Walt Disney World Disney's Animal Kingdom Discussion Thread

[robbalvey]

Here's the link to the better second video if it helps Rob, http://libsyn.com/media/insidethemagic/everest2.MOV.

Right Click and Save Target As.

I got both of them. They both REALLY sucked. I didn't think the 2nd video was really any better than the first one. Other than the 2nd video didn't have the camera turning sideways at one point! (I can't believe someone would ACTUALLY post that!!!!)

 

They both went in and out of the light (what kind of back light setting did this person have set???), either the ride is REALLY rough, or this person has never shot onride video of a coaster before, and you see mostly headrest in both videos.

 

Anyway, here's my comments on the video and ride. I've watched a couple more times, and while I think the ride does look "interesting" if the ride is really awesome, that video does it NO justice at all.

 

- 1st track section of the ride: This part of the ride seems really odd to me. A short track section in between lift hills that mostly hugs the ground. It reminds me a LOT of Gold Rusher at SFMM!

 

- 2nd Lift Hill: You hear the woman go "Ugh" as the chain catches. Sounds like a Vekoma to me!

 

- 2nd track section: *REALLY* short to the stop before you go backwards. The part through the mountain looks cool, very Matterhorn-ish, but short. Up until this point of the ride, though there doesn't seem to be much action. You spend more time stopped and riding on lift hills. Is anything supposed to happen while you are stopped waiting to go backwards? Not really a complaint, just more of an observation.

 

- Backwards part (3rd track section): this could be really cool. Looks like fun. Obviously it's dark, so you can't see what's going on. (Might have been a smart idea to at least TRY to use some kind of nightshot mode!)

 

- 1st Yeti sighing - shadow film effect looks really cool. Reminds me a lot of the Brer Bear/Brer Rabbit effect in Splash right before being flung into the Briar Patch. Cool looking film though! Love it when the Yeti jumps towards the train.

 

- 4th track section: This looks like the highlight of the ride. Great drops, lots of action, etc. Although I really hope the ride is not as rough as the video makes it out to be. I'm banking on this just being a really inexperienced videographer.

 

- 2nd Yeti Sighting: Do you really fly by him that quickly? I was hoping it would be more like the Lava Monster in Journey where you REALLY get to see him. In this video, the 2nd Yeti part doesn't look very effective.

 

Overall: This is an awful video, IMO it's almost more damaging than anything else. It's totally impossible to REALLY make any kind of judgement of the ride itself. If I formed an opinion solely on that video alone, I'd be all "WTF, other than some cool effects and some decent drops, that ride looks rough as hell!"

 

But having said that, I'm totally psyched to ride this in March as it's probably my most anticipated US coaster of the year (seriously!) I hope it doesn't disappoint!

 

--Robb

[Slacking]

Here is my everest recap/review that I wrote on another board.

 

 

So, I got lucky and was given the opportunity to ride Expedition Everest on Tuesday 1/17. I ended up riding it 6 times throughout the morning. Just to warn you, this review will contain SPOILERS!

 

First of all, before I begin, I will say that the video is accurate, but I'm still going to go through a description of the ride.

 

The queue line: WOW. I did not go through the Fastpass line, but the Standby Line is incredibly detailed. As you enter the queue, you go through an office and back outside you walk past what looks like some sort of religious shrine. You then enter another room, which looks to be filled with supplies. Next, you enter what they call The Yeti Museum. This room is filled with all sorts of artifacts and pictures dealing with the Yeti and (real) nature found around the Everest area. I didn't look in detail at the items, but everytime I walked through the queue, I had to walk past people who were standing there and studying the queue. There is so much to look at in this queue, its quite amazing. After you exit the museum, you enter the station of the ride.

 

The train is long. I believe there were about 17 rows. The coolest thing about the train is the steam contraption (bad description, I know) located at the back of the train. Everytime the train pulled into the station, "steam" would erupt from the contraption at the back of the train, and it was quite cool to watch. 2 people are seated per row, with 2 indiivudal seats per row. Each row has its own lap bar. Surprisingly, the seats are fairly large and people of varying sizes should be comfortable in the seats.

 

Once the train leaves the station, it curves around a bit and it goes straight into a mini-lifthill. After this lifthill, your train travels the terrain a bit. This section (U-turn, little bunny hop, and another U-turn (again, bad description, sorry) reminds me a bit of a coaster like the Flying Unicorn. Its not speedy, but tis a bit zippy and its quite fun. Around you is some vegetation (is there a type of cactus native to Nepal?) that will look even nice when fully grown in. Finally, this section leads you to the main lift hill.

