The Official Expedition Everest 2013 Thread

[SuperHappyFunTimes]

They've updated the EE page with some more info including:
Registration will open for the Expedition Everest Challenge on Tuesday, December 11, 2012.

Yay!

 

[Karabee]

Hi all -

I posted this before but not sure anyone saw. Are the "host" hotels the same every year? I assume its always AKL but not sure if the mod and value change. Thanks!

 

[hungrygreenhippo]

Could anyone provide me with an average cost of how much this event would be if we spend the weekend in a value resort? Maybe the very basic of park tickets...feel free to private message me if you want.

I'm drawn to be able to be in AK that late at night...and I'm Trying to decide if this race would be worth it money wise just to have that experience.

For EEC earlier this year I stayed 5 nights at All Star Sports, total price $519.86 including tax. That's about $104/night. During registration there was the option to buy a 1-day 1-park ticket for $40. A discounted 3-day park hoper was $175.73, but I don't have any of the other discounted pricing written down.

Hi all -

I posted this before but not sure anyone saw. Are the "host" hotels the same every year? I assume its always AKL but not sure if the mod and value change. Thanks!

I just looked at the RunDisney website and they've got AKL, Caribbean Beach, and All Star Sports listed as the host resorts. This is what I remember them being in the past too.

---

OMG, I just saw that the lowest price for next year is $105 for individual!!! I've done EEC every year and if I didn't want to keep continue the streak so badly, I would definitely be reconsidering whether the race is worth the registration. The main reason I started doing EEC was the scavenger hunt, but the last couple years I've really been disappointed by the volunteers. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful that they've volunteered... I just don't think RunDisney does a good job training/educating the volunteers on what to do.

Anyway just for kicks, I looked up the past prices (active.com fees not included):
2008 - $100 and includes 1-day park ticket
2009 - $105-$110 and includes 1-day park ticket
2010 - $109-$119 and includes 1-day park ticket
2011 - $85-$105 with no park ticket
2012 - $89-$109 with no park ticket, $129-$149 with 1 day park ticket
2013 - $105-125 with no park ticket

Also, the post-race ticket price has doubled, going from $25 in 2008 to $49-$59 in 2013.

I was okay paying $100 for a 5k when the park ticket was included, but without the park ticket it's a really hard pill to swallow. Like I said, I want to continue my streak so RunDisney's basically got me hooked into EEC for years to come. But I'm curious what you all think of the pricing.

 

[PrincessV]

OUCH!!! That's a lot of cheddar for a 5K, even if it is at WDW. I'll have to think long and hard about whether I want to shell out that much...

 

[Princess on the Run]

That's crazy! It would be one thing if it was always that expensive but to increase it so much seems unreasonable. I wonder if they are doing it as part of the effort to get rid of this one?

 

[hollieplus2]

Holy cow that's expensive!!! Not sure we can swing it with those prices

 

[Sehsun]

$105 is a lot for a 5K. Even the Royal Family 5K (part of the Princess Half Marathon weekend) is $55. I guess having the scavenger hunt may make the fee higher than a regular 5K, but it still seems a bit high.

I think I still want to do it, though. I wish I could do the scavenger hunt with others, but it is so expensive! Do you have to register officially as a team in order to do the scavenger hunt with other people?

 

[got2lovedisney]

$105! That's practically double what it was! I'm thinking I'll have to back out of this one.

 

[Princess on the Run]

It does include admission to the after party which is something like $49 to buy on it's own. Does anyone know if that was included last year? If not, I guess it accounts for the huge increase.

 

[twalton]

The after party WAS included in the price last year. $105 for a 5K - scavenger hunt or not - is insane. We will not be doing this one again next year...

 

[Dziactor]

I am in. Trying to find a second member for a team now.

 

[PrincessV]

It does include admission to the after party which is something like $49 to buy on it's own. Does anyone know if that was included last year? If not, I guess it accounts for the huge increase.

