Expedition Everest won the Theme Park Insider Award as the year's Best New Attraction when it debuted in 2006. Built upon a custom Vekoma track, Everest is not simply a roller coaster, but more a themed ride that happens to use a roller coaster track. (Thus, its inclusion in this bracket.)
You're set for a train expedition up the famed Mt. Everest, but what are those warnings you read in the queue? It seems that some folks who've been this way before tell of an unspeakable horror within the mountain - the feared Himalayan Yeti. Of course, your guides assure you that all is well, and you have nothing to fear.
So you board, climb up the mountain, and then... (say it with me now!) something goes horribly wrong.
Expedition Everest features a mid-track switch which simulates a derailment, sending you off in reverse through the mountain, before switching back again to forward motion. The highlight of the ride, during that plunge through the mountain, is supposed to be an encounter with the Yeti itself.
But, in a bit of an ironic twist, something really did go wrong with the attraction, and the Yeti has not operated in its fully animated mode for years. Instead, Disney's use stage lighting effects to "animate" the Yeti during your encounter.
Still, even with that one element subdued, with a strong theme and thrilling ride, Everest continues to draw some of the highest reader ratings among all attractions at the Walt Disney World Resort.
Let's hear your thoughts about Everest's chances in the tournament, in the comments.
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I would have to say that my least favorite part would be the bells in the que that people obnoxiously ring for the entire time you wait in line.
All in all, though, Everest is a great ride!
Plus i think it most be a terminal problem on the jetti right, i don't think disney would neglect something that important if they could do anything about it. Right?
I also remember seeing something in one of those Expedition Everest specials about the jetti being to big to take out of the mountain. So I'm guessing they don't know the answer, or the design it's faulty or it will take major surgery not only on the jetti but maybe on the mountain too.
Without the proper Yeti, this receives an 8-Commendable. The theming is really well done, and the backwards-traveling section provides enough lateral G's to keep me coming back.
word to the yeti!!!!!!
All I have to sing is: !!!!
Because of the inanimate animatronic, Expedition Everest remains the #2 themed coaster in the nation (Revenge of the Mummy at USO sets the current standard). Disney: fix the Yeti and you move back to #1!!!
As for the Vekoma link...hey, even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while!
You can read all about it in this old discussion thread.
I still think Everest is a great attraction, I just refuse to let WDI off the hook until they get the Yeti back into A Mode operation.
But how is Disney going to close the big ride that gets people to come to Animal Kingdom? While AK has become a very solid park, people still come for this ride and pretty much thats it. I would think AK would need to get another popular ride or expansion to allow them to close Everest to fix it.
Then again, I think there are many other attractions that need to be changed or royally fixed. Its good to keep the pressure on, but I do not think Disney really cares because the first time riders are not going to complain.
How do we let it known? I went to guest relations at AK last time (unrelated to the Yeti) and it really is a thankless job with guests that are close to being insane. Yours and mine complaint about the Yeti might fall on deaf ears there.
I can't remember who told the story, but back in the day, when Walt was supervising construction in Disneyland, some workers took ten (or so) hours to plant a tree. When Walt strolled by, he thought it looked good, but could be better if it was six inches to the left. Sure enough, they re-dug the hole and moved the tree.
Perfection is the goal. Blowing people away is the bonus. Anything short of 100% effort is against the point.
Anthony, believe me, Disney has someone out there trolling the web... and comments like ours in this thread today do not go unnoticed. We may be a small voice in a vast ocean of lines and circles, but WDI is well aware of the problem, I assure you (Show Mode, anyone?).
However, I do agree that there are a lot of fish to fry at WDW, and the Yeti is just one more on a list (Wonders of Life, anyone?). And without another big-time headliner attraction (Beastly Kingdom, anyone?), how do you close down Everest for an extended refurb without killing attendance levels in a park that has actually trended up in a down economy? I go back to a previous comment I made in another thread: "shame on Disney for building a park (DAK) with so few headliner attractions that a single ride closure could become such a huge customer service nightmare." Yep, and shame on them for slashing DAK's initial construction budget and not erecting Dueling Dragons when they had the chance!
At some point, WDW just needs to bite the bullet and beef up the attraction selection at DAK (you know, wipe out Chester & Hesters Abomination Land and build something worthy of the Disney moniker), then and only then do I see Everest getting the downtime it needs to fix the Inanimatronic, Dance Club Yeti once and for all.
We rode Everest a total of four times last summer and I enjoyed every single one as much as the last. My kids still haven't stopped talking about Everest. It's not the tallest, fastest, scariest, loopiest, most intense coaster I have ever ridden but it's in my top 5 just because of how much fun it is.
BTW, in one of my earlier posts in this thread I wrote:
"...the Yeti animatronic is NOT broken at all, however the concrete fountain on which he is mounted has become irrevocably cracked."
Of course I meant "foundation" and not "fountain." Sorry for the confusion.
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