 

Going up the lifthill, you gro through that structure which looks to almost be some sort of shrine to the Yeti. You pass under a large mural with a drawing of the Yeti (who is always drawn with those strange looking hand gestures).

 

Once your train arrives at the lift hill, one expects the ride to really pick up at that point! Well, it doesn't really. After the lift hill, your train takes a very small drop and you make a turn through the mountain and some very cold mist, then your train stops. Your train stops because the track in front of you has been ripped up, and bent towards the sky so there is nowhere to go. After a few seconds of being stopped, your train starts to travel backwards.

 

As your train travels backwards you enter the darkness of the mountain . The train makes a drop (curved drop) while travelling backwards (IMO, this is where I felt the most force during the ride). Your train then seems to make a nother drop before it straightens out and the train stops once again.

 

At this point there is an icy wall in front of you where a projection of the Yeti's shadow appears and seems to rip apart another piece of the track. Where ever will your train go now?

 

At this point, your train begins to travel foward and you enter a curved drop, the large drop that you can see in the front of the mountain. Your train enters back into the mountain and travels through a couple more helixes (located outside, out of sight unlike the previous drop) before heading back into the darkness of the mountain. But this time, above you is the large Yeti animatronic figure who is swipnig his large arm seemingly right above you. You travel underneath where the Yeti is located and while still in the mountain, your train brakes. Once your train brakes, its just a short amount of track outside that takes you directly to the station.

 

Ok, so thats a rundown of the entire ride. Now, here comes the difficult part, my opinion about the ride.

 

First of all, the themeing, especially of the queue is amazing. And it is a fun ride. I like it..... but don't love it. For me, the ride has a couple flaws.

 

1- It never really picks up for me. Except for the coaster section before the Yeti, all the other segments are very short. It seems that as soon as the ride is about to pick up, your train halts so that the story can continue and/or for the track to switch. The most blatant example of this is the tiny segment between the main lift hill and place you stop before you head backwards. This section is very short and not very interesting.

 

2- The Ending. Sure, the themeing is great, but the story, particulary the end of the story is weak. You see the Yeti, and your train goes almost under his paltform and....... BRAKE! Your train stops and you head to the station. The moment with the Yeti is fairly cool but to have the ride end immediately following that encounter seemed fairly weak to me.

 

3- Lack of a variety of coaster elements. It seemed like the coaster track of EE consisted solely of curved drops and helixes. Now, I'm not talking about inversions, but a variety of other elements like little bunny hills and something more than just curved drops and helixes would have made the ride a little more exciting.

 

4- 2 slight moments of bad themeing. Not much could ahve been done with these two examples, but these two things bugged me a bit. 1- when going backwards, you can totally see the structure of the fake mountain. 2- when watching the shadow yeti do his thing, its obvious where your coaster train is going next.

 

Now, I don't want to be all negative, so I'll list my favorite things about the ride.

 

1- The buildup. The little circuit your train makes before entering the main lift is a welcome change from most coasters that go directly into the life hill.

 

2- THE BIRD!!!!!! I love quirky things, and the bird defintely ranks up there. I have no idea why its there, or waht its purpose is, but I love it. I won't tell you where it is, you'll have to look for it yourself (its hard to miss)

 

3- The Yeti. This monster is HUGE!!!!! He basically stands on his own platform that your coaster pretty much goes under. From my memory the only thing that seemed to move was his head and one of his arms. If I remember correctly, he was on his platform, and in his motionless hand seemed to be holding more ripped off track. and then his head was moving while he was roaring and his arm was making swiping motions towards the train. The purpose of the Yeti and house it was set up reminded me a lot of the T-Rex in JPRA.

 

Now, I know it doesn't make sense to compare EE with RotM, but people are going too. Now, when I rate rides, I think of the overall experience, but overall I think about how much fun I have on the ride itself. With RotM, I feel like you get a more immersive experience and the use of effects like fire and water is great. Plus, while the coaster section is short, its great, with moments of airtime and it doesn't let up until you enter the fake unload. EE doesn't have airtime, and it halts right before you think its going to pick up. Honestly, if I had to pick between the two, I think RotM is SLIGHTY better than EE. I just think its a ride that I have more fun with while I'm riding it.

