Disney Imagineers love their backstories. Expedition Everest has a very detailed one that is reiterated all throughout Asia.
Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom is an exhilarating expedition through the icy Himalayas overseen by Himalayan Escapes – Tours and Expeditions. For years, the Royal Anandapur Tea Company shipped its tea via train through this very mountain. After mysterious accidents, the railroad was closed and fell into disarray. Now that the Himalayan Escapes has reopened the mountain, it is your turn to explore the mountain, but beware! This area is known to be home to the Yeti, a mysterious snow monster that will not appreciate your presence.
Halfway through your journey, the train screeches to a halt when the available track disappears. It looks as if an animal tore it in two! All the sudden, your train launches backward and picks up speed as it twists and winds itself through the mountain. And you realize that the legend is true as you are hurled down an 80 foot drop to the base of the mountain to escape the snow monster.
- This ride has a Single Rider line. This can be faster than waiting in the regular line, but your party will likely not ride together.
- Ride in the back and look to your left behind you and you will see the Contemporary as you go up the steep incline.
- Ride reaches up to 50 mph.
- There are over 8,000 artifacts from Nepal in the queue. Each time you ride focus on a different area and see how many you can spot.
- When the attraction first opened, the Yeti actually moved. But something went wrong (maybe it is actually a haunted mountain) and the Yeti no longer moves. The issue with repairing him is that the mountain was built around the Yeti. Don’t worry! He’s still freaky!
- Ride at night for a completely different experience.
- In the queue, the pictures of the teams who have journeyed over the mountain in attempts to find safe passage for the train are actually pictures of the Imaginners who traveled to Nepal to help make this attraction feel realistic.
- You can request to be in row 1. Just be prepared to wait on a few additional trains before it is your turn.
- Just before the train goes backwards, you can spot part of Epcot and Hollywood Studios. Can you make out the park icons?
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