Yeti is indeed being fixed! Update 8/4/2014

[Mawg]

Anyone that responds to the yeti issue at EE with "but it's still a good coaster and my family likes it" instantly loses all credibility with me. Those people just don't "get it". Those people are accepting a lesser product than they have been offered in the past, WHILE BEING CHARGED MORE THAN THEY EVER HAVE FOR THE PRODUCT, and take it with a smile on their faces. Why? Because of nostalgia. Because they're "making memories".

Apply this same principle to almost any other purchased product, and those same people would think you were nuts. "I'm going to pay for a fully loaded brand new vehicle, but I'm going to take a base model that's a year old".

Yet that's what people do here. And it's all because TDO can prey on nostalgia and "making memories".

Think for a second how crazy that sounds and let me ask you this, how many times have you been to WDW in the past 7 years?

Let's say Taco Bell offers one of those Value Meals and it comes with 2 burritos and a taco supreme. You go through the drive through once and you love the taco supreme. You go through again and they don't give you the taco supreme. You visit again, and still no taco supreme . You start to complain but they still will not give you the taco supreme yet you keep coming back, they look at you and say why do you keep complaining and coming back. A few others might start to complain and maybe they even start giving out a taco now for the same price. Two Bean Burritos and one plain taco for the same price you were paying when it was a supreme. Now I come a long, I've never had the supreme, I'm happy with the taco, I don't know what I'm missing and I'm pretty happy so I keep giving them my money. You however are furious that they took away something that you enjoyed so much but through it all and still to this day you keep forking over the money for the plain old taco. Who do you think people are going to call nuts?

Now to end this analogy, I agree, complain if you want change, even better hold you money back if you want change but don't think for a second that everyone else is a sheep or nuts because they fork over their money and are happy because they are making memories or nostalgic about it. I'm not saying your nuts, and I don't even know how many time you have been to the parks in the last 7 years but you said it yourself; "I'm going to pay for a fully loaded brand new vehicle, but I'm going to take a base model that's a year old". Only thing is you know that's what you were going to get and still paid it, no one else actually knows they got the lesser model and are happy with their purchase. As a company if you can sell everyone a lesser model and they are happy even if they know they are getting a lesser model and are still forking over the money, why wouldn't you?

 

[Nemo14]

As a company if you can sell everyone a lesser model and they are happy even if they know they are getting a lesser model and are still forking over the money, why wouldn't you?

Yes, but when a lot of that company's business is based on the nostalgia factor, it's a bad idea to settle for mediocrity. 20 years from now will the kids who visited the parks in 2014 want to bring their kids there?

 

[yoyoflamingo]

I wonder if Joe Rohde said "Make a plan to fix my Yeti, then I will agree to work on Avatar to the end."

We can only imagine the behind the scenes meetings and shuffling. It is also nice the think Harambe Nights helped secure the fix. I will gladly support the after hours hard ticket events like that if this is part of the result.

Maybe the current shindigs at EPCOT will help pay for an Ellen refurb/redo or ::gasp:: a new ending for Spaceship Earth??

He did vow to us in the D23 Expo last year the Yeti would be fixed. (Of course he probably had no authorization to say that, but was good to hear him recognize it when asked about it.)

 

[AEfx]

As a company if you can sell everyone a lesser model and they are happy even if they know they are getting a lesser model and are still forking over the money, why wouldn't you?

No. If my company were the recognized world leader in a certain type of business, and I had the financial resources to continue to provide that stellar, "WOW" product that we were known for, yet still remain highly profitable, I'd strive to keep that priceless reputation, particularly if I had someone else snapping at my heels stealing much of my thunder doing what I used to do best (if not hurting my profits, yet). This is because I would care about the long-term viability of my company, and my brand, as many businesses have failed doing exactly what you state - the top of the heap, unquestionable, and then cut cut cut to eek just a tiny bit more profit here and there, and eventually are supplanted and tarnished as a has-been brand (which is something no amount of extra funds thrown at it later in retrospect in a reactionary way is normally able to fix).

