Running... From Coast to Coast and Back Again - Tink 1/2 TR, Princess TR

[20thingamabobs]

All pictures were taken at home after the race...

DF and I walked towards the entrance while we read the first clue. We were instructed to go to the Oasis Palms. DF started to pull at the map that we were handed but I told him to just put in away because we wouldn’t be needing it. As we walked back through the main gate, we were instructed to hold our wrists in the air so they could verify that we were wearing our party bracelets:

The Oasis Palms was the small section of Palm Trees right inside the main gate. Once there, you needed to figure out the answer and write it on your clue and show it to the CM, once it was verified as being correct, you were handed your next clue. Here’s our first clue (I’ve cut the bottom off in the picture where we wrote our answer in case anyone wants to try and answer it):

Front:

Back:

It read: To find our lost explorer, Gary Ericson and join the party we heard, You have to solve four clue - each solution is a password
Keep this in mind as you try to achieve this feat -
There are many different passwords so don't try to cheat
Show your password at the sign that matches the location printed at the top of each card.
And if it's correct then you'll get your next clue (it's really not hard)
Collect the four solution that you'll then combine to get a final password you need to get past the finish line

Looking for guidance? To get your message across, navigate by the stars!

Well, this is where things got confusing. Since we had no idea what to expect, I thought that there would be something at the location to help you solve the clue. There isn’t. The answers are solely inside the clue itself; the location is just a check point. DF said that he thought the answer was MAP because of the stars next to the letters M, A, and P at the bottom of the clue. I thought this seemed too easy but we went with it and it turned out to be correct! However, we had wasted a lot of time thinking it was too easy and looking around for something else at the checkpoint. When we showed it to the CM, they handed us our next clue and we could tell as we were running away that we weren’t the only ones that had been confused. Our next destination was Camp Minnie-Mickey in the Donald section. We ran as fast as we could as I led the way back to where Camp Minnie-Mickey is. Once back in the opening near FOTLK and all the meet & greet trails, we saw a white sign with DONALD written in black and we headed over there. Here’s Clue #2:

Front:

Back:

It read:

Turn KYAWJ into your password. Let point out that if you follow these directions to the letter, you'll find the correct starting position. It's as easy as A-B-C.

This was by far the hardest clue. We didn’t have any idea what we were suppose to do. We tried to take a stab at the answer and when we showed it to the CM, she actually laughed at us. Couldn’t blame her, our answer was horrible. So then we asked for a clue. She explained that since the compass at the bottom was pointing to East then we were suppose to start A as E and W, X, Y, and Z were letters A-D to make the new alphabet:
E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D

Seriously? Who thinks of that? Anyway, we quickly wrote the new alphabet above the old letters and then filled the new letters in for the old ones in the KYAWJ. We were left with the word OCEAN. We showed this to the CM and she verified that it was correct and handed us our third clue. Here it is:

Front:

Back:

It read:
want to conquer the mountain? You've got to look at it from all angles. And, it helps in solving this clue too.

I could see the answer clearly and immediately this time. I’m not sure why I had an easy time with it because there were others around us that couldn’t see it all. Even DF said he had trouble reading unless he held it a certain way. But it took me about 5 seconds to look at it and tell DF the answer was UNEXPLORED and we were off at a run to our next destination which was Africa - Kenya. We made it to Africa and I handed over my card with the answer. The CM verified it and handed us our fourth clue. We were on our way to our last stop in Asia-Laos . Once again, we answered this clue quickly. They had e-mailed out a “practice” clue a couple months before the race and the clue/answer was the exact opposite. Here it is:

Front:

Back:

It read:

When choosing a password, it's important not to pack Light.

Flashlight
Lantern
Matches
Net

I quickly wrote down Net and we were on our way to Asia. We made it to Asia and looked around at all the signs but could find Laos anywhere. Near the spot where they take PhotoPass pics with Everest in back, I found a CM and told him my dilemma. Well rather than directing me to my location he just helped me solve the final “password” needed to get into the party. I wasn't going for this. There was no way I wasn’t “finishing” and getting all my clues. So back to Asia I went. I met back up with DF and he was like “over here, I found it” It was tucked all the way to the side of the quick service Yak ‘n’ Yeti in this dark corner. No wonder we had missed it. So we showed our answer and were handed our last clue. Here it is:

Front:

Back:

It read:
Take your pass word (the solution to each clue).

