Away She Went: Disney May 2014: Expedition Everest Challenge

My sister in law, Christy, had the brilliant idea to combine a trip to Disney and our first 5K together. The Expedition Everest Challenge is a 5K race with obstacles and a scavenger hunt in Animal Kingdom. After the 11 p.m. race there is a party in the park with access to the Expedition Everest ride, Dinosaur, and a few others. Disney has "race hotels" earmarked for races where they provide transportation to and from the race and also give you a discount on the hotel. We decided to stay at The Caribbean Beach hotel for our race. This is not one of my favorite hotels as it is HUGE and there are several stops for buses. We really prefer the Coronado for our favorite hotel. My flight came in a little later so Christy went and picked up my packet, t shirt and pin for me. When I arrived we went to Downtown Disney for supper and a walk around. On the day of the race, Christy took me to the Expo and then we went back to Downtown Disney to kill some time.

Caribbean Beach...a race hotel for the Expedition Everest Race

wall to sign for the race

signing our name on the race wall

at the Expo

terrified of the Yeti!

ready to race!

We rested in the afternoon as our race was at 11 p.m.. It began to drizzle and we were certain we would be running in the rain, but the rain let up right before the race. We left the hotel about 8 p.m. and there was live music and dancing as we waited for the race to start. Christy and I both had knee problems and had decided to just walk the race, but when thousands of people start running, you start running too. It was sooo much fun. We loved running the race, doing the scavenger hunt (which are really brain teasers), and I rode Expedition Everest for the very first time and it was IN THE DARK! I made sure to ride it again the next day in the daylight to see the difference. It was still scary!