Yeti news

[inluvwithbeast]

I don't believe for a second that it's too expensive to fix.

I do believe that they are so cheap that they'll take the cheap way out and settle for a half measure.

Total and complete fail.
Those responsible should be fired

I was under the impression that they would have to tear apart the mountain? Since its a foundation problem, not an AA problem.

Maybe the Yeti can just go on a diet??

 

[inluvwithbeast]

Oh, it's extremely feasible. They know exactly how to do it. People with knowledge of such things have told me so. It's only a matter of being willing to:
A) Close the ride for a couple of months
and
B) Write a check, and not one as big as you might think.

Neither of those things are "feasible" to management. Show is not important to them these days. They are more concerned about a loss of attendance (which wouldn't be a problem if the park had been properly developed over the last 12 years), and the hit to their budget.
I say again, anyone in WDW management who puts either of those factors ahead of good, quality show (which still comes before "efficiency") has no business working for Disney.

I expect their resignations on my desk by 5pm tomorrow. They can go "spend more time with their family."

Quality and efficiency go hand-in-hand. Take Lean and Six Sigma, two manufacturing concepts (which actually are applied to a LOT more than manufacturing... any kind of process really). Lean is all about eliminating waste and efficiency. Six Sigma is all about quality and reducing variability. Up front they are different. But investing in quality and reducing variability is the SAME thing as reducing waste. You're not having to busy yourself with little minor repairs and adjustments here and there to just keep the rides rideable at best. Those minor repairs add up quickly, and in the long run one giant overhaul to is in much more cost-efficient as well as benefiting overall quality of the ride.

I really wish I could see the numbers of this whole thing. :/

 

[jeffk410]

Oh, it's extremely feasible. They know exactly how to do it. People with knowledge of such things have told me so. It's only a matter of being willing to:
A) Close the ride for a couple of months
and
B) Write a check, and not one as big as you might think.

Neither of those things are "feasible" to management. Show is not important to them these days. They are more concerned about a loss of attendance (which wouldn't be a problem if the park had been properly developed over the last 12 years), and the hit to their budget.
I say again, anyone in WDW management who puts either of those factors ahead of good, quality show (which still comes before "efficiency") has no business working for Disney.

I expect their resignations on my desk by 5pm tomorrow. They can go "spend more time with their family."

Perfectly stated. Well Done... Well Done...

I can say this is beginning to be a reoccuring theme.

 

[mikeymouse]

Oh, it's extremely feasible. They know exactly how to do it. People with knowledge of such things have told me so. It's only a matter of being willing to:
A) Close the ride for a couple of months
and
B) Write a check, and not one as big as you might think.

Neither of those things are "feasible" to management. Show is not important to them these days. They are more concerned about a loss of attendance (which wouldn't be a problem if the park had been properly developed over the last 12 years), and the hit to their budget.
I say again, anyone in WDW management who puts either of those factors ahead of good, quality show (which still comes before "efficiency") has no business working for Disney.

I expect their resignations on my desk by 5pm tomorrow. They can go "spend more time with their family."

Well said, Lee. I can't believe Joe Rohde would allow this to happen to his baby unless it is above him. As it has been said, Disney has held itself to these high expectations and that is why it is ... expected!

 

[Atomicmickey]

I'm sure this is just the latest round of back and forth between different levels and styles of management. I'm sure there are those who say it will never be fixed, shouldn't be fixed, etc. and those who think it's bad show and know that it needs to be done.

And so the Yeti is in stasis, in the middle of a power struggle/crisis of opinion in management. At some point, someone will go, or be moved over, and someone who has the vision will get the authority to make this happen. Or not. It's the way these things go.

As for reporting on this, well, without a source to go on the record, I'm afraid no one would touch it. With no attributable source, it's going to stay here as internet message board speculation, that's all.

It may even be that this "leak" is from someone disgruntled who is trying to up the pressure on people with the pursestrings, by making statements like "never" which challenge those to say, "well, no, not never", and then they have to answer the followup, "well, if not never, then WHEN??"

etc.

