Is Disney going to bring back the Expedition Everest Challenge?

[IamTrike]

Is this just Disney tweeting about running by Everest During the Marathon or could they actually be bringing the EEC back?
https://twitter.com/runDisney/status/877902114298712064

I really loved that race because it was something I could easily do with my kids.

 

[cavepig]

I keep seeing people speculate about that too. I did love running Everest Challeng too, but I think it just is for running by it during other races. The footage isn't dark black like night, so could be from marathon, wine & dine, darkside, who knows, but I'm not going to get my hopes up. I've read too that insurance is higher for night races and a reason they stopped them, not the construction, but not sure if that's true.

 

[rteetz]

RunDisney has tweeted such things in the past. I think they've done throwback Thursday's to Tower of Terror 10-miler also. I wouldn't read much into a tweet. While it would be nice I don't know if they can support another race right now. You have two races up in the air in Anaheim and other races not selling out in Florida. Just my opinion.

 

[The Expert]

I'd love it if they did, since EE is my favorite ride at WDW and i started running after this race was canceled.

 

[bumbershoot]

RunDisney has tweeted such things in the past. I think they've done throwback Thursday's to Tower of Terror 10-miler also. I wouldn't read much into a tweet. While it would be nice I don't know if they can support another race right now. You have two races up in the air in Anaheim and other races not selling out in Florida. Just my opinion.

If they did true (not fake morning) tot or Everest again I would do them in a heartbeat. And I'm really quite "over" rundisney.

 

[DOOM1001]

If they did true (not fake morning) tot or Everest again I would do them in a heartbeat. And I'm really quite "over" rundisney.

I agree,that's why races are not selling out,they took the uniqueness and cool factor from the races.You want to see races sell out quicker again,bring back a Halloween night race,change W&D back to a night race and here's the kicker,instead of raising prices by $5 or so,drop them $5-$10 and lower the price of the merchandise,that's another thing that's gotten too expensive.All of a sudden you get people talking about them lowering prices instead of how expensive the races are compared to other races.They need to do something as that 2013-2015 running boom has fizzled and many of those who did RunDisney races are not returning as much as RunDisney would like.

 

[derekleigh]

I agree,that's why races are not selling out,they took the uniqueness and cool factor from the races.You want to see races sell out quicker again,bring back a Halloween night race,change W&D back to a night race and here's the kicker,instead of raising prices by $5 or so,drop them $5-$10 and lower the price of the merchandise,that's another thing that's gotten too expensive.All of a sudden you get people talking about them lowering prices instead of how expensive the races are compared to other races.They need to do something as that 2013-2015 running boom has fizzled and many of those who did RunDisney races are not returning as much as RunDisney would like.

You hit the nail right on the head! A few years ago rD races were almost individually unique (marathon weekend, TOT, EE, W&D nighttime half, etc). Now it seems as every race weekend is the same cookie-cutter weekend as the last (save for Marathon weekend); Kids races, 5K, 10K, Half, and 19.3 challenge all in the morning. The only thing that makes them different is if the races are held at DL or WDW. Sure, the courses may run a different route and the theme is painted a different color, but overall it is the same offering.

Personally, I'm glad races are not selling out as quickly as a few years ago. They are starting to become too expensive for the same re-hashed stuff. So many races were at the top of my rD-To-Do List (EE, TOT, W&D at night) but sadly they've been changed or eliminated.I would love it if EE were to return as I never got to run it. I would love rD to add a Halloween- and/or villains-theme weekend with a 5K, the return of the TOT 10-Miler at night, and a half.

I'm slated to do the Princess Challenge in February, but I long to return for Marathon weekend. To me, the only WDW race that has something to differentiate itself from the rest.

 

[Keels]

OMG I SO WISH I ALREADY HAVE MY TEAMMATE CONFIRMED.

I did look in the code on the RD site, and while it's a disaster of <!->'d out crap (seriously ... cleaner HTML), I don't see anything that would insinuate that they're preparing to add EEC back into the fold.

 

[Ariel484]

Just my guess - I don't think bringing Everest back would be profitable enough for them. With the current race weekend set-ups they have, there are 3 big races - 5K, 10K and half marathon (and obviously marathon at WDW January weekend). With Everest, the 5K challenge is it. I know there were kids races as well, but doing the whole set-up for the 5K + kids races vs. 5K/10K/half/kids races doesn't seem like it would make them as much money.

Having said that, I hope they do bring it back and I wish they wouldn't put out teases like this featuring "retired" races (same with ToT 10-miler - I regret not doing that one when it was around).

 

[cavepig]

don't think bringing Everest back would be profitable enough for them.

Yeah I agree, it was only like 5000-6000 runners in the 5k, & not a huge expo (not even an expo actually) to bring in money from vendor booths either. Plus it needed a lot of volunteers for checking the clues. I wondered if insurance was higher on it since we had the obstacles? It was a blast though.

 

[DOOM1001]

If I remember correctly wasn't the expo the final year in the AK parking lot?

 

[Ariel484]

Yeah I agree, it was only like 5000-6000 runners in the 5k, & not a huge expo (not even an expo actually) to bring in money from vendor booths either. Plus it needed a lot of volunteers for checking the clues. I wondered if insurance was higher on it since we had the obstacles? It was a blast though.

Good point about the insurance, that very well could be the case.

If I remember correctly wasn't the expo the final year in the AK parking lot?

Yep, I think you're right!