EE Yeti

[PetefromRI]

I heard a rumor today that the Yeti in EE was broken and because of the 2.1 million dollar cost to fix it they were thinking of just omiting it.Is this true or just bad info?

[SBETigg]

Wow, I hope it's bad info! I have no idea.

[dumbo ears]

I haven't heard any permanent rumors yet but I rode it last tuesday and it wasn't running and I couldn't even see it but my friends said he saw it so I guess its stilll there

[JPL]

The Yeti has been broken for quite some time now. His arm is not fully attached to his body any more and he is ripping himself from his foundations. The company who created him has gone out of business. So there are lots of problems surrounding the figure and any replacemnt or repair would be costly and require shutting down the attraction for an extended period of time. One rumour that has been floating around is replacing him with a High Definition Video Screen.

[SBETigg]

Jeff, can you explain more about the company who created him? What company was it? Was he not created by Disney Imagineers? I saw a travel channel special that had a segment on the yeti creation and made it look like it was all Disney. Now I'm curious. And sad! That's a major thrill missing from the ride, albeit a quick one that goes by in a blink.

[DizneyRox]

As with most things, Imagieeering has been largely outsourced. Yes, there is still an Imagineering Dept, but it's a shadow of former self. Many times they seem to just put on a bit of paint some landscaping, and put up a big red [DONE] stamp!

Surely Imagineering doesn't have the expertise to built a 200 foot tal mountain range in the middle of florida. Think of all the real engineering necessary to do that.

Again, not that they don't have some expertise, but I suspect it revolves more around project management.

And it's broken because they don't want to spend the money necessary to fix it. Instead we'll get a cheap fix (ala video projection) and some more smoke and mirrors (maybe a strobe light or two as well).

[CanadianWDWFan]

When I first read this I was really shocked that something as great as the Yeti on EE could be allowed to function as a broken down shadow of itself. Now I am just disappointed in Disney. I mean to have a great attraction then to change something on it to cheapen the experience.
I remember the first time I saw the Yeti, I was totally amazed by him and how he moved. Really would be sad if they replaced him to a videoscreen. It just wouldn't be the same.

[Wells]

2.1 Million!? .....You've got to be kidding me!
Even when the Yeti was working the range of motion was not so great that for the time he is visible, I can't believe that Disney isn't able to come up with a convincing lower cost solution for this problem. I have designed factory automation that manipulates 400 pound engine blocks with as much velocity as that robot swings his arm, and didn't cost nearly as much. Sounds like this animatronic was grossly over designed to begin with. It reminds me of the story about Walt Disney economizing the "Pirates of the Caribbean" animatronics by eliminating unnecessary detail where it was not required due to visibility. The Yeti is the central showpiece for this ride and should not be eliminated or replaced with a static figure. Has Disney completely lost their creative edge? This should and can be fixed!

[#1donaldfan]

...nothing but rumours yet, so lets not get too worked up, at least, till we see the end result...however, my guess is that Disney will fix him back up, then we can call him the multiple million dollar man (yeti)...

[DizneyRox]

Has Disney completely lost their creative edge?

That happened long ago, nothing new here...

And yes, these are all rumors, but the Yeti has been broken for going on a year now I believe. If it were going to be fixed (or if it was an easy fix) I suspect it would have been done already. If it's a probelm that bigger than a breadbox, then I'm guessing that we'll see some sort of replacement. Disney doesn't want to have to maintain another attraction like they do with TT.

[HollyLagrange]

So, is the ride still working and just the yetti is broken? or is the whole thing shut down?

[DizneyRox]

So, is the ride still working and just the yetti is broken? or is the whole thing shut down?

During everyday use, the Yeti is in B mode which is a strobe light effect to make him appear to be moving. A mode is a fully moving yeti that reaches out for the train car as it moves by.

The rides operates in B mode now and has for a long time. I think Jim Hill reported recently that it was in A mode when some big wigs came through as some sort of charade. Other effects that were brokenfor a while were also repaired for this visit, I'm not sure if they stayed operational or not, but the Yeti was put back into B mode.

[WOJO5794]

I guess I won't miss it much because the 4 or 5 times I've ridden the ride I never saw the Yeti. When during the ride do you see it?

[Imagineer1981]

As with most things, Imagieeering has been largely outsourced. Yes, there is still an Imagineering Dept, but it's a shadow of former self. Many times they seem to just put on a bit of paint some landscaping, and put up a big red [DONE] stamp!

Surely Imagineering doesn't have the expertise to built a 200 foot tal mountain range in the middle of florida. Think of all the real engineering necessary to do that.

Again, not that they don't have some expertise, but I suspect it revolves more around project management.

And it's broken because they don't want to spend the money necessary to fix it. Instead we'll get a cheap fix (ala video projection) and some more smoke and mirrors (maybe a strobe light or two as well).