Either way, this is going to go on for a while.

I do agree with Lee that they have made their own bed by not expanding the park more--and suspect that until another giant headliner is plopped into AK that it really is not possible to close EE to fix it. That's just plain practicality.

Anyway, those are all just armchair prognostications. No inside info at all from here.

 

[wizards8507]

I'm sure this is just the latest round of back and forth between different levels and styles of management. I'm sure there are those who say it will never be fixed, shouldn't be fixed, etc. and those who think it's bad show and know that it needs to be done.

With the segregation of duties within Parks and Resorts, that internal back-and-forth is unlikely to be resolved with anything other than a firm "no" to the repair. Parks and Resorts has their creative teams who are ONLY concerned with "the show" and the finance teams who are ONLY concerned with the dollar and there seems to be very little overlap of people who care about balancing the two.

 

[philsfan2185]

From what I've heard, and I've heard this about a year and a half ago from a, then engineer at WDI, their was a part/piece in the Yeti that kept breaking/failing. This caused the Yeti to go into "B-Mode". The part/piece that caused the Yeti to be put into "B-Mode" costs around $130,000 to replace. The person didn't go into details about it because I didn't press the issue. But this person did go onto say not to hold your breath if you expect it to be fixed. That is just what I was told, and I figured I'd share it.

 

[Evil Genius]

Oh, it's extremely feasible. They know exactly how to do it. People with knowledge of such things have told me so. It's only a matter of being willing to:
A) Close the ride for a couple of months
and
B) Write a check, and not one as big as you might think.

Neither of those things are "feasible" to management. Show is not important to them these days. They are more concerned about a loss of attendance (which wouldn't be a problem if the park had been properly developed over the last 12 years), and the hit to their budget.
I say again, anyone in WDW management who puts either of those factors ahead of good, quality show (which still comes before "efficiency") has no business working for Disney.

I expect their resignations on my desk by 5pm tomorrow. They can go "spend more time with their family."

Perfectly said Lee! And follows with everything I've been told over the past year.

I'm hoping for a corporate culture change within WDW very soon as this trend is indicative of everything that is plaguing the parks right now.

I'm just curious what TDO will consider "critical mass" before something is done to change it.

 

[Master Yoda]

Perfectly said Lee! And follows with everything I've been told over the past year.

I'm hoping for a corporate culture change within WDW very soon as this trend is indicative of everything that is plaguing the parks right now.

I'm just curious what TDO will consider "critical mass" before something is done to change it.

A park wide 10% or more drop in attendance that is not connected to a recession or disaster.

 

[IWant2GoNow]

To this entire idea of it never being fixed...

:fork::fork::fork::fork::fork::fork::fork::fork: :fork: :fork:

I always thought it would be a waste of time to stand outside E:E with "Fix the Yeti" signs and t-shirts but I'm getting so irritated at the lack of response by Disney that I think maybe we should start doing it.

Who am I kidding? It wouldn't help.

 

[Kamikaze]

Quality and efficiency go hand-in-hand.

Safety
Courtesy
Show
Efficiency

Thats how it goes.

 

[Mickey is King]

I don't believe for a second that it's too expensive to fix.

I do believe that they are so cheap that they'll take the cheap way out and settle for a half measure.

Total and complete fail.
Those responsible should be fired

agreed....I find it VERY hard to beleive that they built EE without a plan for repair/replacement of the attraction. These are professional engineers right?
Well, I'm not an engineer (and my spelling is bad also), but when I construct a project I ALWAYS think about repair/replace down the road. It certainly sounds like a lack of vision for the future was present. Did they think it would NEVER need work or replacement?

That being sid, It's still a kick a$$ ride!!! I would ride it anytime!

 

[Master Yoda]

agreed....I find it VERY hard to beleive that they built EE without a plan for repair/replacement of the attraction. These are professional engineers right?
Well, I'm not an engineer (and my spelling is bad also), but when I construct a project I ALWAYS think about repair/replace down the road. It certainly sounds like a lack of vision for the future was present. Did they think it would NEVER need work or replacement?

