disney built the biggest and most expensive animatronic ever in their history and then built a mountain around it and it BROKE a couple of months after the ride opened and it’s impossible to fix it without dismantling the entire mountain structure and that’s honestly the most hilarious verified disney fact™
ever
the second most hilarious being that the chum animatronic on the finding nemo ride at epcot used to pop out of the barrel to scare guests but one time a cast member was walking past it during an opening/closing procedure and it popped out and smacked them clean in the face so now it’s turned off permanently
TL/DR version: the structural layout of the Expedition Everest attraction is so complicated that Disney had to use a technique called “previsualisaton” to construct it – essentially a four-dimensional blueprint that specifies not only how the structure should be put together, but the exact point in time that each step should occur. That precision in timing is actually kinda critical, because if certain parts of the structure are subject to stress too early (e.g., before the concrete is fully cured, before additional supports have been installed, etc.), they’ll be permanently weakened.
Well, long story short, when the ride went into action, Disney’s engineers quickly discovered that the numbers weren’t adding up: the internal stresses the ride was producing every time they turned the animatronic yeti on were literally tearing the whole mountain apart. It’s clear that something got screwed up during construction: either somebody performed a step with the wrong timing, or in the wrong order, or the previsualisaton was messed up to begin with. The trick is, they have no idea what the actual error was – and the ride can’t be repaired until they figure out what went wrong in the first place.
So now they just point a moving strobe light at the motionless yeti to create the illusion of motion, which is why it’s been nicknamed the “disco yeti”.
When companies have too much money and need to chill
here’s an example of what the yeti looked like when it actually worked.
I went to support my friends tonight and attended the vigil they held at Walt Disney World for the victims of the Pulse Shooting. I didn’t know what to expect at all. Nobody really did. We were all just there to watch the kiss goodnight (a little bit of music and some talking to thank guests for being with us today etc). Well after that, instead of playing the regular Main Street music loop (well they did for about four seconds before cutting it off), there was an unofficial moment of silence. In the Magic Kingdom, with thousands of people. You could probably hear a pin drop. It was so emotional, the reason everyone was there, the moment of silence, the respect, the support. THEN Disney used the flood lights, and they lit up red. Then orange. Then yellow. They were all very similar. You could tell people were waiting for green. All of sudden, green. Then blue, and finally, purple. Disney DID THAT. Disney took a stand. Disney isn’t ignoring the fact that it was LGBT+ targets. Disney fully acknowledged who the victims were. The vigil was not put on by Disney. But Disney joined in. We wanted and hoped Disney would do something for it, but we honestly didn’t think they would. When the music came back on, we thought they were just going to let it run it’s course as if nothing happened. But they cut the music. They let everyone have their moment of silence. It was overall surreal. You will never hear Magic Kingdom that silent as a guest. They even let Cast Members come out to the vigil. I believe that one of the victims of the shooting worked at the Emporium. The Emporium cast was infront of the castle, had a heart made of glow sticks, candles, and “I’m Celebrating” buttons with all the victims names (I believe, I couldn’t actually read them, but that’s what I’m assuming – correct me if I’m wrong). There were little girls passing out little hearts made of paper with the rainbow on it. There was a lovely woman who had painted a picture and handed out prints to everyone she could. The cast members were handing out pins- Mickey hands in the shape of a heart, holding a heart. It was just a surreal experience. I still can’t believe it happened. Tonight, the shooting. I hope we don’t have to endure this again. #OrlandoStrong