It was included, and not worth the extra cost this year. Unlike the TOT, only a corner of AK was open and crowds were unreal. Wait times weren't too bad, but it was very congested and not all that fun. We only lasted maybe an hour (after spending an hour trying to find water that wasn't HOT and getting through bad check!)

 

[jeanigor]

This sounds like so much fun...If I can't find anyone to run as a team with me, is it worth the money to do by myself and just have DH at the finish? I am a new runner so this would be my first Disney Race.

I did it last year as part of a team, but would not give a second thought about doing it solo.

It was included, and not worth the extra cost this year. Unlike the TOT, only a corner of AK was open and crowds were unreal. Wait times weren't too bad, but it was very congested and not all that fun. We only lasted maybe an hour (after spending an hour trying to find water that wasn't HOT and getting through bad check!)

It was crowded. There was a group of us and we decided to ride Kali River Rapids four times (they let us stay in the boat) to cool off. We were pretty much the last ones out of the party, partially because the bag check line was insane, we avoided it until the bitter end.

 

[Rupert B Puppenstein]

$105! That's practically double what it was! I'm thinking I'll have to back out of this one.

Definitely off my list now that the prices are posted. It was fun, but not worth the costs of traveling there and the increased registration costs. Maybe they want to get rid of the race and getting less people to participate because of price will help them do that. Their excuse when people ask will be that not enough people signed up.

Got the Anniversary medal, so if it does last until year 10, I may consider doing it again at that time.

I think all Disney races are starting to follow a trend...increased prices and fewer amenities.

 

[McCoy]

Just thinking as to people mentioning the idea that Disney may be increasing pricing as part of a plan to 'do away with the race', I am actually wondering if the price increase this year is because Disney is actually listening to the runners from 2012.

My biggest complaint in 2012, and I seem to recall it was for many others as well (besides the warm water), was how overcrowded the race course was. So, if Disney listens to those complaints and decides to actually reduce capacity, logic dictates that Disney would then increase pricing to cover the losses. We certainly know Disney won't just reduce capacity without trying to make up for that lost revenue.

Without exact numbers, but for some reason I feel like I heard 2012 was like 5,000 runners, I paid $175 for my team plus fees. So, at $210 per team in 2013, they could reduce capacity to under 4,200 and still come out ahead.

So, anyway, my point is the substantial price increase may be a direct result of Disney listening to past participants. Just a thought anyway. But odds are more likely that they would still sell the full 5,000 even with the price increase, and have no problem selling out regardless, and not do anything about the overcrowding.

 

[Rupert B Puppenstein]

Just thinking as to people mentioning the idea that Disney may be increasing pricing as part of a plan to 'do away with the race', I am actually wondering if the price increase this year is because Disney is actually listening to the runners from 2012.

My biggest complaint in 2012, and I seem to recall it was for many others as well (besides the warm water), was how overcrowded the race course was. So, if Disney listens to those complaints and decides to actually reduce capacity, logic dictates that Disney would then increase pricing to cover the losses. We certainly know Disney won't just reduce capacity without trying to make up for that lost revenue.

Without exact numbers, but for some reason I feel like I heard 2012 was like 5,000 runners, I paid $175 for my team plus fees. So, at $210 per team in 2013, they could reduce capacity to under 4,200 and still come out ahead.

So, anyway, my point is the substantial price increase may be a direct result of Disney listening to past participants. Just a thought anyway. But odds are more likely that they would still sell the full 5,000 even with the price increase, and have no problem selling out regardless, and not do anything about the overcrowding.

We are talking Disney here...they are increasing capacity for ALL of their races. They could care less about crowding on the course. If that was the case, they would have stuck with the counts last year for the Half and Full Marathon during Marathon weekend in 2013. Instead, they increased it by a lot! So, yay, I get to run arm and arm with a lot more runners next year...I have a feeling that Disney will increase the distance of Expedition Everest or get away from it entirely. It doesn't make the money that all the other races do, and people aren't going to make a vacation out of a 5K. A 10 miler maybe, a Half probably, a Full Definitely.

