Expedition Everest Challenge 2015 - EEC 2015

[samc]

Had a great time! The weather was perfect, scavenger hunt wasn't too hard (the first clue took a little too much brain power) & getting to do the rides at night was awesome!

 

[faneuil]

The word seek was the most challenging for me, because the pen was too thick!

I shaved 6.5 minutes off last year's time. For once, I felt like all my training resulted in something.

 

[Castle2Castle]

We ended up having another good time at the race and after party this year. Despite the appearance of apathy leading up to the race (Tink resumed social media priority even on race day), we didn't notice any big differences from the run or the after party from last year. The weather was exceptional, and with the experience last year we were able to enjoy more of the entertainment when the race was finished this year.

RunDisney may want to look at their contract with whoever is providing their medals, or how they design moving parts on mdedals, since I did see some reports online of broken medals being handed out over the weekend. That's at least three races now in which they've had defective medals (W&D, Avengers, EEC).

 

[sunshine girl]

I had a great time and am SO sad to see this race go. This is my favorite Disney race. We were so lucky with the weather this year!

My medal is still functional, but I saw a lot of people with broken medals. I will also say I was a little bit confused as to why the DJ seemed intent on playing 1990s music for most of the evening. Weird choices by the DJ. But I still had fun!

Anyone else think the tall guys on stilts were there as a concept test for what will be the Navi (sp? the tall blue people) in the future Avatarland? There was one stiltwalker last year, and this year five. Those blue Navi are supposed to be like 9 feet tall, so... makes sense for Disney to test how that would work out in a crowd, especially at night. Just a thought! I asked a cast member about it and he just smiled and gave me the side eye. So he either thought I was crazy, or he thought I was quite smart.

Hope everyone had a great race. I wish Disney had paid more attention to it or given the medal some special "Final Everest" update but I still enjoyed every minute! (Disney somehow managed to remove Everest from the runDisney website really quickly after totally ignoring it online for months... )

 

[uccats97]

This was my first experience with the EEC. I loved it and had a blast! I was a bit disappointed with the lack of build up by runDisney, and the "expo", what a joke! I was completely shocked at the carelessness of clue #2. It was all kinds of messed up. Someone really should have proofed it before printing thousands of them to use in a competition. My medal is still functioning but DH's broke before we got back to the resort. Overall, it was a fun experience but I felt there was room for improvement. I'm happy I had the opportunity to participate!

 

[nataly33012]

So glad I was able to participate in the last EEC. It was a fun course, and a fun spin to the typical runDisney events. I was really hoping there would be more "tech" shirt options to purchase, especially since it was the last one, so that was a major disappointment. Another disappointment was the medal. I didn't realize until I walked into the after party that my medal was completely scuffed in the front, and the magnet was not functioning to keep the compass closed. I decided that I would wait until I was done in the after party and see if anyone was still outside to discuss my options for it, but of course practically everyone and everything was packed up and ready to go by the time we walked out. I knew that if I walked out of the afterparty early, I was most likely not bothering going back in. I emailed runDisney and they are sending me two ones (one also for my DH who's magnet is working, but the medal is filled with scratches). This is the second time now that my medal is broken. Last year, my W&D medal's center portion completely came off. They really need to change manufacturers because clearly their medals are not of the quality they should be, especially with the costs of the runs behind so high.

 

[sunshine girl]

I totally agree on the tshirts. I didn't buy the ladies "I Did It!" shirt, because it was low-quality cotton and poorly designed/printed. The race shirts themselves were OK, but a plain white, super thin tech shirt? They are practically transparent and white tech shirts don't last long before they get permanently stained. It appears they tried to make them as cheaply as possible.

Anyway, this year I spent my money on a better quality New Balance shirt from their booth at packet pickup, instead of the cheap-o Disney shirt!

