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| Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain |
 |
| Ride logo |
| Disney's Animal Kingdom |
| Land |
Asia |
| Designer |
Walt Disney Imagineering |
| Manufacturer |
Vekoma |
| Attraction type |
Roller coaster |
| Theme |
Himalayan expedition |
| Propulsion method |
Chain lift |
| Opening date |
April 7, 2006 |
| Vehicle capacity |
34 |
| Cars per vehicle |
6 |
| Guests per car |
6 (first 5 cars)/4 (back car) |
| Ride duration |
3-4 minutes |
| Length |
4424 ft (1348.4 m) |
| Total height |
199.5 ft (60.8 m) |
| Track height |
112 ft (34.1 m) |
| Height requirements |
44" (112 cm) |
| Number of lifts |
2 |
| Audio-animatronics |
Yeti, Bird |
| Forward speed |
60 mph (92 km/h) |
| Backward speed |
40 mph (64 km/h) |
| Type |
Steel |
| Drop |
80 ft |
| Max Backward G-Force: |
3 |
| Max Forward G-Force: |
2.2 |
| Sponsored by |
Disney's Fastpass |
 |
Fastpass available |
 |
Single rider available |
|
Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain is an elaborately themed roller coaster at Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park in the Walt Disney World Resort.
Background
Expedition Everest is often compared to the 1959 Matterhorn Bobsleds roller coaster at Disneyland, which also features a snowy mountain setting and an "abominable snowman" figure throughout the ride. Expedition Everest is the tallest of the artificial mountains at Walt Disney World Resort, joining Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Mount Gushmore, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain and Mount Mayday on the list of Disney-built peaks. According to Imagineering, it is Disney's 18th mountain-themed attraction.
If the Expedition Everest mountain were real, it would be ranked fourth on the list of the highest summits in Florida at 320 feet (98 m) above sea level. Although moderate in height and length by contemporary roller coaster standards, Expedition Everest is unique for having its trains travel forward and backward as a result of the yeti's interference with the journey. This is accomplished through two sets of rotating track segments on pivot before and after the backwards segment. In its publicity material, Disney pointedly has described the attraction as a family thrill ride. This was the first Disney roller coaster to have a backwards section on it, but it was the second Disney roller coaster proposed with a backwards section: The planned runaway mine train roller coaster at the Magic Kingdom's never built Western River Expedition would have had a backwards section before it was shelved in 1972. The plans for the mine train roller coaster eventually evolved into Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It would be another 34 years until a roller coaster with a backwards segment opened in a Disney park.
The artificial mountain is not a reproduction of Mount Everest; it is the fictional "forbidden mountain" guarded by the yeti in the attraction story created by Walt Disney Imagineering. Everest is represented by the barren background peak on the far right, which is meant to suggest it is far in the distance (an example of forced perspective). The attraction's concept is that the roller coaster is a passenger train offering a speedy route through the Himalayas to the base of Mount Everest. According to Disney, the attraction occupies 6.2 acres (25,000 m2) in the park's Asia section and the mountain itself is just shy of 1-acre (4,000 m2).
Expedition Everest celebrated its grand opening on April 7, 2006 in ceremonies led by Disney CEO Bob Iger and theme parks chairman Jay Rasulo. The attraction first was announced publicly on April 22, 2003, during an event to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Disney's Animal Kingdom.
Ride
After being taken through a Museum dedicated to the local lore of the Yeti, riders board a train that will take them on an Expedition to Mount Everest. The vehicle departs and climbs a small lift which goes into a minor drop and winds the train around to the main lift. About halfway up the sixteen story main lift is a ransacked temple where the rider can see murals of the Yeti, Guardian of the forbidden mountain. After curving through the top of the mountain, the train comes to a halt where the track has been torn apart by the Yeti. During the brief stop, the track switch behind the train activates and the train departs backwards through the mountain in the dark.