Here's the thing - I've been on this board for a bit over ten years now. Ten years ago, it was LAUGHABLE to think that Universal was anything more than the little park that couldn't, sitting up the road with it's one-hit-wonder Spiderman, doing nothing but giving Sea World a run for it's money as another choice for a day outside of Disney. Even those of us who liked the parks would scoff at the notion that there was any competition from them, whatsoever, that no one in their right mind would ever make a vacation out of going there.

My, how things change.

There is a reason more threads that not here these days end up talking about Universal and the amazing stuff they are doing, one way or another. Back not that too far into the past, anyone mentioning it would have been told "go to the Universal board" - but that's just not practical these days, because there is so little to talk about at WDW aside from little plastic wrist bands, D-ticket attractions that take half a decade to build, and what new way Disney is coming up with to make going to WDW more like being in the military if it was sparkled with faux pixie dust than an enjoyable, care-free experience. It's because most of us are fans of "WOW" theme park attractions/experiences - and Disney is too busy nickel and diming the folks who have already swallowed the pixie dust, and it's once world-class brand of providing the most amazing experiences in the world is eroding before our very eyes.

Case in point: the Yeti.

 

[Mawg]

Yes, but when a lot of that company's business is based on the nostalgia factor, it's a bad idea to settle for mediocrity. 20 years from now will the kids who visited the parks in 2014 want to bring their kids there?

Do you think there are kids that think it is mediocre right now? Mine sure don't, they think it's the best place on earth. And, they love Mt Everest.

 

[Mawg]

No. If my company were the recognized world leader in a certain type of business, and I had the financial resources to continue to provide that stellar, "WOW" product that we were known for, yet still remain highly profitable, I'd strive to keep that priceless reputation, particularly if I had someone else snapping at my heels stealing much of my thunder doing what I used to do best (if not hurting my profits, yet). This is because I would care about the long-term viability of my company, and my brand, as many businesses have failed doing exactly what you state - the top of the heap, unquestionable, and then cut cut cut to eek just a tiny bit more profit here and there, and eventually are supplanted and tarnished as a has-been brand (which is something no amount of extra funds thrown at it later in retrospect in a reactionary way is normally able to fix).

Here's the thing - I've been on this board for a bit over ten years now. Ten years ago, it was LAUGHABLE to think that Universal was anything more than the little park that couldn't, sitting up the road with it's one-hit-wonder Spiderman, doing nothing but giving Sea World a run for it's money as another choice for a day outside of Disney. Even those of us who liked the parks would scoff at the notion that there was any competition from them, whatsoever, that no one in their right mind would ever make a vacation out of going there.

My, how things change.

There is a reason more threads that not here these days end up talking about Universal and the amazing stuff they are doing, one way or another. Back not that too far into the past, anyone mentioning it would have been told "go to the Universal board" - but that's just not practical these days, because there is so little to talk about at WDW aside from little plastic wrist bands, D-ticket attractions that take half a decade to build, and what new way Disney is coming up with to make going to WDW more like being in the military if it was sparkled with faux pixie dust than an enjoyable, care-free experience. It's because most of us are fans of "WOW" theme park attractions/experiences - and Disney is too busy nickel and diming the folks who have already swallowed the pixie dust, and it's once world-class brand of providing the most amazing experiences in the world is eroding before our very eyes.

Case in point: the Yeti.

So far, I think I like this argument the best! Not calling people out as sheep or saying you're the reason we can't have nice stuff or saying your nuts. But well laid out and very convincing. Thankyou!

 

[Mawg]

So far, I think I like this argument the best! Not calling people out as sheep or saying you're the reason we can't have nice stuff or saying your nuts. But well laid out and very convincing. Thankyou!

Edit, I've thought more about it and this response really hit home for me. I don't have time to explain why but if anyone even cares, I will be back tomorrow to explain why I like this post so much.

 

[Magenta Panther]

Think for a second how crazy that sounds and let me ask you this, how many times have you been to WDW in the past 7 years?

Let's say Taco Bell offers one of those Value Meals and it comes with 2 burritos and a taco supreme. You go through the drive through once and you love the taco supreme. You go through again and they don't give you the taco supreme. You visit again, and still no taco supreme . You start to complain but they still will not give you the taco supreme yet you keep coming back, they look at you and say why do you keep complaining and coming back. A few others might start to complain and maybe they even start giving out a taco now for the same price. Two Bean Burritos and one plain taco for the same price you were paying when it was a supreme. Now I come a long, I've never had the supreme, I'm happy with the taco, I don't know what I'm missing and I'm pretty happy so I keep giving them my money. You however are furious that they took away something that you enjoyed so much but through it all and still to this day you keep forking over the money for the plain old taco. Who do you think people are going to call nuts?