If you're letter perfect and orderly, you'll know what to do.

First things first! Remember that and then.

Put what you've got together and finish with the number 10!

This will give you a final password to write here.

Show it at the finish line, they'll let you through and cheer!

Having already been helped unwillingly with the answer I jotted it down quickly and we ran towards the finish line. As we approached, a CM asked us for the “password” and we told her MOUN10 (mountain). It was made up of the first letter of each of the previous passwords (Map, Ocean, Unexplored, Net) plus the number 10. We were allowed to pass and finally crossed the finish line. We were handed our medals followed gatorade, water (1.5 liters of it), a banana, and power bars. With goodies in hand and medals around our neck, we made our way into the after party.

Continued next post...

 

[amazingact21]

You remembered the race path so much better than I did. When I was writing, I kept thinking, "Well, we exited out of this behind-the-scenes area, I just don't remember where." So reading yours was a great refresher!
I laughed at how you said, "Some guy my age walked up to me." I told him it'd be weird!

It seems like we had the same issues with the clues. I thought the first one was too obvious, and the 2nd one was ridiculous! I did the same thing you did, rearranging the letters into alphabetical order and creating a crazy jumble of letters.

It sounds like you guys had fun, though! Can't wait to read about the after party.

 

[Shannon84]

I am so glad I am reading your report of this and amazingact21 's report...because its hilarious to see both sides of the random meeting story

That second clue is crazy...I would never figure that out without a hint!! I don't know how anyone would to be honest!!

The race sounds like such a fun one to try....I am seriously keeping it in mind for next year!!

 

[Dsnygrl1205]

That looks like it was so much fun! I really want to go next year but I don't think it's in the cards. We have to go in March for our wedding planning session and DS and I are going for a week at the end of April during his school vacation so I doubt I'll be able to get down there the first weekend in May! I guess I'll have to continue living through you. Are you going to ESPN weekend next year?

 

[jenseib]

Love the updates. But those clues are really hard

 

[20thingamabobs]

That huge sign with all the signatures is VERY cool.

I thought it was pretty cool too and when I saw it on race day I was glad that we had signed it because it was fun trying to find our names again. The whole thing was spray painter... wish I had a talent like that

You remembered the race path so much better than I did. When I was writing, I kept thinking, "Well, we exited out of this behind-the-scenes area, I just don't remember where." So reading yours was a great refresher!
I laughed at how you said, "Some guy my age walked up to me." I told him it'd be weird!

It seems like we had the same issues with the clues. I thought the first one was too obvious, and the 2nd one was ridiculous! I did the same thing you did, rearranging the letters into alphabetical order and creating a crazy jumble of letters.

It sounds like you guys had fun, though! Can't wait to read about the after party.

Haha I had a copy of the race course so I used it as a refresher. I had a general idea of where we went but that backstage areas confused me too.

I really didn't think the encounter was weird I just didn't know how else to write it I always think it's fun meeting DISers (and even more fun to come home and talk about the encounter)!

Yea those were the exact problems we had. I read your report the other day and your scavenger hunt was basically an identical experience as ours but it was fun getting to see what some of the other clues were!

I am so glad I am reading your report of this and amazingact21 's report...because its hilarious to see both sides of the random meeting story

That second clue is crazy...I would never figure that out without a hint!! I don't know how anyone would to be honest!!

The race sounds like such a fun one to try....I am seriously keeping it in mind for next year!!

Yea, the meeting itself was so quick but I enjoyed reading her view of it too, especially since I never actually met her (just her DF). Her description is what makes it so funny.

That looks like it was so much fun! I really want to go next year but I don't think it's in the cards. We have to go in March for our wedding planning session and DS and I are going for a week at the end of April during his school vacation so I doubt I'll be able to get down there the first weekend in May! I guess I'll have to continue living through you. Are you going to ESPN weekend next year?

