@YawningDodo
i want to clarify that buses do run from Fort Wilderness to race start and back. They pick you up in front by check in. I can also confirm that the internal fort buses are running throughout the campground at 2:30 am to bring you up front. now I always recommend if you have a vehicle to take it up front instead of using internal fort buses. Mainly for after the marathon. Once off the race bus i did not want to get on an internal bus.
as for tent camping, I agree with others I would not do it. I stay at the fort on race weekends but I have a camper with a comfy bed!
I thought this was the case based on something I'd read while googling around to see if it was feasible, but I didn't want to state it with confidence since I've never even been to FW, let alone during MW. Buuut, yeah, all the replies have reinvigorated my common sense and I'm back to planning on booking whichever All Star resort is cheapest when general resort reservations open up.
I also don’t know if you’re a CC person but Southwest sometimes has good points deals where if you get a CC and spend x amount you can basically get enough points for a free flight.
Now there's a thought...I've got enough miles to book awards travel on United for this trip and that's been my plan (penny-pinching!), but their itineraries from Buffalo to Orlando are...not great. Southwest seems to have at least one direct flight per day and that would just about halve my travel time, but when it's a choice between paying $12 in fees and a bunch of banked miles vs. paying out of pocket for even a lower-cost carrier...well....
I'm going to have a look at Southwest's credit card deals and see if I can do something with that. But if I do have to fly United, I'll see if I can get myself first class on the return; I'm blowing through my bank of miles anyway so I might as well be kind to myself.
That being said, I now stay mostly at CBR. The Skyliner has been a game changer for me. The convenience of using it to get to DHS and EP totally trump the cons of the resort's size. They've also put the soda machines in roughly every other building now, too, greatly reducing my need to get to the food court. I like to stay in either Aruba or Jamaica. Both have a dedicated bus stop and are convenient to Skyliner terminals. It's where I'm staying again next MW.
I've still got to try out CBR, but I love love love the Skyliner. Right now my top pick resort would be AoA (even
with all the dang walking to the Little Mermaid section), but I was very happy with our POP Century rooms this past February. Heck, even when I stayed at Kidani Village on rented points in 2021 I found myself missing the Skyliner - the corner view of the savannah I lucked into made up for it, though.
Absolutely! I am flying down tuesday as well. Flights departure times always get moved and the expo being a limited window makes arriving on expo day too stressful for me.
This is what has me planning to fly in on Friday even though I'm only running the marathon. I'm not expecting much in the way of merch to still be available by Saturday, but hit a point in my attempts to find a Saturday morning itinerary where I realized I was scared about missing the Expo entirely, full stop, and having to go crying to guest services to try to get my bib and packet. I don't have to fly all the way in from Montana anymore, but winter weather can still throw a wrench in travel plans.
I also would not be signing up for virtual if I couldn't get an in-person spot. I have tried virtual events and they just aren't the same. I feel like I get a medal for a training run. The actual race day experience is what I am here for! I know some people love them but I just can't get excited for virtual races.
That's exactly how my one and only virtual 5K felt to me. I ended up putting it off and putting it off because I was having trouble finding the motivation to do it at all, and then when I finally did go out and do the run it didn't feel special at all. I only get the runner's high during races, but I
always get it during races. Nada, zip, nothing for the virtual race. Finished my run alone and felt like I had just done a training run and passed it off as something worth the medal and hat that came with it.
I do like that hat, though.
I wonder if it's not a lack of demand for the virtual races but near unlimited supply? As fat manatee points out, this is a heavy markup. Combine this with the frustration on social media (and on here) with how the in person registration was handled, Disney may have an incentive not to artificially reduce supply - at least for the first few days of the virtual races being on sale. Let anyone who wants to register do so through the weekend. We're still over 8 months away - I'm sure Disney hasn't placed final orders for the medals and shirts yet.
I think this is another important factor that might be overlooked. I'm sure Disney has at least an estimate they're aiming for, but if they haven't printed medals and shirts yet there's nothing really holding them to any initial numbers for the virtual. Someone was talking about Disney expanding the field for the in-person races and got shot down because the course is too narrow and needs to be cleared in time to avoid too much impact on the regular guest experiences - so it makes perfect sense that Disney has a hard limit on in-person race registrations. Virtual, though? None of those arrangements are their problem. They literally just have to print and mail off medals, shirts, and letters.