Now to end this analogy, I agree, complain if you want change, even better hold you money back if you want change but don't think for a second that everyone else is a sheep or nuts because they fork over their money and are happy because they are making memories or nostalgic about it. I'm not saying your nuts, and I don't even know how many time you have been to the parks in the last 7 years but you said it yourself; "I'm going to pay for a fully loaded brand new vehicle, but I'm going to take a base model that's a year old". Only thing is you know that's what you were going to get and still paid it, no one else actually knows they got the lesser model and are happy with their purchase. As a company if you can sell everyone a lesser model and they are happy even if they know they are getting a lesser model and are still forking over the money, why wouldn't you?

The fact that you're using Taco Bell as a comparison to a Disney park just says LOADS about your taste, pal.

You don't get it. You don't get the reason many of us still have hopes that somehow, SOMEWAY, (after Iger gets the boot, maybe) the Disney parks will reclaim their legacy of quality and innovation - the legacy that Walt Disney established. I'll never stop screaming about the damn broken Yeti until it's fixed, or about the cheap look of the Little Mermaid ride, and the corner-cutting that was done on the Mine Train. And if you think that screaming has no effect, think again. This is the internet age. Word gets out and spreads everywhere. PLUS - most of today's kids don't have the same attachment to Disney that we do - they'll be much more apt to choose other destinations for family outings ESPECIALLY if Disney keeps thinking it can blather about "memories" and use Walt as a sale point without respecting his legacy and do pretty much nothing else. It'll get its kicked by Universal and other, more ambitious entities. It's happened before - who would have thought America, which invented the automobile, would get owned by Toyota, a company in a country that America brought to its knees?

I don't want Disney to get owned. I want it to triumph - and the ONLY way it's going to do that is to stop thinking about merchandising and squeezing the last cent out of tourists and try to think the way Walt did. I had some hope for Lasseter, but all that is interested in apparently is his freaking Cars franchise. Maybe we'll be lucky and the next head of Disney will have some true love and understanding of the company and appreciation for quality. We can all hope - and in the meantime, keep screaming.

 

[marni1971]

Maybe it's time to point out again Evererst wouldn't need a full closure to fix the yeti. Plans exist for this.

And shall I say the AA figure has actually been disassembled at least once already and then put back in place?

 

[Nemo14]

Do you think there are kids that think it is mediocre right now? Mine sure don't, they think it's the best place on earth. And, they love Mt Everest.

Mine do, but they're older and can remember a far better and far more affordable place..

 

[PREMiERdrum]

And shall I say the AA figure has actually been disassembled at least once already and then put back in place?

Orly?

Tell me more...

 

[biggy H]

Orly?

Tell me more...

I'm pretty sure when it was first built and tested it was then taken apart to be installed in Everest.

 

[George]

Just once, just once, is it possible to berate TDO without trying to compare to other places?

Everest is still in this mess because of TWDC management. Not due to Comcast. Not due to Six Flags. Not due to the man on the moon.

@Tom

Yeah, but there are these Little Caesar's south of where I live that are extraordinarily well managed and they make TDO look really, really bad.

 

[Tom Morrow]

There were one or two instances where the yeti was covered up by tarps and the scene was just totally dark, too.

 

[George]

How many will even know it was ever broken? Not many unless they frequent the Disney boards. Percentage wise, that's a very small number.

This is a very good point, but I think there is a subtlety buried within this argument that needs to be drawn out, like the existential poison from Theoden's soul. I enjoyed Seinfeld. However, unlike my wife, I am far from an expert. Despite being a casual fan of the TV show, the multi-layered nuanced plots and weird recurring characters and themes were a plus for me. There is a point where if you started subtracting these elements, the show wouldn't have been worth the time for me, the casual fan. There will be a point, when enough casual theme park fans won't think of Disney as being special or different. This is the danger in letting things slide. Whether or not Disney is close to this point is up for debate. I think they have steered their intergalatic craft very close to the event horizon and, are perhaps, turning their engines to reverse just in time to steer their craft away from the abyss. However, the gravitational pull may be too much to overcome. The odds on this are 4.324:2.7465.