 

Ok, Overall, I think Expedition Everest is a very good ride with its share of flaws. But, that being said, the general public will love it. This will be a BIG hit with the average park goer and with families (its not as scary as it looks.) I expect huge lines for this attraction and for people to immediately label it as a Disney Classic. Coaster Enthusiasts on the other hand, will be a bit underwhelmed by it. The coaster itself, just won't quite be what coaster freaks are looking for. But again, I have a feeling that even though it didn't fully deliver 100% for me (I liked it a lot and rode it 6 times) and that it has a few flaws, the general public will be able to look past those flaws and catapult EE into one of the more popular rides in WDW.

[Slacking]

Here is my everest recap/review that I wrote on another board.

 

 

So, I got lucky and was given the opportunity to ride Expedition Everest on Tuesday 1/17. I ended up riding it 6 times throughout the morning. Just to warn you, this review will contain SPOILERS!

 

First of all, before I begin, I will say that the video is accurate, but I'm still going to go through a description of the ride.

 

The queue line: WOW. I did not go through the Fastpass line, but the Standby Line is incredibly detailed. As you enter the queue, you go through an office and back outside you walk past what looks like some sort of religious shrine. You then enter another room, which looks to be filled with supplies. Next, you enter what they call The Yeti Museum. This room is filled with all sorts of artifacts and pictures dealing with the Yeti and (real) nature found around the Everest area. I didn't look in detail at the items, but everytime I walked through the queue, I had to walk past people who were standing there and studying the queue. There is so much to look at in this queue, its quite amazing. After you exit the museum, you enter the station of the ride.

 

The train is long. I believe there were about 17 rows. The coolest thing about the train is the steam contraption (bad description, I know) located at the back of the train. Everytime the train pulled into the station, "steam" would erupt from the contraption at the back of the train, and it was quite cool to watch. 2 people are seated per row, with 2 indiivudal seats per row. Each row has its own lap bar. Surprisingly, the seats are fairly large and people of varying sizes should be comfortable in the seats.

 

Once the train leaves the station, it curves around a bit and it goes straight into a mini-lifthill. After this lifthill, your train travels the terrain a bit. This section (U-turn, little bunny hop, and another U-turn (again, bad description, sorry) reminds me a bit of a coaster like the Flying Unicorn. Its not speedy, but tis a bit zippy and its quite fun. Around you is some vegetation (is there a type of cactus native to Nepal?) that will look even nice when fully grown in. Finally, this section leads you to the main lift hill.

 

Going up the lifthill, you gro through that structure which looks to almost be some sort of shrine to the Yeti. You pass under a large mural with a drawing of the Yeti (who is always drawn with those strange looking hand gestures).

 

Once your train arrives at the lift hill, one expects the ride to really pick up at that point! Well, it doesn't really. After the lift hill, your train takes a very small drop and you make a turn through the mountain and some very cold mist, then your train stops. Your train stops because the track in front of you has been ripped up, and bent towards the sky so there is nowhere to go. After a few seconds of being stopped, your train starts to travel backwards.

 

As your train travels backwards you enter the darkness of the mountain . The train makes a drop (curved drop) while travelling backwards (IMO, this is where I felt the most force during the ride). Your train then seems to make a nother drop before it straightens out and the train stops once again.

 

At this point there is an icy wall in front of you where a projection of the Yeti's shadow appears and seems to rip apart another piece of the track. Where ever will your train go now?

 

At this point, your train begins to travel foward and you enter a curved drop, the large drop that you can see in the front of the mountain. Your train enters back into the mountain and travels through a couple more helixes (located outside, out of sight unlike the previous drop) before heading back into the darkness of the mountain. But this time, above you is the large Yeti animatronic figure who is swipnig his large arm seemingly right above you. You travel underneath where the Yeti is located and while still in the mountain, your train brakes. Once your train brakes, its just a short amount of track outside that takes you directly to the station.

 

Ok, so thats a rundown of the entire ride. Now, here comes the difficult part, my opinion about the ride.

 

First of all, the themeing, especially of the queue is amazing. And it is a fun ride. I like it..... but don't love it. For me, the ride has a couple flaws.

 

1- It never really picks up for me. Except for the coaster section before the Yeti, all the other segments are very short. It seems that as soon as the ride is about to pick up, your train halts so that the story can continue and/or for the track to switch. The most blatant example of this is the tiny segment between the main lift hill and place you stop before you head backwards. This section is very short and not very interesting.

