The Yeti Awakens! Disney Is Restoring Expedition Everest’s Legendary Beast

Something legendary is awakening deep inside the Forbidden Mountain.

For two decades, guests brave enough to board Expedition Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom have raced through the towering peaks of the Himalayas, only to discover that perhaps the stories surrounding the mysterious guardian of the mountain aren’t simply stories after all.

Because somewhere inside those twisting caverns lurks the Yeti.

And at long last, he’s getting ready to move again.

During D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, Disney Experiences Chairman Thomas Mazloum delivered an announcement longtime Walt Disney World fans have been waiting years to hear:

Disney is bringing the Yeti back to life inside Expedition Everest.

Yes. That Yeti.

The Legend of Expedition Everest Lives Again

Since opening at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Expedition Everest has done something particularly magical with its storytelling.

Before riders ever encounter the creature, Disney spends the entire queue convincing us that something is lurking within the mountain.

There are stories.

Sightings.

Evidence of attacks.

Sketches.

Even a massive footprint.

Then we board an old tea train and begin our journey toward the nearly 200-foot Forbidden Mountain.

Everything seems perfectly fine.

Until it isn’t.

The tracks have been torn apart, our train suddenly begins racing backward into the darkness and it becomes increasingly obvious that something doesn’t appreciate us traveling through its home.

That something is the Yeti.

The Yeti Is Ready to Move Again

When Expedition Everest originally opened, its enormous Yeti Audio-Animatronic was designed to make that final encounter considerably more terrifying.

But the massive figure hasn’t operated with its original movement for years, leaving Disney to use lighting effects to create the illusion of motion as trains race beneath him.

Fans even gave this version of the creature a rather affectionate nickname: Disco Yeti.

And Disney apparently knows exactly how beloved that piece of theme park history has become.

To give the long-dancing beast a proper send-off at D23, Gloria Gaynor took the stage to perform her iconic 1978 song I Will Survive.

Because naturally, Disco Yeti needed one final dance.

Something Is Waiting Inside the Mountain

There is something exciting about seeing Disney return to an existing attraction and restore one of the elements that helped make it so memorable in the first place.

Expedition Everest doesn’t need an entirely new story.

It doesn’t need new characters dropped into the mountain.

The story was already there.

The mystery surrounding the Yeti begins long before we ever board the train, slowly building until we’re racing backward through darkness and finally coming face-to-face with the legendary guardian himself.

Now, that final encounter is preparing to become considerably more alive.

Disney hasn’t yet revealed exactly when the restored Yeti will make his grand return or what changes are being made behind the scenes.

But after years of Disco Yeti watching over the Forbidden Mountain, the guardian of Expedition Everest is getting ready to awaken once more.

And something tells us he isn’t going to be particularly happy that we’ve been riding through his mountain all these years.