Expedition Everest effects status watch

Incomudro

Incomudro

Well-Known Member
Ralphlaw said:
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.
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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.
 
R

Ralphlaw

Well-Known Member
Incomudro said:
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.
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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

Incomudro

Well-Known Member
Ralphlaw said:
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.
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It's nothing like Splash without the plunge.
It's like Splash with a static animatronic that you're plummeting past.
 
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Ralphlaw

Well-Known Member
Incomudro said:
It's nothing like Splash without the plunge.
It's like Splash with a static animatronic that you're plummeting past.
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Again, couldn't disagree more. For those of us who saw it 10 years ago and remember it clearly, that yeti was the absolute climax of the ride, and the fabric that held together the attraction. I don't think those of us who saw the working yeti would at all be inclined to liken it to one of dozens of AAs from Splash Mountain or Pirates.
 
danyoung56

danyoung56

Well-Known Member
Ummm, this is a prime case of "speak for yourself", Ralphlaw. I rode many times with a working yeti, and while I hate that he's broken and look forward to the day he's fixed, EE is still one of my favorite rides in WDW.
 
po1998

po1998

Well-Known Member
marni1971 said:
Nope. It's been broken that long.
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Hard to believe it has been that long. Maybe that has led to imagineers(or more so TDO) being gun shy about AA's in future attractions.

Hindsight is always 20/20, but what were they thinking about with that kind of investment in an AA that you go flying by in a couple of seconds, and if I remember right, even when it was working, many guests never even noticed it.
 
R

Ralphlaw

Well-Known Member
danyoung56 said:
Ummm, this is a prime case of "speak for yourself", Ralphlaw. I rode many times with a working yeti, and while I hate that he's broken and look forward to the day he's fixed, EE is still one of my favorite rides in WDW.
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I'm not saying it's worthless, but I am saying that the fundamental theming and epic nature of the attraction has been missing for 10 years. It was my favorite attraction of any park anywhere when it was in A mode. It is far down on my list now, well below Soarin', Test Track, the new Star Tours, Midway Mania, and Dwarf's Mine Train. Given the choice of EE or a good spot to watch Illuminations, I'd take Illuminations every time. What boggles is the number of yeti souvenirs they still sell even though a truly visible and working yeti did not exist for so long. Even the idea of a yeti can sell merch. Imagine how much more merch a working yet would sell.
 
pax_65

pax_65

Well-Known Member
Incomudro said:
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.
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I like this post because it gets to my point about how most people don't understand what they're missing. Maybe it's because so few people experienced A-mode. Or maybe they remember A-mode and just sorta imagine it as they zoom by the Yeti. I dunno. But the bottom line is, there's not a huge uproar about fixing the Yeti so it's not a big priority to Disney.

For me, it's the difference between a "must do E-Ticket" attraction (like Splash, Soarin' or Tower of Terror) and a thrilling secondary attraction like maybe Dinosaur. I'm with Martin - we frequently skip EE now especially if the line is long. But if the Yeti was functioning, we wouldn't miss it.

I think what makes the comparisons so difficult is that EE is such a unique attraction. Trust me, the Yeti swiping at the train IS THE HIGH POINT of the attraction. So while the comparison of the big drop at Splash isn't exactly right (since EE still functions as a ride and Splash without the drop probably wouldn't), it's not totally wrong either.

Maybe it's like doing Space Mountain with the lights on. Space becomes more like an average coaster. Still fun to ride but nowhere near as thrilling.
 
Incomudro

Incomudro

Well-Known Member
pax_65 said:
I like this post because it gets to my point about how most people don't understand what they're missing. Maybe it's because so few people experienced A-mode. Or maybe they remember A-mode and just sorta imagine it as they zoom by the Yeti. I dunno. But the bottom line is, there's not a huge uproar about fixing the Yeti so it's not a big priority to Disney.

For me, it's the difference between a "must do E-Ticket" attraction (like Splash, Soarin' or Tower of Terror) and a thrilling secondary attraction like maybe Dinosaur. I'm with Martin - we frequently skip EE now especially if the line is long. But if the Yeti was functioning, we wouldn't miss it.

I think what makes the comparisons so difficult is that EE is such a unique attraction. Trust me, the Yeti swiping at the train IS THE HIGH POINT of the attraction. So while the comparison of the big drop at Splash isn't exactly right (since EE still functions as a ride and Splash without the drop probably wouldn't), it's not totally wrong either.

Maybe it's like doing Space Mountain with the lights on. Space becomes more like an average coaster. Still fun to ride but nowhere near as thrilling.
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Space with the lights on would be like doing EE with interior lights on.
I agree the Yeti should be fixed, and I hop it does get fixed.
But it is almost literally located at the last section of the ride and riders pass him at a high rate of speed.
They've experienced nearly the entire ride by that point: viewed Everest as they entered the park, walked through an amazing cue, rode through the foothills, spanned the pass between the mountains, reached the broken track, plummeted backwards - where many people believe they are going upside down, reached the area where the animated Yeti tears up the track and send you in the other direction...
This ride functions on so many levels and takes you on a journey.
 
R

Ralphlaw

Well-Known Member
po1998 said:
Hindsight is always 20/20, but what were they thinking about with that kind of investment in an AA that you go flying by in a couple of seconds, and if I remember right, even when it was working, many guests never even noticed it.
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Assuming it worked for the last ten years, that yeti would have been an amazing draw and merch seller for the park. It raised the bar for future attractions dramatically. Dips, inversions and plummets would not have been enough for any future coaster. EE, for one briefing shining moment, took the coaster experience to a whole new level. But, they apparently pushed it too far, building something that didn't actually work long-term. And consider that the yeti might have justified a raise in ticket prices by even one dollar. That's $10 million at AK alone every year. An across-the-board dollar raise would have meant something like $50 million per year. AK and Studios have always seen the lowest attendance of the 4 parks. A working yeti would have enhanced the popularity of AK, again justifying potential price rises that would definitely have made the yeti profitable. It also would have given Disney the confidence to push more envelopes. Right now, imagine the chilling effect of innovation now that Joe Rohde's pet has been dead for 10 years. Who in their right mind will innovate that far again?

When it was in A mode, it would have been very hard to not notice it. Some people who close their eyes on coasters might have missed it, but I think it would have been impossible to have missed it with open eyes when the yeti was in full A mode.
 
pax_65

pax_65

Well-Known Member
Incomudro said:
Space with the lights on would be like doing EE with interior lights on.
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Yeah, it's an imperfect analogy too.

Here's another one, also not perfect. I've only ridden Mummy at Universal once, so I don't remember every detail. I know that I really enjoyed it and my memory is that it's a pretty fun coaster. But the #1 thing I really remember, what was totally unique, was the "ending" (I'm being intentionally vague, if you haven't ridden and don't know what I'm referring to, go ride it!). For me, this made the coaster unique and just blew me away - I was laughing and telling everyone about it for the rest of our vacation.

I agree there are many cool elements to EE that people may walk away remembering, but if the Yeti was in A mode that would be the #1 thing they would remember.
 
danyoung56

danyoung56

Well-Known Member
Ralphlaw said:
Assuming it worked for the last ten years, that yeti would have been an amazing draw and merch seller for the park.
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Again, while I wish the yeti was working, I think you overestimate his importance to the attraction, and to the park as a whole. A working yeti would mean one less thing for us uber Disney fans to complain about. But I don't see that it would make that much difference in the popularity of the park.
 
M

MiddKid

Well-Known Member
8/19 and 8/23: Yeti was illuminated and had strobe. Interesting note: my 12 year-old who has ridden Everest a few times in the past (infrequently though...this is our third trip in the last 5 years) got off the ride and immediately asked if they added that "huge Yeti" and commented on how cool it looked. So the lighting is working.

I agree. I prefer the current version to the old disco-only Yeti.
 
Magenta Panther

Magenta Panther

Well-Known Member
If TDO ever regains its self-respect and gets the Yeti working again, I think the ride's timing needs to be changed too. The train should temporarily "break down" in front of the Yeti figure long enough for everyone to get a good look at him, and then depart at the ride's highest speed. That would be a great climax to the ride and push it above a second-rate heavily-themed coaster.

For my part, after my initial 4 times riding it at AK (all 4 times were an attempt to see the Yeti), I haven't bothered with the thing. The queue is meaningless now and boring. The ride itself is nothing special. Those whose criteria for a fun ride is "it goes real fast, hurr hurr" are welcome to EE, but I won't ride it again until the Yeti is fixed.
 

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