The vehicle goes through a downward spiral and stops in a cave where the Yeti can be seen ripping apart the track. During the second stop, another track switch activates and motion resumes in forward motion, out of the mountain an down the main drop. A series of turns and drops continue with a final scene going through a tunnel where the Yeti swoops down and tries to grab the train. Riders return back to the unloading dock and depart into a gift shop.
Mission Himalayas
In 2005, Disney, Discovery Networks and Conservation International conducted real-life expeditions to Nepal as part of the promotion for Expedition Everest. The purpose was to conduct scientific and cultural research in remote areas of the Himalayas where the yeti legend exists. Participants included scientists from Conservation International and Disney's Animal Kingdom, as well as Rohde. The expeditions — as well as the making of the attraction — were chronicled in three documentaries broadcast on Discovery's cable television channels in April 2006. Rohde was featured in a Travel Channel program titled "Expedition Everest: Journey to Sacred Lands," which premiered April 9 to coincide with the attraction's grand opening.
Times Square publicity stunt
On February 15, 2006, Disney staged an elaborate publicity stunt for Expedition Everest in New York City's Times Square, according to a report by radio station WINS:
- Dangling from ropes hundreds of feet above Times Square, five acrobatic dancers and one of the world's fastest rock climbers performed cartwheels, flips and gravity-defying leaps Wednesday to promote the opening of a new ride at Walt Disney World. . . . Strapped into harnesses and hanging from nylon rope, [Hans] Florine and five other performers from the vertical dance company Project Bandaloop twirled and soared across the face of the billboard, which was done up to look like a mountainside.
The event, known as "Everest in the City", draped large billboards over sides of the several buildings. The billboards depicted Everest with a coaster car careening down the mountainside, with the Yeti looking on from another peak.
The Yeti's eyes on the billboard glowed red and would flash when the text message "4YETI" was sent to a Disney-provided phone number.
Attraction facts
- Capacity: Up to five six-car trains of 34 passengers each in 17 two-person rows (the last row features seating for disabled guests); typically four trains are in operation, with a projected OHRC of 1,850 riders per hour with four trains or 2,050 with five trains.
- Restraint: Individual lap bar
- Brake zones: Four; two after the pivoting track segments, one before entering the mountain the final time and one before unload. Technically the brake after the yeti encounter is not considered an official brake zone
- Lifts: Two chain lifts
- Trackswitches: Weighing in at 100 tons each, they roll and lock in 6 seconds.
- Disney's FASTPASS can be utilized at this area.
Expedition Everest under construction in January 2005
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The exterior of the ride in October 2005
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One of the trains ascending the main lift hill
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A close up of one of the trains on the main drop
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Yeti technical details
The complex yeti figure has the following technical details.[1]
- The yeti's "skin" measures 1,000 square feet (93 m2), and is held in place by 1,000 snaps and 250 zippers.
- The yeti's movement is controlled by 19 actuators.
- The yeti can move five feet horizontally, and two feet vertically.
- The yeti is 22 feet (6.7 m) tall.
Incidents
- On December 18, 2007, a 44-year-old guest was found unconscious after the train returned to the station. The guest was taken to a hospital, but was pronounced dead. A preliminary autopsy by the Orange County medical examiner's office concluded that the victim died of dilated cardiomyopathy, and that the death was considered natural.[2]
Awards
- 2006 Theme Park Insider Award for "World's Best New Theme Park Attraction."
References
- ^ "Engineering Expedition Everest,complete with a yeti". Machine Design. 2006-08-10. http://machinedesign.com/ContentItem/58140/EngineeringExpeditionEverestcompletewithayeti.aspx.
- ^ http://580wdbo.com/includes/news/indepth/03279_Death-at-Disney_115236.html
External links
28°21′29.89″N 81°35′10.7″W / 28.3583028°N 81.586306°W / 28.3583028; -81.586306Coordinates: 28°21′29.89″N 81°35′10.7″W / 28.3583028°N 81.586306°W / 28.3583028; -81.586306
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