Yes I enjoyed the second year much more than the first. The humidity was better, I was in better shape (we ran up until mile 7.5 without walking and with 2 very short photo stops) and the course had a bit more entertainment.
Last year I remember: they had the DJ in the van again. Which means little to me since I run with headphones. They had a giant flame leaping out of a pond, this thing was enormous! You could feel the heat coming off it. Instead of a parade float at the AK entrance they had:
the FOTLK animals! One of my few picture stops.
I hope you don't mind me posting a few pictures.
Hmm, let me think. They had Dr. Facilier, the Croc from Peter Pan, Scar on a rock overlooking the hyenas, one of the subs from the old 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was sitting in the grass beside Osceola. There were zombies in professional sports outfits, gravediggers from the
MNSSHP parade, Jack and Sally (they had a huuuge line), the pirate ship and some MNSSHP parade ballroom dancers.
I had to get a picture with them because I was dressing as a ballroom dancer for the MNSSHP.
The pacing for this race was so much better than the first year. Instead of 4 corrals, I believe they had around 10 or maybe even 12. So everyone was spaced out much better. We had no problem running on the infamous dirt path from the year before.
And the after party is so amazing!
Lotso was angry with me because I called him a bad bear. The two girls with us had never seen Toy Story 3 and said he looked sweet.
And they had this guy, who is extremely rare:
Not sure if you are interested in meeting characters but the after party also had: Darth Vader, Maleficent, Gaston, Cruella, Snow Queen and the Tremaines. It really was a lot of fun.