Disney is so organized. It is a model for other marathons. Transportation to the start line and from the finish line were easy. Refreshments, entertainment, and Disney characters were plentiful all along the course. Corrals were organized. And running through the parks was great fun. This year, Disney offered Marathon Monday to marathon finishers to have a FREE day at any Disney park. On the downside, most of the course was on the highways and backroads (which is unavoidable because of the distances between the parks), so this is not the most scenic race. All in all, a race that all marathoners should experience at least once.

This was my first marathon ever and it was a terrific start. A lifelong athlete and a self-professed running "hater," I was having trouble coming back from ACL surgery. We were heading down to Disney anyway where my aunt was running the marathon. During late July I found out that my uncle, cousin and his fiancee were running the race too. So I decided to start training.

What a wonderful place. All of the characters and scenery were terrific. The organization was first-class. I plan to come back for this one.

This is my 6th Marathon and 4th Goofy Challenge, and this was the best yet. There have been improvements each year. The race organizers need to be thanked and praised for listening to the issues.

Pros
1. Expo in the new pavilion allows for more space for vendors and there was more there showing their products. I may not buy anything but as a runner I find the expos interesting and it's enjoyable to be with others who enjoy the sport.
2. Course entertainment and music - on the back roads there was music or entertainment every half mile - made the these miles move faster.
3. Course volunteers at the water stations were great and having every water station set up the same way with water and PowerAde allowed me to plan my stops.
4. Mickey Medal for the marathon was changed and updated. Now it is time to change the Donald Half Medal and the Goofy Medal.
5. Long-sleeve tech shirts.
6. Start with fireworks both days.
7. New wave start allowed me to get into a running pace quicker than prior years. Yes, the start is crowded, but all major marathons suffer from this issue.
8. I like the early start as it allows for miles completed before the sun comes up.

Cons
1. Parking before the races takes patience. Backed up for a mile but still got to the start with plenty of time.
2. Finish line food could be improved but I understand the issue that all food must be wrapped so it limits the options.

I will be back as I still enjoy the Disney Marathon.

We prefer smaller marathons, but have always wanted to try this one. We stayed at the New Orleans hotel, which is about 1/4 mile from the start! We totally avoided the hassles of the start area, although we did have to duck under the fences and got considerable stink-eyes from the volunteers. Oh well!

The course was way better than we thought it would be. We knew there would be stretches of service/entrance roads, but as soon as we were beginning to get bored, we would enter another park. A bit flat for our tastes, but still a good course.

Expo was adequate, typical mega-marathon cattle call, but with a bit more of those funky vendors than typical, which is nice. A lot of the larger marathons have only big vendors like Nike and little of the "Bob's Shoe World" types (*cough* Rock'n'Roll).

Maybe I enjoyed it so much because we ran it as a "training run" and not a race, so I could cruise at 8 minutes/mile and enjoy myself. I finished in 3:26, about 20 minutes off my PR, but well rested!

We did take advantage of the Marathon Monday ticket to a park, but that was it for our Disney experience. If we heard someone say, "Have a magical day" one more time, I would have gagged. Manufactured "fun" is OK in small doses, but too much sweetness is cloying.

However, overall, we had a great time and will do it again.

I had no idea what to expect from the Race Retreat, but it was definitely worth it! Short lines for the porta-potties toward crunch time, private bag check, and a buffet afterward. GREAT! A big "thank you" to all of the NON-RUNNERS who took all of the comfy chairs in the center after the race. It must have been exhausting waiting around all morning.

I ran my PR of 2:56:50 and had the changing tent to myself at the end.

This marathon is top-notch and worth the price for the experience alone. I will run again one day....

We came all the way from England to do this, and I had such a great time. I did the Goofy Challenge and 5K at Epcot on the Friday.

I did not stay in Disney; I stayed in Universal Drive and despite the distance never had any trouble getting there on time. At the end of the day, if you get up early enough you will be ok. We got there for 3:15 with no problems (ok, we kept ourselves on UK time to make things easier so it was actually 8:15 by our body clocks!)

I have done large marathons (London twice) and small, and Disney was really well organized, one of the best I have done. I thought the expo was good and we got good quality goody bags and t-shirts. The events themselves seemed to have plenty of signage, helpers, and praise the lord, more porta-loos than I have ever seen. No queue! Come on - the walk to the start wasn't that long!

We got put in decent start pens, I was in A for the half and C for the marathon. Perfect - people were running at the same pace as me and had loads of room to move.

I think Disney had made a good effort to have :something" every 1/2 mile to distract the runners, and all my events just flew by. Perhaps it is because I am from the UK but I liked the bits in between the parks - different scenery and Disney property is so well kept. The bits in the parks were fantastic.

The finish in Epcot was great; in all 3 races I did the crowd were going ballistic - such a great atmosphere.

I thought the food at the end was quite good: muffins, bananas, bagels, Clif Bars, PowerAde, Coke and Diet Coke... everything I needed. All of my club-mates are jealous of the medals and t-shirts. This is all much better than you get most UK races, even some of the big ones. From what I have read about previous years, Disney has made an effort to do things better. I think they have - and from my point of view I have only got praise for them.

Yes, it is expensive, but I would recommend it to anyone - and I'm not even a big Disney fan. It was a-m-a-z-i-n-g!

