New Disney coaster

Does anyone have any info on Animal kingdom's new coaster? I have heard that it will be called Legend of the Yeti and will supposedly run in and out of a man made mountain. Does anyone know who will design it and when construction is slated to begin?

It's all still rumor right now. All the "info" I've seen is on screamscape.

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- "I used to be in the audio/visual club, but I was kicked out because of my views on Vietnam........and I was stealing projectors" - Homer Simpson

Forbidden Mountain is the name I have heard from time to time.

Animal Kingdom cast members have reported seeing balloon tests back by Asia. The balloons seemed to be rising to about the height of 200 feet or so.

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- John
Dag, yo
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Before anyone goes crazy...that 200 foot height is likely for the mountain itself...not the ride. Picture Big Thunder. The spires of the rock are much higher than the top of the lift hill.

It looks liker the Matterhorn is finally making it's way to Florida.

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"This time I think ... I think it's ... it's going to work!" - Dr.Bruce Banner

Matterhorn in the middle of Animal Kingdom? I think not.

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- John
Dag, yo
Support Rob in the Great DDR Challenge!

It is called Lengend of the Yeti, yes it will be a big mountain in Asia and yes it has been greenlight.

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Surfs up in Hollister, CA! Later Dudes...

200ft??? Isn't there a height restriction in Central Florida??? ;)

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"...they came like a winged curse. A twin plague of demonic dragons!" - Dueling Dragons

From what i have heard is that disney wont put any attraction over 200ft because then it would need warning lights on it and that would detract from the theme. And thats why Tower of Terror is199ft and wasnt built over 200ft.

Actually, Matterhorn is already at Disney World. It's called 'Space Mountain.'

Yeah, the track is pretty similar, but the one at WDW is enclosed. The Space Mountain version at DLR is actually single tracked, because the building had to be so much smaller (DLR is a much, much smaller place, overall.)

I don't think it is going to be anything too extreme, and it may not even be a coaster in the most strict sense. Look to Tokyo DisneySea for ideas on what the new Animal Kingdom ride may be. It could be something more or less similar to Countdown to Extinction (is it just Dinosaur now?), but much more similar to a coaster.

If you're familiar with DisneySea, you may want to look at 'Journey to the Center of the Earth.' I forget if Screamscape brought it up or not, but I acutally think that they'll bring that sort of thing stateside.

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"Well, I'm sure I'd feel much worse if I weren't under such heavy sedation." - David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
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Journey To The Center of the Earth: Look at Test Track. Test Track is actually the first gen of that type of ride!

It will be a coaster because Disney wants to appeal to the younger crowd. CTE is the only "thrill ride" at Animal Kingdom right now.

They need one of Walt's so-called weenies.

Two things:

Matterhorn and Space Mountain are two TOTALLY different rides. Matterhorn is Arrow and Space Mountain is Vekoma.

Although Test Track is the 1st generation, Journey is not the 2nd believe it or not. The 2nd generation (well maybe generation 1.5 is more like it) failed miserably by way of Rocket Rods at Disneyland.

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- John
Dag, yo
Support Rob in the Great DDR Challenge!

Disney seems to be confused on what to do with this project. At first it was suppoused to be the centerpecie of a new land called Beastly Kingdom or Mythological Kingdom or something like that. The dragon from the Animal Kingdom logo was suppoused to represent this never created land. After the park opened, the park wanted to put in a Vekoma Flying Dutchmen themed to dragons and create this new land, but instead decided that it wasnt up to Disney's standards and they built Primeval Whirl in Dinoland USA. Now the talk is of this Legend of Yeti ride and it seems to me it is time Disney made up their minds. Sure Disney is a great corportation and have some beautiful parks, but they are gonna have to accept the fact that they are an AMUSEMENT PARK. People come to their parks to relax, be scared a little, and have fun. They have to stop worrying about whether little kids will ride this new ride and whether it is there image or not because if they don't, those "little kids" and there families will start going more often to IOA and BGW and riding those rides and forgetting about the happiest place on earth. I think this is the chance for Disney to really wow people. Disney is slowly coming around with Rock N' Roller Coaster and California Screamin' but I think this Legend of Yeti ride, if it indeed is a roller coaster, has to be an adult roller coaster. I have nothing against Disney I like the parks, but I honestly would skip all Disney parks for a chance to go to IOA again.

I dont think Disney is trying to win over the coaster enthusiast. Disney figures that they have the family market cornered based on name recognition alone. The fact is that families like myself (with 2 young children) will go to Disney instead of IOA because my kids can ride most of the rides with me, including the coasters. I do think that this new coaster will be an adult coaster because Disney seems to have at least 2 "thrill" rides in each park, except for AK. I count Dinosaur as the only "thrill" ride there now, since my 4 year old rode Khali river rapids and Primeval Whirl.

I don't think Disney is trying to win over coaster enthusiasts, but I think they are trying to win over teenagers and adults. In reality, coaster enthusiasts are in very small margin of most park visitors, way to small a number to focus on. However, teenagers and adults are a very large margin of visitors and I think it is this range that Disney needs to concentrate on. Obviously, Disney will always be visited by millions, but what I'm saying is that in Disney World's heyday, they were the only park in Orlando. Now there is Universal (USF and IOA), SWO, and BGW a little bit away and these parks are targetting the teenagers and adults. I'm saying if Disney wants to keep up with them, they have to start making rides that they might not have even thought about making years ago. Otherwise, they'll keep losing people to other parks. I think last year their attendence was down 6% and I think that will continue if they don't change something.

Regardless, I welcome the new addition. Gives me a reason to visit my brother in Tampa. ;)
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Optimus Prime? I didn't know he was Jewish! - Peter Griffin

One coaster is not going to turn Animal Kingdom into the all-day park that it aspires to eventually become. It's also not going to turn the park into a thrill-ride teen magnet (case in point, Sea World Orlando).

Disney won't play the spec game like Cedar Point and Six Flags do. They have a different advantage. Because Disney runs all-year parks with high ticket prices it can afford to spend the $100 million on the Mission: Space and Test Tracks that only Universal could before (with Spider-Man) but is unlikely to do so any time soon until Vivendi sells it to somebody else.

Animal Kingdom can certainly use the Yeti coaster but what it really needs is a few dark rides to give folks more things to do, and do so away from the heat.

Exactly. Countdown to Extinction was (I haven't ridden it since the "Dinosaur" changeover) one of the greatest rides ever. I LOVE dark rides. Indiana Jones, Journey to the Center of the Earth, all the way back to Pirates,etc. are what Disney is all about. Disney Sea did a new park right with several big E ticket dark rides. Animal kingom had/has one, but needs more. DCA needs a real dark ride more than anything. I was very, VERY sad that most of the dark ride elements will be eleminated on their Tower of Terror :( :( :(

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- "I used to be in the audio/visual club, but I was kicked out because of my views on Vietnam........and I was stealing projectors" - Homer Simpson