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| Expedition Everest |
When we spent our honeymoon at Walt Disney World seven years ago, we were taunted by the construction of a new ride at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Unfortunately it would not be completed for some time after we left. We were finally able to make the trek back to the Animal Kingdom on Christmas Day! The ride, of course, was completed and fully operational.
Once we got to the park, we made a bee line for Expedition Everest, got FastPasses and went to the line, which was already a 40 minute wait. We kept the Fastpasses for a later time, realizing that the line was not going to get any shorter as the day progressed.
Big Thunder Mountain used to be my favorite coaster at Disney. This ride is like BTM on steroids! It starts out with a little jaunt through the countryside, peaceful enough. Then it makes a very steep climb into the mountain (as you can see by the picture). After climbing into the mountain and cruising around a bit, you come to a complete stop where the tracks have been torn up by a Yeti. The train then goes backwards through the dark with some thrilling twists and turns. There is then a brief pause and the train heads forward again through a bit of a drop and several curves (excellent g-forces!) and comes to a rest back at the train station.
It is a very smooth ride without any inversions. There is a high-g backwards curve in the middle of the ride which is quite fun, then there is the drop and curve as you emerge from the mountain (smile, they take your picture there). I tried riding through it with my hands in the air, but couldn't do it :-)
We used our FastPasses around midday and got another set of FastPasses to use right before we left for the evening. I really enjoyed this ride!
