SPOILER ALERT: Parts of this page contain spoilers about the attraction. If you want your first ride to be a total surprise, do not continue on this page.

13 April 2006: Official podcast from the opening events

The official Disney World podcast has 2 new editions, focusing on the grand opening events. You can find them at http://www.disneyworld.com/podcast

11 April 2006: More photos from the grand opening event

 
Above: The entry area to the grand opening

 
Above left: John Cleese received his grant from Conservation International for an organization he founded, called Conservation Matters, which support the Jersey Wildlife Trust (UK) and Santa Barbara Zoo species survival programs.
Above right: Isabella Rossellini received a grant from Conservation International as a trustee for the Andean Cat Alliance/Wildlife Conservation Network and The Howard Gilman Foundation.

 
Above left: Bob Iger, president and CEO of The Walt Disney Co
Above right: Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts

9 April 2006: Expedition Everest grand opening press event

Read the opening day press release here


COPYRIGHT 2005. THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY
Bob Iger, president and CEO of The Walt Disney Co., makes remarks to the crowd assembled April 7, 2006 at the grand opening ceremony for "Expedition Everest".

COPYRIGHT 2005. THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY
Hannah Teter, 2006 Winter Olympic champion in snowboarding, shows off her gold medal to the crowd assembled April 7, 2006 at the grand opening ceremony for "Expedition Everest," a Himalayan-themed runaway train adventure at Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. At left is Bob Iger, president and CEO of The Walt Disney Co.

COPYRIGHT 2005. THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY
Pictured in front of Expedition Everest during its grand opening on April 7, 2006, are, left to right, Peter Hillary, son of famed Mount Everest explorer Sir Edmund Hillary; Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts; and Jamling Tenzing Norgay, son of Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, who accompanied Sir Edmund Hillary to the summit of Mount Everest on May 29, 1953. Hillary and Norgay also have climbed Mount Everest, just as their fathers did.

The photos below show preparations for the event, along with some views of the interview areas and stages.

5 March 2006: The Yeti

If you want to see a great close-up photo of the Yeti, click here to open the photo in a new window. If you haven't ridden Expedition Everest yet, and you want to keep things as a surprise, do not view this photo.

5 March 2006: Upcoming Expedition Everest TV shows

Just a reminder of the upcoming Discovery Channel specials featuring Expedition Everest.

Expedition Everest: Journey to Sacred Lands -- April 9 at 8 p.m. ET (Travel Channel)

Building a Thrill Ride: Expedition Everest -- April 10 at 9 p.m. ET (The Science Channel) and April 12 at 8 p.m. ET (Discovery Channel)

Corwin's Quest: Realm of the Yeti -- April 15 at 8 p.m. ET (Animal Planet)

27 March 2006: Expedition Everest inspired desserts

To celebrate the opening of Expedition Everest, Disney have created some unique Everest desserts at the Walt Disney World restaurants.

• "Everest Cake," A summit of fluffy white meringue crowns a warm chocolate "mountain" dessert at Whispering Canyon Cafe at Disney's Wilderness Lodge.
   
• "Snow-Capped Everest Cakes," at Boma-Flavors of Africa at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, are soaked in Amarula, an African liqueur, and topped with white chocolate "snow."
   
• The "Expedition to Everest Sundae," at Jiko-The Cooking Place at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, is a caramelized banana split with Amarula, chocolate and vanilla ice cream, malted whipped cream peaks and chocolate wisps.
   
• The "Everest Snowball," at Shutters at Old Port Royale at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort, is Oreo cake dipped in white chocolate and coconut, served with a chocolate cookie and chocolate and strawberry sauces.
   
• Mountains of candy crumbles are a nod to the peaks of Everest atop the peaches and cream dessert at California Grill at Disney's Contemporary Resort, which serves a mélange of fluffy vanilla sponge cake with honey-scented cream, peaches, nectarines and crunchy candy crumbles.
   
• The "Everest Expedition," at Narcoossee's at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, features a brown sugar tart in a chocolate and raspberry sauce with mounds of "snow" (vanilla ice cream).
   

23 March 2006: New exterior lighting

Expedition Everest is currently running a new exterior lighting package. It isn't clear if this is final yet, or still in fine-tuning.  The photos below show the old and new lighting. According to imagineersrock who has seen the effect in person, "It looks fantastic in person, the colors are much like those found in a dramatic sunset, and it gives the mountain a whole new feel---Almost a bit eerie like ToT."

 
Above left: Everest before (Thanks to imagineersrock for the photos)
Above right: The new look lighting

22 March 2006: Expedition Everest closing for media events

It is expected that on the 6th and 7th April, Expedition Everest will be unavailable to guests due to the media events for the official Grand Opening. Also, Asia will close around 3:00pm on the 6th April and only the Serka Zong area around Everest will be closed all day on the 7th.

22 March 2006: Upcoming Expedition Everest TV shows

● Expedition Everest: Journey to Sacred Lands
Go here for more information on Journey to the Sacred Lands
Sunday April 09, 2006 from 8:00 PM EST to 9:00 PM EST, Channel - Travel Channel

● Building a Thrill Ride: Expedition Everest
April 10 at 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM EST - The Science Channel and Wednesday April 12, 2006 from 8:00 PM EST to 9:00 PM EST, Channel - Discovery Channel

22 February 2006: Recent work

Some updates on recent changes to Expedition Everest during the preview openings:

• Guests are reporting that the lap bars have now been modified to allow larger guests to ride. Previously, the lap bar did not lock in place until pushed a good way down. Now, the locking point has been moved higher. If any guests were unable to ride before, they should try again now.
   
