As a roller coaster, Expedition Everest is just OK. And as a themed dark ride, the attraction would be just OK without the coaster elements. But the combination of the coaster, which is integral to the ride's story, and the attraction's lavish, immersive environment, creates another Disney E-ticket tour-de-force and a welcome addition to Disney's Animal Kingdom.
Expedition Everest up-front Info
- Thrill Scale (0=Wimpy!, 10=Yikes!): 6
Fairly intense positive G-forces, backwards coaster motion, darkness - Coaster type: Indoor/outdoor steel
- Top speed: 50 mph
- Height: 112 feet
- Drop: 80 feet
- Height restriction: 44 inches
- Fastpass-enabled
Will you be able to handle Expedition Everest? Expedition Everest does not have any inversions, does not soar to nosebleed heights, and reaches a relatively tame top speed of 50 mph. Disney considers it a "family" attraction (although I'd say it's at the upper end of that category), and while it's more aggressive than Space Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain, it's certainly less intense than coasters such as Sea World's Kraken.
But Expedition Everest does reverse direction and race backwards (in the dark, no less), delivers some formidable positive G-forces (also in the dark), and feels way more out of control because of the sections in the dark. If you can handle the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster at Disney-MGM Studios, you'll be able to face the yeti. If you're on the line, I'd advise you to suck it up, hold on tightly to the rider next to you (hopefully, someone you know), and join the expedition. The attraction is a Walt Disney World highlight, and you owe it to yourself to try it at least once.
What is it with Disney and mountains?
The 200-foot "mountain" commands the skyline at Disney's Animal Kingdom and looms large throughout the resort. By using forced perspective (a common theme park trick), it appears much taller. Joe Rohde, executive designer at Walt Disney Imagineering and the colorful, larger-than-life creative head of the park, says that the Mouse House often bases its attractions on mountains because they help give stories their power. "Mountains are pregnant with meaning," he says. "They are a primal mythic concept." Speaking of myths, Expedition Everest combines the lure of tackling the legendary mountain with the powerful myth of the yeti, Everest's abominable snowman protector.
The attraction casts guests in the role of explorers as they trek to the fictional Nepalese village of Serka Zong. The richly themed area is filled with bright prayer flags, indigenous plants, weathered buildings, and other artifacts that Rohde and his team developed based on their extensive research in Asia around Mount Everest. There are shops hawking climbing gear and other supplies, but the bustling air of adventure and anticipation in the village is punctuated by subtle and outright ominous warnings about the yeti.
The queue line meanders through the booking and permit offices of the Himalayan Escapes tour company, a pagoda-style shrine that's brimming with yeti totems, a general store, and the Yeti Museum. A makeshift exhibit in a converted tea warehouse, the museum offers evidence of the importance that the yeti plays in art and culture as well as the reverence and fear that he inspires. The displays also present information that appear to corroborate the existence of the mythical beast. Oh oh! The stage thus set, guests proceed to the railroad station where they board old trains, once used to haul tea, to take them to Everest's base camp.
Expedition Everest will put hair on your chest
When the queue is packed (which is most of the time), ride ops may not give guests the choice of seats, but the first car offers unobstructed views while those in the rear offer the most intense ride. From my experience, the next-to-last row, number 16, is prime seating for thrill-seekers.
The ride starts innocently enough with a pass through bamboo trees and ferns filled with twittering birds. The train climbs the lift hill and passes a huge yeti mural etched into the rock wall. According to Rohde, Disney had the coaster's manufacturer, Vekoma, use magnetic fields to modify the anti-rollback device so that it wouldn't emit the characteristic coaster click-clack-click sound and compromise the tea train theme.
The train takes a small dive into the mountain, emerges to the sight of twisted, impassable track, and stops on the incline. The yeti, apparently infuriated by the violation of his sacred ground, unleashes his wrath on the explorers. With nowhere to go, the train hesitates, shudders, and proceeds backwards into the mountain. This is where Expedition Everest gets nuts.
Next page: You'll Flip Over Expedition Everest
Expedition Everest Photo Gallery
No comments:
Post a Comment