As far as the warm water, that is such an unrealistic expectation. In order to have enough water for all of those participating, they have to pour it in advance, and it is going to get to be the temperature of the surroundings. Personally, I would rather have warm water than no water at all. Work a water station at a race that size, and you will understand the reasoning a bit more...you get a slow trickle of runners at the beginning, but the middle of the pack comes and it is difficult to keep up just grabbing all the cups, but dealing with pouring too is a nightmare. It is like that "I Love Lucy" episode with the chocolate and the conveyor belt...I never thought it could be such a difficult job, but it sure is!

 

[PrincessV]

We are talking Disney here...they are increasing capacity for ALL of their races. They could care less about crowding on the course.

I just did the Jingle Jungle 5K yesterday... PACKED. They even did actual corrals for the start (though all corrals started together, so I'm not sure what point there was...) Good thing I needed to mostly walk due to injury, since I had no choice but to walk much of it due to congestion on the course.

As far as the warm water, that is such an unrealistic expectation. In order to have enough water for all of those participating, they have to pour it in advance, and it is going to get to be the temperature of the surroundings.

I'm not talking about the hydration stations mid-course and we're not talking "warm" - the Powerade and water at the Finish was HOT, as in, sitting-out-in-the-sun-all-day-tasting-like-heated-plastic hot. Surely they could have put the bottles on ice, since they do it for far larger crowds in the parks every day.

 

[Rupert B Puppenstein]

I just did the Jingle Jungle 5K yesterday... PACKED. They even did actual corrals for the start (though all corrals started together, so I'm not sure what point there was...) Good thing I needed to mostly walk due to injury, since I had no choice but to walk much of it due to congestion on the course.


I'm not talking about the hydration stations mid-course and we're not talking "warm" - the Powerade and water at the Finish was HOT, as in, sitting-out-in-the-sun-all-day-tasting-like-heated-plastic hot. Surely they could have put the bottles on ice, since they do it for far larger crowds in the parks every day.

Yeah, I didn't know you were talking about bottles. That I agree with, and Disney is really the only race series that doesn't seem to put them in huge barrels of ice water. At Expedition Everest, I didn't even see bottles of anything, so we bought stuff. It was so crowded and chaotic that I can't even say for sure what they had to eat and drink for the runners outside of stuff you could purchase. It was hard enough to get our medals. But, I did have fun riding Expedition Everest dozens of times when everyone left well before the 2 a.m. close!

That is a shame about the 5K. The medallion was really cute. It is supposed to be a bit relaxed, and shouldn't ever be one of those events you put a lot of effort into because it isn't timed, but it is never fun being on such a crowded course. Reason #1 that I have no interest in doing the Peachtree Road Race.

 

[choirchic]

OUCH!!! That's a lot of cheddar for a 5K, even if it is at WDW. I'll have to think long and hard about whether I want to shell out that much...

Holy cow that's expensive!!! Not sure we can swing it with those prices

The after party WAS included in the price last year. $105 for a 5K - scavenger hunt or not - is insane. We will not be doing this one again next year...

Agrees with the above posters...I'm think I will just work my next big vacation around one of the marathons instead of paying that much for a 5K. If I pay that much, I wanna be sure it's for a big deal kind of event. Thanks for the info everyone!

 

[niclodn]

I'm shocked by the price increase as well, but am still planning to run. But that's only because a friend of mine who just started on her weight loss/exercise path really wants to do it this time. If it was just gonna be me, I'd say no way as I am already registered for both the Tink and Princess Half's and am also planning to do ToT again in 2013. We are planning to register as individuals tho and hopefully get a better corral placement than I did last year as part of an all female team. Being in the 2nd to last wave and hitting a mass of people at the finish line was not my idea of a good time...

And I do agree with the water issue mentioned earlier. It was not just air temperature warm. It was HOT! I could've made coffee with that stuff. I will say that the ToT was much hotter weather-wise, but the water was acceptably cool. So, hopefully that issue will be much better in 2013