fbpx
Menu

Guests forced to endure emergency evacuation on newly-refurbished coaster at Disney World

expedition everest
Credit: Disney Parks

Despite a recent lengthy closure for refurbishment and repairs, the Expedition Everest attraction at Disney‘s Animal Kingdom ran into some problems over the weekend, and this isn’t the first time.

expedition everest

Credit: Disney Parks

Expedition Everest just reopened to Guests last week, and on the first day of train rides over the Forbidden Pass, Guests who had been looking forward to a journey across the mountain aboard the ride‘s tea trains were left disappointed. Instead of an adventure in search of the famed Yeti, Guests were left at the topmost part of the ride, awaiting evacuation.

expedition everest

Credit: Disney Parks

The same thing happened over the weekend, as the tea train became stuck in its tracks (literally) at the highest part of the ride.

In a video shared online by SouthernDisneyBelle, the train at Expedition Everest can be seen at the height of the attraction, not moving.

@southerndisneybelle

Expedition Everest at Disney World is currently stuck #disneyworld #fyp #themepark #rollercoasterfail

♬ original sound – SouthernDisneyBelle

SouthernDisneyBelle says that the sounds of children crying could be heard shortly after the ride stopped and that Cast Members were sent to assist with the high altitude evacuation of Guests from the train and getting them back to Everest base camp‘s safety after the train had been immobile for several minutes.

expedition everest stuck

Credit: TikTok/@SouthernDisneyBelle

The Expedition Everest attraction was first announced at Disney World on April 22, 2003, the fifth anniversary of the opening of Disney‘s Animal Kingdom. After years of planning and research on the part of Disney‘s Imagineers, the attraction, formally named Expedition Everest: Legend of the Forbidden Mountain, opened to Guests on April 7, 2006. At that time, it was the first Disney coaster that moved both forward and backward and was the only thrill ride to be featured at Disney‘s Animal Kingdom.

Soaring into the sky at 199.5 feet high, Disney‘s Mount Everest is no match for the size of the Mount Everest Sir Edmund Hillary first encountered in 1953. Located in the Himalayan mountain range between Nepal and Tibet, the summit of the famed mountain reaches an elevation of more than 29,000 feet.

Everest: Top Sherpas slam Nepal's plan to clean rubbish from mountain - BBC News

Credit: BBC

But the Expedition Everest attraction is the highest peak among the 18 thrilling “mountain attractions” located at Disney Parks across the globe.

The abominable snow monster, also called the Yeti, is featured in the ride, but only months after the opening of Expedition Everest, the Yeti malfunctioned and has never been fixed by Disney Imagineers. Per now-retired veteran Disney Imagineer Joe Rohde, fixing the Yeti is no easy task (even though a child recently presented a scaled-down model, showing how the repair could be made).

Disney's Defunct YETI in Expedition Everest Animal Kingdom - YouTube

Credit: Matt Swonsa

Since the malfunction, the Yeti has been in “B mode,” also referred to as “Disco Yeti,” as strobe lights projected onto the snow monster give him the appearance of movement.

It doesn’t appear that any Guest was injured in the evacuation from Expedition Everest, and at this time, the ride continues to be in operation. There is no word at this time on whether the attraction will be closed down to revisit repairs or to make changes that could address the ride‘s recent fails.

About Becky Burkett

Becky's from the Lone Star State and has been writing since she was 10 and encountered her first Disney Park when she was 11. It was love at first Main Street Electrical Parade. Joy is blank lined journals, 0.7 mm pens, and all things Walt, Woody and Buzz, PIXAR, Imagineering, Sleeping Beauty (make it blue!), Disney Parks history and EPCOT. At Disney World, you'll find her croonin' with the birdies at the Enchanted Tiki Room or hangin' with Woody and the gang at Toy Story Land. If you can dream, you really can do it!