 

2- The Ending. Sure, the themeing is great, but the story, particulary the end of the story is weak. You see the Yeti, and your train goes almost under his paltform and....... BRAKE! Your train stops and you head to the station. The moment with the Yeti is fairly cool but to have the ride end immediately following that encounter seemed fairly weak to me.

 

3- Lack of a variety of coaster elements. It seemed like the coaster track of EE consisted solely of curved drops and helixes. Now, I'm not talking about inversions, but a variety of other elements like little bunny hills and something more than just curved drops and helixes would have made the ride a little more exciting.

 

4- 2 slight moments of bad themeing. Not much could ahve been done with these two examples, but these two things bugged me a bit. 1- when going backwards, you can totally see the structure of the fake mountain. 2- when watching the shadow yeti do his thing, its obvious where your coaster train is going next.

 

Now, I don't want to be all negative, so I'll list my favorite things about the ride.

 

1- The buildup. The little circuit your train makes before entering the main lift is a welcome change from most coasters that go directly into the life hill.

 

2- THE BIRD!!!!!! I love quirky things, and the bird defintely ranks up there. I have no idea why its there, or waht its purpose is, but I love it. I won't tell you where it is, you'll have to look for it yourself (its hard to miss)

 

3- The Yeti. This monster is HUGE!!!!! He basically stands on his own platform that your coaster pretty much goes under. From my memory the only thing that seemed to move was his head and one of his arms. If I remember correctly, he was on his platform, and in his motionless hand seemed to be holding more ripped off track. and then his head was moving while he was roaring and his arm was making swiping motions towards the train. The purpose of the Yeti and house it was set up reminded me a lot of the T-Rex in JPRA.

 

Now, I know it doesn't make sense to compare EE with RotM, but people are going too. Now, when I rate rides, I think of the overall experience, but overall I think about how much fun I have on the ride itself. With RotM, I feel like you get a more immersive experience and the use of effects like fire and water is great. Plus, while the coaster section is short, its great, with moments of airtime and it doesn't let up until you enter the fake unload. EE doesn't have airtime, and it halts right before you think its going to pick up. Honestly, if I had to pick between the two, I think RotM is SLIGHTY better than EE. I just think its a ride that I have more fun with while I'm riding it.

 

Ok, Overall, I think Expedition Everest is a very good ride with its share of flaws. But, that being said, the general public will love it. This will be a BIG hit with the average park goer and with families (its not as scary as it looks.) I expect huge lines for this attraction and for people to immediately label it as a Disney Classic. Coaster Enthusiasts on the other hand, will be a bit underwhelmed by it. The coaster itself, just won't quite be what coaster freaks are looking for. But again, I have a feeling that even though it didn't fully deliver 100% for me (I liked it a lot and rode it 6 times) and that it has a few flaws, the general public will be able to look past those flaws and catapult EE into one of the more popular rides in WDW.

[Slacking]

I accidentally triple posted in the other Everest thread, I guess the board is wacky and must still be recovering from coming back up. I can't find where the thread went, so sorry if this is a repeat, again!

 

Here is my everest recap/review that I wrote on another board.

 

 

So, I got lucky and was given the opportunity to ride Expedition Everest on Tuesday 1/17. I ended up riding it 6 times throughout the morning. Just to warn you, this review will contain SPOILERS!

 

First of all, before I begin, I will say that the video is accurate, but I'm still going to go through a description of the ride.

 

The queue line: WOW. I did not go through the Fastpass line, but the Standby Line is incredibly detailed. As you enter the queue, you go through an office and back outside you walk past what looks like some sort of religious shrine. You then enter another room, which looks to be filled with supplies. Next, you enter what they call The Yeti Museum. This room is filled with all sorts of artifacts and pictures dealing with the Yeti and (real) nature found around the Everest area. I didn't look in detail at the items, but everytime I walked through the queue, I had to walk past people who were standing there and studying the queue. There is so much to look at in this queue, its quite amazing. After you exit the museum, you enter the station of the ride.

 

The train is long. I believe there were about 17 rows. The coolest thing about the train is the steam contraption (bad description, I know) located at the back of the train. Everytime the train pulled into the station, "steam" would erupt from the contraption at the back of the train, and it was quite cool to watch. 2 people are seated per row, with 2 indiivudal seats per row. Each row has its own lap bar. Surprisingly, the seats are fairly large and people of varying sizes should be comfortable in the seats.

