How long has Expedition Everest looked like this?

[George Lucas on a Bench]

I remember hearing after the Paris Thunder accident (rock falling on train), and the Tree of Life incident (branch falling down) that Disney would no longer approve of overhead show elements.

Coming soon: Haunted Mansion stretching room with no hangman.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Unless someone can confirm otherwise, It looks to me like whats growing now is just new sprouts from the stumps of what they slashed.

It looks to be (stupidly) in the same location as the last wall of bamboo.

You can see what appears to be little stumps of which I assume were the previous plants.

The plants in the pictures are clearly just some shrubs and not the thick wall of tall bamboo that was there (see one of the videos).

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Coming soon: Haunted Mansion stretching room with no hangman.

Yeah, I wondered how that would work, removing overhead show elements. There's overhead stuff everywhere. I suppose the cut foliage is the answer.

 

[prfctlyximprct]

This makes me so sad!! So many elements of expedition Everest are falling apart. The yeti, the bird on the track, the steam, and now this

 

[Mike730]

The plants in the pictures are clearly just some shrubs and not the thick wall of tall bamboo that was there (see one of the videos).

Nah dude thats what bamboo looks like when its young.

 

[Denscott]

Having actually been to the Himalayas I can tell you that if they just put a pile of garbage there than it would fit right into real life theming. For the beauty and magnificence that is the Himalayas, some of the locals up there use it as a dumping ground for their plastic and other crap. Sad.

 

[Figment2005]

Did not read the whole post so I apologize if this is a duplicate.
I know that there is a disease that has effected bamboo plant an there leaves. Wondering g if this is why it was clear cut to prevent its spread.

I think that this might be closer to the actual reason. As I was researching bamboos growth rate I noticed that bamboo has a lifespan of around 7 years before it starts to succumbs to fungus. When was Everest constructed because this could be routine maintenance to ensure the foliage remains healthy.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

To be fair, the non-mountain sections did look pretty barren when Everest opened, but eventually that bamboo and landscaping grew to be decently full and lush . . .

as someone pointed out, if you look through the trees you can, in fact, still see backstage, but when you have to look that hard, 90% of people wouldn't even notice.

Like somebody else said in this thread, the whole area has always looked "unfinished". While the bamboo was nice . . . it was just bambo and a little bit of ground cover. They never built "hills" and added different vegetation. I get that it is not supposed to be jungle, but its just flat landscaping, they should have added some rockwork so you feel that you are really getting ready to climb the mountain or something. There should be an earthen berm or rockword block the view of the backstage area, IMHO.

The backstage area that is visible is white, plain unpainted concrete. If Disney gave me $500 bucks I could go to Home Depot and buy some exterior green "No See Um" paint that would last at least a couple years, and would make the structure much less visible. Who cares if it chips as at least it would still be mostly green in five years and thus be camoflaged.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

I think that this might be closer to the actual reason. As I was researching bamboos growth rate I noticed that bamboo has a lifespan of around 7 years before it starts to succumbs to fungus. When was Everest constructed because this could be routine maintenance to ensure the foliage remains healthy.

Honestly, they should have a much leafier plants than bamboo blocking the backstage areas from view, and they should have these plants ready to be planted at the appropriate height, IMHO. No need for the whole area to be bamboo either, could be a mixture of plants, so if you lose one plant then you don't lose the whole section. Should be an earthen berm or rockwork anyway, its not that big of a stretch of track to put in some rock work or an old fashioned earthen mound, doesn't need to be high because the guests are sitting down anyway.

They could have easily brought in camo netting and some potted plants, really, there is no excuse. If this was Jungle Cruise in Disneyland and guests had to see the backstage area of Main Street (which is right next to the Jungle Cruise), there would be a line at City Hall.

Everybody sees this backstage area, it destroys the magic and demeans the guest in a way . . .

 

[Figment2005]

Honestly, they should have a much leafier plants than bamboo blocking the backstage areas from view, and they should have these plants ready to be planted at the appropriate height, IMHO. No need for the whole area to be bamboo either, could be a mixture of plants, so if you lose one plant then you don't lose the whole section. Should be an earthen berm or rockwork anyway, its not that big of a stretch of track to put in some rock work or an old fashioned earthen mound, doesn't need to be high because the guests are sitting down anyway.

They could have easily brought in camo netting and some potted plants, really, there is no excuse. If this was Jungle Cruise in Disneyland and guests had to see the backstage area of Main Street (which is right next to the Jungle Cruise), there would be a line at City Hall.

Everybody sees this backstage area, it destroys the magic and demeans the guest in a way . . .

I don't disagree with you, I just figured I would state what I had found as a logical reason to why TDO possibly made the choice that they did.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I think that this might be closer to the actual reason. As I was researching bamboos growth rate I noticed that bamboo has a lifespan of around 7 years before it starts to succumbs to fungus. When was Everest constructed because this could be routine maintenance to ensure the foliage remains healthy.

Then the failure was also during the design process. Disney should have the experience for this not to happen.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

I don't disagree with you, I just figured I would state what I had found as a logical reason to why TDO possibly made the choice that they did.

I know that, I just think something wasn't planned very well.

