Expedition Everest Closing for Refurb Early 2022

[EpcotPhoenician]

I'm super upset about this. It's closing the day my family arrives (January 4th) and is rumored to re-open around April. Hopefully, they bring the Yeti back to its true, terrifying form.


We may just cancel our AK reservations and use the Park Hopper to spend a half-day in the evening.

 

[figmentfinesse]

I'm super upset about this. It's closing the day my family arrives (January 4th) and is rumored to re-open around April. Hopefully, they bring the Yeti back to its true, terrifying form.


We may just cancel our AK reservations and use the Park Hopper to spend a half-day in the evening.

that is so tough. I hate it when you’re really looking forward to something and then, bam, refurb!!

What I can say though, is that AK in the evening is dead. Once 2 hits everyone is park hopping out or just going home if they rope dropped because they accomplished everything. I had this experience in January of this year (low crowds overall) and the first half of August this year (fairly high crowds).

 

[gerilyne]

Well this is a HUGE disappointment. We are coming to WDW in February because we had to delay our trip this year for work. My boyfriend has never been and we were really looking forward to it. Bummer.

 

[leeniewdw]

This is devastating for our late Feb trip. Our first trip with our 20-something kids and their SOs and this was the #1 ride for me to go on with them. Only 3 of the 6 of us have ridden it.

 

[eticketplease]

We may just cancel our AK reservations and use the Park Hopper to spend a half-day in the evening.

We maybe doing the same on our Spring Break trip in March. We are usually out of that park at Lunch time or just afterwards so going later may actually be a nice adventure for us even with out Yeti sightings.

 

[Liquidice]

There are only like 6 rides in AK right? FoP, Navi River, Everest, Dinosaur, Safari, Triceratop Spin... so Everest being down for so long is a huge blow.

Will need to try and ride it as much as possible in Nov/Dec when I'm there I guess!

 

[EpcotPhoenician]

We maybe doing the same on our Spring Break trip in March. We are usually out of that park at Lunch time or just afterwards so going later may actually be a nice adventure for us even with out Yeti sightings.

I heard that the animals tend to be more active later in the evening on the Kilimanjaro Safari. Something to look forward to, I suppose..

 

[luv2cheer92]

There are only like 6 rides in AK right? FoP, Navi River, Everest, Dinosaur, Safari, Triceratop Spin... so Everest being down for so long is a huge blow.

Will need to try and ride it as much as possible in Nov/Dec when I'm there I guess!

You forgot Kali. Plus I count the train.

 

[Liquidice]

You forgot Kali. Plus I count the train.

Oh, I always forget Kali cuz I never ride it still a long amount of downtime if true of 4 months for a park with 8 rides.

 

[luv2cheer92]

And so ends my tradition of riding it in the middle of the marathon in January. Oh well.

 

[MrBellatrixLestrange]

I actually think AK is the most underappreciated park however it does lack a bit when it comes to rides, having maybe the best one out of commission would certainly make me consider not going to that park were I planning to be there at that time.

 

[luv2cheer92]

I actually think AK is the most underappreciated park however it does lack a bit when it comes to rides, having maybe the best one out of commission would certainly make me consider not going to that park were I planning to be there at that time.

It is far and away significantly my favorite park, and always the first park I would go to out of all 4, so this doesn't come close to swaying me away from that park.

 

[MrBellatrixLestrange]

It is far and away significantly my favorite park, and always the first park I would go to out of all 4, so this doesn't come close to swaying me away from that park.

I can understand that too, it's a great park but I do want some rides during my day. FoP and EE are awesome but if one of the 2 is down it's a massive loss to me. I might just go to HS another day or drink around Epcot another time.

 

[luv2cheer92]

I can understand that too, it's a great park but I do want some rides during my day. FoP and EE are awesome but if one of the 2 is down it's a massive loss to me. I might just go to HS another day or drink around Epcot another time.

It really shows how different everyone is. I am all about rides, but AK is soooo much more than rides, so having one, even if its one of the best, wouldn't impact my enjoyment of the park.

I'm only bummed about my above comment haha

 

[MrBellatrixLestrange]

It really shows how different everyone is. I am all about rides, but AK is soooo much more than rides, so having one, even if its one of the best, wouldn't impact my enjoyment of the park.

I'm only bummed about my above comment haha

Yeah, it's always sad when a tradition comes to an end.

 

[vitacura]

I was at Animal Kingdom yesterday and rode it several times, it was walk-on every time. Hope the downtime is minimal and doesn't get extended.

 

[Mr. Drauer]

I heard that the animals tend to be more active later in the evening on the Kilimanjaro Safari. Something to look forward to, I suppose..

there is not any truth to this. Different animals do different things - grazers eat most of the day, so the savannah is typically active all day long. Lions sleep 20 hours a day in the wild - they are never active, but you might see them change position or yawn. Cheetas are daytime hunters, but only hunt every couple of weeks - they are almost always lying in the shade on the hillside.. Disney uses enrichment and other feeding type of situations that vary based upon animal type and time. These are all African animals, and do not have any different type of response in Florida based upon the weather/heat or time of day. The main reason that you might not see certain animals is because they are all called back into their pens at different times, and let out in the morning at different times.

 

[MGMmjl]

I'm super upset about this. It's closing the day my family arrives (January 4th) and is rumored to re-open around April. Hopefully, they bring the Yeti back to its true, terrifying form.


We may just cancel our AK reservations and use the Park Hopper to spend a half-day in the evening.

That is a bummer as my family arrives on January 8th. I'm disappointed about that, but at least it is a ride that our 4 year old son probably wouldn't be able to ride yet. And my wife and mom aren't huge roller coaster riders, so about half of our party probably wouldn't have ridden it anyway. Still, it is disappointing to me as I love it!

 

[StarrySkye21]

This explains why they are closing Kali River earlier than normal. It’ll be closed for refurbishment in November instead of the usual January. So hopefully there won’t be two rides down in a park already light on rides.

 

[gharter]

Just saw that. Down for 3 months sounds like significant maintenance.
Its not fun, but I think just about every trip, at least one attraction we wanted to ride is closed. NO good way for them to get around that.