Sentinel writes article on broken yeti!

[hokielutz]

For what it's worth...

I got an e-mail today from someone saying TDO was not happy about this article, and apparently REALLY wasn't happy with the term "Disco Yeti".

:sohappy:

:drevil:

If I was one of the higher-ups at TDO... I wouldn't be happy with the article either. Its a big public slap on one of Disney's higher-profile attractions in Orlando that can be parroted by its local competitors in national ads. Hoping that this is the kind of PR kick in the pants that will get some movement in rectifying the Yeti's technical/structural issue... whatever it may be.

 

[Atomicmickey]

So, I've been starting to think about Disney's take on this.

So let's assume that there was a huge engineering error when this attraction was built, and the Yeti is indeed very, very far gone. I can't think of another reason why they'd take this long to address it. The damage must be very serious, and be very expensive and time-consuming to fix.

So--we all know about it, but "Joe Average and family" don't. And they make up, oh, let's say, 99 percent of the customer base. I'll generously count the fan community as about 1 percent.

So, even the most ardent imagineer has to be having fits about this. If we close it--it's going to be very expensive and time consuming. It WILL hit overall revenue on top of what it costs to fix it.

So--we're talking millions of dollars, here, conservatively. For what? So that they can advertise "hey, the ride works the way it's supposed to!". Not exactly a marketing bonanza.

So what we see is large and expensive downside to repairing him, and no real tangible upside, beyond the fact that it'll work again the way it is supposed to. We, the fan minority, will be ecstatic, to very little gain on their part, and the 'Joe Averages' will have their ALREADY GREAT EXPERIENCE plussed in ways that they can't imagine or care about right now. They don't know what they are missing--and they are already happy. How about that.

From our point of view, there's "bad show" and "declining by degrees" and I AGREE for the record that this is a shameful situation. It's just I can imagine that it IS a difficult one for all involved within the organization. It's not just a matter of "well, c'mon TDO, get yer heads out of yer butts", I can imagine that it's tough--in these times especially--to find a clear path out of an unfortunate situation.

I am at this point resigned that it's tough enough that we'll need to wait for another E-Ticket at AK before anything will happen, unless they can figure out a way to swap in a new Yeti quickly and cost efficiently--I imagine that's the challenge. I think they're in between a rock and a hard place. And, in the meantime, I'll continue to ride Everest and enjoy what is there.

We know that there are people in the organization who care deeply about these things--I can't believe that they like it this way. So all we can do is hope that they find a good way out of this, I'm sure some are working on it.

 

[Evil Genius]

So, I've been starting to think about Disney's take on this.

So let's assume that there was a huge engineering error when this attraction was built, and the Yeti is indeed very, very far gone. I can't think of another reason why they'd take this long to address it. The damage must be very serious, and be very expensive and time-consuming to fix.

So--we all know about it, but "Joe Average and family" don't. And they make up, oh, let's say, 99 percent of the customer base. I'll generously count the fan community as about 1 percent.

So, even the most ardent imagineer has to be having fits about this. If we close it--it's going to be very expensive and time consuming. It WILL hit overall revenue on top of what it costs to fix it.

So--we're talking millions of dollars, here, conservatively. For what? So that they can advertise "hey, the ride works the way it's supposed to!". Not exactly a marketing bonanza.

So what we see is large and expensive downside to repairing him, and no real tangible upside, beyond the fact that it'll work again the way it is supposed to. We, the fan minority, will be ecstatic, to very little gain on their part, and the 'Joe Averages' will have their ALREADY GREAT EXPERIENCE plussed in ways that they can't imagine or care about right now. They don't know what they are missing--and they are already happy. How about that.

From our point of view, there's "bad show" and "declining by degrees" and I AGREE for the record that this is a shameful situation. It's just I can imagine that it IS a difficult one for all involved within the organization. It's not just a matter of "well, c'mon TDO, get yer heads out of yer butts", I can imagine that it's tough--in these times especially--to find a clear path out of an unfortunate situation.

I am at this point resigned that it's tough enough that we'll need to wait for another E-Ticket at AK before anything will happen, unless they can figure out a way to swap in a new Yeti quickly and cost efficiently--I imagine that's the challenge. I think they're in between a rock and a hard place. And, in the meantime, I'll continue to ride Everest and enjoy what is there.

We know that there are people in the organization who care deeply about these things--I can't believe that they like it this way. So all we can do is hope that they find a good way out of this, I'm sure some are working on it.

Brilliantly put! :sohappy:

 

[PhilharMagician]

This is essentially what I have personally done. I refuse to ride E:E again until the Yeti is in A mode. The main reason Disney does not fix the yeti is people are still queuing up in mass to ride it. When E:E is a walk on maybe they will fix it.

