Final thoughts about a great race: Organization was spectacular except for the delayed start (started 15 minutes late). Crowds and Disney cast members were enthusiastic and motivating. They were, however, few and far between for significant stretches of the course. Weather was perfect for a fast time-I never felt hot and even felt a chill in my hands as late as mile 15-16 going down the shady stinky road to Animal Kingdom (went right by the Poopy-detox plant for the waste products of those animals you see on the Kilamanjaro Safari). Other good things: Great and frequent water/replacement drink/food stops. Biggest hoots: Green Army Men from Toy Story handing out Sweet Tarts and imploring you to ?Move it! Move it! Move it!? at mile 23. Artificial encouragement at mile 19 on a barren limited access highway courtesy of a blasting sound system shouting encouragement?gave me a good chuckle and did in fact inspire me despite its patent fakeness. High fiving Mickey, Buzz Lightyear, Tweedledee and Dum, Country Bears, Cinderella Mice, Pluto and Goofy on the pass through Magic Kingdom. Wonderful to run through the parks before they were open to the general public. Even more surreal to bomb through when they were populated by paying customers a little later in the morning. By my calculation, you spend 2.5 of the first 23 miles in parks (1 mile in Epcot, 1 mile in Magic Kingdom, ½ mile in Animal Kingdom), then most of the last 3 miles in solid Disney territory as you pass through Disney-MGM, Disney?s Boardwalk, and Epcot. There?s probably a bit more actual mileage inside the parks, but when you?re running through a back section of Epcot or Animal Kingdom, it?s not much different from any other road you?ve ever been on.
Loved the course. Lots of dead spots, but my lasting impression is of a real fun day.

2001 event (I ran the half marathon): Previous comments are accurate. Disney does many things great, but here I felt much like a cog in a money-sucking machine. I kept track of my costs, more or less, for *one* person to go to Disneyworld for the Half Marathon. YMMV, and these numbers are inexact, but I think it would be very difficult to spend much less without staying off-property, driving to Orlando, and/or not buying a Disney entry ticket at all.

$ 35 Half Marathon Entry
$183 Flight to Orlando (RT from Baltimore)
$ 28 Airport parking at home
$142 Orlando car rental & gas, 4 days (I did use my car at least 4 times on Disney property, buses routinely took one hour plus to get anywhere)
$ 22 Pasta dinner (which sucked, only water to drink and no dessert)
$100 2 days park entry tickets, minor misc.
$ 40 Other very minimal meal & souvenir expenses
$270 Cheapest Disney property lodging, 3 nights (All Star Resorts; necessary to get official pasta dinner ticket)

$820 Total

My advice is to THINK HARD about going to this race if you?re on a tight budget. Even if you're a huge Disney fan, it?s a LOT to pay for a short mile or two of running through the Magic Kingdom! If you want to take the kids to Disney, you?re probably better off going some other time and not being distracted by all the crowds and delays associated with the race! You really cannot avoid a huge amount of walking there, either, before or after the race. If you want to race, you can probably go to at least two or three other major races for the cost of this one!

As a competitive runner and triathlete I agree with some of these comments noted here but disagree with others. Everyone has their opinion and has preferences over one type of race or event experience. To me it comes down to the core values of why we run and race to begin with, general health, long life, fun and personal values. To do this in the house the Mouse built is the icing on the cake, I think Walt would be proud. If some of you think the access roads and parts of the course are boring boo-hoo race some where else!
This is my second year running the Walt Disney World Marathon and I feel it is a very well organized and executed event with food and water not only plentiful along the course but at the finish as well. Disney attracts the 18,000 (current maximum, 13,000 for the Marathon and 5,000 for the half) participants without a cast of elite runners because it?s Disney, no other event can do that and target it to all ranges of runners including the family.
On the day before the race there is FamilyFun Magazine?s Family Fun Run, which is a 5k race and kids races, which is free to ages 8 and under, complete with Disney charters. Although I have no children (yet) this is an event you can build a family vacation around and at the same time pass on the values you hold so close to your children by direct example.
I think the race expo is well organized and by adding quality people like Creigh Kelley and the cast of great speakers places it with the best of them. Just because there is not 10,000 people cheering you on between certain areas on the course like New York or Chicago should not be the reason to dislike the event. Where were all those people on those 18 and 22 mile training runs to help you make it through? Who cares! It was nice to see the families enjoying the parks after the race wearing their race shirts, some wearing their prized finisher?s medal, each of which anxious to say way to go! Great job! How did you do? Transportation to the start and back to your Disney hotel is on luxury tour buses which is nothing less than first class. We stayed at the Beach Club the first year Yacht Club the second both were very nice. Restaurants on Disney property are always happy to custom make your pre-race meals on request, just ask. Sure there can always be improvements just make sure you direct your concerns to Reggie Williams, (Vice President Disney Sports Attractions) so they can be herd and proper consideration given so improvements can be made Disney does listen.
If you want to have a great time expressing your passion for running and be in the best vacation spot in the world at the same time be there in 2002, I know I will!

