Expedition Everest effects status watch

[pax_65]

I'd argue the Mountain it self is the Center piece of the attraction, or at least the gimmick of it. Though it's highly irresponsible for them to keep the yeti how it is. SCREENZ/projections are in fashion right now, use them or fix the yeti!!!!!

The Yeti is really what makes this attraction UNIQUE. Plus Disney went to such amazing lengths to theme this ride. Take the time to watch this video (which I'm sure was posted way earlier in the thread). At around the 31-minute mark they talk about the Yeti and you see the attention they paid to it. The Yeti is absolutely the centerpiece. Right near the end (43-minute mark), you see the Yeti in "A Mode". This is the kind of video that makes you wish you were an Imagineer, to be able to create something so cool. To think that they've let the Yeti sit immobile for so long, and that they have so many effects not working, is just heartbreaking. As I've said numerous times, people still enjoy the ride and they have no idea what they're missing.

 

[Incomudro]

The Yeti is really what makes this attraction UNIQUE. Plus Disney went to such amazing lengths to theme this ride. Take the time to watch this video (which I'm sure was posted way earlier in the thread). At around the 31-minute mark they talk about the Yeti and you see the attention they paid to it. The Yeti is absolutely the centerpiece. Right near the end (43-minute mark), you see the Yeti in "A Mode". This is the kind of video that makes you wish you were an Imagineer, to be able to create something so cool. To think that they've let the Yeti sit immobile for so long, and that they have so many effects not working, is just heartbreaking. As I've said numerous times, people still enjoy the ride and they have no idea what they're missing.

Agreed in part, but they did put a big emphasis on the animatronic Yeti itself - and it was an amazing piece of work.
Still, it was just one component of the ride.
There are a multitude of factors that make EE unique, and it starts with your first visual of the mountain.

 

[Megamazing]

I figured it out. It wasn't the Yeti that I saw, it was after the ride goes backwards, the SHADOW of the Yeti is what I was thinking of. I was pretty horrified by the ride, you guys should see the photo

 

[pax_65]

I figured it out. It wasn't the Yeti that I saw, it was after the ride goes backwards, the SHADOW of the Yeti is what I was thinking of. I was pretty horrified by the ride, you guys should see the photo

HA! You might not have survived "A Mode". When the Yeti swiped at the train I instinctively ducked because I was sure he was gonna take my head off!

 

[Ralphlaw]

Agreed in part, but they did put a big emphasis on the animatronic Yeti itself - and it was an amazing piece of work.
Still, it was just one component of the ride.
There are a multitude of factors that make EE unique, and it starts with your first visual of the mountain.

The ride is indeed unique for various reasons, but the yeti is the one thing that makes it different from all other coasters that came before it. Other coasters go backwards, change directions, look impressive from the outside, and break from dark to light. EE was the only coaster that had a HUGE working monster that swept down at the passengers, all of which was set up from the moment we see the mountain, through the line, through the preliminaries of the ride, through the top where the track is literally ripped apart, and through the shadow of the yeti ripping the track apart. No coaster story is told this well, and it all leads to that moment when that huge monster tries to grab you.

Without a working yeti, the heart is missing. It's like The Lord of the Rings without Gandalf. Pirates of the Caribbean without Captain Jack. Star Wars without Darth Vader. A central component is missing, and few of us who actually saw it in full working A mode (and remember how great it was) will contend that the current version is anything but a disappointment. It's like NASA without ever having gone to the moon. Much of it is good, perhaps even great, but that one central moment that brings it all together into true greatness is missing. No climax. No monster moment. And a vague sense of "What was all that preliminary stuff for?" creeps into the experience.

 

[𝐌𝖆𝖓 𝖎𝖓 𝐖𝖊𝖇]

Nope. Not yet.

 

[Incomudro]

The ride is indeed unique for various reasons, but the yeti is the one thing that makes it different from all other coasters that came before it. Other coasters go backwards, change directions, look impressive from the outside, and break from dark to light. EE was the only coaster that had a HUGE working monster that swept down at the passengers, all of which was set up from the moment we see the mountain, through the line, through the preliminaries of the ride, through the top where the track is literally ripped apart, and through the shadow of the yeti ripping the track apart. No coaster story is told this well, and it all leads to that moment when that huge monster tries to grab you.

