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Credit: DisneyFans rejoiced this weekend after the popular rollercoaster attraction at Disney’s Animal Kingdom finally reopened after a long period of refurbishment.
But, it wasn’t all smooth-sailing (climbing?) as Disney World Guests were forced to evacuate the mountainous ride after becoming stranded in the Yeti cave — of all places!
The Walt Disney World Resort is currently experiencing huge crowds amid its 50th anniversary celebration, dubbed The World’s Most Magical Celebration. Even with the divisive Park Pass reservation system, the Disney Parks in Central Florida are booming.
While Guests can reserve any of the Parks — Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios — and utilize the Park Hopper option in the afternoon, it seems, to some, that there is no slow season anymore with Guests forming long lines for attractions and eateries.
So, with many Guests visiting the Disney Parks comes the expectation that popular rides will be available throughout their Disney Resort stay. Unfortunately, Expedition Everest — Legend of the Forbidden Mountain in Asia at Disney’s Animal Kingdom was temporarily closed on January 4, 2022. After reports that Disney World had extended the closure indefinitely, the Disney Genie+ attraction reopened to Guests on its stated date of April 16, 2022, thrilling Easter holiday visitors.
Related: Disney World Guest Has “Never Seen Anything Like it” After Awful Magic Kingdom Experience
However, upon its reopening at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, some Guests experienced an evacuation after the rollercoaster broke down mid-ride at the theme park. Inside the Magic recently spoke with Disney Guest, Clare F., whose family got stuck on Expedition Everest during its downtime. The report comes from Clare’s children, they said:
We went on at about 3.30pm just as it opened. It started off as usual but then after the bit where it goes up and rolls back it stopped in the Yeti cave. After a minute or two the service lights came on. There were a couple of announcements saying that it was an unscheduled delay and a cast member would be there shortly.
The Guests go on to state how long they were waiting for evacuation from the Forbidden Mountain and what happened when Cast Members finally arrived to save the day:
We were sat for around 10 minutes when three cast members arrived to cheers from the riders. They had to start evacuating from the highest point and we were probably 3rd from the back which meant we got evacuated quite quickly. We had to start walking down a path and some steps, staying on the left away from the tracks.
Despite the unfortunate experience, the Guests had a cool experience getting to walk through the mountain show building:
It was quite exciting walking through the mountain seeing the maintenance area with metal walkways. There was a monitor which showed a section of the track which was the problem. We had to walk down 17 short flights of steps and then through the lower maintenance area. We saw shelves with engine parts on. We walked along a bit of track and then we were out.
Lucky for these Disney World Guests, they were offered water and a Lightning Lane Pass for a future ride at the theme park. Overall, they said, “It was disappointing not to do the whole ride but super exciting to see backstage.”
Related: Disney Guest “Sees Everything” After Being Evacuated Off EPCOT Attraction
Unfortunately, Disney attractions do experience malfunctions from time to time. Over at EPCOT, Spaceship Earth has been facing numerous issues ahead of the former Future World attraction’s major renovation. Similar to Clare’s family’s experience, Guests were once evacuated from the “highest hill” of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, so it is not uncommon, just bad luck for those looking forward to the experience.
Expedition Everest currently operates as a Disney Genie+ option and not an Individual Lightning Lane Selection, but this is currently scheduled to change from August 7, 2022, at the Disney Park. The Disney Genie service arrived shortly after the debut of Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary began in Orlando. In addition to the new tech, the Resort brought in new experiences like the Disney Enchantment fireworks at Magic Kingdom Park’s Cinderella Castle and the Harmonious nighttime spectacular at EPCOT’s World Showcase Lagoon.
Have you ever been evacuated from a Disney World attraction? Let us know in the comments below!
Let the expert team at Academy Travel help you plan your next magical vacation to Walt Disney World Resort’s theme parks — Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and the Disney water parks, Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park and Disney’s Blizzard Beach Water Park — and the Disney Springs shopping and dining district!