 

Once the train leaves the station, it curves around a bit and it goes straight into a mini-lifthill. After this lifthill, your train travels the terrain a bit. This section (U-turn, little bunny hop, and another U-turn (again, bad description, sorry) reminds me a bit of a coaster like the Flying Unicorn. Its not speedy, but tis a bit zippy and its quite fun. Around you is some vegetation (is there a type of cactus native to Nepal?) that will look even nice when fully grown in. Finally, this section leads you to the main lift hill.

 

Going up the lifthill, you gro through that structure which looks to almost be some sort of shrine to the Yeti. You pass under a large mural with a drawing of the Yeti (who is always drawn with those strange looking hand gestures).

 

Once your train arrives at the lift hill, one expects the ride to really pick up at that point! Well, it doesn't really. After the lift hill, your train takes a very small drop and you make a turn through the mountain and some very cold mist, then your train stops. Your train stops because the track in front of you has been ripped up, and bent towards the sky so there is nowhere to go. After a few seconds of being stopped, your train starts to travel backwards.

 

As your train travels backwards you enter the darkness of the mountain . The train makes a drop (curved drop) while travelling backwards (IMO, this is where I felt the most force during the ride). Your train then seems to make a nother drop before it straightens out and the train stops once again.

 

At this point there is an icy wall in front of you where a projection of the Yeti's shadow appears and seems to rip apart another piece of the track. Where ever will your train go now?

 

At this point, your train begins to travel foward and you enter a curved drop, the large drop that you can see in the front of the mountain. Your train enters back into the mountain and travels through a couple more helixes (located outside, out of sight unlike the previous drop) before heading back into the darkness of the mountain. But this time, above you is the large Yeti animatronic figure who is swipnig his large arm seemingly right above you. You travel underneath where the Yeti is located and while still in the mountain, your train brakes. Once your train brakes, its just a short amount of track outside that takes you directly to the station.

 

Ok, so thats a rundown of the entire ride. Now, here comes the difficult part, my opinion about the ride.

 

First of all, the themeing, especially of the queue is amazing. And it is a fun ride. I like it..... but don't love it. For me, the ride has a couple flaws.

 

1- It never really picks up for me. Except for the coaster section before the Yeti, all the other segments are very short. It seems that as soon as the ride is about to pick up, your train halts so that the story can continue and/or for the track to switch. The most blatant example of this is the tiny segment between the main lift hill and place you stop before you head backwards. This section is very short and not very interesting.

 

2- The Ending. Sure, the themeing is great, but the story, particulary the end of the story is weak. You see the Yeti, and your train goes almost under his paltform and....... BRAKE! Your train stops and you head to the station. The moment with the Yeti is fairly cool but to have the ride end immediately following that encounter seemed fairly weak to me.

 

3- Lack of a variety of coaster elements. It seemed like the coaster track of EE consisted solely of curved drops and helixes. Now, I'm not talking about inversions, but a variety of other elements like little bunny hills and something more than just curved drops and helixes would have made the ride a little more exciting.

 

4- 2 slight moments of bad themeing. Not much could ahve been done with these two examples, but these two things bugged me a bit. 1- when going backwards, you can totally see the structure of the fake mountain. 2- when watching the shadow yeti do his thing, its obvious where your coaster train is going next.

 

Now, I don't want to be all negative, so I'll list my favorite things about the ride.

 

1- The buildup. The little circuit your train makes before entering the main lift is a welcome change from most coasters that go directly into the life hill.

 

2- THE BIRD!!!!!! I love quirky things, and the bird defintely ranks up there. I have no idea why its there, or waht its purpose is, but I love it. I won't tell you where it is, you'll have to look for it yourself (its hard to miss)

 

3- The Yeti. This monster is HUGE!!!!! He basically stands on his own platform that your coaster pretty much goes under. From my memory the only thing that seemed to move was his head and one of his arms. If I remember correctly, he was on his platform, and in his motionless hand seemed to be holding more ripped off track. and then his head was moving while he was roaring and his arm was making swiping motions towards the train. The purpose of the Yeti and house it was set up reminded me a lot of the T-Rex in JPRA.

 

Now, I know it doesn't make sense to compare EE with RotM, but people are going too. Now, when I rate rides, I think of the overall experience, but overall I think about how much fun I have on the ride itself. With RotM, I feel like you get a more immersive experience and the use of effects like fire and water is great. Plus, while the coaster section is short, its great, with moments of airtime and it doesn't let up until you enter the fake unload. EE doesn't have airtime, and it halts right before you think its going to pick up. Honestly, if I had to pick between the two, I think RotM is SLIGHTY better than EE. I just think its a ride that I have more fun with while I'm riding it.