Without a working yeti, the heart is missing. It's like The Lord of the Rings without Gandalf. Pirates of the Caribbean without Captain Jack. Star Wars without Darth Vader. A central component is missing, and few of us who actually saw it in full working A mode (and remember how great it was) will contend that the current version is anything but a disappointment. It's like NASA without ever having gone to the moon. Much of it is good, perhaps even great, but that one central moment that brings it all together into true greatness is missing. No climax. No monster moment. And a vague sense of "What was all that preliminary stuff for?" creeps into the experience.

Yes, but can I tell you something?
When we first rode the ride as a family we had no idea how big the Yet was, where he was or that we were meant to see him at a climactic moment at the end of the ride.
We just thought he was an animatronic somewhere in the mountain, and assumed he was Big Foot sized.
We thought "maybe we'll be able to spot the Yeti."
So when we didn't see him (one of the four of us did, my son Dean) none of us were surprised or disappointed.
The entire ride, the theming and staging were so good that seeing the Yeti or not seeing him was essentially meaningless.

 

[danyoung56]

Without a working yeti, the heart is missing.

While I don't really disagree with what your saying, Ralphlaw, for me the ride continues to be one of my favorites, yeti or no. Do I want the yeti fixed? Of course. But does it not working mean that the ride is worthless? Of course not.

 

[Ralphlaw]

Yes, but can I tell you something?
When we first rode the ride as a family we had no idea how big the Yet was, where he was or that we were meant to see him at a climactic moment at the end of the ride.
We just thought he was an animatronic somewhere in the mountain, and assumed he was Big Foot sized.
We thought "maybe we'll be able to spot the Yeti."
So when we didn't see him (one of the four of us did, my son Dean) none of us were surprised or disappointed.
The entire ride, the theming and staging were so good that seeing the Yeti or not seeing him was essentially meaningless.

Lord of the Rings without Gandalf is still a pretty good story. And Pirates without Captain Jack could still be kind of a decent movie. And I suppose a less complex and interesting villain than Darth Vader could have sufficed. But once a story-telling company like Disney settles for "okay", "not bad" or "good enough", trouble will follow. EE is a good ride, but it used to be an amazing ride, and perhaps the best attraction of any ride in any park anywhere. Now, does it even make the top ten in Orlando?

NASA has done some amazing things, but without the moon landings, it can be argued that it was just another government agency doing what it was supposed to do. With the moon landings, it is the organization that achieved one of the greatest accomplishments in human history. EE isn't that big, but with the yeti, it brought the amusement park experience to a level that had never been seen before. Without the yeti, it's a jolly nice ride, but certainly not the great experience that it was originally designed to be.

 

[Incomudro]

I get your point, but your comparisons are quite a bit off in my opinion.

 

[marni1971]

We thought it was an average ride in a very pretty building - pretty from the outside. An anti climax.

That was our first ride ten years ago next month. It was broken then and is still broken now.

 

[Chef Mickey]

If I win the $650M Poweball, I figure I'll get ~$250M in cash after lump sum and taxes. I've said I will buy DIS shares with nearly all of it. I would only own about 0.015% of Disney, but I'd have around 2.5M shares and I think Iger would at least take a call from me. Fixing the Yeti would be something I'd ask him to get done.

Not that I'll win or if I did that my call would even help, but I like to think it would.

 

[Chef Mickey]

We thought it was an average ride in a very pretty building - pretty from the outside. An anti climax.

That was our first ride ten years ago next month. It was broken then and is still broken now.

Did you actually never see the Yeti in A-mode?

 

[MisterPenguin]

If I win the $650M Poweball, I figure I'll get ~$250M in cash after lump sum and taxes. I've said I will buy DIS shares with nearly all of it. I would only own about 0.015% of Disney, but I'd have around 2.5M shares and I think Iger would at least take a call from me. Fixing the Yeti would be something I'd ask him to get done.

Not that I'll win or if I did that my call would even help, but I like to think it would.

With that money, you could "sponsor" EE and just pay for the new Yeti, and, get your name on the ride.

 

[marni1971]

Did you actually never see the Yeti in A-mode?

Nope. It's been broken that long.

 

[Ralphlaw]

Perhaps, but feel free to conjure up better comparisons. Lord of the Rings without -----? Pirates without ------? Star Wars without -----? NASA without, what, Gemini 6? Even the track of EE was designed from beginning to end with that yeti moment in mind. Start with the yeti moment, and design everything before and after around it.

