Trip Report Climbing the Summit-An Everest Challenge 2014 Report

Hello! I just got back from a four-day three-night non-stop trip to the World for my graduation! It was just my dad and I, and it was so much fun!

We arrived on May 2nd from Philadelphia, and it took us FIVE hours to get there. We had tons of delays. We landed to rainy weather in Orlando. Once we finally got through to Magical Express we were greeted by large groups of cheerleaders coming to compete in the Summit competition. Disney had a lot on their plate this weekend!

Getting onto Magical Express wasn't that bad. While on it, my dad and I were trying to check our fastpasses and we had trouble on the app. We finally found them. We later found out the mymagic+ system was down for a while that day, un-linking tickets and resorts.

We arrived at Pop! Century Resort. We have never stayed at Pop! before. We checked in and they gave me this button:



I put it on immediately.

We got our room, and we went up to drop off our stuff. Our room was a mess. The carpet was definitely not vacuumed, there was food and dirt everywhere. My dad and I had to pick up some of the dirt. There was also baby powder on the bathroom floor, and food in the drawers. We were not impressed, but the room made do overall.

Since it was raining, we decided to go to packet pick-up for the Everest Challenge. It was at ESPN Wide World of Sports across the street. At the bus stop at Pop, there was a sign with directions for transportation, but not where to get the buses. We waited by the sign, and when a bus came, we had to chase it all the way down to the far side. Disney definitely could have done a better job with signs.

Once we got on the bus, we rode to ESPN, where we were dropped off in a random lot and we had to walk to the baseball stadium. In the pouring rain. Packet Pick-Up was organized and we didnt stay that long. I did win a Fit2Run tee shirt though!

Tee:


Everest Stuff:



After packet pick up, we went back to POP and then got on a bus to EPCOT!

 

[oommggitskait]

Great start! Can't wait to hear about the everest challenge! Looks like so much fun

Pretty terrible about your dirty room though. Not very Disney-like at all!

I'm from Philly too, btw

 

[imagination30]

yes the bus drop off for ewos is kinda of a dud.. , and as for the signage .. its really hit and miss . depending on your resort!.. but im in for this report

 

[FlaggNL]

Great start curious about the Everest challange

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

Yea! I can't wait to read more. Cute tee! Sorry to hear about the room - not a good way to start the stay.

 

[farrellbarrel]

Great start! Can't wait to hear about the everest challenge! Looks like so much fun

Pretty terrible about your dirty room though. Not very Disney-like at all!

I'm from Philly too, btw

I was a little disappointed about the room, but since we didnt spend much time there, it wasn't that big of a deal. Yay Philly! I left rain here to get rain there. It was still Disney!

 

[farrellbarrel]

yes the bus drop off for ewos is kinda of a dud.. , and as for the signage .. its really hit and miss . depending on your resort!.. but im in for this report

Definitely learned that for next time. I want to do more runs with rundisney, and I am going to assume all of the signage will be the same. The staff wasn't too knowledgeable either, which wasn't helpful.

 

[Tiggerish]

I saw lots of people wearing their EE Challenge t-shirts and wondered if one of them was you! Looking forward to the rest of your report!!

 

[farrellbarrel]

May 2nd (Continued)

Fastpass+ Reservations:

Mission:Space
Test Track
Spaceship Earth

Off to EPCOT we went!

We took the bus, which was not that bad. We were racing against the clock because our first Fastpass+ was between 3:10-4:10, and it was 4 when we arrived. When we got there, we walked to the gates and my dad tried to use his magic band, but the mickey head turned blue! Blue=bad. So we were pulled aside by guest relations and asked tons of questions. Because we checked in that day, and the computers were not connected/down, our tickets got a little messed up. While Brian, our great guest relations rep was fixing it, we were talking to him about Disney in general. We explained how we missed Test Track's reopening by days last visit(it was closed at the time due to rain) and how we were running against the clock to get to our first Fastpass+ option, Mission:Space. When we were done, Brian had added an unlimited Fastpass+ to Mission:Space, so we could ride it whenever we wanted. He also gave us a free fastpass+ to use on whatever we want, including Test Track for a second ride (if it ever came back up since it was raining) or Soarin'. Thank you Brian for starting our trip off great!!





Since we did not have time restrictions, we decided to head to the Flower and Garden Festival Center, since it closed at 5 PM and it was our first visit.