I do know that bamboo being a monocot is resistant to Texas Root Rot, a type of fungus. The shoots live maybe 8 years, but the plant can produce more shoots, so I would guess that all the would need to do it to prune a modest amount of shoots every couple years.

Also, if you look at the pictures, these small plants (not sure what they are), won't cover nearly all of this backstage area, they will have to plant something else in the future unless they want guests to have to see this stuff.

Wouldn't fly in Disneyland and in certain other attractions at WDW, I think management thinks that EE guests just want the thrills and don't care about the theming, hence no Yeti and no bamboo. Maybe the Yeti at this disease bamboo and that's why he got sick?

 

[Taylor]

I know that, I just think something wasn't planned very well.

I do know that bamboo being a monocot is resistant to Texas Root Rot, a type of fungus. The shoots live maybe 8 years, but the plant can produce more shoots, so I would guess that all the would need to do it to prune a modest amount of shoots every couple years.

Also, if you look at the pictures, these small plants (not sure what they are), won't cover nearly all of this backstage area, they will have to plant something else in the future unless they want guests to have to see this stuff.

Wouldn't fly in Disneyland and in certain other attractions at WDW, I think management thinks that EE guests just want the thrills and don't care about the theming, hence no Yeti and no bamboo. Maybe the Yeti at this disease bamboo and that's why he got sick?

The yeti is sick alright but it isn't from bamboo. He's got disco fever

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

Then the failure was also during the design process. Disney should have the experience for this not to happen.

You can maintain a bamboo plant by trimming the shoots, plus some types of bambo are invasive and fairly hearty. There are sections of the Jungle Cruise that have had bamboo thickets for decades. Plus if you look at the photos, you can see other bamboo plants in the background.

Given that bamboo isn't a perfect privacy hedge, I think maybe they will put in some plants that have more foliage at ground level when mature. It's not a design fault, per se, from years ago . . . but rather horticulture not planning this out very well, unless you are talking about the lack of a berm or rock work.

Though the plants there look just like new bamboo shoots, though there are much few bamboo plants than before.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

The yeti is sick alright but it isn't from bamboo. He's got disco fever

And there's only one cure . . . more cow bell!

 

[Figment2005]

I will be in down in a little less than 2 months. I am anxious to see what, if any, progress has been made.

 

[lazyboy97o]

You can maintain a bamboo plant by trimming the shoots, plus some types of bambo are invasive and fairly hearty. There are sections of the Jungle Cruise that have had bamboo thickets for decades. Plus if you look at the photos, you can see other bamboo plants in the background.

Given that bamboo isn't a perfect privacy hedge, I think maybe they will put in some plants that have more foliage at ground level when mature. It's not a design fault, per se, from years ago . . . but rather horticulture not planning this out very well, unless you are talking about the lack of a berm or rock work.

More just that if this were required maintenance of the plants, it should have been known and accounted for before know. People like to make excuses for Disney when Disney should know better.

 

[Taylor]

And there's only one cure . . . more cow bell!

Really I thought the cure was strobelights? Oh well

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

More just that if this were required maintenance of the plants, it should have been known and accounted for before know. People like to make excuses for Disney when Disney should know better.

You're right that people shouldn't make excuses.

Usually, horticulture does a great job at WDW. They've got gigantic warehouses where they grow poinsettias for the holidays and where they keep the topiaries for Flower and Garden. Keeping a bamboo thicket happy seems like a pretty small order compared to all of this work, so maybe cutting them down and removing some of them was prompted by something else.

Whatever the reason, the plants that are there (which I guess do look like new bamboo shoots from the old plants) will never be big enough to cover the backstage area as it looks like they removed some of this bamboo, which is probably the clumping variety, so . . . there really should be good sized plants in the ground in the empty areas which won't be covered by bamboo growing straight up.

This isn't a big deal as there are tons of nurseries around Florida, they could easily buy some 6' plants and start making some sort of a hedge. Would take a day or two, not a big deal as they've already got irrigation.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Like somebody else said in this thread, the whole area has always looked "unfinished". While the bamboo was nice . . . it was just bambo and a little bit of ground cover. They never built "hills" and added different vegetation. I get that it is not supposed to be jungle, but its just flat landscaping, they should have added some rockwork so you feel that you are really getting ready to climb the mountain or something. There should be an earthen berm or rockword block the view of the backstage area, IMHO.

The backstage area that is visible is white, plain unpainted concrete. If Disney gave me $500 bucks I could go to Home Depot and buy some exterior green "No See Um" paint that would last at least a couple years, and would make the structure much less visible. Who cares if it chips as at least it would still be mostly green in five years and thus be camoflaged.

Oh I definitely agree with both parts. While the travel to the large lift is swift, there should have been more than some foliage to look at - rockwork, maybe even some more structures representing more of the village of Serka Zong/Anadapur. The concrete wall should have been painted, yes - but I'd like to point out that until the bamboo wall was chopped down, being able to see it through the trees was literally a non-issue and I don't think ever even brought up on this board. In fact, if you know where to look, you will see backstage through trees in MANY places.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Everest looks bad, it seems like this was an over reaction, but if it's a "fix" that's resolved in a month or two then it's not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things. It's no different than them leaving Kilimanjaro Safaris open during that construction.