ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
I love when unknowledgeable people pretend they know what they are talking about.
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Yeti is indeed being fixed! Update 8/4/2014
- Thread starter jjharvpro
- Start date
JustInTime
Well-Known Member
No need to be a jerk about it.
People that just assume the situation is unfixable are wrong. I am not claiming to be "in the know," I am just using logic. Got any?
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
Yes, I do. Logic tells me that if the yeti has been broken for 5 years, there is no simple or cheap solution. Even by the current, lazy-upkeep standards Disney employs, effects don't normally stay broken for 5 years if there is any intention of fixing them.No need to be a jerk about it.
People that just assume the situation is unfixable are wrong. I am not claiming to be "in the know," I am just using logic. Got any?
Logic also tells me that the yeti (and his mechanics) is too large to fit through the current opening into the mountain. Therefore, considerable construction would be required. Not that it's impossible (they did something similar to remove Space Mountain's old track and put a new one in at Disneyland from 2003-2005). It's just very expensive (and more expensive than current management will fund). Will it be fixed one day? Most likely. But only once someone is willing to pony up lots of money. Got any?
NoChesterHester
Well-Known Member
Which is really why the long rumored foundation issue seems to be the most logical issue. Seriously, if it were "lubrication" it would have been done already with all the fan outcry.
It is obviously a big deal to fix it. People can hate all they want, but something that has received this sort of attention would've been fixed by now if it were easy.
Still doesn't excuse it in my book. The park is underbuilt so they can't take the marquee attraction down.
Last week it was behind a tarp.
My theory, Disney is either in denial or they have a fix on the way. It seems that something positive and economical could have been done long ago to replace at least some of the wow factor to it. The illusions of movement shouldn't be that hard to bring about, especially after we've all seen the cool effects that are projected on the castle in "Magic. Memories and You." Come on, give us the illusion of movement, like in the 2nd to last scene in Buzz Lightyear. Or some Haunted Mansion illusions. Or a series of strobes, shadow effects, and lights that make it look like it's coming at you. Cast some projections of a moving face, at least, to give you something.
Look, Joe Rohde, you've got a multi multi million dollar white elephant here. Put a reasonable band-aid on it, and give the guests something to remember. What you have now is akin to the local dance club, or a 1970's disco. We're not stupid. We could all slap a strobe light on there after a trip to the corner hardware store and a few hours on a stepladder. Just acknowledge that you've got a long-term problem, develop a replacement effect that goes beyond a strobe light and duct tape, and do it. Don't let half a decade of paying guests from around the world walk out thinking, "Was that it?"
Right now, it's like Star Tours with a stationary floor. Kilimanjaro with stuffed animals. Space Mountain with the lights on. Rock n Rollercoaster without a cool take off. Splash Mountain without the drop. It's a major disappointment, and a good band-aid could be put on. Do something.
Look, Joe Rohde, you've got a multi multi million dollar white elephant here. Put a reasonable band-aid on it, and give the guests something to remember. What you have now is akin to the local dance club, or a 1970's disco. We're not stupid. We could all slap a strobe light on there after a trip to the corner hardware store and a few hours on a stepladder. Just acknowledge that you've got a long-term problem, develop a replacement effect that goes beyond a strobe light and duct tape, and do it. Don't let half a decade of paying guests from around the world walk out thinking, "Was that it?"
Right now, it's like Star Tours with a stationary floor. Kilimanjaro with stuffed animals. Space Mountain with the lights on. Rock n Rollercoaster without a cool take off. Splash Mountain without the drop. It's a major disappointment, and a good band-aid could be put on. Do something.
According to my wife everything is my fault so I will go ahead and take the heat for this one as well.
njDizFan
Well-Known Member
Sorry Richard my wife beat you to this one, apparently the Yeti debacle is squarley on my shoulders
fractal
Well-Known Member
Sweet, finally something I can't be blamed for....
"What's that, dear? Oh, ok."
Never mind.....:dazzle:
Bosses can't play the blame game to the public. only within the workplace. The lack of an adequate band-aid above a single strobe light falls on the boss's shoulders, and AK is Joe's baby. Even if it's not his fault, who else is available for the public to blame? Ultimately, he MUST take public responsibility for the cure. If he doesn't, he's a lousy boss. The broken yeti is an embarrassment. The lack of a replacement effect for 5 years is an abomination. Call me harsh, but I'd fire is . . . employment.
It is my understanding that once the project is complete, Imagineering (the area the Joe works in), turns the project, in total over to operations. So blame someone in operations.
Yes, he designed it, but that's not the same as operating or repairing the ride well after the park was opened. If you want to focus your blame on someone who deserves it, you could look at the VP for Animal Kingdom, whom I believe is (or was) Michael Colglazier.
These are all good points, but the blame lies somewhere. I'm not one to simply blame someone, but I am someone to bring down the hammer if solutions are not forthcoming. Finger pointing does no good, and an attraction that limps through half a decade of mediocrity for want of a relatively simple band-aid is an embarrassment. If Joe has been pushing to fix the problem and/or to install a short term solution beyond a strobe light, good. But the person in power who allows a strobe light for half a decade needs . . . correction.
TalkingHead
Well-Known Member
Can he be blamed for the letdown that is the ride itself following the copious detailing of the queue?