Because it was the end of the day, it was closing and there was not much to see. We stopped by the gift shop portion and I purchased a pin to add to my collection. I like to get pins for the year I go, what resort I stay in, and if there is anything special going on.



After we left the festival center, we decided to use our Mission:Space Fastpass+. We walked right on, and went with a little girl who was on her first ride! It is always so special to witness that. She loved it!!

 

[farrellbarrel]

After Mission:Space, we decided to ride the other Future World rides before we went to France for dinner. We went in Club Cool, and my dad's favorite soda was BEVERLY! Ew. I enjoyed Thailand's Melon Fanta. After Club Cool, we went to Journey into Imagination with Figment. We rode The Seas with Nemo and Friends, and watched Turtle Talk with Crush. We then went back to the entrance to use our Spaceship Earth Fastpass+, and then back to the Land to ride Living with the Land. We got stuck on Living with the Land because this kid kept standing up and sticking his hand in the water, shutting down the ride a few times.

We had to race to France for our ADR at Chefs de France, dodging large groups of school tours and cheerleaders. We finally made it to France, and checked in with the hostess. Within ten minutes we were seated. We had nice window seats with a view of world showcase. I loved people watching and being able to see Epcot without being in the rain.

Since we were on the Disney Dining Plan, and used 1 table serve for this meal, we had a limited menu. I had the French Onion Soup(not a fan), Salmon, and Creme Brulee. My dad had lobster bisque, short ribs, and chocolate moussee. The chocolate mousee was FABULOUS! I also loved the lobster bisque. This meal left me full. The staff was ok, no complaints!









After dinner, we walked into France to look at the Beauty and the Beast topiary.





Then we walked around the rest of World Showcase. We only really stopped in The American Adventure to try....


The Piggylicious Bacon Cupcake! We got it in a "to-go" container, aka a plate with a plastic cup on top, cause we were SO full from Chefs de France. I visited with my Toy Story friends.





American Adventure also gives a good Instagram opportunity!

We continued to go around, looking at Italy, and also stopping in Germany, because I was there last March and I needed to take some pictures for the friends I went with!

We stopped by Norway to ride Maelstorm, which was down for unknown reasons. So we decided to eat our cupcake. We stopped in a doorway, and I realized it looked into the room Elsa and Anna used to greet in! It was kind of leery, with some carpet pulled up and only one spotlight. I tried to take a picture but my phone was acting up.
The cupcake was...interesting. I was way too full to finish it. We ate three bites each and moved on to Mexico, and rode the boat ride. By then it was 9 and Illuminations (my favorite)! We stopped to watch a little. We then moved on towards Soarin to use our free Fastpass+! By then, it was EMH and we could not use it because it was "after hours". It was a ten minute wait and we still rode it. We then went BACK to Maelstorm, which was back up! We rode it, and were about to leave, when I heard the WHOOOSH that only one ride could make.

TEST TRACK WAS BACK UP! My dad was exhausted, but we both knew we needed to ride it. We got in the standby queue but noticed people were using the Fastpass+ line. My dad got out of line to ask, and if you had a Test Track Fastpass+ for anytime during that day, you could use it until 11:30 that night! So we got into the Fastpass+ line. We made our cars, and got stuck at the section after that. It turned out the ride broke for a little. It came back after 15 minutes. We rode and sadly liked the old version better. There was more thrill to it. It was still ok. And the end was still the best as always. We then walked out, after an exhausting day.




Overall, Epcot was my favorite. The rain drove people away from the park. But the amount of school groups there, with middle school and elementary school aged kids, was crazy. I understand high school (mine goes every 4 years!) But middle and elementary? The kids were rude at some points and just in the way. Nothing to damper my spirits though.

Next:May 3rd-Downtown Disney, RACE DAY!!!!

 

[mrdrift]

Great TR so far along with nice pictures. I've always wanted to try Chefs de France but was scarred by some of the reviews. But your food looked great and I will give it a try. Thanks for the review

 

[farrellbarrel]

Great TR so far along with nice pictures. I've always wanted to try Chefs de France but was scarred by some of the reviews. But your food looked great and I will give it a try. Thanks for the review

I was questioning if I wanted to use 2 table service credits at Le Cellier(never eaten there) or just the one at Chefs de France and I decided because it was such a short trip Chefs would be good. I am not disappointed by my choice. I questioned my choice for a little because I saw mixed reviews but it was good!

