Let’s take a look at the WDW Half Marathon together!
The Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend kept the 5k fairly standard but then completely really changed it up for the 10k. For the half it looks like they are going back to their roots with the course starting in Epcot, going to the Magic Kingdom, and then ending in Epcot.
The start will be very familiar to past WDW Marathon Weekend half marathon and marathon runners. One thing I will note though is that there are 2 less start groups compared to 2020 and in the map makes it look like there are less overall runners. This could mean nothing and it could just be that the maps are not 100% accurate but I’ll be interested to see if there are less half marathon finishers as compared to past years. One thing that hasn’t changed? The half mile plus walk to the start corrals, booooo… Give yourself plenty of time to mosey to the start corrals since it’s hard to walk at more than a slow walk given the crowds.
Overall, the half marathon course is similar to past years. It starts out in front of Epcot, runs up to and through the Magic Kingdom, and then runs back and through Epcot before finishing. As in past years, I’m assuming we will be in “cone alley” from mile marker 4 to the Contemporary and then from mile marker 6 to mile marker 7, for those that haven’t run a WDW half marathon or marathon before, cone alley is a section of course where there is a two-lane road, one lane is kept open for cars and one lane is used for runners and there is a thick line of cones separating the two. DO NOT CROSS the cones. Just don’t do it. The course through the Magic Kingdom takes us through the main turnstiles and under the train station while our route through Epcot has us entering from behind Imagination and then exiting on the opposite side of Future World but we won’t run through the backstage area like in 2020.Now that we have the overall idea of the course, let’s jump into the details.
As in the past, we start out front of Epcot and then take World Dr to the Magic Kingdom parking lot.
The course through the parking lot is the same as in 2020, basically running a straight shot through the parking lot and then through the Ticket and Transportation Center. We then run on the road to the Contemporary (cone alley), under the water bridge, and then pass in front of the Contemporary before turning left into the Magic Kingdom resort bus drop off area.
We then run through the bus area before turning right and running through the turnstiles/front entrance of the Magic Kingdom. We run under the right passage under the train station and run up Main St USA towards Cinderella Castle. We hang a right into Tomorrowland, run past the Speedway and the Tea Cups on our way to Storybook Circus and New Fantasyland where we will run the “back side” of Seven Dwarves Mine Train. We then run through Fantasyland and through Cindy’s castle before hanging a right through Liberty Square. We finish by running through Frontierland and exit the Magic Kingdom behind Splash Mountain.
We then start our trek back to Epcot but hopefully after exiting Frontierland they will have an awesome parade float photo op in the backstage area. Once we are back on the roads, we will enter another cone alley area as we run past the Grand Floridian and the Polynesian. This part of the course always has weird lighting so watch your footing especially if you decide to run in the grass. We then follow the road along the Magic Kingdom parking lot.
We then run on World Dr again before taking the exit ramp back to Epcot (an incline).
We run on the overpass to Epcot, then there are some more small hills on this section of road, and then the small out and back at mile 11 before we enter the Epcot parking lot.
We then run through the Epcot parking lot (another small incline) before running backstage behind the Seas and the Land. We enter onstage Epcot from behind Imagination.
It look like we take a very wiggly route through Epcot, this looks like it is going to be a little frustrating this late in the race but it will be nice to get this much park time. We run along the construction walls, before running through the breezeway by the Creations Shops, past the Guardians construction and then exiting out the backstage area by Spaceship Earth and finish in the usual spot in the Epcot parking lot.
Again, overall, this is a very familiar course for seasoned WDW Marathon Weekend the Princess Weekend runners and I know I’m going to be so excited to run up Main St and through Cinderella’s Castle again. I’ve missed that so much! I’m just so ready to be running at Walt Disney World again!
So, what’s your favorite part of the the WDW Half Marathon course? Let me know if the comments below!
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