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Beach Club\Boardwalk\Swan & Dolphin\Yacht Club

The Crescent Lake track is one of the better running paths at Disney. I’ll drive to the Boardwalk just to run these paths when in town. The Epcot Resorts; Boardwalk, Beach Club, Yacht Club and Swan/Dolphin Resorts surround Crescent Lake and offer a variety of scenery, pavements and hills. (OK hills for Disney). Running Disney can be a challenge as the sun, heat and humidity can be brutal. Also, running during peak times can be troubling as most other folks on the path are more interested in getting to Epcot or are really tired and just wanting to get back to the resort. The path around Crescent Lake in the Boardwalk area does have several obstacles on both sides on the boardwalk. On the Yacht and Beach Club side, be careful of sand tracked onto the sidewalk near the beach located in front of the Beach Club Resort.

The concierge desk has a copy of the path map found on this website. In addition to the pathways found on the Disney map there is an additional track available. In addition the 7/8 mile Boardwalk Canal loop, one can add an additional 3/4 miles to the loop by continuing on to the Disney Studios parking lot. To get the full ¾ mile loop, run to the bus stop area before returning. As you return, just make sure to make a right turn on the sidewalk just after the underpass to cross the canal.

----- Charles Wait

Old Key West

The official running route for OKW starts at Slappy Joes near the Hospitality House. It runs along the sidewalk behind the Hospitality House crossing Peninsular Road and turns south (left). It follows the sidewalk south and makes a right on Old Turtle Pond Road. The course makes a left around a parking island and approaches Turtle Snack Shack and Pool area. It runs just to the left or east of the pool along a cart/utility vehicle pathway. This path is well lit at night and wide enough to allow running with other guests in the area. The pathway goes behind Building 42 and moves east. As you approach the back of Building 49 a golf cart path adjoins the running path. They are separated by a fence. Do not run on the golf cart path as golfers are not looking for runners along that path. The running path crosses the golf cart path and enters the parking lot again in front of building 49. From there the running path follows South Point Road until the intersection with Peninsular road where the path crosses Peninsular and follows a sidewalk north to Hospitality House. Note that the side walk crosses back to the west side of Peninsular Road in front of Building 47 and you return from there along the path taken earlier. Disney publishes the route length as 1.37 miles. My Garmin unit found the distance to be 1.45 miles. I think that much of the variance in length can be attributed to running through building parking lots where possible and behind bus stops rather than in front of the bus stops.

The sidewalks in OKW are wide and smooth and have handicap ramps at all intersections with roadways and parking lot entrances. During bus hours I recommend keeping to the side walk and off the main roads as they are narrow and traffic can be heavy. Note that the published route takes you by three bus stops. Beware of other guests as you approach the bus stops as the side walk will tend to funnel you in between the bus stop shelter and the actual bus loading lane. There is a sidewalk that goes behind the bus stops, but it can appear camouflaged if you are not looking for it. As an alternative, I usually run through all parking areas.

For added mileage within the resort I add an extension to the published route by following Peninsular Road up to Miller’s Road and follow it back to the parking island between Buildings 20 and 21. This adds an additional 0.65 miles to the route making for a total of 2.1 miles within the resort.

OKW used to show a pathway to Down Town Disney on their resort map. This path is called a nature path today and is not widely advertised as being in place. This path follows the canal between the resort and DTD. Officially, this path is closed between dusk and dawn, but I have run it early in the morning and found ambient lighting to be sufficient if one exercises care. Note that this pathway is also used by golf course maintenance vehicles in the early hours so keep your head on a swivel looking out for these vehicles as they are not expecting to find you on the path when dark. The path is wide and a relatively smooth surface of asphalt and concrete as you near DTD.

You can access the nature path from OKW between Buildings 54 and 55. The path immediately joins a cart path as it crosses a weir dam at the southern end of the canal system. As soon as you cross the dam the paths fork two ways, take the fork to the left that follows the canal. There are three bridges to the left as you make your way down the path from OKW to DTD. As a general caution, move to and land side of the path as you near the first two bridges. The first bridge is connects the golf course between the eighth hole green and ninth hole tee box. It has an unlevel surface as you approach the bridge so make sure to stay to the right or land side as you near the bridge. This bridge marks the quarter mile point along the trail. The next bridge come up at 3/8 (0.37) miles. The second bridge is closed and goes over to the Old Treehouse Resort area. Again bear to the land side of the path as you pass this bridge. As you pass the second bridge the trail moves inland a little from the canal and is tree lined on both sides of the path. The path also has a few bends while in the forest creating limited sight down the path. The final bridge crosses the canal to the golf course clubhouse and the western end of Saratoga Springs Resort. It is located at about 0.6 miles into the trail. This third bridge also serves as an intersection of a couple cart paths. Keep your eyes open as you want to continue down the pathway that continues down the side of the canal. From here it’s a short tenth of a mile to the DTD parking lot and .3 miles to the Cirque du Soleil auditorium making a total of just under a mile one way and a two mile round trip.

From here, you can create your own track through and around the parking lots, DTD and down Hotel row on Lake Buena Vista heading east.

Enjoy the run.

---- Charles Wait

Lake Buena Vista Resorts(Downtown Disney & Saratoga Springs)

Wanted to share some running info my wife and I gleaned this past fall. While visiting the food & wine festival, we had to keep up our 2007 WDW marathon training. We we're staying at the Best Western at the Lake Buena Vista resorts which are right by Downtown Disney & Saratoga Springs. Having to run a 15 mile run, we were having trouble finding a good spot; Downtown was woking with too many winding paths and sidewalks that would suddenly disappear. By heading east on Hotel Plaza BLVD, then turning north on 535, then a LEFT on Palm PKWY (535 continuation) there's a near endless sidewalk the whole way. From our hotel, till the sidewalk ends, and back again its about 12 mile trip. The sidewalks are wide with very few roads to cross. For those needing a LONG run and don't want the treadmill, its nice little spot. Included is the mapquest link. Hope this helps.

MapQuest Map

---- Max Clark

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