text: expedition everest expedition everest — legend of the forbidden mountain is a steel roller coaster built by vekoma at disney 's animal kingdom theme park at the walt disney world resort in lake buena vista , florida . the ride is themed around the yeti hiding in mount everest . it is listed in the 2011 book of guinness world records as the most expensive roller coaster in the world . including sets and extras , its total cost was reported to be us $ 100 million , following 6 years of planning and construction . it is the tallest artificial mountain in all of the walt disney parks , though contrary to popular belief , expedition everest is not florida 's tallest mountain . it is disney 's 18th mountain - themed attraction . history the attraction first was announced publicly on april 22 , 2003 , during an event to celebrate the fifth anniversary of disney 's animal kingdom . it took three years and more than 38 miles of rebar , 5 , 000 tons of structural steel , and 10 , 000 tons of concrete to build the mountain . expedition everest first opened for previews on january 26 , 2006 , and had its grand opening on april 7 , 2006 , in ceremonies led by disney ceo bob iger and theme parks chairman jay . ride experience queue the attraction features a stand - by , + , and a single rider line . the queue starts at the office of the fictional " himalayan escapes " travel agency , progressing to a replica temple with little holy figures . visitors next enter a tea garden , followed by a room with equipment from a successful expedition , and then the " yeti museum " , which contains information on the yeti and a moulding of a yeti footprint . there are also about 8 , 000 artifacts brought from the nepal trip in the museum . the single rider line skips all of the exhibits . ride the riders board the roller coaster in the model village of zong , to begin a speedy route through the himalayas to the base of mount everest . the train departs the station to the right and climbs a small lift leading to a short drop , then circles around to the 118 - foot ( 36 m ) lift hill , carrying the riders into the 199 1 ⁄ 2 - foot - high ( 60 . 8 m ) mountain . it is the tallest attraction at walt disney world , beating the twilight zone tower of terror by 6 inches . disney keeps it just under 200 feet because law requires structures 200 feet or taller to have a blinking red light as a beacon for low - flying planes . on the way up it passes through a ransacked temple with murals of the yeti , warning the riders that the mountain is his territory . at the top of the mountain the train curves around the main peak and goes through a cave . when it emerges , it draws to a halt in front of track that has been torn apart , presumably by the yeti . the train itself is held in place by a series of rubber tires while an automatic switch rotates the piece of track directly behind the train . the train then rolls backwards along a new route that spirals down through the mountain , coming to a halt in a large cave , where riders see the yeti 's shadow on the wall as he tears up more track . this effect distracts riders from noticing another automatic track switch rotates in front of them . as the shadow moves away , the train rolls forward out of the mountain and down the main 80 - foot ( 24 m ) drop . it enters a 250 ° turn and speeds back up through another cave in the mountain , where the roars of the yeti are heard once more . the train exits from the rear of the mountain and enters a large helix before being lifted back into the mountain a final time . the train drops through a cave , where the yeti is reaching down toward it . on reaching the bottom of this drop , riders return to the unloading dock and depart into a gift shop . one ride takes about 2 minutes and 50 seconds . trains expedition everest has six steam - like trains , each with six cars that together provide 17 rows seating two abreast , for a total of 34 riders per train . the trains are themed as the " rail service " and are made to look old and rusty . riders must be at least 44 inches ( 110 cm ) tall and are secured by a lap bar . up to five trains usually operate at once , but fewer can be used if guest demand is low . to create the illusion of a " steam powered " train , engineers placed vents under the station . when a train comes into the station , steam comes up through the vents and enters the loading platform . track the steel track is 4 , 424 feet ( 1 , 348 m ) long and the lift is approximately 118 feet ( 36 m ) high . expedition everest is the first ride to use vekoma 's newest track system , in which the rails are on the outside of the ties rather than on the inside . this was the first large - scale installation of such a system . facts and details although moderate in height and length by contemporary standards , expedition everest was the first ride for disney to have its trains travel both forward and backward . this is accomplished through two sets of track switches , one before the rear segment and one after . this was the second disney roller coaster to run backwards , the first being indiana jones et le temple du : backwards ! at disneyland resort paris ( 2000 – 2004 ) . expedition everest , however , was the first disney roller coaster to switch between forward and backward sections during a single ride . the mountain facade , the yeti audio - animatronic , and the roller coaster are three independent structures . each structure reaches the ground - level and does not touch the other two structures . this was achieved via 4 - d scheduling software that told builders how to construct