Are the feelings for the Yeti unreasonable?

[Goofyernmost]

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

You know as well as I do that what is happening in those is only the same in your imagination.

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.

Perhaps all of us should stop expecting that anymore. Walt has been dead for 53 years, he ain't coming back. What happened in 1955 is quite different then now. Oh, and btw, the quality of the "show" back then cannot even hold a candle to what we have now. Unless you are hankering to ride a stagecoach down a dusty trail while on the lookout of them injun's on the war path.

It's poor performance AND poor show, actually.

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

Imagine this... suppose you didn't know about the attempt to have a big AA when they built it and that they had designed the Yeti to just be a big old hairy monster that created animation with air movement and strobe light illusion. Would it still be poor show. Now imagine the power of numbers. There would be a pitiful few people that would be happy if they shut the thing down for months and massive numbers that would be screaming at guest services for ruining their vacation. If you had to make that decision and convince all those people that they should rejoice that they are unable to ride a perfectly good ride because an obviously disposable movement is no longer... how would you convince them that it is for their benefit? And then if you decided to spend the millions it would take to rebuild it and you had to explain that expenditure to the BoD who in turn had to justify it to stockholders what would you say to make them happy?

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.

I saw it and do not think it was a big deal, then or now. It is about time everyone lets it go. If they haven't decided to fix it in 12 years, they ain't gonna. Take comfort in the fact that everyone that saw it when it first opened are pushing close to that big theme park in the sky age where nothing is ever broken and all exist happily ever after. However, all kidding aside, you hit directly upon it with the statement that those that never saw it are not aware of it being any different so why go through the expense and effort to add something back in that only a few would really know was there or perhaps even see any difference in the show itself.

 

[thomas998]

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.

Yes, fixing it is the kind of thing Walt would have probably done... but remember Walt wasn't much of a businessman and if not for his brother Disney would have gone bankrupt long ago.

 

[Phil12]

Joe Rohde fixed it:

 

[JusticeDisney]

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.

Wish I could like this post 1 million times.

 

[disneyfireman]

EE is fine....dont change a thing. The Yeti...i like it as is..It now has character. Its a legend as is. This is one fine attraction. If you dont like it..too bad. Get in line for something else...stop whining.

 

[marni1971]

You know as well as I do that what is happening in those is only the same in your imagination..

I don’t get you?

 

[Goofyernmost]

I don’t get you?

The feeling is totally mutual.

 

[marni1971]

The feeling is totally mutual.

Sorry, I mean I didn’t understand your post. Please elaborate.

 

[Disstevefan1]

It's a fail. Look at it as that. Something that was built and promoted and it doesn't work. Taking into account the whole experience on the ride it isn't much, but it's still a fail. Accepting this means we are opening up the door to accepting all sorts of substandard things in the future. That's why it's hard to let go.

One of the many EPIC fails in the history of Disneyparks. One other that comes to mind is the Rocket Rods at Disneyland. They messed that up so much, they couldn't even revert it back to the people mover!

Let's quit while we are behind and stay with disco yeti. We would not want to lose the attraction all together!

 

[Indy_UK]

Best chance of the Yeti getting fixed is people on here starting a crowd funding page lol

 

[Missing20K]

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.

My mistake on the portion about the Shuttle tragedy.

As far as ROI and the rest of your post, I couldn't disagree more. ROI is dependent on the time frame in which one estimates the return. ROI over a quarter and over a year and over a decade are very different. I believe in long term value creation. Using CapEx to fix the Yeti, in my humble opinion, would provide far more long term value in terms of both guest satisfaction and brand recognition than any short term quarterly loss in terms of either upset guests or hit to the earnings/share.

 

[HauntedPirate]

The longer they go without fixing the Yeti, the fewer people realize it's broken, and thus, fewer people to hold their feet to the fire about fixing what is supposed to be the climax of the ride - An encounter with The Yeti. "Good enough" becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and enables TPTB to skirt the issue in the name of "operational capacity" and meeting bonus criteria on spending.

The ride itself is not a failure without the Yeti. The whole experience is, however, as the Yeti is supposed to be the centerpiece of it.

Rizzo's now-infamous line has never been more accurate.

