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Iwent on Expedition Everest for the first time in January 2007, whenit was still brand new. I was ten years old then, and had beenfollowing it's progress since I'd first heard about it. I'd even mademy mom (who'd been down in Orlando for work) buy a park ticket andcheck it out for me opening week. I'd heard so much about it, andfinally, I'd get to see it for myself.
Iwas notdisappointed.
Ofcourse, back when it was brand new, all of the effects were working,like the cold air jets, and, of course, Betty. I'd been mentallypreparing myself the whole hour-long wait in the line to come face toface with her, but that didn't matter; I had my eyes clamped shut thewhole entire ride. I took another shot at it, and my dad offered totell me when she was coming so that I could see the rest of the ride.I refused. I wanted to see her.
Idid, and immediately fell in love with her. The mechanics of her, howshe swung her arm with more thrust than a 747 jet engine, how she gotright in your face and almost took your head off. She was great.
Whenher framing cracked, I wasn't really all that surprised, but I wasdisappointed. Ever since then I've come up with thousands of ideasabout how they could fix her, like just makingher head move and roar at you, and keeping a bright light on her faceat all times (it's a scary sight, trust me). But even with that minorimprovement, there's still the matter of the arm.
Thoseof us lucky enough to have ridden back when she was still in fullswing, bad pun completely intended, know that you felt like you hadto duck. You could feelthe wind she created when she whipped her arm at you, and her fury...it was real. It was there. You knew, with that one arm comingstraight at your face and that loud, powerful roar, that she wantedyou off her mountain.
Well,no, actually.
Firstof all, the ride's in three pieces that never touch: the ride track,the mountain, and Betty/Betty's framing. They built the mountain in arather... creative(stupid) manner, so that they'll have to take the whole entireForbidden Mountain apart if they want to reach/fix her framing. Eventhen, they'll need new ideas since it'll probably just crack and puteveryone in danger again. So with all the research cost, the cost ofwhatever new framing they make, plus making an entirely new mountainfrom practically scratch, you're probably going to come somewhereunder the original cost of $100,000,000 and a very, very long wait.
Secondly,Animal Kingdom is already a half day park, and the park with theleast attendance. Admit it; you probably wouldn't even go if Everestwas shut down. I mean, that whole park's attendance rides onDinosaur!, Kilimanjaro Safaris (which is stretching it, almost), andExpedition Everest. Without even oneof those rides, it almost isn't worth leaving the otherKingdom, the only with about 789 rides that you could do over andover again without getting sick. Disney can shut down Splash Mountainwithout a problem; you have all the other Magic Mountains to make upfor it. They can shut down Test Track for an upgrade (which theyhave); adults still love their beer from many countries. Oh, andMission: SPACE. Kids love space. And they can shut down Tower ofTerror for a year of maintenance; they still have Rock n'Rollercoaster, Star Tours and Toy Story Mania!. It's different withAnimal Kingdom.
Inthe dark.
Backwards.
C'monpeople, that's the definition of awesome, right there.
Anyway,Expedition Everest is my favorite ride ever, of any park, and I feellike it gets more hate for its star being motionless then itdeserves. But what do you think? Is the criticism and demand forfixing reasonable, or needless?
(And before anyone asks, no, I'm NOT the only one that calls her a Betty, or a female. The man who is credited with creating her called her "she", and the Cast Members now know her as Betty.)
Iwas notdisappointed.
Ofcourse, back when it was brand new, all of the effects were working,like the cold air jets, and, of course, Betty. I'd been mentallypreparing myself the whole hour-long wait in the line to come face toface with her, but that didn't matter; I had my eyes clamped shut thewhole entire ride. I took another shot at it, and my dad offered totell me when she was coming so that I could see the rest of the ride.I refused. I wanted to see her.
Idid, and immediately fell in love with her. The mechanics of her, howshe swung her arm with more thrust than a 747 jet engine, how she gotright in your face and almost took your head off. She was great.
Whenher framing cracked, I wasn't really all that surprised, but I wasdisappointed. Ever since then I've come up with thousands of ideasabout how they could fix her, like just makingher head move and roar at you, and keeping a bright light on her faceat all times (it's a scary sight, trust me). But even with that minorimprovement, there's still the matter of the arm.
Thoseof us lucky enough to have ridden back when she was still in fullswing, bad pun completely intended, know that you felt like you hadto duck. You could feelthe wind she created when she whipped her arm at you, and her fury...it was real. It was there. You knew, with that one arm comingstraight at your face and that loud, powerful roar, that she wantedyou off her mountain.
Well,no, actually.
Firstof all, the ride's in three pieces that never touch: the ride track,the mountain, and Betty/Betty's framing. They built the mountain in arather... creative(stupid) manner, so that they'll have to take the whole entireForbidden Mountain apart if they want to reach/fix her framing. Eventhen, they'll need new ideas since it'll probably just crack and puteveryone in danger again. So with all the research cost, the cost ofwhatever new framing they make, plus making an entirely new mountainfrom practically scratch, you're probably going to come somewhereunder the original cost of $100,000,000 and a very, very long wait.
Secondly,Animal Kingdom is already a half day park, and the park with theleast attendance. Admit it; you probably wouldn't even go if Everestwas shut down. I mean, that whole park's attendance rides onDinosaur!, Kilimanjaro Safaris (which is stretching it, almost), andExpedition Everest. Without even oneof those rides, it almost isn't worth leaving the otherKingdom, the only with about 789 rides that you could do over andover again without getting sick. Disney can shut down Splash Mountainwithout a problem; you have all the other Magic Mountains to make upfor it. They can shut down Test Track for an upgrade (which theyhave); adults still love their beer from many countries. Oh, andMission: SPACE. Kids love space. And they can shut down Tower ofTerror for a year of maintenance; they still have Rock n'Rollercoaster, Star Tours and Toy Story Mania!. It's different withAnimal Kingdom.
Inthe dark.
Backwards.
C'monpeople, that's the definition of awesome, right there.
Anyway,Expedition Everest is my favorite ride ever, of any park, and I feellike it gets more hate for its star being motionless then itdeserves. But what do you think? Is the criticism and demand forfixing reasonable, or needless?
(And before anyone asks, no, I'm NOT the only one that calls her a Betty, or a female. The man who is credited with creating her called her "she", and the Cast Members now know her as Betty.)
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