 

[uccats97]

I wanted one of the New Balance "home" shirts with the castle on the front. They had one left in the wrong size. Seriously? How does a company like NB not come prepared for these events? This was the first day of packet pick up too. I'm also super disappointed with the runDisney New Balance shoes. Have you seen the adorable Tinker Bell ones for that race?! I would've bought those in a minute! I don't get why all 2015 races don't get equal merchandise opportunities. :/

 

[rhettreaux]

Hi Everyone,

I was sad about this year’s EEC being the last one, but after I had such an incredibly good time, I feel even MORE depressed!

I felt like the scavenger hunt clues were considerably harder than last year’s, and the volunteers were not giving many hints! I actually liked that challenge; even if it takes you a while, it is more fulfilling to figure out the clues than have the volunteer give you the answer out of pity.

Just the same, I didn’t figure out the answer to the first clue until DAYS after the race! I met a bunch of people after the race and not a single one of them could explain how the answer was 34. At the clue station, after multiple wrong guesses, I just started calling out times with three repeated numbers to the volunteer, and after I said 11:19, he said “You’ve got it!” and handed me the next clue card. I was like “I’ve got what? 11:19?” Thank goodness the word search at the end was all vertical, or it would have taken us FOREVER to find thirty-four.

As for that thirty-four answer, here are the 17 numbers which repeat twice in a 24 hour period to make the thirty-four answers: 1:11, 2:22, 3:33, 4:44, 5:55, 11:10, 11:11, 11:12, 11:13, 11:14, 11:15, 11:16, 11:17, 11:18, 11:19, 10:00, 12:22

I really liked those blue-lit fangs on either side of the race course as we headed through Asia just before Kali River Rapids.

I didn’t buy drinks at the after-party, but it definitely seemed like Disney was serving something with lower octane than last year. There were a lot fewer incapacitated partiers, which was both a good thing and a bad thing (as far as entertainment value).

If anyone hears anything about Disney setting up another night race to replace the EEC, please let me know!

 

[kristenrice]

I really liked those blue-lit fangs on either side of the race course as we headed through Asia just before Kali River Rapids.

Those were so cool...and the best part is that when I hit that part of the course, the song that was on my playlist was "Roar" by Katy Perry! It couldn't have been more appropriate! It really pushed me through!

 

[MeridaAndAngus]

For anyone who has a broken medal, I emailed rD over the weekend and got a response today that they'll be sending me a new medal. Should arrive in 4-6 weeks.

 

[nhtinkerbell]

For anyone who has a broken medal, I emailed rD over the weekend and got a response today that they'll be sending me a new medal. Should arrive in 4-6 weeks.

do u have the email adress for them. My sons also broke and was really upset. Would luv to get his replaced.

 

[MeridaAndAngus]

do u have the email adress for them. My sons also broke and was really upset. Would luv to get his replaced.

Of course. I emailed runDisney@disneysports.com. Just as a warning, it usually takes a few days to get a response from a human. They will send you an automated response first.

 

[stesha]

HI Everyone,
Does anyone know if there is a Finisher's Certificate that we can print, like for other races??

 

[uccats97]

do u have the email adress for them. My sons also broke and was really upset. Would luv to get his replaced.

DH's medal broke. Mine works. I emailed runDisney to get his replaced. I got a less than magical response of "The medal was not intended to function as a working compass. Sorry." Um, okay. I still paid close to $150 for it! It's a darn good thing this race wasn't my first runDisney experience. Not sure I would've given them another chance. :/

 

[DisneyGirlFlorida]

This was my first RunDisney event and I'm so glad I did it! I had an absolute blast and enjoyed every minute of it. The clues for the scavenger hunt were hard, but I knew immediately that first one was ment to say digital and not analog.

I really liked going on the rides at night, but by about the third lap through AK I was feeling like I've seen enough of the park for a few weeks. LOL I did AK the day before so I had my fill.

I was a little disappointed at the expo based on what I heard about previous events, but I picked up my first pair of RunDisney sneakers so it's all good!

My medal (and my teammates medals) were broken, but an email to RunDisney the day after we got home took care of things. We got a response saying they would be happy to send a new one, though it may take 4-6 weeks.

I would recommend emailing again, since thats what we were instructed to do at the finish line by volunteers giving out the medals.

Now on to Wine & Dine 5k!!