Attractions In Detail- Expedition Everest
This is my second choice in the ongoing series of attraction in detail posts and was really chosen by my girlfriend as it is her favourite ride at the parks. I don’t think that anyone will deny that this ride has become a major success at the Animal Kingdom and for coaster fans it really put the park on the map. (I will go into the “Disco Yeti” later in the post).
Expedition Everest Plot
Riders are taken through a small Asian town into a museum that is dedicated to the local legend of the Yeti that is said to live on the mountain. The advertisements state that riders will be taken aboard a train that will take them on an interesting journey to Mount Everest whilst first going through the forbidden mountain where the Yeti supposedly lives. First riders are taken past a ransacked temple before slowly being taken up the mountain only to find the tracks have been torn apart. Prepare to meet the Yeti…
Expedition Everest Attraction History
The attraction was first announced way back in 2003 during an event that celebrated the 5th anniversary of the Animal Kingdom theme park. From start to opening the ride took a good couple of years to build before the grand opening on April 7th 2006 making the ride 5 years old this month! People have often compared this ride with Matterhorn in the Californian Park as it features a snowy mountain and an abominable snowman but let me assure you, the rides are completely different.
Expedition Everest is the tallest artificial mountain in the Walt Disney World Resort beating the other famous Mountains; Splash, Thunder, Space, Mount Gushmore and Mount Mayday. The ride is also unique in that its trains travel both backwards and forwards due to the Yeti coming in and messing with the tracks.
It is important to note that this ride is very much a family friendly one as it doesn’t have any upside down moments.
Guests should also be aware that you don’t actually ever end up travelling to Mount Everest itself as the Yeti keeps you at his Forbidden Mountain.
The Broken Yeti/ Disco Yeti
A lot of people passing through this ride will not actually realise that the Yeti on the ride is broken. Strobe lighting and wind gives the illusion that the Yeti is moving when in fact it has been stationery and broken since a few months after the rides original opening.
The Yeti, now entitled “Disco Yeti” due to the strobe effects will not be fixed until a routine refurbishment of the ride as it is going to be a tougher job than people might think. The design of the coaster itself was all done using 4D technology and it would seem that something went seriously wrong when the Yeti part was put together as the stress of the animatronic moving all of the time meant that the concrete supports started to crack. With this in mind Disney had no choice but to switch the animatronic into B mode.
You will see by this video just how strongly fans feel about getting it fixed.
The ride cost Disney well over $200 million to create so as soon as the ride is due to close for refurbishment you can bet money on them fixing this problem to keep the fans happy.
An End To An End To Expedition Everest?
Well this ride is still relatively new in Disney World and one of the best, biggest and modern rides that Disney has. It always has a long waiting line and the gift shop does very well.
There is no way that this is going to be closing for good anytime soon.