Edit: I also say this as someone who has been riding it since it opened. Steam effects, bird-on-a-stick, moving yeti... all of it.

 

[Fable McCloud]

It really wouldn't be so awful if all the publicity shots show the darned thing in "A" mode. When we took our first trip in 2007, the videos all showed it being terrifying and made such a big deal, with everyone talking about it being the largest, and most advanced AA. What was advertised was not what we got, and that was the larger disappointment.

Personally, I think they should find a way to add/or improve it the next time it goes down for a full refurb. I don't think it will ever be in full "A" mode again, or that it needs to. Some limited movement would be nice though, even just its arms with the long, hanging fur swiping at you would look cool and give the illusion of a more dangerous creature. Besides, strobe can trigger seizures, even with people with no known seizure disorders. At the end of the day, Disco Yeti is still better than no Yeti, but I think they could do some minor work without bringing the whole Mountain down just for him.

 

[Jiminy76]

I think Disney should embrace the Disco Yeti and do an occasional overlay with a disco ball and play ABBA Dancing Queen as you zoom past it. All for an up charge of course.

 

[rreading]

I feel that @marni1971 is the last of the old guard who really was in the loop as to the issues with the yeti.

Is your understanding that there was a solution to the problem, but it was just a matter of the $$?

My recollection of the discussion was that there were safety concerns that preempted the repair, but this was simply from the discussion here as I have no insider information.

 

[danlb_2000]

I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority of visitors don't even know it's broken. I wouldn't know it was broken if I didn't regularly visit these forums.

There are 1000's of details around Disney parks that guests probably don't consciously notice, but it is these details that make Disney parks what they are.

 

[thomas998]

My mistake on the portion about the Shuttle tragedy.

As far as ROI and the rest of your post, I couldn't disagree more. ROI is dependent on the time frame in which one estimates the return. ROI over a quarter and over a year and over a decade are very different. I believe in long term value creation. Using CapEx to fix the Yeti, in my humble opinion, would provide far more long term value in terms of both guest satisfaction and brand recognition than any short term quarterly loss in terms of either upset guests or hit to the earnings/share.

When properly calculated the ROI takes into account the entire life of the investment. Now I have worked at places where people would try to get cute and make calculations based on a perpetuitity rather than just determining the actual life and the salvage value or cost at the end... but in general as long as you model is based on reasonable assumptions a comparison of ROI isn't impacted by the life of the investment since the time value of money is factored in... and I don't think you mean CapEx, I think you are talking about CAPM, I've used both when I worked in business development but most analyst that are going to be making recommendations on your company don't give a flip about CAPM as ROI is most widely accepted.

 

[MKCP 1985]

I feel fortunate to have experienced it when it worked. Having that big yeti lunge at you, especially if you were on the right side and kept your eyes open (it turns out a lot of people closed their eyes in fright) evoked a sense of a real creature after you. Without that, it’s a fun coaster.

I had the opportunity to visit with the Disney Imagineer who was not in the creative end of design but the practical aspect of building the major attractions at WDW for over 20 years - he’s now retired - and Everest was one of his last projects. My sense from the conversation was that wear and tear or stress on the yeti is too much for the constant action and presents a safety issue to guests if the AA fails/breaks on a lunge so won’t likely be restored to what he was in 2006.

And that is a shame. Sometimes “the old days” really were the best days, even when we didn’t know they were the old days at the time.

 

[DisneyfanMA]

I'm not going to lose sleep over it but my take as a casual who hasnt even been to AK let alone on this ride yet is...... it's kind of embarrassing that a mega corporation like Disney worth hundreds of billions with tens of millions of annual guests across its parks can't fix 1 animatronic for 10 years and counting in a major attraction.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

The Empress Lilly went twenty years without smoke stacks and paddle wheel.

The world's largest themed entertainment complex, and they just let the biggest landmark of one of their prime areas sit there in risible state, for decades. A steamship without its defining elements. Like an airplane without its wings.

No need for technicalities, for sinkholes, for entire mountains that need to be removed. Similarly for the yeti, this is all simply a matter of a complex that was built so well that later lesser management discovered you can run everything at fifty percent and it still will barely register on revenue.