I ran my third marathon (two previous marathons were Flying Pig in Cincy and Chicago) at Disney. Although I had high hopes and expectations for the race, I have to agree with most of the comments on this site. Here are some of my thoughts about the race:

Expo: The expo is pretty small for a race with 18,000 people. The place at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex where the Expo is held is not big enough to hold the event. I realize this is trival, but the goodie bag was weak and the T-shirt did not have the year of the race, which makes me think we may see the extras for sale at a later event.

Start: Although the start is well organized and I encountered no problems, the early arrival time and standing around for well over an hour in very cold weather was not in the least bit appealing.

Course: The course is very flat with only a few very small hills, however, it is boring and not very scenic. The mile through Magic Kingdom was great, especially running up Main Street and around the castle, but beyond that there was little else that was memorable. Believe it or not the course actually goes by Disney's sanitation facility.

Entertainment: By far this was my biggest disappointment. The advertising leads you to believe there will be Disney quality entertainment on the course. I would say 90% of the entertainment consists of wooden cartoon characters with whatever song they are most closely associated with blaring from a sound system. It seemed like I could hear the Poccahontas song 'Just Around the River' forever. However, as bad as the entertainment was, I was offended by the place on the course where they had a sound system playing recorded crowd noise and cheering.

Crowd Support: Crowd support is bad for a marathon of this size. Mostly because there are really no good areas to view the race. There was a pretty good crowd at the start (considering what time they had to get up and what they had to fight through), the crowd on Main Street in Disney was great, the crowd at the 1/2 marathon was good, and the crowd around Wide World of Sports was good. There was also a good crowd at the finish line, however it is very congested.

Medals: The medals are very nice medals, however, once again there is no date on the medal. The date is on the ribbon. It would be nice if the medal was not so generic as to be recycled year after year with a new ribbon.

I am a Disney (theme park, movies, etc.) fan. I thought I would love everything Disney, but I could not help but feel like this was a corporation putting on a marathon only to take my money. Like others on here I would recommend Cincinnati's Flying Pig or Chicago's before I would recommend Disney.

My wife and I ran the 2001 marathon. It was very well organized with an unbelievable supply of portolets and plenty of water, sports drink, or food stops along the way. The crowd support inside the parks was great, especially for middle-of-the-pack runners finishing after MGM and Epcot have filled up with guests. The 5-mile stretch of the course between the Animal Kingdom and MGM Studios (miles 17.5 through 22.5) was tedious. The slope on the highway ramps drew a lot of complaints from fellow runners.

I've run 5 Disney's in hopes that they will get better. They won't! Florida has so many better marathons, and it's not like you get a discount at the parks for running the race. The only reason they start so early is so they can get you outta the park and get the paying customers in! If you want to run in Florida do Jacksonville, Ocala, Hops, or Gulf Beaches and just visit Disney. It is the least of the Florida Marathons.

Don't miss this race, it's a gas.

This will be the third year I've run Disney; I also plan the family vacation around the event. The first half is fun - travel through EPCOT and The Magic Kingdom with the thrill of feeling good. The second half is tougher with many access roads and boring 4 lane highways. From the exit of Animal Kingdom through the entrace to MGM, be prepared to gut it out. Good news is that after that the last 3 miles are visually busy with OK crowd support.

Best part is the Disney characters, especially Cruella D'Ville who, in character, yells at you for keeping her waiting so long.

This is not a very competitive marathon; there are many slow runners so be prepared for a mess at the start. It's a much calmer event than Chicago or Boston.

I have run disney 4 times and 2001 will be 5. Yes at time the course becomes a little boring, but that all seems to be at the early miles. Yes it is an early start, but running in florida is. All your long training runs start at 5 or 6a.m. The sun will melt you otherwise. The course is considered flat, but some tunnels and ramps let you know in the legs it's not so flat. When you enter the fan area's, it's like entering Olympic stadium. This is a must marathon. The only problem that I have ever had is the three steps getting on the bus for the ride back to the start.

This marathon is always fun. Lots to see and do as only Disney can put on. The characters, sights and atmosphere are fantastic. Course is flat and fast and a great one for first timers.

Start is early but it helps lessen the effects of the warmer temps that will break through after about 3 hours. The starting temperatures are very cool for the first couple hours which makes for good times. Only real grades come in the form of exit/entry ramps on the major highways that connect the vast Disney complex. The overall route was good but the loop to and from the Sports Complex was mentally taxing. Crowd support was very sparse on the highway route but good once you were in the different theme parks. You will spend a very small portion of your time in the theme parks. The staging along with the use of ChampionChip chip timing gave everyone very accurate times. This is extremely important for back of the pack runners that may cross the start line long after the starting gun fires. Aid stations are located about every 2 miles up to the half marathon distance and every mile from that point to the finish. Very good support from the Disney employees that are working at each theme park. Sometimes they make up the majority of spectators at some of the less visited theme parks, especially early in the morning. This is a very well staged race but don't depend on crowd support to carry you. Scenery/sighseeing for the mid pace runners is limited mainly to the theme parks, which you run through a small portion of the actual run. This is a very good marathon for those runners that do not require crowd support to carry them to the finish.