It is also not just boycotting the ride, but it is very important that you file a complaint about it. Just simply go into Guest Relations and let them know that you are unhappy with EE.

The squeeky wheel get the grease. :animwink:

 

[hokielutz]

Greetings all

I would like to point out that, as great an article that it was Jason put together... he didn't do a good job in researching the "Fix the Yeti" fan groups that are out on the net. Jason said there were a total of 150 Facebook fans from two separate groups that want the Yeti put back together.
But he did not find the Facebook group page "Disney Fans who want the Yeti Fixed" (see link below) that had over 240 fans at the publication time of the article.
And as of 10 minutes ago the ranks have swelled to 282 in a matter of 36 hours (thanks to many of you here).

Feel free to also use that page as a place to post text of sample letters sent to TDO, e-mail addresses, phone #'s, etc to help spread the word and put some additional PR pressure on Disney brass. This article can be a great tool to help exert public pressure now. Referencing the article with any calls, letters, etc will show that a light has been cast on Disney's illusion, and if they want to avoid future setbacks to their bottom line, then repairs now are necessary.
Efforts now may not get immediate results or could be ignored altogether as mgmt may chug along at their pre-determined schedule... but this is an opportunity that should not be left to waste.

Gentlemen & ladies.... Hoist the Colors!

(sorry... couldn't resist a battle call)

 

[Buried20KLeague]

So, I've been starting to think about Disney's take on this.

So let's assume that there was a huge engineering error when this attraction was built, and the Yeti is indeed very, very far gone. I can't think of another reason why they'd take this long to address it. The damage must be very serious, and be very expensive and time-consuming to fix.

So--we all know about it, but "Joe Average and family" don't. And they make up, oh, let's say, 99 percent of the customer base. I'll generously count the fan community as about 1 percent.

So, even the most ardent imagineer has to be having fits about this. If we close it--it's going to be very expensive and time consuming. It WILL hit overall revenue on top of what it costs to fix it.

So--we're talking millions of dollars, here, conservatively. For what? So that they can advertise "hey, the ride works the way it's supposed to!". Not exactly a marketing bonanza.

So what we see is large and expensive downside to repairing him, and no real tangible upside, beyond the fact that it'll work again the way it is supposed to. We, the fan minority, will be ecstatic, to very little gain on their part, and the 'Joe Averages' will have their ALREADY GREAT EXPERIENCE plussed in ways that they can't imagine or care about right now. They don't know what they are missing--and they are already happy. How about that.

From our point of view, there's "bad show" and "declining by degrees" and I AGREE for the record that this is a shameful situation. It's just I can imagine that it IS a difficult one for all involved within the organization. It's not just a matter of "well, c'mon TDO, get yer heads out of yer butts", I can imagine that it's tough--in these times especially--to find a clear path out of an unfortunate situation.

I am at this point resigned that it's tough enough that we'll need to wait for another E-Ticket at AK before anything will happen, unless they can figure out a way to swap in a new Yeti quickly and cost efficiently--I imagine that's the challenge. I think they're in between a rock and a hard place. And, in the meantime, I'll continue to ride Everest and enjoy what is there.

We know that there are people in the organization who care deeply about these things--I can't believe that they like it this way. So all we can do is hope that they find a good way out of this, I'm sure some are working on it.

While the size of the group that KNOWS something is wrong with the yeti is probably small, I would assert that the group that gets off the ride and knows something wasn't right is a heck of a lot larger. And you won't ever hear from that group... And neither will Disney. They're the casual visitors that don't have anything to compare it to... That won't visit guest relations, because they don't even know what they're SUPPOSED to be seeing.

But there's got to be a heck of a lot of casual visitors that come off scratching their heads. Absolutely. Which is definitely not the reaction the Imagineeers were going for. It should be embarassing to them that people get off the ride not having even seen the "star" of the attraction.

 

[wbc]

The damage must be very serious, and be very expensive and time-consuming to fix.

The structure is literally built around the Yeti.

I can't even imagine what it would take to repair it.

Hopefully they thought of that when they designed it.

 

[RSoxNo1]

You just hit the nail on the head. They CANNOT afford to bring the attraction down until there is something implemented to accomodate the crowds E:E accomodates. Maybe if Everest existed in another park...but not in Animal Kingdom.

The problem is, the broken Yeti is a sign of several things wrong with the company. People point to the declining by degrees, and this site had 200+ pages on The Lights of Winter being removed. When impressive effects are put into marquee attractions, they need to work.

However, there are several issues with this in Disney's eyes. First off, Everest is arguably their best coaster from a track layout standpoint. It's well paced, has moderate thrills and very good theming. Most guests are satisfied with this, largely because they are ignorant of the main show elements capabilities.

