There are plans to fix the yeti on Expedition Everest!!

[White Bones]

I'm sure they've had "plans" to fix it for a long time now the real question is when can we expect them to cough the money up to do it.

I know right?

[k_peek_2000]

Why not just imagineer a brand-new one with updated functionality and the ability to be installed in the space left after pulling out *what you can* of the old one?

Because the 3 structures of the mountain, track and yeti, intertwine. Like you said, you can't remove the yeti without removing half of the mountain.

[Ghostbuster626]

Gpthe whole situation with expedition everest is really quite pathetic. The ride was built on the cheap and special effects started breaking down literally weeks after opening. Did they ever fixthe simple effects like the bird on the stick or the steam coming out of the train engine?

[Ice101]

No. Disney lets effects slip too much. It used to be the case that if a single animatronic went down on PotC or HM, the entire ride would be closed until it could be fixed because it's bad show to allow guests to see a non-functional animatronic. This was true on PotC or HM which have well over 100 animatronics between them.

Everest - which has one absolutely incredible, show-stopping animatronic that WDI still brags is the most advanced animatronic ever built in their orientation video - has been in full operation for years despite the fact that that animatronic doesn't move. That animatronic is the show-stopping climax of the attraction, and it's broken. The fact is that TDO cares nothing about quality of show, is unwilling to invest the necessary funds to maintain/repair its existing attractions/infrastructure, and has the same opinion of its guests that Rizzo the Rat does.

This is obnoxious and selfish.

So because the Yeti isn't absolutely perfect (which you see for a total of 4 or so seconds), we must shut the ride down and disappoint thousands, if not millions of riders for what (even without a fully functioning Yeti) is widely considered the best ride in Walt Disney World?

Get off your high horse.

This isn't a simple, 1-day fix. The Yeti will take weeks, possibly months to fully correct. I think it's in the park's best interest to keep the ride open until they can find a good way to restore the Yeti AND do it quickly. Until then, wait it out and go disappointed for 4 seconds of the ride.

[PSUMark]

This is obnoxious and selfish.

So because the Yeti isn't absolutely perfect (which you see for a total of 4 or so seconds), we must shut the ride down and disappoint thousands, if not millions of riders for what (even without a fully functioning Yeti) is widely considered the best ride in Walt Disney World?

Get off your high horse.

This isn't a simple, 1-day fix. The Yeti will take weeks, possibly months to fully correct. I think it's in the park's best interest to keep the ride open until they can find a good way to restore the Yeti AND do it quickly. Until then, wait it out and go disappointed for 4 seconds of the ride.

No. This has nothing to do with my enjoyment of the attraction and everything to do with Disney holding itself to the standards that used to define Disney as a company. If "Disney standards" means anything, it means not subjecting guests to bad show. There is no way that you can argue that a broken animatronic is not bad show. Now I realize that TDO hasn't upheld these standards for years, and a lot of guests who only started going to WDW in the mid-'90s or later will have no idea what I'm talking about, but that is how Disney parks used to operate.

Also, I'm well aware that shutting down EE would have serious consequences for DAK's capacity and operating hours. That's why DAK needs more attractions. Not only for Everest's sake, but so they can fix all of the effects on Dinosaur that also haven't worked in years.

You can say I'm on a high horse and call me selfish. You can judge the motives behind my thoughts, but more than anything, I want the Disney parks to live up to the standards that made them famous. For someone who ostensibly hates Crofton so much (and personally, I thought she was a slight improvement over Al Weiss as WDW president) you seem perfectly happy to accept the policies and thought process ("We can't shut down any attractions ever because then guests will complain! The horror!") that contributed to WDW being what it is today.

EDITED TO ADD: Just for clarification, because I realize this could be easily misunderstood... I'm not advocating the ride be shut down indefinitely - I'm advocating the same policy that exists for "centerpiece" animatronics in all attractions. The attraction should be shut down until that animatronic is operational again. In DAK's case, in order for this to be feasible, they may need to expand the park. So be it. Don't leave us with Disco Yeti and not work to either (a) shut down and repair Everest or (b) expand the park so that the loss of a single attraction won't have catastrophic implications for capacity (and then fix the Yeti). But don't use the lack of capacity as an excuse to allow a top tier attraction to operate for years without its showstopping climactic animatronic functioning at all. At least do something.

[mikelieman]

Because the 3 structures of the mountain, track and yeti, intertwine. Like you said, you can't remove the yeti without removing half of the mountain.

