Expedition Everest effects status watch

HauntedPirate

Park nostalgist
Premium Member
I just consider myself lucky to have ridden it in April 2006 after it opened. Steam effects, moving yeti... You felt like the yeti’s hand was actually going to grab you, and you could almost reach out and touch it. It was glorious. I yearn for guests to experience a moving yeti again one day. Strobe lights can’t come close to simulating the thrill.
 

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
I just consider myself lucky to have ridden it in April 2006 after it opened. Steam effects, moving yeti... You felt like the yeti’s hand was actually going to grab you, and you could almost reach out and touch it. It was glorious. I yearn for guests to experience a moving yeti again one day. Strobe lights can’t come close to simulating the thrill.
And not seeing the tracks switch and then falling through the fog and out of the mountain... that was an even bigger loss than the moving yeti imho.
 

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
I never realized it did this. That would be awesome!
It really was. Both switches were covered in fog. Falling backwards into the fog and then into the black tunnel was very different than falling backwards and seeing where the track switched.

Falling through the fog and into the main drop was super disorienting as well... was a much more unique and thrilling attraction.
 

scheat

Active Member
We were there just after it first opened as well and EE was pure Disney brilliance at that time. It was a walk on for several days in the off season then and I stopped counting the number of times we rode it in its full glory. It's just too bad because it is definitely a totally different experience with everything working, imho.
 

EagleScout610

These cats can PLAAAAAYYYYY
Premium Member
With the sad news that Joe Rhode is retiring from Walt Disney Imagineering, should we just stick a fork in the yeti and close this thread? One of the things that kept it going was his "I Will Fix the Yeti" quote popping in again and again. When he goes it's clear nobody cares like Joe, so do we call Game Over for Yeti?
 

Marc Davis Fan

Well-Known Member
Losing the fog was indeed even more significant than losing the yeti's movement. It masked the track switches, created the powerful/disorienting experience of falling through the fog into the darkness, and more broadly made it feel like you were high up in the misty mountains... I think we focus more on the yeti because it's an "obvious" / story-central effect, but the fog added at least as much to the whole experience.

If I remember/understand correctly, the fog effect was intermittently tripping sensors that caused ride stops - but I could be totally wrong about this. I've also heard things about rust, Florida humidity, etc. Does anyone have further insight into their reasons for giving up on the fog? And considering the reasons, the prospects for a renewed attempted when EE is one day, finally, finally refurbished?
 

JoeCamel

Well-Known Member
With the sad news that Joe Rhode is retiring from Walt Disney Imagineering, should we just stick a fork in the yeti and close this thread? One of the things that kept it going was his "I Will Fix the Yeti" quote popping in again and again. When he goes it's clear nobody cares like Joe, so do we call Game Over for Yeti?
No, Everest and it's effects are still here and some are still broken.
 

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
Losing the fog was indeed even more significant than losing the yeti's movement. It masked the track switches, created the powerful/disorienting experience of falling through the fog into the darkness, and more broadly made it feel like you were high up in the misty mountains... I think we focus more on the yeti because it's an "obvious" / story-central effect, but the fog added at least as much to the whole experience.

If I remember/understand correctly, the fog effect was intermittently tripping sensors that caused ride stops - but I could be totally wrong about this. I've also heard things about rust, Florida humidity, etc. Does anyone have further insight into their reasons for giving up on the fog? And considering the reasons, the prospects for a renewed attempted when EE is one day, finally, finally refurbished?
My understanding - They were using mist for the fog. The water droplets would sometimes build up on the sensors and cause issues. I’m not sure how often this happened.

There are other types of fog effects that could potentially work, there also could be a way to protect the sensors, I’m not sure. If you can dream it, you can do it!*

*unless it’s cheaper to turn just it off or tear it down.
 

VicariousCorpse

Well-Known Member
Rode it 3 times Wednesday and never saw the Yeti. Nobody in my group of 5 saw him at all.
Was his tunnel just pitch black or was he gone from his position? When they first reopened during Covid the strobes were turned off. This was posted a few pages back. He is still there in the dark though.
 
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JoeCamel

Well-Known Member

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