 

[farrellbarrel]

We woke up around 8 AM and went down to Everything Pop for breakfast. We decided to split the Breakfast Bounty Platter with French Toast and that was perfect! I don't eat much, and my dad felt full. We used one Quick Serve, and I recommend looking at how much you eat and if you can split to conserve points for later, especially on short trips.

My original plan was packet pick-up, but since we did it on Friday we decided to just hang around in our room, making sure our race stuff was together and just relaxing, since we had a long day ahead of us. Around 10:30, we went down to the Downtown Disney buses, and they were crowded! I was a little surprised. When we got to Downtown Disney, it was a little confusing from the bus stop where to go, because there are so many walls and its poorly marked. Its very follow the leader. Once we got pass the walls, we entered into the Pleasure Island area, and turned right. We walked past Raglan Road, which we had a 1:45 lunch reservation for. We went to the very crowded World of Disney, where I got this beauty:



My dad was on a hunt for presents for the rest of my family. He asked them what they wanted, and my youngest sister wanted the rarest of them all: OLAF. My dad, unaware of the craze, goes on this wild hunt around World of Disney to find Olaf. I was trying to tell him he hasn't been seen since November, but he couldn't believe that. The only Frozen merch they had was phone cases for Iphone 4/4s and 5/5s, a book, and a few tees.

After I convinced him that Frozen merch was not in our future that day,we moved on to Once Upon a Toy and Pin Traders. Pin Traders had NOTHING. I just felt that compared to my 2012 trip, there were not a lot of choices when it came to pins. I was disappointed.

Then we went to Art of Disney, where I fell in love with way too many pieces that were way too expensive.

We headed back, and were about 30 minutes early for our reservation. So, we walked up to the Characters in Flight balloon, and then back.



We headed in to Raglan Road, 20 minutes early. We were seated right away. It was busy, but not full. I had the Soup and Salad combo, with a Caesar and the Tomato soup. Very good, but big and filling. My dad had Sod the Stew. Both were good. For dessert, we had Strawberry and Apple Crumble. It was SO good. I loved it so much and we were both so surprised about how good it was.



Overall, Raglan Road was good. I was disappointed there were no dancers, because I was under the impression they performed at lunch. Oh well.

After we were done, we walked around West Side and Pleasure Island and then left. We decided to take the Art of Animation bus, and then walk over to Pop. I really wanted to see the figures and everything they did.

We started at Lion King section.







Then Cars

 

[farrellbarrel]

Finally, Finding Nemo.




I really liked the themeing and the did a FANTASTIC job! I hope to stay here one day. I am very interested in the history of Pop and what did not come to be, and what was there instead. I had a conversation with a DVC rep at POP about it, and we talked about River Country and other projects that were left in blue sky stage or mid-build/use.

Up Next: Climbing the Summit, or Racing!

 

[farrellbarrel]

May 3rd (Continued):Climbing the Summit


After leaving AOA around 3:30, we returned to our room and took a "nap". We stayed in the 60's building, on the 4th floor, on the opposite side of the pool, and I still heard the people at the pool. I'm not sure if they were just extra loud or I was anxious to run, but I could not sleep. We got up around 5:15 and went down to grab snacks and waters for before the race. We returned to the room, watched the Kentucky Derby (California Chrome-WOOO!) and got ready. While we were getting ready, the bathroom light blew out. We called maintenance, who came to fix it. When the lady turned the light on, it worked again! She changed the bulb just in case, but it "blew out" and then went back to working a few more times. It was weird.


After some more waiting and semi-warm ups, we were ready to go. We were about to leave when we noticed in was colder than we thought, and still raining. So we had to add layers and rearrange some clothing. It was around 7:45-8 when we left our room.


When we got down to the transportation, the line was to the door. I had no clue how many people were running it. All I knew was that we were Corral D, which personally surprised me. This was my first 5k EVER. I put ten minute mile down for my time, but I thought D seemed a little close to the front. When we got in line, we realized it went all the way up to Corral J. That's a lot of people. When we finished the race, corrals were still going off. We left the post race party early, and people were still finishing the race. It surprised me, but didn't. A friend from home ran Princess, and she was in Corral A. She's athletic, and had done halfs before, but she was not expecting A when she picked up her packet. When she ran, she was a top finisher, and she was very surprised. So I was a little prepared for the corral placement. She called the Disney Races "half's for everyone".


