News Space Mountain exit being worked on

Bocabear

Well-Known Member
When Tron opens I'm now under the impression Space Mountain may receive a new permanent exit. I was always under the impression that when Tron opened, Disney would seize the opportunity to give Space Mountain a lengthy refurbishment.
Well we all said that about Expedition Everest too....When Pandora opens they can finally do the lengthy refurb needed to get the yeti back up and running... Well that certainly didnt happen...nor does it stop them from putting video of the yeti in it's running state on all of their promotional commercials...
 

justintheharris

Well-Known Member
Well we all said that about Expedition Everest too....When Pandora opens they can finally do the lengthy refurb needed to get the yeti back up and running... Well that certainly didnt happen...nor does it stop them from putting video of the yeti in it's running state on all of their promotional commercials...

Two totally different situations. Everest would need to be practically scrapped and rebuilt from scratch to fix the Yeti. It would be closed for years and effectively be rebuilding the ENTIRE roller coaster. With Space Mountain, I don't know what they would do. I just think it'll have a lengthy refurbishment when Tron opens.
 

trainplane3

Well-Known Member
Two totally different situations. Everest would need to be practically scrapped and rebuilt from scratch to fix the Yeti. It would be closed for years and effectively be rebuilding the ENTIRE roller coaster. With Space Mountain, I don't know what they would do. I just think it'll have a lengthy refurbishment when Tron opens.
Ooooooohh boy. Here it goes.

Edit: Ooooorr they can remove it from the mountain using the nice little yeti sized door that's been there since it opened. It was also removed a couple times in the past.
 
Last edited:

GhostHost1000

Premium Member
Two totally different situations. Everest would need to be practically scrapped and rebuilt from scratch to fix the Yeti. It would be closed for years and effectively be rebuilding the ENTIRE roller coaster. With Space Mountain, I don't know what they would do. I just think it'll have a lengthy refurbishment when Tron opens.
this is not true
 

justintheharris

Well-Known Member
Ooooooohh boy. Here it goes.

Edit: Ooooorr they can remove it from the mountain using the nice little yeti sized door that's been there since it opened. It was also removed a couple times in the past.

I did not know this. Could I see pictures of the door or the missing Yeti or a time frame or... something?
Also if this is the case, why does everyone claim that the Yeti cannot be fixed without a massive redoing of the support structure of the mountain?
 

trainplane3

Well-Known Member
I did not know this. Could I see pictures of the door or the missing Yeti or a time frame or... something?
Also if this is the case, why does everyone claim that the Yeti cannot be fixed without a massive redoing of the support structure of the mountain?
Because most people just repeat a rumor mentioned by someone that has no clue on how it was actually built. Do you actually think Disney would engineer a massive structure and then place things inside that would require said structure to be demoed in order to conduct maintenance? 99% of the time it comes down to internal politics and money. This rumor is on the same level as "Horizons was closed because of a sinkhole".
Here's some info from trusted sources:
I've been meaning to post this for quite a while, but just haven't had time. Thanks to a recent reminder from @Master Yoda to try and shed some light on the Yeti debacle....

Ok, so back in September I was at a conference at WDW, and the wife decided to book a Dine With An Imagineer lunch at DHS. I skipped one of my educational sessions to do this, and we ended up with a 2-for-1. The main imagineer was a Show Design and Production manager, who was a DWAI veteran (and most recently involved in the Frozen Ever After project); the other guy was a mechanical engineer in charge of show quality, who was a newbie-in-training, at least when it came to these dinners. He explained to us that it was his job to do periodic "reviews" of the rides, and point out areas where show quality is falling below certain standards. He's also heavily involved in maintaining ride systems and animatronics. It was a fantastic experience, and we learned a lot about how things work behind the scenes, but nearing the end of our time, I (obviously) couldn't resist bringing up the Yeti.

Immediately upon my mentioning the Yeti, I could see that it was an obvious a sore spot for him. He stated that there have been multiple proposals put forth for repairing it, but none of the "big shots" have been on board. As for the specific problem, he mentioned that there are a couple of factors: flaws in the original "design calculations" (these were his words), particularly with regard to operational and maintenance conditions on such a large animatronic, and inability to perform proper maintenance on the Yeti. No mention of "shifting/failed foundations" as is often suggested. As a practicing structural engineer, I wanted to know whether this was the problem, and he indicated that the main issue is the animatronic itself.

The other factor is the ability to perform maintenance on the animatronic. I think this is the source of rumors that they "can't replace /fix it without opening up the mountain" rumors, but it's actually much simpler, and this issue ties into the first. He specifically talked about unanticipated stresses in parts of the animatronic due to lack of maintenance in other parts. If one of the motors in the yeti's elbow wears out or isn't functioning properly, but they continue to operate under those conditions, then higher stresses are transferred to the shoulder and chest, etc. My best guess regarding his comments about "incorrect calculations" is that he was referring to fatigue related problems in the robotic parts, and possibly in other structural supports.

The other major factor is that things have changed dramatically at WDW in the last few years regarding their compliance with OSHA standards for maintenance and fall protection. Any new work done to get the Yeti operational means that they have to update the design to meet these standards, so that ongoing maintenance on the animatronic can be safely performed. This would involve major upgrades to allow compliance with fall protection and other things related to maintenance workers.

It was encouraging at least to see how much it bothered him that it didn't work. He brought up the Universal dig re: their Kong animatronic (it moves...) and said that he and his colleagues all read blogs and other social media comments for research and to pick up on things they miss in their reviews. So, there you have it. Take it for what it's worth, but this guy was no bus driver...;)
Everest does not need to shut down to fix the Yeti.

Says the echo chamber.
It is figure related, not foundation. The figure has been removed overnight at least twice in recent years and been reinstalled. I can't say more.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom