I am considering travelling to Walt Disney World in January 2007 for the marathon. Do people use the water parks in January or is too cold? I am also considering staying at the Pop Century value resort. I have read that the insulation inbetween the rooms is poor and the rooms can be loud. I will need a good sleep in preparation for the marathon. For those that have stayed there, are the rooms quiet and are refrigerators available with little hassel?
Also is there normal priced (not expensive) grocery store near the Walt Disney World property?

SFtraveller - follow this link to a terrific board devoted solely to everything you even wanted to know about Disney:
www.disboards.com

FYI - Orlando in January is chilly - in the 50's and frequently rainy. It's also a rather slow month for family travel (except for the MLK holiday weekend), so you may be OK re the noise level (I have never stayed there. When on-site, usually stay at the Caribbean, which in my experience is relatively peaceful. You might consider it.)

Good luck w/ the marathon!

WDW usually keeps only one water park open, while it closes the other for maintenance during the winter months. (I also suspect demand for the waterparks is not high). The value resorts are pretty noisy but it will be relatively quiet in Jan. You might consider the Coronado Springs, a moderate WDW resort. It attracts a conference/convention crowd so it has more adults and fewer kids than the other WDW resorts. It tends to be one of the quietest WDW resorts.

Most of the fellow boarders at Pop Century Resort will also be marathoners so I wouldn't worry about noise.

Thank you for your help so far.
Can anyone who has gone for rides at WDW tell me if you were allowed to wear a back pack or a fanny pack when actually riding? If yes, which would be less cumbersome?

Another question. When you are on the water slides, in the wave pool etc.are people supposed to be barefoot or can shoes be worn? And where do people keep their stuff while they are playing around in the water parks? I would be travelling alone so I would not have someone on the beach or at the bottom of the ride to watch my things. I have read that the lockers are far away from the actual pools.
Thank you

The average high temp for Orlando in January is 72 degrees. It does occasionally dip into the 50s, but is normally very pleasant weather.

There's a Publix (grocery store) at 8145 Vineland Rd; it's probably the closest to WDW.

Just returned from a trip to WDW and we were able to take large backpacks on all rides with us, even the coasters. Many rides have a pouch in the car in which you can stash a fanny pack or handheld items. We sat the backpack on the floor with us and didn't have any trouble with it, other than figuring out how to squish it in next to our legs on some rides.

Good luck in the marathon!