Thursday, May 10, 2012

Expedition Everest Base Camp

Friday we land at MCO and decided that we would take it easy. This was our anniversary/ Christmas present and we had been looking forward to it for months. No parks the first day; just get our race stuff, hang out for awhile, dinner with friends and end with fireworks on the beach. In hindsight, best decision ever.

Our basecamp for the next 4 days
EEC base camp
Once we were ready to go to the expo (granted, it’s around 1pm on Friday. The expo opened at noon), no cast member had any idea what we were talking about.  The one that did, pointed us in the wrong direction. Really, Disney? I know this is a small event, but this is the host hotel. Someone should've had their act together. They didn't get signage up until Saturday, but whatever. Quirks of race weekend. 

The Expo
Blink and you would’ve missed it. I guess I was thinking it would’ve been bigger due to the fact that it is Disney and the only other experience I have with runDisney is Marathon weekend. I knew it wasn’t going to be that large (it is technically only a 5k), but a few vendors would’ve been nice. At least they had merchandise, which is more than I can say for the marathon relay (although no jackets. . .which I was hoping for. Oh well).
The wall
 I liked that the artist was creating the piece as the day went on. It was nice atmosphere but I have no idea what a graffiti like mural has to do with an Everest Challenge. . but a nice touch. Of course, I had to tag our team as obnoxiously as possible.

Team Happily Ever After reporting in!
We got our bibs. We got our pins. We got our shirts. We got pictures with basecamp. And then we got to wait 30 minutes for the presentation so we could make sure we knew what we were doing. They had a softball game going on and we could pick up our park tickets (score!) in the interim. 
I’m really glad they had these informationals, because even though I tried to do as much research as I could online, there isn’t that much out there for this event and I heard a few things changed this year. The Course Talk reviewed the rules and regulations with a course overview. 
There was also a Q&A and a ton of questions were asked; mainly about the scavenger hunt clues (seriously, runDisney, your clues are redonk). A few of my anxieties were addressed, but I was still a little worried about time (spoiler alert: we finished in time). As soon as I realized we weren't in the last wave, I felt better. They were spacing the waves out 6 minutes apart, so we were golden. The cast member assured me this was a “fun run” so have “fun”. Which helped put it in perspective, so I stopped worrying. (sidenote: Even in the dark and in costumes and hats, she remembered us after the race, and congratulated us. Now that's a cast member).
Did I mention this was the best vacation ever?!
 
Wishes from Polynesian
After that, we met a friend for dinner at Kona's Cafe in the Polynesian. I knew you could watch MK's Wishes from that hotel and I wanted a Dole Whip, so it was a win-win. The cherry on top? They were projecting The Lion King on the beach, too (I found out about hotels showing Disney movies the last time I was there. Outdoor movies are my favorite, I just didn't think I'd ever be at a hotel at 9pm to experience it). Feet in the sand, the weather cooling off, eating a Dole Whip with my favorite person next to me; It was such a great moment that even the kid throwing sand didn't even bother me. 

Then it was time for bed! The next morning was the only time I demanded we have a mission: run semi-psychoticly to Toy Story Mania; so we needed sleep :-) 


7 comments:

  1. Ha! I've done the early morning crazy run to Toy Story before! And still ended up in 30 minute line.

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    1. The insanity around that ride is just. . . insane. I sent B to get in line while I got fastpasses and we still waited about 15-20.

      A friend said you might as well wait in line, but I don't live in FL anymore. I don't have time to wait in line!

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    2. I completely agree .... INSANE!!

      The first times I went on it were only because Brian is Brian and got me any time fastpasses for it. I just HATE waiting in line. Hate!!

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    3. Everyone says the wait is worth it, so I guess. Whatev. I haven't waited in line like that since. . . idk when!

      I do miss the fastpass/ child swaps I collected while I worked there. Never waited for anything, but if we did, we didn't care.

      I heard about the golden fastpasses. I need one of those.

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    4. Mine wasn't the BIG fancy pants one - just a pass to use whenever at that ride. Brian was really handy when he worked in the park or just went anywhere. Now he's all about resorts. Maybe he can get us extra Mickey soaps?? Hm.

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  2. I love it already!!! Everything about it!!

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