The towering Expedition Everest at Disney's Animal Kingdom is one of the most thrilling roller coasters every created by Disney's Imagineers. It's also stunningly detailed, and packed with little details.
Dominating the Asia area of the park, Expedition Everest was opened in 2006. Designed to fill a thrill ride-shaped hole in Disney's Animal Kingdom's line-up, it has proven to be immensely popular.
The ride's storyline revolves around guests embarking on expedition to climb Mount Everest. However, in order to reach the mountain, they must first head to a base camp on the Forbidden Mountain. Legend says that the mountain is guarded by the mysterious Yeti - and that he doesn't take too kindly to intruders.
The queue line begins in the village of Serka Zong, with the first building that guests enter being the booking office for Himalayan Escapes, a local adventure travel agency run by Norbu and Bob. Guests then pass through a replica temple, a tea garden and a Yeti Museum owned by Professor Pema Dorjay. Finally, they board one of the ride's trains to begin their journey up the Forbidden Mountain.
Expedition Everest is packed full of tiny details, with around 8,000 artifacts on display in the museum alone. Next time you ride, look out for these 17 hidden secrets!
17. Authentic materials
All of the buildings in Serka Zong were made using "rammed earth" bricks, which are created by mixing water, dirt and straw together and hammering the mixture until it becomes rigid.
16. A significant color
Throughout the village of Serka Zong, notice that many of the corners of buildings, doorways and other elements are colored red. This is considered by Himalayan locals to keep evil spirits away.
15. Extensive landscaping
To recreate the lowlands surrounding Mount Everest, more than 900 bamboo plants, 10 species of trees and 110 species of shrubs were planted.
14. An unusual height restriction
Even if you know that your kids meet the height requirement, have them measure themselves at the entrance to the ride anyway. The requirement? Guests must be at least one "Yeti foot" tall to ride (44 inches).
13. The totem poles
Take a look at the totem poles in front of Expedition Everest. These were hand-carved by Nepalese craftsmen.
12. Authentic memorabilia
The queue line for Expedition Everest is intricately detailed. Many of the items in the queue are authentic, with climbing gear being taken from the base of Mount Everest and computers and ladders being purchased from Nepalese stores.
11. A familiar beverage
Coca-Cola has spread across the world, and there's evidence of this in Expedition Everest. Nepalese coke bottles are visible thoughout the queue line.
Comments
To the guy that thinks it's a "ludicrous" thought that the foundation that the support that holds the yeti cracked, you're an idiot. The mountain and ride system were designed independently of the Yeti's system, causing the problem described in the article. This is why the yeti no longer moves, when the yeti was attached to the mountain, the yeti shook the mountain too much.
I thoroughly enjoy Theme Park Tourist and its articles. I was also a longtime cast member at Disneyland and was lucky enough to see the yeti when it worked. Such a scary and cool figure! I offer one little tip to the author. "Queue" and "line" mean the same thing. You can simply say "the queue" or "the line." Saying "the queue line" is just redundant. ☺️
The Yeti and mountain were never connected or touched in any way. The Yeti had its own independent structure from the beginning of design.