That being sid, It's still a kick a$$ ride!!! I would ride it anytime!

I am an engineer, not a PE mind you, and it has been my experience that quite a few PE would not know which end of a hammer to hold.

 

[Lucky]

From what I've heard, and I've heard this about a year and a half ago from a, then engineer at WDI, their was a part/piece in the Yeti that kept breaking/failing. This caused the Yeti to go into "B-Mode". The part/piece that caused the Yeti to be put into "B-Mode" costs around $130,000 to replace. The person didn't go into details about it because I didn't press the issue. But this person did go onto say not to hold your breath if you expect it to be fixed. That is just what I was told, and I figured I'd share it.

If true, there's no way that's the holdup. 130k is nothing to Disney. Shutting the ride down for months for the repair on the other hand could cost many millions. And it's not clear whether there are sizeable other costs to the repair itself besides replacing parts.

 

[peterpanic74]

Total and complete fail.
Those responsible should be fired

This! Utterly disappointed. What a waste. Glad i saw it back in '06.

 

[captainkidd]

Am I the only one who really doesn't care much about the Yeti? I rode Everest when he was in A mode, and sure it was better than now, but it's like 2 seconds. Is it THAT big of a deal.

 

[joel_maxwell]

Honestly. I have to admit I got caught up in the hype when Everest opened and was lucky enough to be able to see it in soft openings - a week before the ride photos were installed. I thought it was an awesome Disney coaster and people were applauding when the train pulled into the station at the end.

I feel sorry for those who never were able to experience the ride as it was imagined. And I feel very little motivation to return to this park if they decide not to restore the ride to what it should be. :shrug:

I did too. I would say it is a good coaster, but it needs the supporting cast to make it excellent. I rode twice a month ago and it was fun, but the final scene was so dark, I had a hard time even seeing him and I knew exactly when and where he was.

I am an engineer, not a PE mind you, and it has been my experience that quite a few PE would not know which end of a hammer to hold.

:lol: You gotta love that.

 

[Mickey is King]

I am an engineer, not a PE mind you, and it has been my experience that quite a few PE would not know which end of a hammer to hold.

Your an engineer? Nice. Think you could go over there and give these guys a gentle push in the right direction on fixing this badboy?

 

[JimboJones123]

Am I the only one who really doesn't care much about the Yeti? I rode Everest when he was in A mode, and sure it was better than now, but it's like 2 seconds. Is it THAT big of a deal.

Right on!

A standard guest has NO CLUE that there are different modes for the ride.

The problem is the design for the attraction. The few (or less) seconds that the Yeti actually is in view, there is no time to actually experience what is being offered anyways. They should have NEVER let the highlight of the ride be in view less time than it takes to sneeze.

The Mummy is an emersive experience where the AAs actually serve a purpose. Here, the Yeti isn't even wallpaper. The projection shadow has more viewing time than the beast.

Lee's assessment that the absolute lack of attraction offerings is more a problem than a 2 second event at the park.

Save the $$$ -- USE IT TO ADD VALUE TO THE PARK!!!

The fact that the park has skirted by for so long being held together by its size rather than its content will continue to be the main problem.

If the park literally took the attractions and populated them as densly as MK, the park would have to start closing at 3pm.

 

[bearboysnc]

If this park were in CA, this would have never happened. This animatronic is the tentpole of a crappy park, designed & built during a time when less was acceptable(DCA, WDS Paris). WDI should be CRAWLING all over this problem until a fix or a "plus" and built.

Essentially the cost isn't building the Yeti. The cost is closing the attraction for any length of time. Now they can take that old "jet engine" that powers the WDW yeti and "plus" the Matterhorn during one of it's 6 month annual rehabs.

Maybe they'll surprise us for the 30th anniversary of AK and give us a new marionette yeti.