You misunderstand me. I'm not suggesting they remove and replace ALL the yeti hardware. They take a sawzall to the base of the existing one, leaving all the crap they can't take out and replace all the old junk with NEW HARDWARE sized to fit the remaining space... ( which presumably in the 21st century wouldn't be as bulky.... )

[KingEric]

I for one am happy at least something is happening.

[lily23]

Y'all complain about the Yeti too much. Yeah, it sucks that it doesn't work and it's a huge waste and I'd like for them to get it working again too, but ripping up the entire mountain over an AA? That's just ridiculous. The ride is still great without it.

What happened to being happy they are fixing it?
I myself do not find it feasible to tear up the entirety of the mountain to fix the animatronic.

I can't agree with this. The yeti is not just another animatronic like a pirate sitting on a bridge, or one of the chickens on the boat at the end of splash. It was an incredible thrill: this giant monster, towering over you, nearly grabbing you right out of the train (or so it seemed)... It was fundamentally unique to this coaster, a crowning glory of thrills unlike no other,

Personally I think it should be fully restored, in spite of taking an extraordinary amount of time and money to do it.

---------- Post added 08-22-2011 at 08:38 AM ----------

This is obnoxious and selfish.

So because the Yeti isn't absolutely perfect (which you see for a total of 4 or so seconds), we must shut the ride down and disappoint thousands, if not millions of riders for what (even without a fully functioning Yeti) is widely considered the best ride in Walt Disney World?

Get off your high horse.

This isn't a simple, 1-day fix. The Yeti will take weeks, possibly months to fully correct. I think it's in the park's best interest to keep the ride open until they can find a good way to restore the Yeti AND do it quickly. Until then, wait it out and go disappointed for 4 seconds of the ride.

I've seen this argument before and I just don't buy it. This is an attraction that will presumably be operating for decades to come. It ought to be running as it was intended, with it's spectacular finale, five years from now, ten, twenty, and so-on. Yes, it will be absolutely crappy for the people who come when it's down for, say, twenty months in the years 2???, but there's no un-doing of the mistake/structural flaw, other than to put in the time and money needed to fix it properly. Then it can be fully enjoyed by all, in all it's glory, forever more.

I know it's disappointing to have it shut down for months, but the real disappointment is that it wasn't built properly in the first place

---------- Post added 08-22-2011 at 08:46 AM ----------

I for one am happy at least something is happening.

Really? I don't know, the statement in the original post is so vague, regarding "when" and exactly "what they are going to do to improve it" I'm holding off on being happy...

[Mouse princess]

I think it would be absolutely riddiculous to tear down EE just to fix the broken Yeti. I agree that it sucks, and having ridden it when it was working and when it was not, honestly it was better when it was working. BUT the AA not working doesn't take away enough from the experience to warrant the ride being completely redone. I would rather they use that $$ to build another ride. EE Works, the ride is terrific. It is totally fantastic with a working Yeti, but it is still a good ride. DAK needs more rides. It needs more E tickets. They need to use that $$ for another E ticket.

[lily23]

I think it would be absolutely riddiculous to tear down EE just to fix the broken Yeti. I agree that it sucks, and having ridden it when it was working and when it was not, honestly it was better when it was working. BUT the AA not working doesn't take away enough from the experience to warrant the ride being completely redone. I would rather they use that $$ to build another ride. EE Works, the ride is terrific. It is totally fantastic with a working Yeti, but it is still a good ride. DAK needs more rides. It needs more E tickets. They need to use that $$ for another E ticket.

I think they could find enough money to do both (fix it and add more rides) if they really wanted to. Where there's a will, there's a way. For all the years we've been debating this on micechat, it could have been down, dismantled, repaired and back up and running in its original glory already.

Anyhoo, this is one of those things that not everyone is going to agree on...

[Ice101]

EDITED TO ADD: Just for clarification, because I realize this could be easily misunderstood... I'm not advocating the ride be shut down indefinitely - I'm advocating the same policy that exists for "centerpiece" animatronics in all attractions. The attraction should be shut down until that animatronic is operational again. In DAK's case, in order for this to be feasible, they may need to expand the park. So be it. Don't leave us with Disco Yeti and not work to either (a) shut down and repair Everest or (b) expand the park so that the loss of a single attraction won't have catastrophic implications for capacity (and then fix the Yeti). But don't use the lack of capacity as an excuse to allow a top tier attraction to operate for years without its showstopping climactic animatronic functioning at all. At least do something.

Silly internet causing confusion......