 

Ok, Overall, I think Expedition Everest is a very good ride with its share of flaws. But, that being said, the general public will love it. This will be a BIG hit with the average park goer and with families (its not as scary as it looks.) I expect huge lines for this attraction and for people to immediately label it as a Disney Classic. Coaster Enthusiasts on the other hand, will be a bit underwhelmed by it. The coaster itself, just won't quite be what coaster freaks are looking for. But again, I have a feeling that even though it didn't fully deliver 100% for me (I liked it a lot and rode it 6 times) and that it has a few flaws, the general public will be able to look past those flaws and catapult EE into one of the more popular rides in WDW.

[Slacking]

Here's the link to the better second video if it helps Rob, http://libsyn.com/media/insidethemagic/everest2.MOV.

Right Click and Save Target As.

I got both of them. They both REALLY sucked. I didn't think the 2nd video was really any better than the first one. Other than the 2nd video didn't have the camera turning sideways at one point! (I can't believe someone would ACTUALLY post that!!!!)

 

They both went in and out of the light (what kind of back light setting did this person have set???), either the ride is REALLY rough, or this person has never shot onride video of a coaster before, and you see mostly headrest in both videos.

 

Anyway, here's my comments on the video and ride. I've watched a couple more times, and while I think the ride does look "interesting" if the ride is really awesome, that video does it NO justice at all.

 

- 1st track section of the ride: This part of the ride seems really odd to me. A short track section in between lift hills that mostly hugs the ground. It reminds me a LOT of Gold Rusher at SFMM!

 

- 2nd Lift Hill: You hear the woman go "Ugh" as the chain catches. Sounds like a Vekoma to me!

 

- 2nd track section: *REALLY* short to the stop before you go backwards. The part through the mountain looks cool, very Matterhorn-ish, but short. Up until this point of the ride, though there doesn't seem to be much action. You spend more time stopped and riding on lift hills. Is anything supposed to happen while you are stopped waiting to go backwards? Not really a complaint, just more of an observation.

 

- Backwards part (3rd track section): this could be really cool. Looks like fun. Obviously it's dark, so you can't see what's going on. (Might have been a smart idea to at least TRY to use some kind of nightshot mode!)

 

- 1st Yeti sighing - shadow film effect looks really cool. Reminds me a lot of the Brer Bear/Brer Rabbit effect in Splash right before being flung into the Briar Patch. Cool looking film though! Love it when the Yeti jumps towards the train.

 

- 4th track section: This looks like the highlight of the ride. Great drops, lots of action, etc. Although I really hope the ride is not as rough as the video makes it out to be. I'm banking on this just being a really inexperienced videographer.

 

- 2nd Yeti Sighting: Do you really fly by him that quickly? I was hoping it would be more like the Lava Monster in Journey where you REALLY get to see him. In this video, the 2nd Yeti part doesn't look very effective.

 

Overall: This is an awful video, IMO it's almost more damaging than anything else. It's totally impossible to REALLY make any kind of judgement of the ride itself. If I formed an opinion solely on that video alone, I'd be all "WTF, other than some cool effects and some decent drops, that ride looks rough as hell!"

 

But having said that, I'm totally psyched to ride this in March as it's probably my most anticipated US coaster of the year (seriously!) I hope it doesn't disappoint!

 

--Robb

 

Robb, except for the roughness part (I didn't think of it as rough) the video pretty much conveys the ride pretty well (and thats not a very good thing)

 

When you are stopped before the backwards section, there is nothing going on or to look at except for a super random bird which seems to serve no purpose.

 

But Robb, you seem to have a good feel for the ride jsut by watching the videos.

[SKI]

Hopefully someone will come out with some better video soon.

 

Until then, these videos need to be named: Expedition Headrest.

 

Sorry, it was there.

[Slacking]

The video isn't of the highest quality, but IMO, it shows the ride perfectly.

[Nintendo Ds]

Hopefully someone will come out with some better video soon.

 

Until then, these videos need to be named: Expedition Headrest.

 

Sorry, it was there.

 

LOL! The headrest look so smooth though...

[JT3000]

I honestly don't see how they're such bad videos. I haven't ridden it yet, but I don't know what some of you think is missing from the video. It seems to me there simply isn't that much to the ride.

[Slacking]

I honestly don't see how they're such bad videos. I haven't ridden it yet, but I don't know what some of you think is missing from the video. It seems to me there simply isn't that much to the ride.

