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

[Disneyhead'71]

My offer to donate a roll of Duct Tape still stands!

I'll throw in a tube of SuperGlue.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I'll throw in a tube of SuperGlue.

Let's see.... Paperclips, Duct Tape and SuperGlue! Honestly they no longer have any excuse for not having a functioning Yeti.

 

[Ralphlaw]

I've got an old stapler down at the office that we're not using. All for the cause.

 

[danlb_2000]

Let's see.... Paperclips, Duct Tape and SuperGlue! Honestly they no longer have any excuse for not having a functioning Yeti.

Time to call MacGyver!

 

[Mike S]

Time to call MacGyver!

Nah, MacGruber

 

[hull327]

Clearly this would be a job for Handy Manny.

 

[HakunaMatata89]

one day when im tellin my future kids and grandkids old story i can proudly say i was there when the Yeti worked on soft opening day.

 

[matt9112]

My offer to donate a roll of Duct Tape still stands!

generosity

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Or maybe, people have provided the facts and others choose not to believe them or just don't understand them.

I never heard about a sled being connected to the Yeti's back. It is a Thomson Rod that rides in a huge Linear Slide. The sled they are talking about is under his right foot and when he basically pivots near the ride track, it is bearing most of the weight, the rod in his back basically just stabilizes him. His left arm and left foot are just dummy actuators. So he is pivoting on his left and swinging his right arm.

He has a lot of Yak hair(yes, actual Yak hair) on him and adds a lot of weight and other problems with his coverings that needed some repairs, just like all AA figures. But when you go changing the computer program and parameters, and then that shifts stresses to other parts, then it develops cracks in other parts. Then they complained to WDI that it was due to bad engineering and wanted WDI to fix it. When WDI investigated the problems and saw all the unauthorized changes that were made, they said basically that voided the warranty. So WDW/DAK would have to pay for the repairs. So they have a lot of repairs planned, but who is going to pay for it is the big problem!! So until someone wants to spend some money to fix it, it will just sit there.

As usual... Thanks for posting.

 

[Goofyernmost]

one day when im tellin my future kids and grandkids old story i can proudly say i was there when the Yeti worked on soft opening day.

To which they will reply... Yea, yea and you walked five miles to school, uphill both ways, in 2 feet of snow, barefoot. Thanks for the story, Grandpa! (snicker, giggle and tell their parents that your ready to be placed in a home)

 

[floam]

So Disney's going to continue to operate a broken ride because Iger is too cheap to fix it. Way to build a legacy, Bobby!

BTW, the failure of the yeti is the reason I have no idea why some people worship Joe Rohdes...the yeti was HIS baby, right? Who the hell built the thing so poorly anyway? Garner Holt?

To answer your question. Garner Holt had nothing to do with Yeti. However, the engineer responsible for Yeti's structural design has passed away. At a fairly young age I might add. Yeti was also the first figure to be completely modeled on a computer in order to calculate forces, stressed etc. Because of this, the engineers felt that it would never structurally fail. They where overly confident in their computer models. Much of his structure is composed of heat treated chrome moly steel, which cannot be welded on site in order to repair cracks. This makes the design unsustainable, which is why it is virtually impossible to salvage, in my opinion. The mistakes and miss-assumptions where deep rooted down to the materials used throughout. Side note, Joe Rhode is mostly involved with over all artistic direction and project management. He doesn't get involved in structural decisions on animation. He looked at it; thought it looked great; it got installed; the end.

 

[roj2323]

To answer your question. Garner Holt had nothing to do with Yeti. However, the engineer responsible for Yeti's structural design has passed away. At a fairly young age I might add. Yeti was also the first figure to be completely modeled on a computer in order to calculate forces, stressed etc. Because of this, the engineers felt that it would never structurally fail. They where overly confident in their computer models. Much of his structure is composed of heat treated chrome moly steel, which cannot be welded on site in order to repair cracks. This makes the design unsustainable, which is why it is virtually impossible to salvage, in my opinion. The mistakes and miss-assumptions where deep rooted down to the materials used throughout. Side note, Joe Rhode is mostly involved with over all artistic direction and project management. He doesn't get involved in structural decisions on animation. He looked at it; thought it looked great; it got installed; the end.

So basically it would take disney building an entirely new anamatronic to fix it. This seems like the easiest (albeit expensive) fix. Build the new one off site then when it's ready close the ride for 2 months and swap it out while referbing the rest of the attraction.

 

[DisneyGentleman]

Yeti was also the first figure to be completely modeled on a computer in order to calculate forces, stressed etc. Because of this, the engineers felt that it would never structurally fail. They where overly confident in their computer models. Much of his structure is composed of heat treated chrome moly steel, which cannot be welded on site in order to repair cracks. This makes the design unsustainable, which is why it is virtually impossible to salvage, in my opinion. The mistakes and miss-assumptions where deep rooted down to the materials used throughout. Side note, Joe Rhode is mostly involved with over all artistic direction and project management. He doesn't get involved in structural decisions on animation. He looked at it; thought it looked great; it got installed; the end.

This is the most sane comment I've read here -- bravo!

It is a common problem in the industry. Overconfidence in computer models which do not take into account real-world imperfections has led to serious engineering problems in many situations. The same thing is happening in power plants and aircraft.

Bottom line is that the Yeti cannot be fixed because it was never designed to be fixed.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Or maybe, people have provided the facts and others choose not to believe them or just don't understand them.