I apologize for my earlier remarks if this was your intended point. I completely agree, more attractions then fix Yeti, not shut down EE right now and fix him. Disney's Animal Kingdom simply isn't worth the visit (by my and many other's opinon) sans Expedition everest, which I still find to be the best ride in the entire resort even with a dis-functional Yeti.

---------- Post added 08-22-2011 at 11:11 AM ----------

I've seen this argument before and I just don't buy it. This is an attraction that will presumably be operating for decades to come. It ought to be running as it was intended, with it's spectacular finale, five years from now, ten, twenty, and so-on. Yes, it will be absolutely crappy for the people who come when it's down for, say, twenty months in the years 2???, but there's no un-doing of the mistake/structural flaw, other than to put in the time and money needed to fix it properly. Then it can be fully enjoyed by all, in all it's glory, forever more.

I know it's disappointing to have it shut down for months, but the real disappointment is that it wasn't built properly in the first place

WHAT!? You can't be serious....

So because the Yeti isn't perfect, you want to shut down all of Expedition Everest for nearly TWO YEARS???? That is absolutely ridiculous.

You would be depriving well over FIFTEEN MILLION people of one of the greatest attractions in Disney World, to fix an audio animatronic you see for 4 seconds.

That's ridiculous. Unfathomable.

[lily23]

Silly internet causing confusion......

I apologize for my earlier remarks if this was your intended point. I completely agree, more attractions then fix Yeti, not shut down EE right now and fix him. Disney's Animal Kingdom simply isn't worth the visit (by my and many other's opinon) sans Expedition everest, which I still find to be the best ride in the entire resort even with a dis-functional Yeti.

---------- Post added 08-22-2011 at 11:11 AM ----------


WHAT!? You can't be serious....

So because the Yeti isn't perfect, you want to shut down all of Expedition Everest for nearly TWO YEARS???? That is absolutely ridiculous.

You would be depriving well over FIFTEEN MILLION people of one of the greatest attractions in Disney World, to fix an audio animatronic you see for 4 seconds.

That's ridiculous. Unfathomable.

You say ridiculous and unfathomable for a long down-time to fix it. I say "ridiculous and unfathomable" to leave the climax of the ride broken for years.

Look, I don't know how long it would take to restore it to its original state. I am assuming a really long time. And yes I am completely serious. The park operated for several years with no Everest. For all the years we've been arguing about this, it could have been fixed three times over already. Add more e-ticket attractions first? Fine. But do it already. Both of these things should have been done already, and we could all have moved on and not even be having this discussion. If it's a one or two year fix, I'd rather see that time happen EARLY in the attraction's forty to fifty year life span (just taking a guess here) than later. I'd like to comment on what "partial fix" is being planned here but since we have no idea what it is exactly, I won't, and will stick to my advocacy for a return to original function.

Clearly there are two camps here: Camp "A" The original yeti was spectacular enough that a long and costly repair is justified; and Camp "B" the orignal yeti NOT worth the time it would take to restore. I am camp A, you are camp B, and we are never going to agree!

[clockworkmonkey]

I'm sure this isn't a new statement, but man is it crazy that they didn't create a method of servicing the Yeti that wouldn't require tearing apart huge portions of the ride.

[KingEric]

I pretty much agree with Lily on this.

While I am happy, it is incredibly vague.

I just hate this kind of bad show. The yeti is part of the marketing, and collateral used to draw people to DAK. The whole queue, ride, experience hinges on an up close encounter with a Yeti.

If it is just a simple work around we are getting, we should have gotten that YEARS ago. I kind of feel like we have waited long enough for a COMPLETE fix, not a work-around.

Now I know there are some lawsuits involved, and that is why it has been drug out longer than normal, but I just despise bad show.

While people claim it is an awesome attraction, for me personally there isn't enough story to enjoy it with out a swiping Yeti, and there isn't enough Thrills to make me enjoy it without it.

Also while on this rant, it has now been down so long that MORE people have ridden it broken, than working.

Food for thought.

[ttintagel]

Sure, putting in a redesigned Yeti is better than the jack squat they've been doing all these years. Still, it makes me really sad to think that the company's standards have fallen so far that actually doing anything at all is being heralded as a major accomplishment.

I would like someone to admit that building the attraction so one part of it can't be repaired without tearing the whole thing down was a damn fool idea to begin with. I'd also like to hear someone admit that letting it go this long - while still using video of the working effect to promote the ride, effectively lying to potential customers - was a bad idea. I'd like for someone to take responsibility.