Source: ezinearticles.com
Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain. This may be the greatest title of a ride Disney has ever imagineered. The elaborately themed roller coaster at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Florida, opened April 7, 2006 (has it really been that long!).
While the ride has occasionally been compared to Disneyland's Matterhorn Bobsleds, the comparison is quite off. Yes, a quick glance at the ride does bring memories of Anaheim's famous attraction, but in reality the two rides have less in common than Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.
For starters, Everest features a traditional coaster train with a capacity of 34 individuals. The Matterhorn has only two cars seating up to eight individuals. In addition, Everest trains travel both forward and backward! The speed of Everest also nearly doubles that of the Matterhorn. Both rides do feature "monsters" - the Yeti of Everest and the Abominable Snowman (which also is a Yeti). However, Disney claims the Everest Yeti is one of the largest and most complex figures it has ever built and experience shows it is extremely lifelike. It was based on extensive research into the legend of the Yeti famous in Himalayan cultures of Nepal and Tibet.
Everest is a true thrill ride. I would say that adventurous children ages 7 and up would love the ride. If your children are easily scared then you may want to wait until 8 or 9 years of age. However, while it is fast it is not really scary. It is quite fun. In fact it won the 2006 Theme Park Insider Award for "World's Best New Theme Park Attraction" which was a well-deserved award. The height of the ride reaches 112 feet. This does not sound like much but is roughly the size of an 11 story building (it seems higher when you are looking out from the peak!). The maximum speed is 50 miles per hour (80 kph). As comparison Space Mountain only reaches 28 mph. The ride is fairly long, nearly 4 minutes.
Unfortunately I cannot comment on the queue of the ride as I've only ridden with Fast Pass.
Tip: If you are interested in seeing how the coaster manages to head in a different direction once it reverses from forward to backward motion, bring a camcorder with night vision capability and try to sit in either the first row or last row. If you are in the first row, when you are stopped in the dark tunnel to engage your night vision and watch the track change. If you are in the last row, you will need to turn around in your seat 180 degrees when stopped at the very top of the mountain and film the track change behind you.
Jim Ranieri is the owner of http://www.cooldisneytrips.com with videos, forums, photos and articles about Disney vacations.
