Are the feelings for the Yeti unreasonable?

[marni1971]

"In a Disney park, everything must work. Poor maintenance is poor show" - Marty Sklar

 

[NickWilde]

It’s not just the Yeti that needs fixing, there are several other effects on the attraction that no longer work,(Like the fog effect for example) plus not to mention that horrendous hair tie tree thing that takes you out of the experience. We just need to renovate E:E to fix all these issues and as sad as it would be to not ride my favorite attraction during a visit that’ll improve the overall experience. (If they don’t decide to go the lazy route and slap an IP on there because that’s what Iger does best)

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

"In a Disney park, everything must work. Poor maintenance is poor show" - Marty Sklar

“ Disney posted record profits/dividends. Revenue and Operating Income were up across all segments with the exception of the troubled domestic television units”

-Bloomberg

 

[marni1971]

“ Disney posted record profits/dividends. Revenue and Operating Income were up across all segments with the exception of the troubled domestic television units”

-Bloomberg

Almost like they’d have some spare cash to fix things.

 

[networkpro]

If you believe what Disney claims - that all rides are really “stories” and that their commitment to quality is timeless...

Then how can that ride not be judged as a failure?

Do you trust the horses mouth?

To your point how do the hairbands fit in ? Seeking a way to tame the unruly tuffs of hair that are the bane of the Yeti's existence, intrepid adventurers launch streams of hair restraints in the hope that they will be used someday by the creatures.

 

[larryz]

Almost like they’d have some spare cash to fix things.

When they're not building their CEO a new cash vault...

Here's what I expect to see... they move the spitting camel from Aladdin's Carpets to replace the yeti, and change the name of the ride to Expedition Effervesce.

 

[Goofyernmost]

"In a Disney park, everything must work. Poor maintenance is poor show" - Marty Sklar

This is not "poor maintenance" this is massively failed imagineering/ engineering. There is a difference. This isn't a case of there weren't enough people available to grease it. This isn't poor show, this is poor performance of people paid mega bucks to do it right the first time.

 

[Janir]

I know this one has some strong feelings from some people, and I have to admit I'm a little bemused by some of it, and figure I must be missing somethings. Especially after I saw a couple of people attack Iger on the thread about him as if he's directly responsible for it and it's a high crime to not have fixed the Yeti.

We all know the issue- the Yeti on Expedition Everest used to move. Now he doesn't, and instead has a strobe light effect projected onto him. The reason seems to be that the figure itself broke at some point, or it was causing structural issues with the mountain itself and they shut it down. Or both. From what I've seen the only way to fix it is to close the ride for months, actually have to remove the top of the mountain, lift the figure out for repairs, and also do some work on the mountain itself so that it can properly support the moving Yeti. And to do so is going to cost tens of millions of dollars. Do I have that basically right?

So a ton of money and downtime for something that nominally affects the ride, at best. I rode it before it opened, and over the course of the 5 years I worked there- starting about the time they opened the ride- and other visits, I've been on it plenty. The impact difference of moving yeti vs strobe yeti is small- small enough that I doubt most people would even notice it.

I don't understand thinking it's necessary to spend millions on a moment that lasts maybe a second. What return on their investment would they get that would make it worth it to spend that much money. An advertising campaign? "Look, the Yeti moves!"

I'm sure there is someone here who will be happy to put my ignorant self in place and explain how this one thing ruins their whole entire vacation at Disney, or how Disney would make billions if they fixed it, or something like that. But I don't get it.

You summed up my feelings about the Yeti. Would it be awesome if it was moving? Yeah. But the cost benefit ratio doesn't just look bad for rebuilding the attraction, its pretty horrible. They basically have to REBUILD THE ENTIRE ATTRACTION. People are riding it and enjoying it, it makes n9 kinds of sense to tear it down to rebuild the structure just to make the Yeti move. It's a bad waste of money that would have to come out of new attraction budget to get done. Some years down the road when its ready for a full refurb and they want to put in a new attraction, maybe then they could rebuild it they way it should have been and maybe some newer tech will be implemented at the same time. Think along the lines of how Star Tours was and is today.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

To your point how do the hairbands fit in ? Seeking a way to tame the unruly tuffs of hair that are the bane of the Yeti's existence, intrepid adventurers launch streams of hair restraints in the hope that they will be used someday by the creatures.

I’m sure there’s a ladder...somebody would just need to climb up it daily with a garbage bag and some
Rubber gloves

 

[marni1971]

This is not "poor maintenance" this is massively failed imagineering/ engineering. There is a difference. This isn't a case of there weren't enough people available to grease it. This isn't poor show, this is poor performance of people paid mega bucks to do it right the first time.