But I digress. We waited about 15 minutes, and buses kept coming. We made it on the third bus. We got to Animal Kingdom around 8:30, and it was pouring. We walked the mile from bus drop-off to pre-race area. In the rain. We did not check anything. We made it up towards the front to be with the DJ.



The Start!!!


We stretched, went to the Poter-Potty's (EW) and got into Corral D's holding area. It was still raining. It was this awful mist. That would not stop. We tried to have fun though.



Corrals A-D were allowed into their actual corral at 9:30. They sent A-D in the "first wave". I am not sure what time corral E went off.


Corral A was off at 10 and everyone else followed 6 minutes later. As soon as Corral A went off, it stopped raining!! Wooo!







Corral D's turn!!


I'm sorry I did not take pictures on the coarse while running. Lots of text on Everest coming your way!


But first, a map:


The race starts in the Butterfly parking lot, where it loops you around the parking lot to the entrance of the park. That is the first mile, and our first obstacle was in that mile. We had to jump over hay bales. The first mile felt so easy, maybe because you had the goal of getting into a Disney park. Once we entered the park we came across the first scavengers, since this is a CHALLENGE! We crossed paths, but CM's tried their best to keep runners and scavengers separate. Something they could work on. What's new. Most of the second mile is in AK itself. We saw a couple characters, but no animals. I think the rain might have prevented some of the on course entertainment to be there. Just after entering backstage, you hit mile 2 marker. The third mile was the hardest(Maybe because the most I did in training was 2 miles). It felt like forever, and it was just a big loop. We did run through tires as the obstacle. I was starting to feel fatigued, and figured I'd slow down at mile three. We kept going, and right before/after ( I cant remember!) Was the final obstacle, and under rope army crawl! They had turf laid down, thank god, or I would not be crawlin in mud! After I saw the mile three marker, I realized I could see the finish. That gave me the push I needed to cross that 5k finish line with the biggest grin.

Immediately, I was handed my first clue and two blue sharpies with flashlights on the end. We read our first clue, which took 3 tries to get correct. The first clue was in the Palm Court section. There were different clues with different stations so not everyone had the same thing.

After we got our first clue, we continued to the Pizzafari Courtyard to solve the second. This. Was. SO. Hard. We needed lots of help and I still did not really get it. The lady who was suppose to help wasn't very helpful either.

The third clue, Africa's clue, was MUCH easier. We got that and had the fourth clue in no time. The fourth clue was even easier, and my dad went to the bathroom while I did it. We got clue #5 no sweat and were told the finish was RIGHT around the corner. It was another mile. We finished near the Scavenger Hunt start. When we were done, we got our cliff bars, poweraide, bananas, and water. Along with our medals. I was so happy to finish my first ever 5k, and even more excited to start my running journey with run Disney through this race.


Team Flan Clan!
Our official times are 59:19 total (race and scavenger hunt), 29.41 5k


After we took the pictures, ate the food, and posted our posts on social media, we headed into the post race party. Which crossed us with runners and hunters! What a mess. I'm surprised if anyone didn't get lost and accidentally went on the wrong course. We finally got to the party, and took our ride on Expedition Everest. Gotta after you were challenged to reach it right?! After our ride, we walked to Dinoland, where the rest of the party was. We walked around, spotted the Yeti and got our picture with Goofy.



Once we realized there was not much else to do, we headed back to the bus depot. There were tons and tons of people walking to the party, and some still doing the hunt! It was past midnight. We got to the bus, and sat for 15 minutes waiting for others. We finally left, and got back to Pop around 1. I was in bed by 1:30-2.

I had a great time racing and I am so excited to race again, especially with run Disney. I have lots of their races on my bucket list. I recommend this race to families, couples, friends, anyone! It was so much fun.

Up next: Magic Kingdom, or so many people :/

 

[imagination30]

congrads on your first race ever and your first Disney race... its like a frito lay potato chip , you cant just eat one! lol.. its so addictive.. , best of luck on your new found sport! run like the winds bullseye!

 

[mrdrift]

Great report and congrats of your first ever 5K run .

 

[lbrad]

AWESOME!!! You did it!! Your first 5k is under your belt & in Disney

 

[farrellbarrel]

congrads on your first race ever and your first Disney race... its like a frito lay potato chip , you cant just eat one! lol.. its so addictive.. , best of luck on your new found sport! run like the winds bullseye!

Thank you, it really is addictive!

 

[farrellbarrel]

Great report and congrats of your first ever 5K run .

Thank you, I cannot wait to do more!! I am signed up for my local color run!