It was a blast! One day you should definitely try to do it! But I'm sure your wedding planning trip and Spring Break with your son will be even more fun! I'm not sure if I'll do ESPN this year. I really want to do the Princess Half but it's typically the weekend before and I can't stay the week connecting them because I'll be in grad school. But ESPN also typically falls during my Spring Break which is when we got to Disney most often so if it falls then again I may do it and not do the Princess because I'm pretty sure it would be crazy to fly home from the Princess and turn around and go back for Spring Break the following weekend. But we'll see

Love the updates. But those clues are really hard

 

[20thingamabobs]

So where were we headed first? Expedition Everest of course! We headed over and hopped in line. We walked through the line quickly but during a brief break, we asked the couple in line behind us to snap a picture of us:

Then here's one of me waiting to board with my huge bottle of water:

It was super hot out so even after only 3.1 miles my face was extremely red. That being said, I LOVE Expedition Everest in the dark! This was DF’s first ride in the dark and he loved it too. We thought about riding again but decided to go to pick up our bag instead because it was hard keeping track of everything. Back check was in Dinoland so that’s where we were headed. On the way, we found the area where ASI takes your pic in front of the backdrop that has the race logo on it. I have one from every race I’ve done so we stopped and got our pic.

We headed over to bag check and picked up my bag and then we sat for a moment and got everything sorted. Most of it fit in my backpack but some didn't so I left my race pack (it's like a fanny pack) on to keep our camera in. Then we decided to ride Dinosaur since we were already over there. There was no one on this ride. We walked straight into the preview room and then once we were done in there, we walked down and immediately boarded our time machine. After surviving our loud trip to the past and not being eaten by a Carnitaurous we headed back into the main part of Dinoland. DF decided to get a beer and I stood and watched a DJ that was teaching some party goers a dance. Once DF joined me again, we debated what to do next. Finally we decided to play some of the “carnival games” in Dinoland. We bought 6 tickets (3 each) and debated which game to play first. We finally decided on the Whack-a-Dino game. Unfortunately, DF won. I’m pretty sure neither of us missed any, he was just faster. So he won a small orange alligator. Next, DF decided we should do the basketball game. I’m really bad at basketball and didn’t have high hopes. I went first:

My running pack is under my shirt on my back. I love it. I can't even tell I have it on when I'm running. However, I missed all three shots. Next up was DF:

He too missed his first three shots but was much closer than I was so the CM let him shoot a “free” fourth shot and he made it in. So, we ended up with a blue shark too. For our last game, we decided to play the game where you roll the ball up a ramp to make your dino walk, trot, or run its way across the board. DF beat me again. So we were handed an orange turtle and defeated I debated what to do next. At this point, a guy stopped us and asked if he could take our picture for marketing for the event. We said sure and he snapped a couple pictures of us. Then he proceeded to ask us several questions about the race. We told how much fun we had and that we would absolutely be back but we also explained the difficulty we had with the first two clues and how much it had slowed us down. Overall, we had timed at just over 1 hour for both parts combined.

By this point, we were both pretty tired. I had wanted to ride Kali River Rapids but it no longer seemed like a good idea as I really didn’t want to get wet. Instead, we opted to check out Expedition Everest one more time. So we headed back to Asia. The line was once again still very short and DF decided he wanted to wait to sit in the front. We joined one other group in the special front car line and before long we were directed to the front and boarding our train. It was even better in the front in the dark and we had a lot of fun. When we got off, I asked DF to wait for a second so I could take a pic of Everest all lit up. The lighting tonight was much better than I’d seen it in December:

Before we made it too far, we asked a CM to take our picture in front of the Expedition Everest sign:

At this point, we decided that we’d had enough and were ready to head out. On our way, we grabbed another banana because they had several left over. We had to walk back through the finish line and several people were having their picture taken so we decided to also:

Then we headed towards the front of the park. On our way out, I made a few more picture stops along the way. The first was again of Everest from across the lake (it is now one of my favorite pictures):

When we reached the Tree of Life, I stopped to get a pic of the Tree lit up:

We started to make our way to the exit when I decided I needed one more pic. We stopped and asked a nearby family to take our picture:

We finally made it to the entrance where we stopped for one more picture:

Done with all our photo taking, we walked to the Animal Kingdom Lodge bus stop. The bus came quickly and was pretty empty. The girls we had talked to in the elevator earlier were on the bus as well. We made the short ride back to the hotel and our room. It had been a fun night but we were exhausted. After a quick shower to rinse off, it was off to bed.

Thoughts on the race:
It was so much fun! I especially loved the scavenger hunt and the after party! I would absolutely make a special trip down to run it again! DF said the same. He was already telling all our friends about it saying we should all go next year. I explained that they haven’t set a date or anything yet but if/when they do, I’m sure we’ll both be some of the first to register!

