Expedition Everest Concept - Full Experience

THIS IS NOT A RECREATION. PLEASE READ FULL DESCRIPTION BEFORE COMMENTING....

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VIDEO BREAKDOWN
Pictures 0:25-1:25
Queue 1:25-4:02
Boarding 4:02-4:22
Ride 4:22-7:45
Credits 7:45-9:39

Choose which parts of the video you'd like to watch. I won't be insulted if you don't watch everything, I just know that certain people are interested in all aspects of the ride, which is why I included everything. So, please don't leave me a comment mentioning that I showed too much queue, pictures, or whatever else. Some people appreciate details, and some people don't. For those who appreciate details, feel free to watch everything. For those who don't, feel free to skip wherever you please.

BACKGROUND

Before I go any further, I'll give you a little background to this video. It's always bothered me that Expedition Everest did not reach its original plan: at some point, funding was cut from the program, eliminating parts of the track. Not only that, but after looking at concept art I began to realize that this story is way bigger than the ride guests experience now at Disney's Animal Kingdom. With that in mind, I started coming up with ways to bridge the gap between the original design and the ride we see now, keeping in mind the fact that there's a limited amount of space available.

CHANGES

So, at this point I'm sure you're wondering what I changed.

1. First of all, the town of Serka Zong depicted in the storyline is supposed to be a mountainous village. It always bothered me that in Animal Kingdom you're on some tremendous lake in the lowlands. So, I transformed the current Serka Zong into a seaside trading market, bridging Anandapur (village where Kali River Rapids is located) to Serka Zong.

2. The challenge then became to use the same amount of space to take guests from the seaside to the plateaus below the Himalayas. To do that, I made the queue a lot more isolated from the village. You hardly catch a glimpse of the seaside village from the queue, and you feel as if you're venturing far away from it as the scenery changes to forest.

3. The ride changes as well. After leaving the station, the train ventures into what is supposed to be Serka Zong, and the music in the background (thanks, unbelievably, to music from Universal Islands of Adventure) depicts the ambiance of the village: foreign, isolated, and slightly creepy. You also venture through a forest, and the adventure feels a lot more isolated from the outside world. You can't see the original seaside town until the main lift.

4. At the main lift, the music fades out, and suddenly you're heading towards the Himalayas. The wind picks up and the ambiance becomes very solemn: something is definitely not right. You can see Everest lit brightly in the distance, but the Forbidden Mountain is looming nearby.

5. The backwards part of the ride is different because it is inside AND outside. Also, you first encounter the yeti here, on the mountain, not in it, which makes you race backwards faster. Strangely, he doesn't make a sound, which you wonder if you really saw him there. This I felt introduced the concept of legend: are you just seeing things or was he watching?

6. Once switching back to forward position, there is another change. Instead of seeing a shadow of the Yeti, you instead hear him in the distance waiting for you. I thought this made it a little creepier and left more to the imagination, more of that sense of fear. It also confirms the fact that you did see the Yeti while going backwards.

7. Another change is that the track changes color according to the environment. In the lowlands, the track is brown. In the mountains, it's gray, as if it's been covered in snow and worn from harsh weather. Finally, in the dark, it's black, taking out all light from the ride.

8. There are several more drops throughout the ride, the main one being about 10 feet taller (about 90 feet). There are also three encounters with the Yeti instead of one or two, and the last one isn't as close to the ride exit as with the current Expedition Everest: you still need to venture a bit more to get out of the Himalayas. I thought that made the end of the attraction a bit more realistic. Why would the Yeti be seconds away from the edge of the Himalayas? Those are most of the changes, but I'm sure that many of you may find more.

Thanks for listening, and...

Enjoy! =)

To download all the custom scenery used in this video, please go to: http://www.rct-theme-world.de/rct-lis...

To learn more about track splitting, please visit this link: http://www.ataricommunity.com/forums/...


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