There are also plenty of guests who will swear up and down that they rode Jaws at the Disney-EPCOT Studios. Why do those people matter so much?

This kind of thing really, really annoyed Bob Epcot and Phil Studios when they were alive.

I'm just a nobody but have just heard that this indeed is included in the FY15 budget. I don't believe a solid date has been set yet, more of a July-is-when-budget-requests-for-the-new-FY-are-approved. I do not gather this is likely to commence until early 2015, though. With the ToL work and extended ITtbaB work, there is hesitation to start this and risk it colliding with Christmas.

Of course, how many projects get included in the budget for a FY and then canceled? Let's hope this isn't one. The goal is to not have DAK embarrass itself as the new stuff starts opening in 2016.

This is very, very good news. @tikiman - you provide good info that is grounded in reality and several folk (also @wdw71fan ) have already mentioned the FY budget, yeti repair inclusion, so no need to worry about defending the veracity of your claim. Even if it doesn't happen, in my mind, you provided good info. In fact, I'd use colorful language if I were you and people were questioning my rumor. For example, I might say, "Listen you periwinkle weirdo, why don't you go eat some taupe".

It is. One built on a reputation of top quality.

Not letting things break and leaving them broken.

Nothing in your quote should take more than a few weeks to fix. Tops.

100% correct, which is a good post even for someone of your caliber (you tend to float around the 82.34% correct per post mark).

OK, I did ride Everest when "A" mode was fully functional. So my arguments won't be "invalid"?

I categorically disagree with you. The overal ride experience of Everest was diminished when the Yeti stopped working, but it was [is] still an amazing ride experience. Honestly? "Safety above all else". It was not safe to operate the Yeti in "A" mode once it started having problems and Disney did the right thing. People with knowledge of what was wrong and what would be required to fix it made a determination not to proceed at that time. Just because you and other "purists" didn't like that decision changes absolutely nothing. In the grand scheme of things, they did what they did and fans complaining and expressing their indignation didn't change the fact that the ride has continued to run at capacity ever since.

They have now determined that the time is right to fix it. I'll be happy to see the result.

As usual, very well stated and thought provoking (note that I don't even throw in the "for a Canadian" qualifier like most of the jingoist rubes that populate this virtual world). I don't completely disagree. However, Disney has let a ride run in "pretty good mode" for the better part of a decade when the potential for "super duper mode" existed. The Disney I used to know would have never done that. Perhaps that Disney is gone. I should let it go. Maybe, they realize they are losing some cachet and are going to use the attendance spike that will accompany the new night time show and then avatar land opening to try and regain this important market place advantage. Time will tell.

EE is the poster child for how TDO will almost literally run something into the ground before giving it major attention rather than routine smaller recurring maintenance refurbs.

This is a wonderful way to summarize the situation. The climax of a very good ride has been unfulfilled for years. As mentioned by many, rides without climaxes are not as good as rides with climaxes. Now it just ends all suddenly and your ride partner often times is glaring at you.

It's unrealized entertainment. As you said, Expedition Everest is still a solid ride without a working Yeti. That doesn't mean the ride can't benefit from the Yeti working. Say the average guest leaves Everest 85% satisfied. They don't know that the Yeti was supposed to swipe at you but they know they were 85% satisfied. If that same guest went on the ride and the yeti swiped at them they might be 95% satisfied. If guests are 10% more satisfied and that translates to 10% more sales in the gift shop, then mission accomplished.

Correct. See my Seinfeld post above if all the fancy numerical calculations in this post are confusing. Also, you can look back in this thread and see that Mr. SoxNo1 has changed his satisfaction modeling algorithm over the the years because he used to claim that guests left Everest 75% satisfied as opposed to 85% satisfied. I believe the change is due to what I refer to as the "bird on a stick" constant.

 

[dreamfinder]

This is a wonderful way to summarize the situation. The climax of a very good ride has been unfulfilled for years. As mentioned by many, rides without climaxes are not as good as rides with climaxes. Now it just ends all suddenly and your ride partner often times is glaring at you.

