Expedition Everest

**Expedition Everest**, or **Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain**, is a roller coaster at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, located at the Asia section of the park.  It is a journey through the Forbidden Mountain of the Himalayas, where guests encounter the legendary cryptid, the Yeti. It is the tallest ride at Walt Disney World, with the mountain’s peak reaching 199.5 feet.

## Background

In the 1920s, the Royal Anandapur Tea Company built a tea train in the Southeast Asian village of Serka Zong, Anandapur to reach distant markets. The Anandapur Rail Services utilized the route throughout the 1920s and 1930s. However, beginning in 1933, the railway experienced difficulties in operating. Some blamed it on Western treks to Mount Everest, taking the train through the Forbidden Mountains. The train was forced to close down in 1934.

According to oral traditions, the Forbidden Mountains were guarded by the Yeti and they were never to be touched by humanity, set aside forever. The legend loomed over the people of Serka Zong. Even after the train closed, explorers continued to trek into the Forbidden Mountains, as a shortcut to Mount Everest and as an expedition on its own. It came to a head in 1982, with the disappearance of the Forbidden Mountain Expedition.

Later on, Himalayan Escapes Tours and Expeditions refurbished the old Anandapur Rail Services track as a way to reach Everest base camp. Instead of a twenty-eight-day trek, staying at different tea shops, explorers took one thirty-hour train ride and they would reach the base camp. To do so, of course, they needed to go through the Forbidden Mountains. Despite warnings from the locals, they successfully rebuilt the train, opening it up to tourists.

## Attraction Experience

The queue winds through several buildings within Serka Zong. Guests enter through the cramped booking office of Himalayan Escapes filled with paraphernalia from the company's history such as a framed "first rupee", expedition photos, tour schedules and testimonials from satisfied customers. The queue then passes through Tashi's Trek and Tongba Shop where mountaineering supplies are being sold alongside general goods and souvenirs. The queue then wraps around the Yeti Mandir, an ancient temple honoring the Yeti as natural guardian of the mountains covered in carvings, prayer flags and offerings to the divine beast. After passing through the remains of the Royal Anandapur Tea Company's tea gardens, guests enter the Yeti Museum housed within the Tea Company's original warehouse.

Curated by Professor Pema Dorje, the museum explores the ecology of the Himalayas and the Yeti's long history in folklore and cryptozoology, featuring famous real-world evidence and an exploration of various animals related to the myth. An exhibit on the Lost Expedition of 1982 includes the recovered remains of the campsite and blurry photographs of the Yeti's attack as well as a recently acquired cast of a Yeti print over two feet long. As guests leave the museum, they come across two messages: A warning from Dorje that given the evidence, the Yeti is real and a disclaimer from Himalayan Escapes noting they do not endorse this statement. After this, guests finally arrive at the Anandapur Rail Service station to begin their journey up the mountain.

After guests board the train, they are taken on a scenic route around the surrounding forest,  before reaching temple ruins and a lift hill. The lift hill leads the train into the mountains, speeding through a cavern before coming to an abrupt halt. The track in front of them had been ripped off. Something roars, and the trains are sent backwards into the dark caverns. They come to a stop, again, as the shadow of the Yeti can be seen from above. He roars, as he rips off another part of the track. The train is sent forward, spiraling down the side of the mountain. It travels through another cavern and down another spiraled slop, before going over a small hill into another cave. The Yeti is hanging onto the mountain, and guests barely miss being grabbed by him. He roars one last time, as they exit the cavern and make it safely back to the station, where they disembark.

## Connections

### Adventure Isle

In the 1930s, the League of Adventurers attempted to build a Fixed Rope Traverse System trail through the Forbidden Mountains, as a shortcut to Mount Everest. They encountered the Yeti along the way, managing to take a picture of him before they escaped. The picture and an article about the encounter can be found on a board at Camp Discovery. There is also a badge commemorating the league's journey as having been, "Expedition Everest".

### Blizzard Beach

In the ice cave grotto of Cross Country Creek there are several carvings documenting the experiences of Blizzard Beach residents, predominately as a result of the freak snowstorm which hit Florida in its backstory. Amongst the carvings is one showing the Himalayas and the angered Yeti of the Forbidden Mountain as humans run in panic from it.

### Matterhorn Bobsleds

The Forbidden Mountain of the Himalayas and the Matterhorn are both Disney Parks mountains which are home to territorial yetis. Expedition Everest contains several subtle references/homages to Matterhorn Bobsleds as a result. Notably at the end of the ride, advertisements and promotional materials utilized white-furred, blue-skinned, fanged yetis as mascots for yeti-gimmicked paraphernalia.

### Skipper Canteen

One of the books written by Harrison Hightower III is *Expedition Everest: Search for the Yeti*. This is a reference to Imagineer Joe Rohde, the lead Imagineer of Expedition Everest and the model for Hightower.

### Third Man on the Mountain

The advert for "Yeti Brand Tinned Meat" (featuring the Matterhorn Yeti as its mascot) has the quote, "Hygienic, Tasty and Compact" from mountaineer Klaus Wesselhoft, a mountaineer who scaled the Matterhorn in the film Third Man on the Mountain (1959).

### Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar

One of the masks from Expedition Everest (namely the Serka Zong Bazaar) is hung on the wall of Trader Sam's bar.

### Up

The Asia sections of the Wilderness Explorers Guidebook contains several allusions to, depictions of, and missions regarding the Himalayas, the Forbidden Mountain, and the Yeti. This includes using a telescope to note the height of the Forbidden Mountain and differentiate it from Mt. Everest, taking one of Himalayan Escapes' train-tours of the mountains, and studying the folklore and anthropology of the yeti outside of the Yeti Museum. The Wilderness Explorers are also connected to the history of Anandapur, namely in the Anandapur Royal Forest.

## Trivia

* The Yeti animatronic once moved, reaching down towards the guests as they passed down. After the attraction opened, the animatronic had to be stopped. Now, there is a strobe light around the animatronic, simulating movement.
	+ Reasons for the stop have ranged from the foundation breaking to a faulty “sled” on his back, but fixing it supposedly would require the attraction to be closed for at least a year. Rumors of the Yeti being fixed have popped up over the years, but it has never happened, for reasons ranging from the refurbishment being too expensive to concerns about closing one of the few E-ticket attractions at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
	+ The static animatronic has the fan nickname "Disco Yeti", due to the strobe light.

## References

1. ↑ https://disney-universes.tumblr.com/post/161183780386/newspaper-story-near-the-start-of-the-expedition
2. ↑ https://datelinedisneyland.smugmug.com/DisneylandResort/2015/081415-D23-Expo-Day-1/i-FpKrmrM/0/X3/DSC\_3635-X3.jpg
3. ↑ https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/en\_CA/attractions/blizzard-beach/cross-country-creek/
4. ↑ http://www.mainstgazette.com/2017/06/cruise-through-grotto.html
5. ↑ http://ultimateorlando.blogspot.com/2014/01/matterhorn-tribute-in-expedition.html