More importantly, Disney never addressed the issue of needing more attractions in the Animal Kingdom, and at this time it doesn't seem like anything significant is on the horizon. The park needs more rides. The next announcement out of TDO should not be "we've decided on something else for Fantasyland" or "Coming soon to DHS, the Monster's Inc Coaster", it has to be "We are fast tracking a brand new D or E ticket (or even entire land) to the Animal Kingdom". They need to do this because elements of the park are in disrepair. They've been slowly fixing Dinosaur, but still haven't returned original effects to a usable state. The Yeti is broken, and two of the park's 6 rides are located in the tackiest land in Disney Park's History.

Team Disney Orlando doesn't have the stones to shut down Expedition Everest, nor do they have the stones to demand funding for a new attraction that would make a necessary refurbishment possible. I know none of the suits that are capable of making these decisions will ever read this, but it truly is unacceptable.

Lee was quoted in the article, and has said the same on here many times previously. Show trumps efficiency. Let's start acting that way.

 

[thelookingglass]

The Yeti is broken, so what! The coaster itself, and the theming is still better than anything that you would ride at a Six Flags park. I wish they would fix the Yeti as well, but I'm not crying and complaining about it.

While I agree in that this doesn't really affect my enjoyment of E:E, I still feel that these complaints are legit. When you pay the ridiculously high ticket price for Disney parks, you are essentially paying a premium to experience a top-notch theme park experience. If what you're getting is only "better than Six Flags so who cares", then how can they justify the ticket prices?

And it isn't just the Yeti, its just that the Yeti is one glaring flaw that everyone is aware of - its symbolic of TDO letting their attractions fall to pieces because "it doesn't matter as long as they're still better than Six Flags, and people will still come here anyway because we're WDW!" Its rare these days to ride a WDW attraction and not notice at least one obvious problem.

 

[Evil Genius]

The problem is, the broken Yeti is a sign of several things wrong with the company. People point to the declining by degrees, and this site had 200+ pages on The Lights of Winter being removed. When impressive effects are put into marquee attractions, they need to work.

However, there are several issues with this in Disney's eyes. First off, Everest is arguably their best coaster from a track layout standpoint. It's well paced, has moderate thrills and very good theming. Most guests are satisfied with this, largely because they are ignorant of the main show elements capabilities.

More importantly, Disney never addressed the issue of needing more attractions in the Animal Kingdom, and at this time it doesn't seem like anything significant is on the horizon. The park needs more rides. The next announcement out of TDO should not be "we've decided on something else for Fantasyland" or "Coming soon to DHS, the Monster's Inc Coaster", it has to be "We are fast tracking a brand new D or E ticket (or even entire land) to the Animal Kingdom". They need to do this because elements of the park are in disrepair. They've been slowly fixing Dinosaur, but still haven't returned original effects to a usable state. The Yeti is broken, and two of the park's 6 rides are located in the tackiest land in Disney Park's History.

Team Disney Orlando doesn't have the stones to shut down Expedition Everest, nor do they have the stones to demand funding for a new attraction that would make a necessary refurbishment possible. I know none of the suits that are capable of making these decisions will ever read this, but it truly is unacceptable.

Lee was quoted in the article, and has said the same on here many times previously. Show trumps efficiency. Let's start acting that way.

Can't argue with word one of this!

It is glaringly apparent that AK is now the "red headed step-child" of Orlando parks and finally after a little than a decade it's starting to show the chinks in the armor. I really have a difficult time wrapping my head around how this has gone so overlooked. I understand the whole 'bottom line" argument in terms of penny pinching. But isn't there anybody out there that believes in the whole mentality of spending money to make money???

The mind wobbles...

 

[misterID]

The problem is they are making money without spending it. They could make much, much, much more money if they built up AK and WS in EPCOT but they're content with keeping things as is, because the profits+budget still looks real good on paper. They don't think they need to build up the park. AK is a prime example of why that mentality is wrong.

As long as they're not losing money, they're okay with not being the trendsetter anymore, and seem to be just fine with UNI being the top dog in developing cutting edge and exciting new attractions in Orlando. The thing is this: Tourists still come to MK. WDW still makes money. And TDO is content.

They just don't have the same mindset or ambition as TDA.

 

[fractal]

Was just watching this last night with my daughter. The video on Walt Disney World site that highlights Animal Kingdom. She says " look Dad, they fixed the Yeti".


Is that false advertising?


http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/parks/animal-kingdom/

 

[Lee]

I got an e-mail today from someone saying TDO was not happy about this article, and apparently REALLY wasn't happy with the term "Disco Yeti".

Yeah. The phrase I heard was "damage control mode."

