Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain

Asia, Animal Kingdom

Expedition Everest opened in 2006 to become Animal Kingdom's first true roller coaster ride. It's earned its place as one of the most thrilling rides in Walt Disney World and should certainly be high up on your to-do list at the Animal Kingdom.

Guests enter a long, winding queue area which is open but under cover. The detail that has gone into the queue area is amazing. It is designed to look like an authentic Nepalese village. As you get closer to the front of the queue area you go through some buildings and start seeing old climbing equipment, expedition notes and skulls of the mysterious 'Yeti'. 

You then board your ride car, and are locked in place with a comfy padded harness. The train then starts, and you're off up the side of Mount Everest! But as you get to the top of the 200 foot peek, the track ahead is broken. Suddenly you start going backwards, and take a different route through the mountain and suddenly come to a stop, only to see the Yeti in front of you. The train quickly takes a detour and plummets down a 50-foot drop and through more twists and turns before returning to the station.

The best part of this when the ride opened was that the Yeti stood over the track and would swipe his huge arm at the train before you plummeted. However due to a fault developing, this no longer happens. Disney have used lighting effects to create what is now known as the 'Disco Yeti'. It's unknown if the original Yeti will ever be fixed as it'll require that the ride is closed for an extended period of time.

Disney have really gone all out with Expedition Everest. Even the queue line, there is so much information as you walk along that you'll actually want the queue to slow down! Many people find themselves getting right back in the line after coming off the ride, its that good!

The queues for Expedition Everest are almost always long. So unless you want to read all the info in the queue line, we suggest getting a fast pass first thing in the morning. Your time will probably be at least a good 2-3 hours in advance, so head to the Kali River Rapids and Kilimanjaro Safari's while you wait.

We simply cant describe how awesome this ride is, you've got to try it to understand!