 

There really isn't that much to the ride.

 

All the video is missing is the full impact and sight of the Yeti.

[Erik Johnson]

Well I will get to ride it next week. I will try to get a POV (if they let me) of it. At least I will post a bunch of pictures of it for you. Its too bad that the ride seems like its good but not great. I bet in another year from now, it will be improved (more theming etc.) I am still looking foward to it though...glad you got the chance to ride it Slacking.

[downunder]

It looks like Big Thuder Railroad git drunk and woke up with the Matterhorn, and regretted it 9 months later. Doesn't look like a great coaster but fun.

 

Maybe they should have had an animatronic Robb Alvey fighting the yeti.

[socalMAN123]

^ LOL!

 

I still have pretty high hopes for this ride, even through how bad this POV is.

Brent "come on, Disney, we've seen better" Shenton

[Slacking]

It looks like Big Thuder Railroad git drunk and woke up with the Matterhorn, and regretted it 9 months later. Doesn't look like a great coaster but fun.

 

 

Thats a good way to put it. as a coaster, it isn't very good, but the ride as a whole is still not bad.

[robbalvey]

I honestly don't see how they're such bad videos. I haven't ridden it yet, but I don't know what some of you think is missing from the video. It seems to me there simply isn't that much to the ride.

The quality of the video is terrible. Let's see....

 

- It's shakey

- You see more of the headrest than anything else.

- It doesn't focus on one spot.

- There is no attempt at any nightshot during the dark parts.

- The camera turns SIDEWAYS at one point!

 

Do you really need me to continue?

 

It's obviously filmed by someone who has very little experience filming a ride before.

 

It's fine for someone's personal "home video" but as a website "exclusive" it's a joke.

 

--Robb

[Slacking]

I honestly don't see how they're such bad videos. I haven't ridden it yet, but I don't know what some of you think is missing from the video. It seems to me there simply isn't that much to the ride.

The quality of the video is terrible. Let's see....

 

- It's shakey

- You see more of the headrest than anything else.

- It doesn't focus on one spot.

- There is no attempt at any nightshot during the dark parts.

- The camera turns SIDEWAYS at one point!

 

Do you really need me to continue?

 

It's obviously filmed by someone who has very little experience filming a ride before.

 

It's fine for someone's personal "home video" but as a website "exclusive" it's a joke.

 

--Robb

 

Despite all those flaws, the video pretty much captures the ride. I am actually glad I watched the video before I rode Everest. It gave me what to expect from the ride. After riding Everest for the first time, I would have been much more disappointed by the ride if I wasn't prepared and didn't watch the video.

 

The video is poor quality, but still does its job by giving us a feel about what the ride is like.

 

I just want to hear other people's opinions on the actual ride itself, especially opinions of enthusiasts since I know the average person off the street will blindly love the ride.

[lunaprk]

A couple Friday's ago, I was lucky enough to participate in a videotaping session for Disneys Animal Kingdom's newest attraction, Expedition Everest- Legend of the Forbidden Mountain. I believe the footage will be shown on the Travel Channel and various promotional clips for the Media. After a several-hour delay to properly secure the HD cameras in the single train, I got to sample the ride from the front, back and middle of the train.

 

The queue area and surrounding village is nicely themed and really makes you feel like you are in a remote Himalayan outpost to get outfitted for an expedition to the infamous mountain. The queue winds through a temple, outfitter's post and memorabilia & artifacts from past exhibitions- some turned out tragically, alluding to the lengendary creature you might encounter. Much joking was made from the different samples of "scat" from local animals on display. I wonder what poor Imagineer got saddled with that project.

 

Speaking of Imagineers, my highlight of the day was chatting briefly with Joe Rhode as he hung around the loading station all day. Rhode is the Master Planner of the entire Animal Kingdom park from it's inception. His dramatically pierced countenance sets him apart from most buttoned-down Disney bretheren. He explained little details like the rows of stone tablets near the villages' entrance. Not really shrines, they are a spiritual signpost leading to any village or mountain pass. There are also photos in the temple area he shot during a vacation he took in Tibet around the time when I first met him years ago finishing the Adventurer's Club at Pleasure Island.

