Disney World Marathon Weekend 2027: Race Times and Where to Eat Before and After

Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend 2027 runs Wednesday, January 6 to Sunday, January 10. All four races and both challenges are sold out, so if you are running you already know your start time: 4:30 AM for the 5K and the marathon, 5:00 AM for the 10K and the half.

That start time sets the real planning problem. A runner who has to be up before 3:00 AM wants dinner early the night before, and most want pasta. When we counted on November 11, days after those dates opened for booking, seven of the nine Italian restaurants at Walt Disney World had no early dinner for two on the nights before the half marathon and the marathon. This guide has the race schedule, what is still open for each night, and how to catch a table when someone cancels.

Jump to

• 2027 race schedule and start times
• Expo and bib pick-up hours
• Which dinner goes with which race
• Pasta dinners: what is still open
• Early dinner anywhere, by night
• The celebration dinner
• After the race: late breakfast and lunch
• When the table you want is gone

2027 Marathon Weekend race schedule

2027 is the 30th anniversary of the Walt Disney World Half Marathon, and runDisney has made Donald Duck, the race's first mascot, the host of every course. Pluto has the 5K, Chip 'n' Dale the 10K, Donald and Daisy the half, and Mickey and Minnie the marathon.

Expo and bib pick-up hours

runDisney says every participant must attend the runDisney Health & Fitness Expo at least one day before their first race to pick up a bib.

Bring your Check-in Pass from your MyDisney account, and complete the digital waiver for each race before you arrive. On the first day, the official merchandise shop uses a virtual queue.

The expo hours matter for dinner. A marathon-only runner arriving Saturday has until 3:00 PM to get the bib, which leaves the late afternoon for an early meal.

Which dinner goes with which race

Disney opens dining reservations 60 days ahead at about 6:00 AM Eastern. Guests staying at a Disney hotel can book their whole stay, up to 10 nights, from 60 days before check-in, so they can book race-week dinners before those dates open to everyone else.

runDisney's pages for 2027 list no pasta party or other dining event, so the pre-race dinner is yours to book.

Pasta dinners: what is still open

We track nine Italian restaurants at Walt Disney World. This is how many early dinner times, from 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM, each had open for a party of two when we counted on November 11, 2026 at 12:15 AM Eastern.

The two big nights are the tight ones. On Friday, January 8 (before the half) and Saturday, January 9 (before the marathon), only Terralina and Topolino's Terrace had an early dinner for two. Saturday had been bookable for less than a day.

Trattoria al Forno is the clearest sign of race week. It had no early dinner for two on any of the four nights. On four ordinary nights in December (the 9th to the 12th) it had one every night.

A party of four does better. The same count for four people:

If you are two runners travelling with two supporters, search as four. Tony's Town Square and Tutto Italia had nothing early for two on Saturday and a table for four.

Later dinner is easier, if your race allows it. Every one of the nine had some dinner time open after 6:30 PM on all four nights. Via Napoli, for example, had three dinner times for two on Saturday, all later than 6:30. That works for a spectator. It is a hard sell for someone with a 2:30 AM alarm.

Tony's Town Square and the two EPCOT restaurants are inside theme parks, so dinner there needs park admission as well.

Early dinner anywhere, by night

Pasta is a preference, not a rule. Across all 99 Walt Disney World table-service restaurants we track, this is how many had an early dinner (4:00 PM to 6:30 PM) open:

So an early table exists on every night. It is the specific restaurants runners want that go first. Disney Springs had the most choice on marathon eve, with 19 restaurants showing an early dinner for two, and it needs no park ticket. Our restaurant directory shows every calendar as it stands today.

These dates had been on sale for one to four days when we counted. Expect every number here to fall between now and January.

The celebration dinner

For Saturday, January 9, the evening after the half marathon, this is what the popular celebration tables looked like for two people:

Cinderella's Royal Table, Le Cellier and Narcoossee's each still had dinner times for a party of four.

Marathon Sunday, January 10, opens for booking on November 11. We will add the count here once the date has been on sale for a day.

After the race: late breakfast and lunch

With starts at 4:30 and 5:00 AM, the rest of the morning is open. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday of race week, 68 or 69 of the 99 restaurants had a table for two between 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM. This is the easy meal of the weekend. Book it now and it is one less thing to think about.

When the table you want is gone

Race week is 56 to 60 days away. Plans change between now and then, and every cancelled table goes straight back on sale. At Via Napoli, 12 early-dinner times for two on January 6 had already closed in the four days since that date opened, and tables like those are the ones that come back when a party drops out.

A PixieWire dining alert does the checking for you. Pick the restaurant, the date, your party size and a time window such as 4:00 to 6:30 PM. When a matching table opens, you get an email and an app notification with a link to book it on Disney's site. We do not book for you and never see your Disney account.

1. Open the restaurant from the tables above and choose your race-eve date.
2. Choose "Watch this table" and set the early window.
3. Book with Disney when the alert arrives.

Alerts are the paid part of PixieWire. A Single Watch is $4.99 and can be re-pointed for a year; texts start at $9.99; a Trip Pass is $24.99 for 25 alerts over 90 days, which covers a pasta dinner, a celebration dinner and a backup for each. Nothing renews. Details are on the Dining Alerts page.

More for race week: the Disney World dining reservations guide explains the 60-day window, and the character dining guide covers the breakfasts families book around the races. If you are on a dining plan, the plans change on January 1: see Disney Dining Plan 2027.

Sources and method

• Race dates, start times, prices, sold-out status and expo hours: runDisney's Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend pages, read November 11, 2026.
• Booking window: Disney's dining plan how-to guide.
• Every restaurant count: PixieWire's availability tracking, counted November 11, 2026 at 12:15 AM Eastern across 99 Walt Disney World table-service restaurants. "Early dinner" means a reservation time from 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM. How we collect it is on our how we measure availability page.

We re-count weekly until race week and add Sunday, January 10 once it is on sale.