This was my first marathon and I cannot imagine a better experience (always easy when you have nothing to compare to!). I loved getting up early and getting to the race site with the other runners from my hotel via the monorail. The walk to the corrals was fine - it loosened me up, and it was clearly stated how long it would be in the pre-race emails. Porta-potties were everywhere, or you could use the bathrooms in the parks. The run layout was great, flat and well done. Of course you can't have 26 miles only inside the parks, but on the "boring" sections there always seemed to be a comedy team or funny "deep thought" signs or characters all along the way. The water stations were everywhere and VERY well staffed with water, PowerAde, bananas, gels, etc. Spectators and other runners were friendly. I was able to see my family at multiple spots. Took advantage of some of the photo ops with characters. The medal and shirt are great. Best advice I can give to those thinking about this race as their first: do a race of longer than 10K with a certified time. I did a 10K in Oct (49 minutes) and was put in the second of 8 corrals, and the pace of my fellow runners was perfect for me with a finish of 3:55. Can't wait to do it again!!

The Disney Marathon exceeded my expectations. The course, race support and organization were outstanding. Water and PowerAde stations at virtually every mile. I liked the early start. Remember, runners arrive early at the New York and Boston Marathons only to sit around and wait for hours in the staging areas. That was not an issue with Disney.

There are few technical issues to encounter to prevent one from achieving a PR or a BQ. While the race temperatures in 2011 were ideal, one will encounter some wind on the course. Likewise, there were two highway ramps to climb at miles 22 and 23. I did not find running the resorts' service roads and highways to be boring because the organizers provide much entertainment during those stretches.

I would recommend the Race Retreat if money is not an issue.
The race fee is expensive but comparable to entry fees of other major marathons. The finish line food could be improved upon. From what I could tell, the finish line food consisted of a banana, a bottle of Dasani water, and a bottle of PowerAde.

Race number pick-up was simple and quick. The race expo was a disappointment as it was very crowded, and I found it difficult to navigate the isles. The official race merchandise offered a lot of selection.

I would run this marathon again.

I had a very good overall experience running the WDW Marathon and found it to be well organized and well run. (Specific comments below.)

We stayed at the Pop Century resort and thus there were buses to/from the race and resort. I had read previous comments that staying at a monorail accessible resort was advisable for easier access, but now can say that I truly can't imagine how it could have been easier. After eating my breakfast at the cafeteria (which opened at 2:30 a.m. for the runners), I walked outside the building and straight onto a bus, which left within two minutes. The starting area at Epcot is very close to the Pop Century resort and we got there without massive traffic or delay. Once off the bus, one walks a few hundred meters to the area with baggage check, etc. Couldn't be easier! Returning after the race was similarly easy and fast.

I chose to pay for access to the "race retreat." I had really debated this expense but considered it insurance against waiting outside (in the dark) in really bad weather. It was cold when we arrived (somewhere between 0 and 4 degrees Celsius) and it was nice to have a place to sit, relax and chat with other runners. Porta-potties with almost no wait, and easy bag check were great too. After the race, it was particularly nice to have a warm place to go, change clothes, and sit at a table with warm food that was plentiful. I imagine that those outside the tent had to grab a patch of concrete. It was expensive, but it made the whole pre/post experience very comfortable.

I left the tent for the starting line a few minutes before 5 a.m. Its a good distance away and I entered my corral (to which access is restricted based on the corral on your bib) and waited about 5 minutes for the race to start and an additional 10 minutes for my corral to start.

I liked running in the dark and seeing the sun come up but it did make for a very early wakeup (2:45 a.m.).

The race route through the different parks really broke the race up into segments. It's a mental trick, I realize, but it helped me get through it. For me, the difficult part of a marathon is around miles 17-21. At WDW, this falls after you have left Animal Kingdom and before you reach Hollywood Studios, so it's a bit of a lonely stretch. After that you are quite quickly at Hollywood Studios, through the Boardwalk resort area, and straight into Epcot, so there is constant stimulation and spectators to distract over the last few miles.

At the finish, I quickly received my medal, a bottle of water, and a space blanket, then slowly walked over to the race retreat tent. When I walked by, the food stations were well stocked and accessible.

A friend picked up my race kit for me, so I can't comment on the expo.

The other interesting thing about this race, compared with any other I've done, is the number of runners who stopped and lined up to have their photos taken with various Disney characters. I can't imagine doing that in the middle of a marathon but there was a lot of this sort of distraction and entertainment along the route and I enjoyed the spectacle of it.

I found it to be a great event and would recommend it wholeheartedly.

This was my first GOOFY at Disney. The expense of the race, resort, and airline tickets is what will make it my first and last.

Cons: expense, expo is not that great, there is only a little "Disney" and a lot of what you see at all other expos. I expected more for Disney. Plus sizes go quickly, so if you see something you want, better grab it then. And NO HATS??? Nothing with "Disney Marathon" on it at all.
Wake up at 2:00 a.m. to be ready by 3:00 a.m. to catch the bus to the start, which is actually another mile from there. You feel like "night of the living dead," with everyone walking to the corrals for their start. Depending on the corral you start in, you may be waiting another 30-40 minutes from the 5:30 start... which is okay, as you may be waking up by then.

PROS: The race, once you get started, is amazing. It's truly what you make of it, also. There are some areas that are boring, but that gives you a chance to talk to other people. There are some narrow spots through some of the parks - again, this is not a race for PR, but a race for plenty of FUN... it's there if you take advantage of it. The medals are amazing and heavy!

It was a great weekend with running friends that I will always remember. The only thing I was sad about is that we had to change our flight because of Atlanta being shut down - therefore missing our marathon day at Disney, which we had planned to do!!! I truly think the pass should have been good for the end of 2011!!! That way, I would have made more of an effort to return, with family this time. Disney, you could have made MORE money!!