it . mountain expedition everest is often compared to the 1959 matterhorn roller coaster at disneyland , which also features a snowy mountain setting and an " abominable snowman " figure throughout the ride . expedition everest 's mountain is made from 1 , 800 tons of steel and painted with 2 , 000 gallons of paint . it is the tallest artificial mountain in the world , but not , as occasionally cited , the tallest point in florida . it is disney 's 18th mountain - themed attraction . as of 2012 , there are 20 mountain - themed attractions . the artificial mountain is a model , not of mount everest , but of the fictional " forbidden mountain " guarded by the yeti in the story created by walt disney imagineering for the attraction . everest is represented by the barren background peak on the far right , which is made to seem far in the distance ( an example of forced perspective ) . yeti the yeti is the largest and most complex audio - animatronic figure ever built by walt disney imagineering . it is 25 feet ( 7 . 6 m ) tall . its " skin " measures 1 , 000 square feet ( 93 m2 ) , and is held in place by 1 , 000 snaps and 250 zippers . its movement is controlled by 19 actuators ( when functioning in " a - mode " , its full mode of operation ) . it can move 5 ft ( 1 . 5 m ) horizontally and 18 in ( 46 cm ) vertically when functioning in " a - mode " . the yeti 's roars are provided by voice actor fred tatasciore . the yeti has not been in full " a - mode " operation since a few months after the ride 's opening , when its framing split , causing significant risk of catastrophic malfunction if it were operated . it currently only operates in the alternative " b - mode " , which is limited to a strobe - light effect designed to give the appearance of movement , earning it the nickname " disco yeti " . the problem was caused by damage to the yeti 's concrete base structure , which is unlikely to be repaired until a major refurbishment in the distant future , because the design limits access to the yeti without major disassembly of the superstructure . the problem with the concrete is rumored to have occurred due to a glitch in the 4 - d scheduling software that prevented adequate curing of a portion of the yeti 's foundation prior to the overlapping fabrication of mountain elements and roller coaster track . joe rohde , the imagineer in charge of building the attraction and animal kingdom , was asked at the d23 2013 convention about the disco yeti . his response was " you have to understand , it 's a giant complicated machine sitting on top of , like , a 46 - foot tall tower in the middle of a finished building . so , it 's really hard to fix , but we are working on it . and we continue to work on it . we have tried several " things " , none of them quite get to the key , turning of the 40 - foot tower inside of a finished building , but we are working on it ..... i will fix the yeti someday , i swear . " promotions discovery networks in 2005 , disney , discovery networks and conservation international conducted expeditions to nepal as part of the promotion for expedition everest . the purpose was to conduct scientific and cultural research in remote areas of the himalayas , the location of the yeti legend . participants included joe rohde from walt disney imagineering and scientists from conservation international and disney 's animal kingdom . the expeditions and the making of the attraction were chronicled in three documentaries broadcast on discovery 's cable television channels in april 2006 . the first was expedition everest : journey to sacred lands , broadcast on the travel channel on april 9 to coincide with the attraction 's grand opening . the second , building a thrill ride : expedition everest , was aired on april 10 and detailed the planning and construction of the ride , along with some of the ideas that made it possible . ( during construction , for example , instead of traditional scaffolding the imagineers used interior poles that poked through the outside of the mountain and were connected by wooden platforms . ) this documentary also featured survival tips from les stroud . the third , corwin 's quest : realm of the yeti , was broadcast on animal planet on april 15 and featured american animal and nature conservationist jeff corwin . everest in the city on february 15 , 2006 , disney staged an elaborate publicity stunt called " everest in the city " in times square , new york city . they draped large billboards over the sides of several buildings , depicting everest with a coaster car careening down the mountainside and the yeti looking on from another peak , its eyes glowing red and flashing when the text message " " was sent to a phone number provided by disney . incidents on december 18 , 2007 , a 44 - year - old guest was found unconscious after the train returned to the station . he was taken to a hospital , where he was pronounced dead . a preliminary autopsy by the orange county medical examiner 's office concluded that the victim had died of dilated cardiomyopathy . awards and records expedition everest is listed in the 2011 book of guinness world records as the most expensive roller coaster in the world . including sets and extras , the total cost of the ride was reported to be us $ 100 million following 6 years of planning and construction . expedition everest won the 2006 theme park insider award for the " world 's best new theme park attraction " . it has also been ranked in the golden ticket awards and the best roller coaster poll . it was ranked 2nd for " best new ride for 2006 " in the golden ticket awards .