Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain opened at Disney’s Animal Kingdom on April 7, 2006, as the most expensive roller coaster ever built, costing around $100 million. Designed by Walt Disney Imagineering and manufactured by Vekoma, the ride sends guests 118 feet up into a hand-crafted Himalayan mountain that stands just under 200 feet tall — deliberately kept at 199.5 feet to avoid FAA aviation lighting requirements.
Riders board a vintage tea-train in the fictional village of Serka Zong and race toward Mount Everest, only to find the tracks torn apart by the legendary yeti. The coaster then reverses direction in the dark before plunging forward at up to 50 mph, making it the first Disney coaster designed to travel both forward and backward within a single ride cycle. The 2011 Guinness World Records named it the most expensive roller coaster in the world.
Stats at a Glance
- Park: Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Walt Disney World
- Location: Bay Lake, Florida, USA
- Manufacturer: Vekoma
- Opened: April 7, 2006
- Height: 118 ft (36 m)
- Drop: 80 ft (24 m)
- Top Speed: 50 mph (80 km/h)
- Length: 4,112 ft (1,253 m)
- Inversions: 0
- Ride Duration: About 2 min 50 sec
The Ride Experience
Guests climb aboard a Himalayan railway train at the foot of a massive artificial mountain and set off toward the forbidden peak. After an ascent through richly themed Himalayan scenery, the train reaches a broken section of track — evidence of the yeti’s wrath. The lights cut out and the train reverses at speed into a shadowy cavern where the silhouette of the great beast looms overhead. A mid-course switch track, a first for a Disney attraction, makes this reversal possible by redirecting the train onto a descending backward section.
The coaster then launches forward and plunges 80 feet at 50 mph through the mountain’s exterior before returning to the station. The entire circuit covers about 4,112 feet of steel track with zero inversions, keeping the focus on pacing, storytelling, and that single gut-dropping moment of unexpected reversal. A height requirement of 44 inches (112 cm) applies.
Record-Breaking Theming and Cost
Walt Disney Imagineering spent six years planning and building Expedition Everest, commissioning authentic artifacts from Nepal and Tibet to fill the attraction’s queue and surrounding village. The mountain structure — spanning nearly 200 feet — ranks among the tallest artificial peaks at any theme park. At $100 million all-in, it held the Guinness World Record for most expensive roller coaster as of 2011.
The centerpiece is a 25-foot-tall yeti audio-animatronic, one of the most complex Disney ever built. Since shortly after opening, the yeti has operated in a reduced ‘B-mode’ — a strobe-light silhouette rather than full movement — due to structural challenges animating a figure of that scale inside the mountain. Restoring the yeti to full operation has remained a long-running topic among Disney park fans.
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Expedition Everest Photo Archive
These are original ThrillZing photos of Expedition Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, restored and upscaled from the original camera files. They show the Forbidden Mountain across the lake, the entrance banner, and trains on the lift and dropping out of the mountain. All photos are free to reuse under a CC BY 4.0 license with credit to ThrillZing and a link to this page.
Park apps, mobile ordering and photos kill a battery by 3 p.m. This one snaps on magnetically, so there's no cable to snag on a restraint.
Ride with your glasses on and keep them. Many parks allow glasses on rides if they're strapped, so check the ride rules first.
Small enough to ride with on most coasters, big enough for a phone, card and keys. Two zippers mean nothing falls out upside down.
Expedition Everest FAQs
Who manufactured Expedition Everest?
Expedition Everest was manufactured by Vekoma, a Dutch roller coaster manufacturer, and designed by Walt Disney Imagineering. It opened at Disney’s Animal Kingdom on April 7, 2006.
Does Expedition Everest go upside down?
No — Expedition Everest has zero inversions. The thrill comes from an 80-foot drop, a top speed of 50 mph, and a unique mid-ride reversal where the train travels backward through a dark cavern before lunging forward again.
What is the height requirement for Expedition Everest?
Riders must be at least 44 inches (112 cm) tall to board Expedition Everest, located in the Asia section of Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida.
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Photo: Benjamin D. Esham (bdesham) / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.