| Expedition Everest Legend of the Forbidden Mountain |
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| Ride logo | |||||
| Disney's Animal Kingdom | |||||
| Land | Asia | ||||
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| Designer | Walt Disney Imagineering | ||||
| Manufacturer | Vekoma | ||||
| Attraction type | Roller coaster | ||||
| Theme | Himalayan expedition | ||||
| Propulsion method | Chain lift | ||||
| Opening date | April 7, 2006 | ||||
| Vehicle names | Norbu, Bob, Serka, Norgay, Bhat, Ronin, Balram, Saint Yeti, Everest Explorer, Tibetan Warrior, Baichung, Tenzing and Spirit of Nepal | ||||
| 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 | 50 mph (80 km/h) | ||||
| Backward speed | 30 mph (48 km/h) | ||||
| Type | Steel | ||||
| Drop | 80 ft | ||||
| Max Backward G-Force: | 3 | ||||
| Max Forward G-Force: | 2.2 | ||||
| Sponsored by | Disney's Fastpass | ||||
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Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain is a roller coaster attraction at Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, near Orlando. The ride is based on Mount Everest, a mountain in the Himalayas.
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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.
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 track switches 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.
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.
The ride queue winds through a small Asian town and monastery and their museum dedicated to the local legend of the Yeti. Riders reach a station in which they board a train. Advertisements say the train will take them on a journey to Mount Everest, while first passing through the Forbidden Mountain which the yeti is said to guard as his home.
The vehicle departs from the station and climbs a small lift which goes into a minor drop, then the train circles around to a larger lift, carrying the riders towards the mountain peaks. On the way up they pass through a ransacked temple with murals of the yeti, warning the riders that the mountain is his territory.
The train reaches the top of the mountain and curves around the main peak, then goes through a cave. Upon leaving the cave, the train slows to a halt before track that has been torn apart, presumably by the yeti. During this brief stop, the track switches inside the cave. The train then rolls backwards into the cave and down a new route, through a dark tunnel that spirals downward.
The train comes to a halt again in a large cave inside the mountain where riders see the shadow of the yeti on the wall as he tears up more track. During this time, another track switch activates. As the shadow moves away, the train rolls forward, out of the mountain and down the main 80 ft. drop. The train makes a banked turn and speeds back up through another cave in the mountain, in which the roars of the yeti are heard again. The train then makes two loops outside, before it is lifted back into the mountain a final time. The train drops through a cave where a large animatronic yeti reaches down to try and derail the train (when the yeti is not working for various reasons, a strobe light is fixed on it, and wind blows across it to simulate movement). Upon reaching the bottom of this drop, riders return back to the unloading dock and depart into a gift shop.
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.
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:
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.
The Discovery Channel aired the 30 minute documentary Building A Thrill Ride: Expedition Everest. The documentary started off with the construction, then revealed the planning. It also showed the construction and the clever ideas to make the ride possible
Examples of Ideas
The special also featured survivor tips from Les Strout.
The complex yeti figure has the following technical details.[1]
The ride is listed in the 2011 book of Guinness World Records as the most expensive rollercoaster in the world. Including sets and extras, the total cost of the ride was at $100m (£51m) in 2006 after 6 years of planning & construction.
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