Disney World question

So for those of you that have done the Disney World marathon weekend before.

Do you have to buy entry to the park as well as your race entry?
How does it work?  Do you run through or just around the parks?
I'm trying to figure out how many/long park hopper passes I need for the time I am there.

Thanks,

Scott

you start and finish outside of the parks (specifically in the parking lot of Epcot for the 1/2 and full marathons).  you run through the parks (MK and Epcot for the 1/2 and all 4 parks for the full), but have to buy tickets for general entry.  the only exception is you get a one day one park pass for "Marathon Monday" that will get all marathon finishers in on the Monday after the full only.

So you need a park pass for the race itself?

I'm not asking about after the race like I want to spend the day there.  How do they check that during the race?

Scott

No, I think our bib is entry to the parks DURING the race...but we surely have to stay on route.

no pass needed, you're kept on the route through the parks typically with cones or roped off sections with tons of park employees (or should i say cast members) making sure you stay on the route.

oh yeah, you run through some of the "backstage" or back lot areas which are pretty cool too.

Cool, thanks for all the info.

I'll just need to cover the family entrance to the park that day.

Scott

Also don't we run through the parks before they open?

The problem I ran into is that when you buy the Magic Your Way passes, you have to get the same number of days for everyone in  your party. So me getting a pass for Monday doesn't really help anything.

they will not need park passes to see you in the magic kingdom because they will kick out the spectators before the park opens. That is one of the reasons they have the cut off times at certain check points.

I think that the half is essentially over by the time Epcot opens so that is not an issue but they don't let people in to spectate there without a pass.

For the full, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Epcot (the second time) are most definitely open but again, to spectate they will need a pass if they want to get in. Disney produces a really good spectator guide that uses Disney transportation. For the fill, my wife has seen me at the start (not really but she was there - too many people), Mile 4 Same spot, Mile 9 Ticket and Transportation Center, Mile 11 Main Street, Mile 13 Grand Floridan, Mile 18 Outside Animal Kingdom and the finish.

There are a lot of good viewing spots throughout the courses. For the half there are really only a few but easy to get to.

Thanks for all the information everyone!

I'm so jazzed and looking forward to this event.
I'm not thrilled with the next 3 months of training, but I'm looking forward to meeting all of you and completing this race.

Scott