Expedition Everest

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Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain

Ride logo
Disney's Animal Kingdom
Land	Asia
Designer	Walt Disney Imagineering
Manufacturer	Vekoma
Attraction type	Roller Coaster
Theme	Expedition to find the Yeti
Propulsion method	Chain lift
Opening date	April 7, 2006
Vehicle capacity	34
Cars per vehicle	6
Guests per car	6
Length	4424 ft (1348.4 m)
Total height	199.5 ft (60.8 m)
Track height	112 ft (34.1 m)
Height requirements	44" (112 cm)
Number of lifts	2
Forward Speed	50 mph (80.4 kph)
Backward Speed	40 mph (64.3 kph)
Type	Steel
Drop	80 ft

Expedition Everest

One of the trains ascending the main lift hill

A close up of one of the trains on the main drop

WDI concept art

The exterior of the ride in October 2005

Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain is an elaborately themed roller coaster at Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park on the Walt Disney World Resort property in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA.

1 Background
2 Story
3 Mission Himalayas
4 Times Square publicity stunt
5 Yeti technical details
6 Attraction facts
7 Awards
8 References
9 External links

Expedition Everest often is compared to the 1959 Matterhorn Bobsleds roller coaster at Disneyland, which also features a snowy mountain setting and an "abominable snowman" figure throughout the ride.

Although moderate in height and length by contemporary roller coaster standards, Expedition Everest is unique for having its trains travel forward and backward as a result of the yeti's interference with the journey. This is accomplished through two sets of rotating track segments on pivot before and after the backwards segment. In its publicity material, Disney pointedly has described the attraction as a family thrill ride.

Expedition Everest is the tallest of the artificial mountains at Walt Disney World Resort, joining Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Mount Gushmore, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain and Mount Mayday on the list of Disney-built peaks. According to Imagineering, it is Disney's 18th mountain-themed attraction. If the Expedition Everest mountain were real, it would be ranked fourth on the list of the highest summits in Florida at 320 feet above sea level.

The artificial mountain is not a reproduction of Mount Everest; it is the fictional "forbidden mountain" guarded by the yeti in the attraction story created by Walt Disney Imagineering. Everest is represented by the barren background peak on the far right, which is meant to suggest it is far in the distance (an example of forced perspective). The attraction's conceit is that the roller coaster is a passenger train offering a speedy route through the Himalayas to the base of Mount Everest.

According to Disney, the attraction occupies 6.2 acres in the park's Asia section and the mountain itself is just shy of one acre.

Expedition Everest celebrated its grand opening on April 7, 2006 in ceremonies led by Disney CEO Bob Iger and theme parks chairman Jay Rasulo. The attraction first was announced publicly on April 22, 2003, during an event to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Walt Disney Imagineering spent six years researching, designing and building Expedition Everest, including many trips to the Himalayas to collect reference material and observations. The resulting attraction is a fictionalized telling of the legend of the yeti, using an imaginary setting created with meticulous re-creations of Himalayan architecture, art and cultural traditions.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Riders approach the attraction through the remote village of Serka Zong in the fictional kingdom of Anandapur, which is located in the foothills of the Himalayas. Several village buildings that had been used by the Royal Anandapur Tea Company have been repurposed by businesses that send trekkers on various expeditions throughout the Himalayas. "Expedition Everest" is the name of a specific trek arranged by the Himalayan Escapes tour company in Serka Zong.

The entrepreneurs behind Himalayan Escapes, Norbu and Bob, have refurbished a steam train that previously had been used to bring harvested tea leaves down from the mountains. It's these trains the Expedition Everest trekkers board on their way to the base camp of Mount Everest, using a shortcut that passes through the "forbidden mountain" thought to be guarded by the yeti. Among local cultures, the yeti is believed to be a fierce protector of the region's most pristine mountains, valleys and forests, and violently opposes man's encroachment in these areas.

As riders wind their way through the attraction's richly detailed standby queue, half of which is climate controlled, the legend of the yeti is communicated vividly through a mandir, a kind of Himalayan shrine to the yeti, and a makeshift museum that documents yeti sightings, its significance in Himalayan cultures and a so-called "lost" expedition that ran afoul of the creature many years before (1982). Near the end of the yeti museum, two notices hang on the wall- one written by the curator of the museum, warning against the railroad expeditions, and another by the owner of the expedition company, stating that the curator's notice 'does not represent the opinions or views' of the company. The shorter FASTPASS queue contains a similar but abbreviated storyline. The queues merge in the enclosed train station behind the loading area.

One of the attraction's highlights is an encounter with a large Audio-Animatronic yeti, which Disney claims is one of the largest and most complex figures it has ever built. Joe Rohde, the lead Imagineer for Expedition Everest, has noted that the yeti featured in the attraction is extremely lifelike and based on extensive research into the cultural legend.

In 2005, Disney, Discovery Networks and Conservation International conducted real-life expeditions to China and Nepal as part of the promotion for Expedition Everest. The purpose was to conduct scientific and cultural research in remote areas of the Himalayas where the yeti legend exists. Participants included scientists from Conservation International and Disney's Animal Kingdom, as well as Imagineer Joe Rohde.

The expeditions — as well as the making of the attraction — were chronicled in three documentaries broadcast on Discovery's cable television channels in April 2006. Rohde was featured in a Travel Channel program titled "Expedition Everest: Journey to Sacred Lands," which premiered April 9 to coincide with the attraction's grand opening.

On February 15, 2006, Disney staged an elaborate publicity stunt for Expedition Everest in New York City's Times Square, according to a report by radio station WINS:

Dangling from ropes hundreds of feet above Times Square, five acrobatic dancers and one of the world's fastest rock climbers performed cartwheels, flips and gravity-defying leaps Wednesday to promote the opening of a new ride at Walt Disney World. . . . Strapped into harnesses and hanging from nylon rope, [Hans] Florine and five other performers from the vertical dance company Project Bandaloop twirled and soared across the face of the billboard, which was done up to look like a mountainside.

The event, known as "Everest in the City", draped large billboards over sides of the several buildings. The billboards depicted Everest with a coaster car careening down the mountainside, with the Yeti looking on from another peak.

The Yeti's eyes on the billboard glowed red and would flash when the text message "4YETI" was sent to a Disney-provided cell phone number.

The complex Yeti character has the following technical details^[1].

The yeti's "skin" measures 1,000 square feet, and is held in place by 1,000 snaps and 250 zippers.
The yeti's movement is controlled by 19 actuators.
The yeti can move five feet horizontally, and two feet vertically.
The yeti is 22 feet tall.

Capacity: Up to five six-car trains of 34 passengers each in 17 two-person rows (the last row features seating for disabled guests); typically four trains are in operation, with a projected throughput of 1,800 riders per hour
Restraint: Individual lap bar
Brake zones: Four; two after the pivoting track segments, one before entering the mountain the final time and one before unload. Technically the brake after the yeti encounter is not considered an official brake zone
Lifts: Two chain lifts
Trackswitches: Weighing in at 2 tons each, they roll and lock in 6 seconds.
Disney's FASTPASS can be utilized at this area.

2006 Theme Park Insider Award for "World's Best New Theme Park Attraction."

^ Article from Machine Design describing Expedition Everest's technology

Disney's Animal Kingdom Attractions
The Oasis:	The Oasis Exhibits
Discovery Island:	The Tree of Life \| It's Tough to be a Bug!
Camp Minnie-Mickey:	Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends \| Fesitval of the Lion King
Africa:	Kilimanjaro Safaris \| Pangini Forest Exploration Trails
Rafiki's Planet Watch:	Wildlife Express Train \| Habitat Habit! \| Affection Section \| Conservation Station
Asia:	Flights of Wonder \| Kali River Rapids \| Maharajah Jungle Trek \| Expedition Everest
DinoLand U.S.A.:	The Boneyard \| DINOSAUR \| Dino-Sue \| Cretaceous Trail \| Dino-Rama!: Primeval Whirl \| TriceraTop Spin \| Fossil Fun Games
Entertainment	Festival of the Lion King \| Finding Nemo-The Musical \| Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade