World’s Most Advanced Theme Park Robot Sits Broken for Years
There has been a lot of news coming out of the Mouse House in Orlando concerning plans for a revamped Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World-plans which include a new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train roller coaster as well as a Little Mermaid attraction, which incidentally is a clone of the one currently being built in Anaheim.
But an older attraction in Orlando-specifically the highly themed “Expedition Everest” roller coaster in the Animal Kingdom which opened in 2006-has also grabbed a little limelight when Miceage.com’s Kevin Yee wrote an article about the attraction and its poor upkeep, (You can see that article here).
Specifically, hardcore Disney fans are upset that the “Yeti”-an oversized Abominable snowman-like robotic creature which is 25 feet tall and weighs 10 tons-is no longer lunging at guests who take a trip on the thrill ride. While the outside and inside of the attraction were masterfully handcrafted with the skill of dozens of Disney artisans, the relatively fast pace of the construction of the attraction may have lead to some artistic and mechanical design flaws.
For example, the concrete platform which supports the robotic Yeti is reportedly cracked and other rumors concerning the nature of the problem have popped up on the internet. (Did somebody pour the wrong type of cement?) And, while the exterior of the ride gives an awe inspiring vision of Mount Everest, other angles of the mountain, such as from the parking lot, reveal metal support beams and an unfinished industrial look.
Why hasn’t the Yeti been fixed?
The extensive repair work which would be needed to fix the Yeti would likely lead to a six month-or longer-closure of the Animal Kingdom’s star attraction. Expedition Everest is still a great high speed thrill ride (faster than most in Disney theme parks) which draws a large number of guests to the Animal Kingdom. A prolonged closure of the ride would not be good for Disney’s bottom line, and given that most guests only get a glimpse of the Yeti, repairing it hasn’t been at the top of the to-do-list.
The fully functioning Yeti-which was working properly many years ago-was able to lunge at passengers due to the use of specialized computer programing and powerful hydraulics. The Yeti’s hydraulics are said to rival the power provided by a 747 airplane, powerful enough to move the Yeti’s 20,000 pound frame. In fact, the Yeti is so top heavy that a massive horizontal boom was attached to his midsection to support his workings as apparently his feet are too small to support his own weight!
It is easy to see how, via a lever type action, whatever concrete base his boom is attached to would experience a lot of mechanical stress each day. One reason the Yeti is not fully functioning is due to its support system not being able to support the weight of a very animated 20,000 lbs. monster.
Though the Yeti is physically still in place inside the ride, he is illuminated with strobe lights to give the illusion of movement to his motionless body.
Many Disney fans have speculated that because most guests to the park don’t know what they’re missing, the world’s most complex audio-animatronic has remained broken for years. However, complaints about the broken Yeti have been circulating in cyberspace for years, and given word of mouth it may be that a growing percentage of visitors to park know about the broken Yeti.
There is even a “Fix the Yeti” Facebook page which can be seen here, and another “Disco Yeti” webpage urging the same here, the “Disco” label is a reference to the strobe lights currently used to light the Yeti.
Last August Disney revealed that they were looking at a way to fix the Yeti, though apparently no plans have been announced as yet.
If the issue is an overweight gargantuan Yeti tugging at its concrete support structure, maybe a lighter weight Yeti with a fiberglass skeleton could be made. Could putting the Yeti on a diet be the solution to this whole mess?
Sources:
http://www.chipandco.com/2011/02/disney-confidential—the-truth-about-the-yeti/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expedition_Everest#Yeti_technical_details
http://machinedesign.com/article/engineering-expedition-everest-complete-with-a-yeti-0810
http://miceage.micechat.com/kevinyee/ky020111a.htm
http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/Movies/2010/08/01/Disney-Worlds-snowman-still-frozen/UPI-51491280674958/
http://www.discoyeti.com/