 

[20thingamabobs]

Since this thread is also a PTR for my other running trips, I figure it's time to post a little in that area too. With only 51 days till we leave for California and 54 days until the race, DF and I have resumed our movie nights! Last week was our first one and we chose to go see Cars 2! We ate dinner at home first. We had Mater's Meatloaf (I had planned to print out a picture of Mater to place on the front but I forgot so instead I decided to draw a character. At which time I thought it would be easier to draw Lightning McQueen totally forgetting that it was meant to be MATER's meatloaf) Either way, feel free to laugh at my drawing ability:

We also had Luigi's Bent Hub Caps (pierogies):

Once we finished dinner, it was off to the theater. For our movie snack, we had Cars Gummies:

I had expected these to be like gummy bear only in Cars shapes but they weren't They we large individually wrapped gummies:

Then it was movie time:

I LOVED it! I mean it may not be as good as the first one but it was so cute. I really liked that Mater has a slightly bigger role this time and there were several times that I laughed out loud. My favorite part though? The fact that the car that Mater tows in the beginning of the movie is named Otis! I got really excited and turned to DF to tell how wonderful it was that both our dogs now had Disney names!

 

[Shannon84]

Great pictures!! I really love the one of Everest over the lake, it is really beautiful lit up at night and the reflection of it in the water is so nice

Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun at the after party part, walking on to rides without any wait and being at AK at night seems like a great reward for the race You said the running skirt you wore had shorts under it right? I wish I had one of those for running around in the heat lately!

We are waiting for Cars 2 to come out on dvd instead of seeing it in the theater...the bad reviews turned us off from seeing it now....but I am glad to hear that someone else enjoyed it that gets my hopes up again
I love your attempt at drawing the car for your meatloaf!! much better than I would have done! Those gummies are odd though, I wouldn't expect a large one like that!

 

[20thingamabobs]

Great pictures!! I really love the one of Everest over the lake, it is really beautiful lit up at night and the reflection of it in the water is so nice

Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun at the after party part, walking on to rides without any wait and being at AK at night seems like a great reward for the race You said the running skirt you wore had shorts under it right? I wish I had one of those for running around in the heat lately!

We are waiting for Cars 2 to come out on dvd instead of seeing it in the theater...the bad reviews turned us off from seeing it now....but I am glad to hear that someone else enjoyed it that gets my hopes up again
I love your attempt at drawing the car for your meatloaf!! much better than I would have done! Those gummies are odd though, I wouldn't expect a large one like that!

I love that picture of Everest too. I had to take it several times because it kept coming out blurry but I finally got the perfect shot. I wish they offered the chance to go in AK after dark more often.

The after party was a lot of fun and even better because the lines were so short My running skirt had shorts built into it. They were spandex as well and I thought they were very comfortable and didn't ride up at all which was good.

Cars 2 was good but if I were you, I would wait till it comes out too. As much as I liked it, I'm not sure it was such a must see that made it worth the $20 it cost to see it in theatres. That being said, I have full intentions of going to see Winnie the Pooh. The gummies were weird and unfortunately not very good...

 

[20thingamabobs]

Last week we had another movie night. This time, we chose Bolt. I like Bolt mostly because I think Rhino’s character is hilarious. He has some of the best one liners. For dinner this night, we had Bolt’s Bones (Hot dogs and cheese wrapped in a croissant and shaped like a dog bone):

As a side we had macaRHINO & cheese (macaroni & cheese):

And for a movie snack/dessert, I made puppy chow:

We watched the movie early in the evening so DF actually made it through the whole thing without falling asleep. We also had a couple other viewers for our movie night, our puppies Lilo & Otis. Lilo spent the first half of the movie running around and barking at the screen whenever bolt barked then got bored and fell asleep. Oty however, very much enjoyed the movie and spent it sitting at the end of our ottoman watching intently:

 

[Mickey_Mom]

Catching up! I read it awhile ago but forgot to comment -- some of those scavenger hunt clues were hard! I think I'd still be figuring out the compass pointing, start the alphabet at E one if no CMs were there to help. That aside, what fun!! I'd LOVE to do something like that.


Your Everest pics are gorgeous -- turned out much better than mine from last trip. You're right, I think it's lit up even more and it looks so great!

I like the shot of the two of you at the Tree of Life with the blurred background - very cool!

Your movie nights were great! Loved how Otis was watching Bolt with you and yes I did chuckle at your McQueen Meatloaf!

