October 3, 2014 | Author: Joy

At the Pit Start, teams were informed they were traveling to London, England, and that there were only six teams allowed to take the first flight which left one hour and twenty minutes before the second. Upon arriving in London, teams were told to head to Tower Bridge and search for the Pearly King and Queen who would give them their next clue: the Detour, which was a choice between About Face and Pancake Race. In About Face, teams traveled to Somerset House where they dressed up as members of the Queen’s Guard and learned the complex steps of the Changing of the Guard ceremony. Once the parade captain was pleased with their performance, he would hand them their next clue. In Pancake Race, teams traveled to the Victoria Tower Gardens where they participated in a re-creation of the annual Parliamentary Pancake Race. Each teammate had to dress up as a chef and then bake a pancake to the head chef’s satisfaction. Once done, teams had to complete one lap around the course, constantly flipping their pancakes, finishing within one minute and fifteen seconds. If either teammate dropped the pancake on the ground, ran out of time, or were judged to not be flipping the pancake enough, both team members would have to start over, baking new pancakes before being allowed to race again. After the Detour, teams were told to travel to Oxford’s Magdalen Bridge boathouse, where they were challenged to punt themselves on the River Cherwell around Magdalen College Island. One teammate had to stand on the flat stern, known as the “Cambridge End”, propelling the boat through the river, while their teammate stood on the bow, known as the “Oxford End”, and wave a small Union Jack. Once teams successfully completed a lap around Magdalen College Island, making sure that they were standing on the right positions in the boat, they were given their next clue, directing them to Oxford’s Christ Church College where they were given a bowler hat and an umbrella to carry with them on the rest of the Leg. Teams were informed that they could pop open their umbrellas for a chance at the Express Pass, which gave them the option to search Oxford for Bear Inn to pick it up and risk valuable time or elimination. Teams were also told to “tip their bowlers”, which revealed the phrase “Churchill’s Birthplace” on the inside of the hat. Teams had to figure out that this referred to Winston Churchill’s childhood home at Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, the Pit Stop for this leg of the race.

Dennis and Isabella arrived last at the Pit Stop and were eliminated.

Posted in Season 25

September 26, 2014 | Author: Joy

At the start of The Amazing Race 25, teams were informed that the winner of this first leg would be awarded the new Save prize, giving them a chance to avoid elimination if they are in last place on any elimination leg. Their first task was to head to the location of the finish line of the first season of The Amazing Race, leaving them to ask the crowd to find out it referred to the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows, Queens. The clue at the Unisphere directed teams to their first location: Saint Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands; only five teams would be allowed to check in for the first of two flights to Saint Thomas, with a second flight leaving 40 minutes later. Upon heading into the city of Charlotte Amalie’s Vendors Plaza, teams signed up for one of six chartered flights in a seaplane to Lovango Cay, each leaving at different times. At Lovango Cay, teams took a boat out to Carval Rock where they climbed up and along its length. At the end of Carval Rock, teams jumped into the water and swam to a series of floating bottles that held their next clue. This clue directed them back to the boat Blackbeard’s Revenge (a replica of Blackbeard’s flagship the Queen Anne’s Revenge) where a Blackbeard impersonator gave them their next clue, before kicking them off of his ship. The clue directed teams to use a series of rowboats connected by ropeways to pull themselves to shore where they would find their next clue, the Roadblock. One team member had to pick out a set of directions with a particular starting landmark on the beach (an anchor, a set of barrels, a ship’s bell, and a ship’s wheel), a traditional liquid compass, and a shovel that had markings for exactly 1 yard (0.91 m) to search the beach for a treasure chest buried in the sand that held their next clue. Teams were not told that the direction facing them on the liquid compass was the direction they were facing, leading many to search the wrong area of the beach until they discovered the mistake. Teams then traveled to the Pit Stop located at historic Fort Christian.

Three teams could not complete Roadblock and chose to take the 4 hour penalty resulting in a race to the Pit Stop. The three teams racing to the Pit Stop were Michael & Scott, Keith & Whitney and Lisa & Michelle with Lisa and Michelle being eliminated.

Posted in Season 25