Actually Disney does has the expertise to build a 200 ft mountain. They employ not only artist, but also engineers, lighting desinger, etc. Imagineers are from all fields and they really do design and figure out the engineering of most projects. Sometimes its easier to subcontract out parts of attractions and cheaper then doing it all in house. Imagineers could do it, but the guys in charge of the money up top probably just look at the numbers and say, "hey this company has already made giant gorillas, why not have them make the Yeti for cheaper since they have the technology done". From a business aspect it makes sense.

[GrumpyFan]

I guess I won't miss it much because the 4 or 5 times I've ridden the ride I never saw the Yeti. When during the ride do you see it?

If lit up with the lighting, he's hard to miss! He's 25 foot tall, and tries to grab you right before you exit the mountain to return to the station.

It really stinks that he's broken. From everything I've read, it's believed that the foundation he is on is cracked or broken and movement of the Yeti makes it worse. The only fix, apparently, involves a lot of rework to the mountain and it's foundation, as it would have to be torn out and re-done, which means it would also be down for a while.

It's sad too though that this has happened. The attraction was a real achievement for Imagineering when it was completed, now it's just a sad story of an imagineering project gone wrong. Not that I blame imagineering or anything. I think this is just one of those unforseen engineering problems that was a result of forces that were not anticipated. Hopefully, someday it will be fixed.

The attraction has been running now for almost 3 years without any substantial downtime. They could conceivably schedule something in the next year or two to do maintenance. However, it has become a real draw for attendance at AK that taking it down would seriously hurt attendance. So, for now, as long as it can still operate in "B mode", without any danger to guests, it will probably stay that way. I would be real interested to hear some of the back story conversations that have taken place since the issue was discovered.

The best thing we can do for now is stop by guest services and lodge a complaint that you didn't see the Yeti. Maybe if enough people complain, they'll eventually do something.

[Polynesian Dweller]

Has Disney completely lost their creative edge?

So I guess Toy Story Mania isn't creative, the concept to create EE isn't creative, the Turtle Talk idea isn't creative. Nope, no creative ideas from Disney.

If the previous comment about the company that created the Yeti is out of business is accurate, then this is not an issue of creativity but rather if the technology to fix it is available. We don't have any info about whether the creating company used proprietary technology or not. If they did, it may be a huge problem to be able to repair.

When we don't have all the info, and we don't, we shouldn't immediately put down management, as is so frequent on this board. The truth is usually much more complicated than what is publicly known.

[Ian]

I heard a rumor today that the Yeti in EE was broken and because of the 2.1 million dollar cost to fix it they were thinking of just omiting it.Is this true or just bad info?

I'm not sure about the $2.1 million figure, but the basic premise is correct.

...nothing but rumours yet, so lets not get too worked up ...

No, it's not a rumor. It's true. The yeti hasn't been functioning in close to a year.

So I guess Toy Story Mania isn't creative, the concept to create EE isn't creative, the Turtle Talk idea isn't creative. Nope, no creative ideas from Disney.

If the previous comment about the company that created the Yeti is out of business is accurate, then this is not an issue of creativity but rather if the technology to fix it is available. We don't have any info about whether the creating company used proprietary technology or not. If they did, it may be a huge problem to be able to repair.

When we don't have all the info, and we don't, we shouldn't immediately put down management, as is so frequent on this board. The truth is usually much more complicated than what is publicly known.

I don't want to put words in the OP's mouth, but I think he was more referring to the creativity required to come up with a better solution to the problem.

But the truth is, it really has nothing to do with creativity. It has to do with money. Imagineering could probably come up with 1,000 ways to fix it, but the bean counters won't foot the bill.

[spoonful of sugar]

I guess I won't miss it much because the 4 or 5 times I've ridden the ride I never saw the Yeti. When during the ride do you see it?

although i have seen the yeti i can honestly say that i was not impressed at all. i even found the ride to be boring.

[joonyer]

The Yeti has been broken for quite some time now. His arm is not fully attached to his body any more and he is ripping himself from his foundations. The company who created him has gone out of business. So there are lots of problems surrounding the figure and any replacemnt or repair would be costly and require shutting down the attraction for an extended period of time. One rumour that has been floating around is replacing him with a High Definition Video Screen.

Arm detached from body?
Ripped loose from foundation?
That's just poor quality engineering to begin with, and is a good reason why these kind of major components of attractions should be only performed by companies with long histories of reliable performance.

I don't know anything about who was given the contract for the Yeti, but if they got the job due to being the low bidder, well then Disney got what it paid for.

This situation is just Inexcusable. The Yeti should be re-engineered and put back into action, even if it does cost a lot of $$$$. Too bad the company that designed it has gone out of business. Now Disney has no recourse but to pick up the cost of repair itself.

Not that they'll do it, but I'd bet that if they put out a donation box with a sign that said "help repair the Yeti", that they could collect the cost of repair from ride-goers within a year.

[Diz-Knee]

Now that he's not functioning in A mode, maybe I can open my eyes again at the end of the ride! I never noticed the change because my eyes are always closed since riding it the first time.