I am so unbelievably excited about Expidition Everest. I really think that this is a return to the classic style Disney attractions that we all love. Here's why:
1) It's made of "Disney Rock". bare with me now, the last few new attractions we've gotten, Mission Space, Soarin', Philharmagic, have all been pretty great, but they're just big buildings. There's something inherently Magical and "Disney" about Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, and countless other artificial rock structures around WDW. Other theme parks have fake rock, sure, but its never as good. They either go for too much realism, and the result is flat and uninteresting, and looks somehow more fake (Six Flags, parts of Universal (IoA isn't bad)), or they just don't care and the result is shoddy (any mini-golf course with a pirate theme). Disney always injects a very healthy dose of fantasy into their rock formations, they kind of tease you into thinking there's hidden trails and caves hiding in it (and often times there is!) and now we have a whole new mountain of it.
2) Its a train; an honest to goodness weather beaten, runs on steel wheels, pulled by an engine multi-car train. It's no secret that Walt loved trains. Most of the original Imagineers were railroad buffs. How many trains did Disneyland have when it opened? (Disneyland RR, Casey Jr, and the Mine Train through Nature's Wonderland (ok, so that last one was added the next year, but i'll still count it)) Disneyland was just a big model railroad that you could walk around on. This isn't a "rip-off" of Big Thunder, its just continuing the legacy already in place.
3) With trains comes dirt. Lots of beautifull wonderfull caked on grime and grit. Of course its just painted on artistically, but the weathering that the artists do on attractions like this really give them a sense of history and realism, while at the same time, giving them a timelessness and a feeling of being not quite set in a real place.This attraction is not set at the real Mt. Everest, it takes place in a Mt. Everest of our fantasy; much like Adventureland, its our perception of what it SHOULD be, rather than what it is.
4) Audio-Animatronics! I'm so glad we don't have actors popping up on screens (well, hopefully not anyway). A handfull of audio-animatronics goes a long way, and it's been confirmed that we'll at least see some AA vultures, and perhaps some mountain goats or other creatures. Imagine how much better Kali River Rapids would be with just ONE AA Tiger. And of course, the big guy himself. The Yeti is the first of the giant scale animatronics that we're getting here in the states, similiar to the lava monster in Journey to the Center of the Earth at DisneySea. (The carnotaurus doesn't have the smooth intricate movement that this creature does). So not only are we getting new Animatronics, we're getting a state of the art, cutting edge example.
Just looking at Joe Rohde, I like the guy. His peircings, his tattoos, his slightly maniacal Jack Sparrow-esque eyes, all say to me that this is a guy who's creative and not afraid to take a few chances.
1) It's made of "Disney Rock". bare with me now, the last few new attractions we've gotten, Mission Space, Soarin', Philharmagic, have all been pretty great, but they're just big buildings. There's something inherently Magical and "Disney" about Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, and countless other artificial rock structures around WDW. Other theme parks have fake rock, sure, but its never as good. They either go for too much realism, and the result is flat and uninteresting, and looks somehow more fake (Six Flags, parts of Universal (IoA isn't bad)), or they just don't care and the result is shoddy (any mini-golf course with a pirate theme). Disney always injects a very healthy dose of fantasy into their rock formations, they kind of tease you into thinking there's hidden trails and caves hiding in it (and often times there is!) and now we have a whole new mountain of it.
2) Its a train; an honest to goodness weather beaten, runs on steel wheels, pulled by an engine multi-car train. It's no secret that Walt loved trains. Most of the original Imagineers were railroad buffs. How many trains did Disneyland have when it opened? (Disneyland RR, Casey Jr, and the Mine Train through Nature's Wonderland (ok, so that last one was added the next year, but i'll still count it)) Disneyland was just a big model railroad that you could walk around on. This isn't a "rip-off" of Big Thunder, its just continuing the legacy already in place.
3) With trains comes dirt. Lots of beautifull wonderfull caked on grime and grit. Of course its just painted on artistically, but the weathering that the artists do on attractions like this really give them a sense of history and realism, while at the same time, giving them a timelessness and a feeling of being not quite set in a real place.This attraction is not set at the real Mt. Everest, it takes place in a Mt. Everest of our fantasy; much like Adventureland, its our perception of what it SHOULD be, rather than what it is.
4) Audio-Animatronics! I'm so glad we don't have actors popping up on screens (well, hopefully not anyway). A handfull of audio-animatronics goes a long way, and it's been confirmed that we'll at least see some AA vultures, and perhaps some mountain goats or other creatures. Imagine how much better Kali River Rapids would be with just ONE AA Tiger. And of course, the big guy himself. The Yeti is the first of the giant scale animatronics that we're getting here in the states, similiar to the lava monster in Journey to the Center of the Earth at DisneySea. (The carnotaurus doesn't have the smooth intricate movement that this creature does). So not only are we getting new Animatronics, we're getting a state of the art, cutting edge example.
Just looking at Joe Rohde, I like the guy. His peircings, his tattoos, his slightly maniacal Jack Sparrow-esque eyes, all say to me that this is a guy who's creative and not afraid to take a few chances.