Make a hole in the mountain, take the guy out, fix him, then extend the track through the hole

You joke, but a hole is just about what it's going to take to remove the big guy!

Well then it becomes yet another "he said. she said" debate here as I got my information straight from a former Imagineer's mouth sitting eye to eye with him.
I'm not saying one is telling the truth and the other isn't. All I'm saying is this just another example of WDI needing to get their stories straight.

The structure is literally built around the Yeti.

It's really not clear what it would take to fix it, since nobody seems to be willing to spill the beans on exactly what is wrong.
I was personally told by an Imagineer that it would take a "few months" of downtime for the ride. Not a year.

The ride is not "built around the yeti."
The yeti was installed after the rest of the structure was pretty much complete. Allowances were made in case they ever had to do major work to him. It isn't as simple as just unplugging him and pulling him out, but not much more than that. Fact is, depending on where the real problem lies, pulling the yeti out may be the easiest part of the fix.

 

[Evil Genius]

Yeah. The phrase I heard was "damage control mode."







It's really not clear what it would take to fix it, since nobody seems to be willing to spill the beans on exactly what is wrong.
I was personally told by an Imagineer that it would take a "few months" of downtime for the ride. Not a year.

The ride is not "built around the yeti."
The yeti was installed after the rest of the structure was pretty much complete. Allowances were made in case they ever had to do major work to him. It isn't as simple as just unplugging him and pulling him out, but not much more than that. Fact is, depending on where the real problem lies, pulling the yeti out may be the easiest part of the fix.

Lee wasn't another issue with the Yeti that his movements were actually causing damage to the mountain itself?

 

[Master Yoda]

For what it's worth...

I got an e-mail today from someone saying TDO was not happy about this article, and apparently REALLY wasn't happy with the term "Disco Yeti".

:sohappy:

:drevil:

Had Disney bitten the bullet and shut down E:E 2 years ago and fixed the Yeti the article never would have been written. IMHO it serves them right. I know it never will, but I would love for this article to get picked up nationally. With FJ being hailed at the best theme park attraction in the world this might be the swift kick in the sack that Disney needs.

 

[Lee]

Lee wasn't another issue with the Yeti that his movements were actually causing damage to the mountain itself?

Not sure. I can't get anyone to be very specific about what all the problems are. Best guess I have is that somehow the stress of all that weight in motion has done some sort of damage to the mechanism that supports the yeti and connects to the foundation of the mountain.
Yeti doesn't come in contact with the external mountain system or the track. What you see in that final room is sort of like a set, built in a large room but not really connected to it's surroundings, so I'm not sure how he could do harm to the mountain.

 

[wbc]

The ride is not "built around the yeti."
The yeti was installed after the rest of the structure was pretty much complete. Allowances were made in case they ever had to do major work to him. It isn't as simple as just unplugging him and pulling him out, but not much more than that. Fact is, depending on where the real problem lies, pulling the yeti out may be the easiest part of the fix.

And just how exactly do they pull him out?

Where are the access doors? Where is the crane/hoist stationed used pull him out?

 

[Evil Genius]

Not sure. I can't get anyone to be very specific about what all the problems are. Best guess I have is that somehow the stress of all that weight in motion has done some sort of damage to the mechanism that supports the yeti and connects to the foundation of the mountain.
Yeti doesn't come in contact with the external mountain system or the track. What you see in that final room is sort of like a set, built in a large room but not really connected to it's surroundings, so I'm not sure how he could do harm to the mountain.

I misspoke.

I meant to the structure he's attached to.

I know the amount of torque the yeti is pumping out is supposed to be some ridiculous number and quite literally he was pulling away from his mounts.

At least that's what a certain individual told me.

 

[Lee]

And just how exactly do they pull him out?

Where are the access doors? Where is the crane/hoist stationed used pull him out?

They pull him out the same way they took him in...in pieces.
The yeti wasn't lifted up in one piece by crane and "flown" in (Murray the dragon style). He was taken inside the special part of the mountain built for him, and assembled/installed.

There are large maintenance doors on the south side of the mountain's show building that will allow for his removal.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I seriously doubt that if even a couple hundred Disney fans skipped AK entirely attendance would be significantly affected. 9,590,000 people visited the park last year resulting in a 0.5% increase in attendance over the previous year despite nothing new and a broken Yeti.

I will continue to hope that nothing new with AK and new offerings elsewhere (HP) attendance will eventually be hurt. Even if it's just 1% less, that would mean 95,900 less customers spending their money within the park. That would hopefully be large enough for Disney to take some action and do something with the park (fixing the Yeti or otherwise).

A more major newspaper like USA Today running a similar story would be a great thrill, but the fact that a news outlet did post the story resulting in Disney admitting to the yeti being broken is a great first step.