There are a lot of benefits of being a kid in Orlando. One is that you getto spend a lot of time at the theme parks and soon come to know them as well as your own back yard. Indigo and The Disney Blog have started a series where we look at a different aspect of Walt Disney World from a kid’s point of view.
In this new video, Indigo introduces Expedition Everest roller coaster at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It’s one of his favorite rides, and I think you can see why.
More facts from Expedition Everest:
- Although you travel through the Himalayan Mountains and deep into the lair of the yeti, guardian of the forbidden mountain, you never actually reach Mt Everest.
- At just under 200 feet, the tallest of 18 mountains created by Disney Imagineers at Disney parks worldwide
- The careening adventure including an 80-foot drop, plus frightening encounters with the mystical yeti.
- The coaster’s length is nearly a mile of track as riders encounter harrowing twists, tight turns and drops.
- The ride vehicles are modeled after an aging, steam-engine tea train; 34 passengers per train.
- The forbidden mountain uses forced perspective. To create the sense of an enormous mountain range, Imagineers painted a “mural” of shadows across the face of the mountains. The range with its glaciers and valleys is a canvas of rockwork, carvings and painting creating a forced perspective. To emphasize the forced perspective technique, Imagineers planted tall bamboo, pines and swaying reeds to blur the horizon of the mountain range — making it appear more distant.
- The architectural style and cultural references of the village below Forbidden Mountain are a hybrid of Tibetan, Nepalese and other design traditions found throughout the Himalayas. Each building was reproduced with great care and attention to detail so that structures appear to range in age from 50 to 300 years old.
Have you ever experienced the thrills of Expedition Everest? What is your favorite park of the attraction?