You’re right. I’ll take my quote to Space Mountain. And Tower of Terror. And...

 

[networkpro]

I’m sure there’s a ladder...somebody would just need to climb up it daily with a garbage bag and some
Rubber gloves

It is that simple, yet again its not that simple due to OSHA regulations.

 

[NormC]

It is that simple, yet again its not that simple due to OSHA regulations.

Exactly. Because of OSHA it is a two person job with extra safety equipment requirements. Could have been done with a back pack vacuum. It was pretty clean when I was there at the beginning of the month. There were only a couple compared to previous trips.

 

[fractal]

Because it was a very noble and energetic thing to strive for. If they had been able to pull it off it would have been one of the most spectacular thing to accomplish probably ever. It didn't work. sad but hardly the end of the world.

Running a business is not unlike running your private home. You may want something, but, you find out that your life is just as good without it. You don't throw money away. It was a noble effort, but, not worth spending more money on.

My point was that they overlooked it when they designed it to begin with. They never factored in how cold it actually got in Florida or they would have used a different material to begin with.

But to your point... Disney has an obligation to the shareholders and it would be irresponsible to spend tens of millions of dollars to simply insure that a animatronic yeti moved on a ride where the majority of the people don't care. Yes Disney has enough money to do it, the also have enough money to do all sorts of ridiculous things, but it would be silly to do it simply because a few people remember it when worked.
And if you don't understand ROI then I would hope you keep your investments in funds that are managed by people that do. As for what ROI means it is just exactly what it stands for "return on investment'... Most companies will always have more projects and business opportunities available to them than they have the funds to undertake. If you were given a two different opportunities but only had enough money to pursue one of them how would you make the decision? Would it be based on which opportunity made you the most money as a percent of you investment or would you rather invest in the one that had a cooler name or used nifty technology? Businesses go by the numbers and the ROI is just a way that they can easily compare all those opportunities to each other using a common measurement.

If a company is know to ignore ROI and just do what they think is cool it is a company that most investors will shun like the plague.

Fixing the Yeti is an investment in the standard of excellence we expect from Disney, which ultimately is an investment in it's brand. A marketing push announcing "The Yeit has awakened" or something along those lines matched with new merchandise would easily pay for the repairs as well as enhance the Disney brand.

It would also be "cool" to do, which is really the reasoning Walt used when he built Disneyland.

 

[Magenta Panther]

I can't believe that someone's making excuses for the lazy cheapwad cynicism from Iger and company over not repairing the Yeti AA, thus allowing an essentially broken ride to operate in a Disney park for years. Iger can find money to buy up properties and studios but can't cough up the scratch to fix EE. This shows you where his priorities lie. I mean seriously, how can any so-called Disney fan apologize for this?

 

[Magenta Panther]

This is not "poor maintenance" this is massively failed imagineering/ engineering. There is a difference. This isn't a case of there weren't enough people available to grease it. This isn't poor show, this is poor performance of people paid mega bucks to do it right the first time.

It's poor performance AND poor show, actually.

 

[GeneralZod]

Pretty simple really. It's poor show and the ride should be 101 until it is repaired.

 

[EagleScout610]

"I will fix the Yeti"

- Joe Rhode

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It is that simple, yet again its not that simple due to OSHA regulations.

Exactly. Because of OSHA it is a two person job with extra safety equipment requirements. Could have been done with a back pack vacuum. It was pretty clean when I was there at the beginning of the month. There were only a couple compared to previous trips.

You’re being too literal, kids...I do osha consulting for region 3 (amongst many other things)...

I was poking fun at the idea that teens throwing hair bands on a Fiberglass faux mountain is akin to a major ride element failure on a centerpiece attraction to a park that charges $124 a day and makes you pre-reserve your fun....

And it broke 12 years ago

FYI - it was really cool. I get the feeling many who say it’s no big deal never actually saw it.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Pretty simple really. It's poor show and the ride should be 101 until it is repaired.

Hardline...but I like it.

You know the deal with that is they’d have to build one or two more significant attractions to take it offline for the 18 months or so it would probably take...

THAT’s the story behind “fix the yeti”

Bob ain’t doing that...he’s looking to buy his own island in the Maldives or Seychelles

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

When they're not building their CEO a new cash vault...

Here's what I expect to see... they move the spitting camel from Aladdin's Carpets to replace the yeti, and change the name of the ride to Expedition Effervesce.

...I can’t...

...I got nothing