 

So what's the ride like? When I mentioned I was a coaster enthusiast and thanked Mr. Rhode for adding another to WDW's coaster total, he kind of hinted that "It's really not about raw thrills, you may not like it." For him, it's more about telling a story and it just happens that a coaster is the way you experience it. Before I get into specifics, In my opinion, it's a fun ride with a couple surprising tricks. The absence of airtime- especially on the "big" drop is disappointing. Eagle-eyed riders will spot an ingenious way the tracks switch.

 

>>>>>Spoilers Ahead!<<<<<<<

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your adventure begins with hearty "toot-toot" and a blast of "steam" from the "locomotive" at the rear of the coaster train (you don't sit in it). Rounding a right turn, you ascend a short lift hill sending the train around a mild, undulating oval of track to the main lift hill.

 

The lift is surprisingly steep. It creeps through a "temple" section decked with assorted totems and spiritual iconography from the region. Once past the tunnel, a really great view to the right of the Animal kingdom park and to the left the Disney World "skyline."

 

Off the lift, the train takes a moderately speedy trip through the first mountain crevase through a tunnel and dead-ending at the first reverse point. Up ahead at the dead end are twisted tangled tracks (and if you're in the "front" seat, a fabulous view as you are at the edge of the mountain structure). A large bird soars ahead of you on the "howling mountain winds" barely concealing the roar of a hideous beast(!).

 

After about 10 seconds, the train coasts backward through what seemed like a 270-degree turn at a good speed in the dark to dead-end at the second reverse point. in this cavernous show room, a rear projection of an animation of a gorilla-like creature reveals the culprit tearing up the tracks. This only worked one time the day I rode but is quite entertaining. Also, if you look below the projection, if you look closely. You can spot the secret switch for the reverse points- quite brilliant- the whole track assembly Flips Over, rather than just switches over.

 

The train now rolls forward again through a short stretch of darkness and out into the daylight to reveal the main drop you see looking at the ride from the ground. A fierce-LOOKING drop/ left turn, it's the most dissappointing part of the ride for enthusiasts as there is NO Airtime! It looks sooo good. Now when I rode it was very cold (45 degress) so maybe as it warms up.................

 

After the drop curve, the train crests inside the mountain in the dark and dives right (again, speed but no air). Next is a burst out of the back of the mountain and drop into a very fast twice -around spiral curving upwards back into the dark of the mountain and right dive into the main "show area" where a Waaaay Bigger than I expected Yeti attempts to wipe the train off the tracks- Very Well Done!

 

Actually, during normal operations only the Yeti is lit. Most of the time when we rode, the worklights were on. I thought this section was more stunning with the lights on. Once you leave the spiral and go through a short, confined dark section, it was neat to pop out into this massive interior space with the Yeti just ahead and you could take in more of the scene! But with the lights off, you miss that and are just startled by the figure. By the time you register what you just saw, the train leaves the mountain, slows to a crawl, and there you are, back at the station.

 

General Cast Previews are this weekend and I'll take a few more rides and report on any changes. I'll try to shoot some HD video if they let me (someone has already put some POV on the web- noted earlier in rec.roller coaster).

 

Marlon Scott

[Hattuchili]

Hey guys,

I am not sure whether this was posted before, but it is new to me! I found this site about EE: Disneyeverest.com ! It looks all very nice and you´ll finde some nice infos about the attraction! I want download the game!

 

--Sören

[Wes]

Whoever made the videos for that site is fucking amazing.

[Dr Freeze]

great detail! thanks

 

I'm really looking forward to seeing the Yeti. I haven't seen any photos of the Yeti and I'm guessing Disney isn't putting any out. At least not for a while. Keeps up the hype and susense of seeing it in person. I'll be there on the 28th and 29th.

 

10 days and counting for my Expedition

 

- Bret

[Dr Freeze]

^^ Where are you downloading the game from? It says "coming soon" when I go to it.

 

Anyone else think that is a Matterhorn Yeti roar?

 

- Bret

[Mr.Six]

Here's a link to a video.

WARNING SPOILERS

http://media22a.libsyn.com/podcasts/insidethemagic/everest1.MOV

BTW. Its a really slow loading video.

_six

[lunaprk]

Try this link:

 

http://distantcreations.com/insidethemagic/

 

Hopefully I'll shoot some of my own this weekend.

 

M

[maliboomer]

Whoever made the videos for that site is fudging amazing.

 

Everyone, caress Wes's ego.

Anywho, Soren, the game still says 'Coming Soon' for me. Is there a trick to this?

[Wes]

Yeah I can't download it either. Weird. Either Soren has magic powers, or he's downloading the secret YetiVirus.exe .