The Course

Introduction

Here are some details about the course for the Walt Disney World Marathon. Marathons cover a total distance of 26.2 miles. There are four parks in Walt Disney World and the race goes through all four of them. The theme parks are The Magic Kingdom, which is the oldest and most famous (Cinderella’s Castle and all that stuff). EPCOT Center, which is where the big ball is and they do a lot of stuff with science and world culture. Disney’s Hollywood Studios (formerly known as MGM Studios), This one has the Tower of Terror and you basically get to live the Movies. Finally, there is Disney’s Animal Kingdom and I don’t have to explain because it is in the name.

Start (EPCOT)

The race will start in the EPCOT parking area. There will be about eight different waves of runners. Last year there were fireworks at the start line and I am hoping for the same this year. We go through parts of EPCOT and make our way out to the main road that will lead us North towards the Magic Kingdom.

The Magic Kingdom

We enter the Magic Kingdom after we run around the big body of water in front of it called the Seven Seas Lagoon. We will run down Main Street U.S.A and take a right towards Tomorrow Land (Space Mountain). After Tomorrow Land the course goes through Fantasy Land and under Cinderella’s Castle before making a right to Frontier Land and exit out of The Magic Kingdom. After the Magic Kingdom we hit the halfway point and the next stretch that leads us South towards the Animal Kingdom.

The Animal Kingdom

We enter the Animal Kingdom somewhere towards the back of the park. We get to run through areas that are themed like Africa and Asia. We then make our way down by the Tree of Life (Animal Kingdom symbol, but don’t know what it is from). We exit the Animal Kingdom through the Entrance of the park and make our way by the sign for the entrance to Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports. We only get to see the entrance of it, and for all you Braves fans this is where the Braves do Spring Training. Next stop Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Like the Animal Kingdom we will enter the park somewhere in the back. We will run through an area that is set like New York City. We then proceed under the giant Fantasia hat (and yes it has Mouse Ears) and down the main road to the entrance which resembles Hollywood. We then exit through the entrance again and make our way to the final destination, EPCOT.

EPCOT (again)

We enter EPCOT in the World Showcase that goes around a lake. The World Showcase has all these displays of countries around the world. We then hit the main strip and run by the giant water fountain in the center of the park. The last leg of the course goes under the giant ball A.K.A. Space Ship Earth and out of the park. After leaving the park we head down the center of the parking lot to the finish line and the end of the 26.2 mile journey.