Too bad the gummies were not so good -- I made the mistake of allowing some friends to tell me how gummie treats are made and now I just can't eat them anymore.

 

[Shannon84]

Aww I love your Bolt meal ideas...the dog bones are adorable!!! And how cute Otis was watching with you guys I think Rhino is hilarious in that movie too...i mean who doesnt love the fat little hamster

 

[amazingact21]

The Rhino bones look cute! For some reason, I've always enjoyed hot dogs/mac and cheese combo.
I've never seen Bolt before, but after seeing several people on the DISboards use it for a movie night, I might have to give it a try.
Otis looks adorable watching the film!

 

[20thingamabobs]

For this week’s movie night, I was planning on watching Aladdin; however, it didn’t arrive in the mail in time so we had to switch it up the day of which means my meal was a little bit of a stretch. We ended up watching the Incredibles and for dinner we had:

Hero’s Hamburgers:

Power beans (baked beans) – no pic sorry

Super chips:

And for dessert we had Frozone’s Frozen super sundaes:

It was another fun night and DF is on a record for staying awake! Next week we’ll be going to see Winnie the Pooh!

 

[Shannon84]

I felt like Incredibles was a good guys Disney movie...DBF really paid attention the whole time!

The new winnie the pooh movie is ADORABLE!!! we went to see it the the other day

 

[20thingamabobs]

I felt like Incredibles was a good guys Disney movie...DBF really paid attention the whole time!

The new winnie the pooh movie is ADORABLE!!! we went to see it the the other day

I agree about Incredibles being a good guy Disney movie, my DF seemed a lot more attentive to.. and by attentive I mean he actually watch most of the movie opposed to playing on his computer or sleeping and only half watching

I really wanted to see Pooh but some stuff came up and we couldn't go this week so we did another movie here and we're going to the theater next Tuesday to see Pooh for $5 movie night (gotta save up for my trip! so$5 sounds good to me!)

 

[20thingamabobs]

5 weeks.. that's it. Just five more weeks till we leave for California. I can't believe it. I know we've been busy this summer but where did the time go? And I know it's going to go by even faster now. DF's brother is getting married this weekend so we have the rehearsal dinner tomorrow and the wedding on Saturday. Then next weekend my cousin is getting married (I'm her maid of honor) so we'll have the rehearsal dinner next Friday and the wedding Saturday. Then we're already at 3 1/3 weeks. I feel pretty confident in my training so far but the longest run we've done at this point is 8 miles. I'm actually on schedule but with time going so fast it doesn't seem like it. This weekend (before the wedding on Saturday since it doesn't start till 4pm) we'll be running 11 miles. Sort of. We have to split it into two parts. Now, normally I wouldn't do this and I'm sure in a sense it defeats the purpose but here's why...

DF and I will be running our first non-Disney race It's a 5k supporting the group Wigs for Kids. They donate free wigs to children who have lost theirs due to illness or tragedy. I'd bene looking for a close race that worked with our schedule and when I saw this one, I knew it was the one. Plus, as DF would put it... I'm pretty sure I found the only race in Ohio that's even semi-like Disney. You see, this race runs through the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo! I can't wait to run past the giraffes! Definitely stopping for that photo-op! I know it won't quite be like Animal Kingdom but with a little daydreaming I'm hoping it'll at least resemble it

I'll post some highlight pictures next weekend. Anyway, after the race, we'll be making a short drive to a nearby park to complete the remaining 8 or 7.9 miles in our long run, hence the two parts.

 

[Shannon84]

I feel the same way, where the heck has the time gone this summer?!? Your trip is going to be here before you even know it

Sounds like you are going to be a running a really fun 5k though, I wish I could find more fun races around that length near me!!

 

[20thingamabobs]

I feel the same way, where the heck has the time gone this summer?!? Your trip is going to be here before you even know it

Sounds like you are going to be a running a really fun 5k though, I wish I could find more fun races around that length near me!!

Both of our trips are going to be here really fast. But, to be honest, I hope it takes its time getting here. As excited as I am to go, I'm not ready for fall/winter yet.

The race this weekend was a lot of fun but it was sooo hot out. And the zoo is down in a valley so the course was REALLY hilly but either way, we had a lot of fun and I would run it again. DF said he had fun too which always surprises me for some reason. I always feel like I'm dragging him along to the races but in reality I've never heard him say he didn't like them or that they weren't fun so I guess I should stop feeling that way