PirateFrank
Well-Known Member
If the problem is with the footings, then sue the sub responsible for them. Fire the GC/imagineer overseeing the sub...and if necessary, fire the designer/imagineer responsible for the the plans/spec.
Having said that, I'd be a monkeys play thing if the above didn't already happen....years ago.
We've been round this table literally hundreds of times...it's a prohibitively costly fix. Doing so would result in severely lost capacity and/or draw....
I don't see the yeti truly being fixed until *after* avatar is done, if it gets done...when the new attractions can absorb the lost capacity or keep the turnstiles going....
Wanna see the yeti fixed....pray for new people eaters in the AK. Once there's more capacity and draw, the yeti will get some love....
Until them, I really think this is a moot and SEVERELY overdone conversation....
Having said that, I'd be a monkeys play thing if the above didn't already happen....years ago.
We've been round this table literally hundreds of times...it's a prohibitively costly fix. Doing so would result in severely lost capacity and/or draw....
I don't see the yeti truly being fixed until *after* avatar is done, if it gets done...when the new attractions can absorb the lost capacity or keep the turnstiles going....
Wanna see the yeti fixed....pray for new people eaters in the AK. Once there's more capacity and draw, the yeti will get some love....
Until them, I really think this is a moot and SEVERELY overdone conversation....
Pixiedustmaker
Well-Known Member
A big problem with Expedition Everest is that the design of the mountain was ground-breaking, BUT that the budget was trimmed too much. If you look at the mountain structure, it is just barely big enough to accommodate the ride, and support struts for the mountain come close to the support struts for the roller-coaster and the Yeti.
The mountain part of the ride should have been designed with larger support struts, (look at the Golden Gate Bridge to see how massive pylons can really support a structure). If properly designed, it would have allowed access to the Yeti and its support structure, in the event that the creature would need a major repair. Yeah, this would have required more $ for steel, but at least the Yeti would have been serviceable.
The ‘backside’ of the mountain, plainly visible to guests from the parking lot, looks bad, even with the fix. Remember, imagineering was waiting to get the money to ‘fix’ this little problem when Everest just opened. A lot of the special effects planned for the ride were cut, like the part where the Yeti breathes on guests in the dark. (Think warm air blown at your neck that smells . . . meaty.)
I am not a structural engineer, but here is what I would do:
1. The Yeti is still cantilevered out, this will continued to crack the foundation with even the smallest movement. I would remove the Yeti, and replace it with a much lighter weight version which is centered on the cement foundation. The current Yeti is built like a car and weighs something like 20,000 pounds. You can build a Yeti which is approximately the same size, but weighs less. I would do it by having Garner Holt (or somebody else) build a relatively light weight super-sized Yeti fig out of PVC, then onto this I would spray something, some sort of polymer, which would be use to create ‘hair’. Good-bye tons of fur-coats. I would ‘animate’ this figure by using a pulley-system, to let the creature turn its head, and move its arms, making the Yeti a big puppet. At the speed guests go, the ‘wires’ wouldn’t be seen.
2. I would add other special effects, such as the Yeti breath!
3. I would extend the ride by adding a ‘cave’ section, which would allow for guests to see either the Yeti again, or effects of the Yeti’s passage.
If you want to get creative, you could produce a similarly scary effect. The old Yeti was greet because its ability to “lunge” at you, i.e. horizontal and vertical movement, was one of a kind, but there are other ways to thrill guests too.
The mountain part of the ride should have been designed with larger support struts, (look at the Golden Gate Bridge to see how massive pylons can really support a structure). If properly designed, it would have allowed access to the Yeti and its support structure, in the event that the creature would need a major repair. Yeah, this would have required more $ for steel, but at least the Yeti would have been serviceable.
The ‘backside’ of the mountain, plainly visible to guests from the parking lot, looks bad, even with the fix. Remember, imagineering was waiting to get the money to ‘fix’ this little problem when Everest just opened. A lot of the special effects planned for the ride were cut, like the part where the Yeti breathes on guests in the dark. (Think warm air blown at your neck that smells . . . meaty.)
I am not a structural engineer, but here is what I would do:
1. The Yeti is still cantilevered out, this will continued to crack the foundation with even the smallest movement. I would remove the Yeti, and replace it with a much lighter weight version which is centered on the cement foundation. The current Yeti is built like a car and weighs something like 20,000 pounds. You can build a Yeti which is approximately the same size, but weighs less. I would do it by having Garner Holt (or somebody else) build a relatively light weight super-sized Yeti fig out of PVC, then onto this I would spray something, some sort of polymer, which would be use to create ‘hair’. Good-bye tons of fur-coats. I would ‘animate’ this figure by using a pulley-system, to let the creature turn its head, and move its arms, making the Yeti a big puppet. At the speed guests go, the ‘wires’ wouldn’t be seen.
2. I would add other special effects, such as the Yeti breath!
3. I would extend the ride by adding a ‘cave’ section, which would allow for guests to see either the Yeti again, or effects of the Yeti’s passage.
If you want to get creative, you could produce a similarly scary effect. The old Yeti was greet because its ability to “lunge” at you, i.e. horizontal and vertical movement, was one of a kind, but there are other ways to thrill guests too.