Another comparison: Until the Japanese auto makers came along in the 1980s to grab huge shares of the American market, U.S. auto makers lacked focus. Many built unwanted cars that they then thrust upon their dealers to somehow sell. Many models were designed with the focus being somewhere between safety, engineering, and nifty new options (that often didn't work). The Japanese understood that getting a feel for what customers wanted was paramount, and designing the car from the viewpoint of the driver was the engineering focus. They also emphasized reliability, which Detroit rarely considered. Sitting down in a Honda or Toyota showroom in the 80s was a revelation. The control from the driver's seat made sense, reliability was flashed all over, and they almost read your mind by answering the questions that you didn't even know you had. It took a decade or two, but Detroit eventually caught on.

Similarly, EE was designed for the yeti moment. Without it, something fundamental is missing. It's jolly nice, but it's like we're backseat passengers, so to speak, not quite appreciating the full experience as it was meant to be.

 

[Chef Mickey]

Nope. It's been broken that long.

I guess because I was lucky enough to ride it within weeks of opening day, I forget it probably broke less than a year after opening.

It's just shocking an insider has actually never seen the working Yeti. I could see how one would think it's sort of "meh" without the finale. Personally, I felt the ending made the attraction and it's significantly worse without it. Others don't think it's that big of a deal, but a working Yeti absolutely made it a top 3 attraction...now it's just top 15 maybe.

 

[Incomudro]

Perhaps, but feel free to conjure up better comparisons. Lord of the Rings without -----? Pirates without ------? Star Wars without -----? NASA without, what, Gemini 6? Even the track of EE was designed from beginning to end with that yeti moment in mind. Start with the yeti moment, and design everything before and after around it.

Another comparison: Until the Japanese auto makers came along in the 1980s to grab huge shares of the American market, U.S. auto makers lacked focus. Many built unwanted cars that they then thrust upon their dealers to somehow sell. Many models were designed with the focus being somewhere between safety, engineering, and nifty new options (that often didn't work). The Japanese understood that getting a feel for what customers wanted was paramount, and designing the car from the viewpoint of the driver was the engineering focus. They also emphasized reliability, which Detroit rarely considered. Sitting down in a Honda or Toyota showroom in the 80s was a revelation. The control from the driver's seat made sense, reliability was flashed all over, and they almost read your mind by answering the questions that you didn't even know you had. It took a decade or two, but Detroit eventually caught on.

Similarly, EE was designed for the yeti moment. Without it, something fundamental is missing. It's jolly nice, but it's like we're backseat passengers, so to speak, not quite appreciating the full experience as it was meant to be.

It's more like the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, and the Jack Sparrow animatronic at the end is not working - but you're blasting past him at 40mph.

 

[Ralphlaw]

It's more like the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, and the Jack Sparrow animatronic at the end is not working - but you're blasting past him at 40mph.

I couldn't disagree more. Did you ever ride it in A mode? And if so, do you recall how it all came together at the yeti moment? Pirates was an attraction well before the movies, with the original design of the thing having little overall to do with Johnny Depp. It was later retooled with Johnny, but the thing was never designed to be about Johnny from beginning to end. He was slapped onto like a new coat of paint.

Perhaps a better comparison would be to Splash Mountain without the plunge into the Briar Patch. EE without A mode yeti is sort of equivalent to Splash Mountain without the Briar Patch plunge. The whole experience sort of leads up to that big drop, but even that is a pale comparison to the design that went into making the yeti moment the absolute focus and climax of EE.

 

[Incomudro]

I couldn't disagree more. Did you ever ride it in A mode? And if so, do you recall how it all came together at the yeti moment? Pirates was an attraction well before the movies, with the original design of the thing having little overall to do with Johnny Depp. It was later retooled with Johnny, but the thing was never designed to be about Johnny from beginning to end. He was slapped onto like a new coat of paint.

Perhaps a better comparison would be to Splash Mountain without the plunge into the Briar Patch. EE without A mode yeti is sort of equivalent to Splash Mountain without the Briar Patch plunge. The whole experience sort of leads up to that big drop, but even that is a pale comparison to the design that went into making the yeti moment the absolute focus and climax of EE.

It's nothing like Splash without the plunge.
It's like Splash with a static animatronic that you're plummeting past.