Expedition Everest effects status watch

[Clever Name]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the Tiki Room that a major conflagration wouldn't fix.

Sometimes it not all about you.

I fixed it for you to show you it's not all about me.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

I fixed it for you to show you it's not all about me.

Whether it's intentional or not, your fix in fact proved to be spot on.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Get ready for a rant. The queue is absolutely amazing, but the ride itself? Forgive me, but "meh."

With regard to the non-working Yeti, all I can say is, seriously, Disney? It's 2013, you employ well-educated engineers and you're making billions. Shame on you for not forking over the dough to fix the Yeti, or build a new, lighter-weight model that actually works! I know it will be difficult to shut down the attraction for awhile, but it's unacceptable to leave the centerpiece of the attraction in B mode, and so long as you leave it that way, myriad guests are going to continue to bypass Animal Kingdom completely because there's "not enough" unique things worth seeing there. (We have zoos at home. We have great coasters at our local Six Flags which go forwards and backwards. What we do NOT have is animatronic Yetis grabbing at us! Now that is something I'd make the effort to see.) Even my six-year-old son, who' d been told nothing about the coaster before we rode, said dejectedly afterwards, "Gee, I thought there would be a Yeti someplace. The line [e.g., the queue exhibits] kept talking about it." At the very least, stop running those false and misleading travelogues on the Travel Channel about the Animal Kingdom, which spend half their airtime showing footage of the [working] Yeti, and the other half interviewing Joe Rohde's earrings about how awesome it is. It just makes you (and Joe) look ridiculous and deceitful, and creates false expectations in visitors.

I also didn't like that during the "backwards" section (on our visit in October 2012), I was able to look right into the inside of the mountain and see structural supports, etc. There is no reason Disney can't obscure this view with some rockwork or something, and it made for a "very poor show." Seeing the "guts" of the fake mountain shattered any illusion that we were on a real one.

Is Expedition Everest a respectably good coaster? Sure it is, but what Disney continues to promise to visitors is an excellent one with an amazing special effect at the end -- and it fails to deliver.

[Exuent rant.]

 

[Bryner84]

When it opened, imagineers were breaking their arms patting themselves on the back about their accomplishments with the yeti and secured tv spots, specials, and advertisements to show it off. It is hard to ignore the fact that this entire ride was centered around this animatronic. It elevated the experience. Everest minus the yeti is the equivalent to riding Space Mountain with the lights on...it's the ride's "clencher" that makes it better than the rest. It was intentionally designed as a brief moment, so when the ride was over, you said, "I have got to ride that again and see what the heck is going on in that mountain!" Who wants all that build up without a climax? I know I sure don't! It leaves me feeling "blue".

 

[Daddymouse]

This post has lasted longer than the Yeti.

 

[Bairstow]

This post has lasted longer than the Yeti.

Stand by for "B Mode"

 

[unkadug]

This post has lasted longer than the Yeti.

Lets look at some dates:

Expedition Everest:

• Opened on 01-26-06
• Grand Opening 04-07-06

I've searched for an exact date of the "B" mode beginning to no avail...by all accounts it has been stuck in "B" mode since 2008.

So approximately two years of possibly being able to see the Yeti in action and 5 years of Disco Yeti.

This thread started on 04-18-2007 and the yeti was in "B" mode then (See post #12)

 

[jkl2000]

I just read this on Wikipedia (sorry if this has been posted here before):

The yeti has not been in full "A-mode" operation since a few months after the ride's opening, when its framing split, causing significant risk of catastrophic malfunction if it were operated. It currently only operates in the alternative "B-mode", which is limited to a strobe-light effect designed to give the appearance of movement, earning it the nickname "Disco Yeti". The problem was caused by damage to the yeti's concrete base structure, which is unlikely to be repaired until a major refurbishment in the future, because the design limits access to the yeti without major disassembly of the superstructure.
Wow, hard to believe they didn't design/install the Yeti in such a way that it could be repaired/replaced/rebuilt etc. without having to disassemble the superstructure.

 

[jkl2000]

I hate to say it, but yeah... Disney didn't DO "broken."

I rmember riding 20K in the 70s and seeing a crab that was ripped open, and you could see the gears inside. Of course, to fix that required underwater repairs which I'm sure were a hassle.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

I rmember riding 20K in the 70s and seeing a crab that was ripped open, and you could see the gears inside. Of course, to fix that required underwater repairs which I'm sure were a hassle.

There's a difference between "stuff happens" and letting it sit for YEARS that way.

Obviously, any mechanical device is subject to failure - even space shuttles, which are designed to be triple redundant. So you can't truly expect there to never be a breakdown (as much as you try/claim otherwise). It's how those breakdowns are dealt with that are in question here.

 

[jkl2000]

There's a difference between "stuff happens" and letting it sit for YEARS that way.

Obviously, any mechanical device is subject to failure - even space shuttles, which are designed to be triple redundant. So you can't truly expect there to never be a breakdown (as much as you try/claim otherwise). It's how those breakdowns are dealt with that are in question here.

I don't disagree with you, and it sounds like they should have fixed it long ago.

 

[Todd L]

We arent huge fans of Ak ..we go maybe a 1/2 day every other trip. Id rather hang by the pool, head downtown or go to the waterparks .

I Just cant for the life of me figure out why they cant make the Big draw attraction run properly at the park with the fewest rides.

How long has it been down down...7 or 8 years?? I cant imagine its ever getting fixed at this point!!

 

[ddrongowski]

Let me guess the Yeti is still frozen. I thought FL was warm....

 

[bonofuzz]

Indeed, it's only a small fraction of over zealous fans that notice this sort of thing. It reminds me of the zealots that get concerned because a chicken on the showboat in Splash Mountain is broken or those that notice that the clock in CoP is set at the wrong time. They obsessively worry about such small items rather than being concerned about bigger issues such as getting rid of the Tiki Room.

A couple things... firstly, anyone taking the time out of their busy lives to not only read but post on wdwmagic could probably be considered a zealot by some. And I'm okay with that if it means that I appreciate the artistry and story of Disney parks enough to want to share that excitement with others. But anyway, one broken chicken on splash mtn isn't the end of the world to me, because the chicken isn't central to the ride. But Expedition Everest without the Yeti working properly is not comparable to the chicken, as the Yeti is central to the story line, as others have mentioned. I equate it to taking a ride on the Tower of Terror, boarding the elevator, and having it gently lower you down to the exit . The whole set up was for a terrifying elevator ride, just as EE setup was for a terrifying Yeti encounter. Not a...wait, that's it?

(As someone who witnessed the Yeti in his full motion prime, I can tell you that it really doesn't compare to Disco Yeti.) All that being said, I still love Expedition Everest and ride it multiple times per trip. But perhaps that is the problem - Disney makes decisions based on numbers, not on what people say on online discussion boards. So perhaps the best way to force their hand is to stop riding it. When the rides per day begin to drop, perhaps Disney will see a reason to invest in upgrades. Then again, if this theory held true, we wouldn't still have Stich's Great Waste of Space now, would we?

 

[BiffyClyro]

This is ridiculous. I know Disney work hard on making sure all their attractions are up to standard but the Yeti has been faulty for years! I haven't been on this site for over a year and i can't believe this thread is still on going! Come on Disney!! It's a brilliant ride too!

 

[Tom Morrow]

This is ridiculous. I know Disney work hard on making sure all their attractions are up to standard but the Yeti has been faulty for years! I haven't been on this site for over a year and i can't believe this thread is still on going! Come on Disney!! It's a brilliant ride too!

lol, well the thread has been going for 6 years. Its still going because its still "stickied" for some reason.

 

[ddrongowski]

lol, well the thread has been going for 6 years. Its still going because its still "stickied" for some reason.

Well like the yeti the unsickied function for this thread is broken. They are connected thru the internet.... Well that's what I read on the internet. Anything on the internet has to be true, I read that on the internet...

 

[Big C 73]

I personally think it was kind of ignorant for Disney to make the Yeti unaccessible for maintenance and put it on such a vital structural support for the mountain.

At least Disco Yeti has the "B-Mode Groove" learned very well.

 

[BiffyClyro]

Was there a time when they took it out completely or did i just dream that? I swear in 2008/2009 for a few weeks it wasn't there.....


...Again, there is a strong possibility this was a dream

 

[natatomic]

They've never taken it out, but once in awhile, they'll put a scrim over it and turn the lights in the cave off, so you can't see it (or ANYTHING) at all in there.