic Kingdom. These walking paths don’t close during the marathon, so you can completely bypass the road closure chaos by just… walking. It takes longer, but at least you know you’ll actually get there.
How to Not Let This Ruin Your Weekend
Look, Marathon Weekend is a HUGE event and it’s been happening for years, so Disney isn’t going to cancel it just because it’s inconvenient for regular park guests. You’re just going to have to work around it. Here are our survival tips:
Saturday: Don’t plan anything that requires driving before 10 AM. Sleep in, have a leisurely breakfast at your hotel, and start your day late. By the time you’re ready to head out, the roads will be open and life will be normal again.
Sunday: This one’s trickier because closures last until 1 PM. If you can delay your whole morning, do it. If not, plan to stay at ONE park for the entire day instead of park hopping, because hopping between parks during the marathon is going to be a nightmare. Or just use Disney buses and accept that everything is going to take longer than usual.
Dining Reservations: If you have early morning dining reservations that require driving across property, seriously consider canceling and rebooking for later. An 8 AM breakfast at a different resort area might sound nice, but not when you can’t actually GET there because of road closures.
Park Hopping: Just don’t. Pick one park for each day and commit to it. Trying to hop between parks during Marathon Weekend is asking for trouble.
The good news? By Monday morning, everything goes back to normal and you can pretend this whole Marathon Weekend chaos never happened. You just have to survive Saturday and Sunday first.
Okay, real talk: Have you ever been at Disney World during Marathon Weekend? Drop a comment and tell us your horror stories about road closures and traffic nightmares. Did you get stuck somewhere unexpected? Did a rideshare driver abandon you because they couldn’t navigate the closures?
Did you miss a dining reservation because roads were closed? We want to hear ALL the Marathon Weekend disaster stories so other people know what they’re potentially getting into. And if you successfully navigated Marathon Weekend without losing your mind, PLEASE share your strategies because people need help!