I never heard about a sled being connected to the Yeti's back. It is a Thomson Rod that rides in a huge Linear Slide. The sled they are talking about is under his right foot and when he basically pivots near the ride track, it is bearing most of the weight, the rod in his back basically just stabilizes him. His left arm and left foot are just dummy actuators. So he is pivoting on his left and swinging his right arm.

He has a lot of Yak hair(yes, actual Yak hair) on him and adds a lot of weight and other problems with his coverings that needed some repairs, just like all AA figures. But when you go changing the computer program and parameters, and then that shifts stresses to other parts, then it develops cracks in other parts. Then they complained to WDI that it was due to bad engineering and wanted WDI to fix it. When WDI investigated the problems and saw all the unauthorized changes that were made, they said basically that voided the warranty. So WDW/DAK would have to pay for the repairs. So they have a lot of repairs planned, but who is going to pay for it is the big problem!! So until someone wants to spend some money to fix it, it will just sit there.

To answer your question. Garner Holt had nothing to do with Yeti. However, the engineer responsible for Yeti's structural design has passed away. At a fairly young age I might add. Yeti was also the first figure to be completely modeled on a computer in order to calculate forces, stressed etc. Because of this, the engineers felt that it would never structurally fail. They where overly confident in their computer models. Much of his structure is composed of heat treated chrome moly steel, which cannot be welded on site in order to repair cracks. This makes the design unsustainable, which is why it is virtually impossible to salvage, in my opinion. The mistakes and miss-assumptions where deep rooted down to the materials used throughout. Side note, Joe Rhode is mostly involved with over all artistic direction and project management. He doesn't get involved in structural decisions on animation. He looked at it; thought it looked great; it got installed; the end.

Any chance we can put this information on the first post of this thread? It seems that important/significant.

 

[Magenta Panther]

To answer your question. Garner Holt had nothing to do with Yeti. However, the engineer responsible for Yeti's structural design has passed away. At a fairly young age I might add. Yeti was also the first figure to be completely modeled on a computer in order to calculate forces, stressed etc. Because of this, the engineers felt that it would never structurally fail. They where overly confident in their computer models. Much of his structure is composed of heat treated chrome moly steel, which cannot be welded on site in order to repair cracks. This makes the design unsustainable, which is why it is virtually impossible to salvage, in my opinion. The mistakes and miss-assumptions where deep rooted down to the materials used throughout. Side note, Joe Rhode is mostly involved with over all artistic direction and project management. He doesn't get involved in structural decisions on animation. He looked at it; thought it looked great; it got installed; the end.

Thank you for your insightful reply; much appreciated.

So things don't look good for the poor old yeti....

 

[tongaloosh]

Nah, MacGruber

Clearly this would be a job for Handy Manny.

Problem solved.

 

[Ralphlaw]

I never heard about a sled being connected to the Yeti's back. It is a Thomson Rod that rides in a huge Linear Slide. The sled they are talking about is under his right foot and when he basically pivots near the ride track, it is bearing most of the weight, the rod in his back basically just stabilizes him. His left arm and left foot are just dummy actuators. So he is pivoting on his left and swinging his right arm. .

So it's not a great big foundation problem that would require a complete shutdown and overhaul? Just checking. I know nothing of Thomson Rods, but I somehow feel that I can relate to being a dummy actuator.

 

[Zac Skellington]

Much of his structure is composed of heat treated chrome moly steel, which cannot be welded on site in order to repair cracks. This makes the design unsustainable, which is why it is virtually impossible to salvage, in my opinion.

Not being combative, just curious. What knowledge do you have of these things you speak of? Chromoly can't be welded on site? What SAE grade are we talking about here? 41xx, what? Maybe you are truly in the know, or maybe you're fanning the flame of misinformation by talking a good game....

 

[floam]

Not being combative, just curious. What knowledge do you have if these things you speak of? Chromoly can't be welded on site? What SAE grade are we talking about here? 41xx, what? Maybe you are truly in the know, or maybe you're fanning the flame of misinformation by talking a good game....

That is not what I said. I did not say that chrome moly could not be welded. I said that "Heat treated" chrome moly cannot be welded without affecting the heat treatment. Welding produces heat! In essence, by repairing the crack you cause it to weaken, which eventually leads to it failing yet again and possibly in a more catastrophic way. Chrome moly alone did not give the engineers the strength they needed so they resorted to using a heat treated steel. There is no way to "cold" weld any steel! Therefore, this requires a leap of faith, you are essentially assuming that the part will never need welding! All Disney figures routinely fatigue crack and require periodic welding. Therefore using heat treated steel was an idea born in the mind of a structural engineer who obviously had no field experience with animation. Also in reference, to a prior comment about Yeti's movements being art directed to be more dynamic with the implication that this caused the multiple failures, this is a popular but incorrect Disney myth. I asked someone, who shall remain unnamed and not further described, who was directly, dare i say very directly, involved in the install process, and I was told that Yeti's motions where tuned DOWN not up as the popular but incorrect myth states. And regarding your question as to what knowledge I have lets just say that I have direct access to virtually everyone that was involved in the Yeti debacle as well as those who have been dealing with it throughout the years.

 

[floam]

So basically it would take disney building an entirely new anamatronic to fix it. This seems like the easiest (albeit expensive) fix. Build the new one off site then when it's ready close the ride for 2 months and swap it out while referbing the rest of the attraction.

So long as the people counter keeps counting like crazy and guests keep riding the park will never fork over the cash for a totally new figure. A possible limited motion "B" show with some arm movement is frequently discussed but that has also never gone anywhere.