Tip Tuesday: Park touring during marathon weekend

Welcome to another Tip Tuesday!

Having just returned from Walt Disney World during marathon weekend, I have a couple of tips that I think you will appreciate should you plan to visit WDW during future marathon weekends.

This tip is courtesy my wife, the "DisneyMommy," who discovered this little gem while I was out running 13.1 miles, and it's pretty simple -- the Magic Kingdom is a great park to visit during the half- and full marathons.

Why, you may ask? Isn't the Magic Kingdom packed with spectators? Surprisingly, the answer is both yes and no.

Yes, certain areas of the Magic Kingdom can get busy during the half- and full marathons, but only for a few hours in the morning. By the time the park opens at 9 a.m., the runners have gone by and most of the crowds (who are supporting the runners) will leave the MK headed to other areas (Epcot, mostly).

What's left is an empty Magic Kingdom, and by empty, I mean literally you have the park just about to yourself for a couple of hours. My wife and kids walked onto Peter Pan Saturday morning and I did the same on Sunday morning. For the first few hours, the park was deserted. Nearly everything was a walk-on. The only line I ran into was a ten-minute wait for Space Mountain at around noon.

The next time you're at WDW during marathon weekend, give the Magic Kingdom a try. It will be a bit tough getting to the park at first, but the effort is worth it!