• Some of the light leakage into the dark areas of the mountain has been looked at.
   
• Some issues relating to false E-stops have been worked on.
   
• A snack stand is being installed near to the queue entrance, similar in style to the old bus in Asia.

15 February 2006: Everest in the City

New page dedicated to Everest in the City

10 February 2006: Everest in the City

Details on the huge Expedition Everest even taking place in New York City next week.

2 February 2006: Official onride video

The official WDW podcast is today featuring a new on ride video. It was shot with professionally mounted cameras and mics onboard the train. Check it out at www.disneyworld.com/podcast

2 February 2006: Soft opening during EMH

Expedition Everest opened last night during Animal Kingdom's Extra Magic Hours. The attraction ran from around 6pm to 8pm. Also of note, all the construction walls around the attraction have now been removed.

2 February 2006: Construction walls removed

All of the construction walls around the mountain have now been removed.

21 January 2006: On ride photos (Thanks to dflye)

 
Above Left: The start of ride, looking towards the spur to the train maintenance area
Above right: First curve after leaving station

 
Above left: Small lift hill
Above right: Going up the small lift hill and the view of the fortress in the background

 
Above left: The fortress
Above right: The main lift hill leaving the fortress and heading into the mountain

 
Above left: Ascending the main lift, approaching the fortress
Above right: The view of the mountain from the lift

 
Above left: Looking left on the main lift. The Swan and Dolphin, Tower of Terror and Spaceship Earth can all be seen on the horizon.
Above right: Looking down onto the helix curves

 
Above left: Another view across WDW
Above right: The interior of the temple, complete with murals the yeti

 
Above left: The view back from the main lift looking towards the station
Above right: Looking back along the main lift towards the fortress, with Kali River Rapids off in the background

 
Above left: The view across Animal Kingdom
Above right: The summit of the mountain

 
Above: The train leaves the lift and heads around the mountain

 
Above: The train reaches the end of the track
Above right: The eagle heads into view

 
Above: Some of the details around the broken track before the train heads backwards into the mountain caverns

 
Above left: Prints left by the yeti
Above right: The view as you are plummeting down the main 80ft drop

30 January 2006: Opening status

Latest soft opening status

29 January 2006: On ride video

A new high resolution on ride video is now available

29 January 2006: Photo walk-thru of the queue

This series of 50 photos takes you through the queue area, and shows some of the extraordinary details that have gone into this attraction. (Thanks to ScottJ for the photos)

 

28 January 2006: Rider reviews

Latest reviews from the previews

20 January 2006: Ride through on board video

Ride through video

20 January 2006: Preview photos

These photos are from the recent previews of the attraction for Cast and special guests. Many thanks to Andy and Scott for the photos.

 
Above: A train full of guests leaves the mountain, hurtling down the 80ft drop.

 
Above: The fortress, part of the lift climb into the mountain

 
Above: Scenes from the queue area, where travellers can collect last minute supplies for the trip to Everest

 
Above: The Yeti museum, part of the very detailed queue that you will pass through ont he way to boarding the train

 
Above: The train loading area.
Above right: The train emits a blast of steam as it leaves the station.

19 January 2006: Official Teaser Video

There is a great teaser video, with some great clips behind the scenes and on-ride footage at www.disneyworld.com/podcast. The m4v video clip is playable with Apple Quicktime.

16 January 2006: Official Expedition Everest site now online

http://www.disneyeverest.com/

13 January 2006: Cast Member preview dates

Cast member preview dates announced.

12 January 2006: Interview with Mark Mesko

Walt Disney World® Resort: Plugged In, have a great interview with Mark Mesko - Technical Director, Show Ride Engineering, about the ride system of Expedition Everest. It's available now at www.disneyworld.com/podcast or via iTunes.

7 January 2006: Large scale test runs with full passenger loads

Yesterday saw one of the first large scale runs of Everest using cast from around WDW as riders for filming of the Discovery Channel specials, set to air around April 9, 2006. The reports from riders so far has been very very positive. The immense detail of the village area is receiving high acclaim, along with the smoothness, backward portions, and interior effects. Last but not least, some comments about the Yeti audio animatronic, "it BLEW ME AWAY!!! ", "the Yeti figure is without doubt the greatest AA I have ever seen", "you won't believe how fast that thing moves!".

One word of warning though, don't expect this attraction to be an intense coaster experience. Whilst it is thrilling, above Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain, and along the lines of Rock 'n' RollerCoaster, it is not a super fast, super high coaster. What makes this attraction so incredible, is the story, theming, effects, a great coaster ride system, and the way they are all integrated together. Disney wanted this attraction to be a major draw for Animal Kingdom and Walt Disney World as a whole, in the way that Splash Mountain is for MK, and Tower of Terror is for the Disney-MGM Studios. The design plan called for it to be rideable for the whole family, and that is exactly what WDI have delivered, and to great effect.

1 January 2006: Latest testing photos

Everest is now testing almost daily. These latest photos show the test cycling of trains through the mountain. Thanks to SeanR for the photos.

 

1 January 2006: In Search of a Story

See photos of Imagineering's visit to the Eastern Himalayas as part of "Expedition Everest: Mission Himalayas".

For previous construction info click here

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