Which just leads to an awkward remainder of the day. "What do you mean you didn't get the full experience?" "All that build up for nothing?"

 

[doctornick]

I'm just a nobody but have just heard that this indeed is included in the FY15 budget. I don't believe a solid date has been set yet, more of a July-is-when-budget-requests-for-the-new-FY-are-approved. I do not gather this is likely to commence until early 2015, though. With the ToL work and extended ITtbaB work, there is hesitation to start this and risk it colliding with Christmas.

Good to hear. My expectation would be a shut down in Jan-Feb time frame when WDW tends to be at its lightest. They can time other refurbs in the park so it is the only thing down (e.g. Kali can go down in Dec if needed). I would expect Everest to be for the Everest Race, which I think is in May.

 

[twebber55]

There were one or two instances where the yeti was covered up by tarps and the scene was just totally dark, too.

yep....been there on that occasion

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

This is a very good point, but I think there is a subtlety buried within this argument that needs to be drawn out, like the existential poison from Theoden's soul. I enjoyed Seinfeld. However, unlike my wife, I am far from an expert. Despite being a casual fan of the TV show, the multi-layered nuanced plots and weird recurring characters and themes were a plus for me. There is a point where if you started subtracting these elements, the show wouldn't have been worth the time for me, the casual fan. There will be a point, when enough casual theme park fans won't think of Disney as being special or different. This is the danger in letting things slide. Whether or not Disney is close to this point is up for debate. I think they have steered their intergalatic craft very close to the event horizon and, are perhaps, turning their engines to reverse just in time to steer their craft away from the abyss. However, the gravitational pull may be too much to overcome. The odds on this are 4.324:2.7465.



This kind of thing really, really annoyed Bob Epcot and Phil Studios when they were alive.



This is very, very good news. @tikiman - you provide good info that is grounded in reality and several folk (also @wdw71fan ) have already mentioned the FY budget, yeti repair inclusion, so no need to worry about defending the veracity of your claim. Even if it doesn't happen, in my mind, you provided good info. In fact, I'd use colorful language if I were you and people were questioning my rumor. For example, I might say, "Listen you periwinkle weirdo, why don't you go eat some taupe".



100% correct, which is a good post even for someone of your caliber (you tend to float around the 82.34% correct per post mark).



As usual, very well stated and thought provoking (note that I don't even throw in the "for a Canadian" qualifier like most of the jingoist rubes that populate this virtual world). I don't completely disagree. However, Disney has let a ride run in "pretty good mode" for the better part of a decade when the potential for "super duper mode" existed. The Disney I used to know would have never done that. Perhaps that Disney is gone. I should let it go. Maybe, they realize they are losing some cachet and are going to use the attendance spike that will accompany the new night time show and then avatar land opening to try and regain this important market place advantage. Time will tell.



This is a wonderful way to summarize the situation. The climax of a very good ride has been unfulfilled for years. As mentioned by many, rides without climaxes are not as good as rides with climaxes. Now it just ends all suddenly and your ride partner often times is glaring at you.



Correct. See my Seinfeld post above if all the fancy numerical calculations in this post are confusing. Also, you can look back in this thread and see that Mr. SoxNo1 has changed is satisfaction modeling algorithm over the the years because he used to claim that guests left Everest 75% satisfied as opposed to 85% satisfied. I believe the change is due to what I refer to as the "bird on a stick" constant.

I really have nothing to add other than to say that I'm 99.8999% certain that this is the best post that anybody has constructed around here in a very long time. I probably would have been 100% certain, but you seem to have missed an easy opportunity to make a Frozen reference somewhere around the 5th paragraph.

Either way, fifty points to George.

I believe the "Bird on a Stick" Constant is widely accepted among the scientific community.

 

[GeneralZod]

Safety comes before all else, not show. The yeti was shut off because it was not safe to have it operational.

I am going to assume you are intelligent enough to understand that my comment, obviously, in no way advocated operating an unsafe ride and are simply trying to solicit an argument. If any component of a ride is unsafe, you shut it down in its entirety to make the necessary repairs to not only make it safe once again but also preserve the quality standard that park is/was built upon.

...end of line