Expedition Everest Reopens April 16 with Genie+ Access

Expedition Everest is one of the best roller coasters at Disney World. The popular and adventurous coaster in Animal Kingdom’s Asia section will reopen to the public tomorrow, April 16. And when it reopens, the attraction’s Lightning Lane access will work differently from when it closed.

Roller Coaster Refurbished, Yeti Still Busted

Expedition Everest closed earlier this year for a lengthy refurbishment. The closure was extended once, but the ride is now operational and ready for guests once again. The refurbishment did not fix the Yeti animatronic, which has been not working for many years at this point. Former Imagineer Joe Rohde has been commenting for years about the complexity of fixing the Yeti:

It’s not an issue of maintenance access, they were part of the design team and set the standard. In fact, it was seen as a model collaborative process. It’s an unexpected and unforeseen set of issues, very complex, with no easy or timely solutions as of yet. https://t.co/tTp3RGde5v

— Joe Rohde (@Joe_Rohde) June 27, 2020

Most likely, because the Yeti is attached the the frame/foundation of the Expedition Everest show building, it would require a closure that lasts much longer than this year’s refurbishment.

Expedition Everest is now available on Genie+

The other big news from Expedition Everest reopening is that it is being converted to Genie+, at least temporarily. As I predicted when Disney converted three other major attractions to Genie+, Expedition Everest is also being moved from Individual Lightning Lane to Genie+ until August 7, 2022.

I still believe that Disney should (and will) keep Expedition Everest in this tier after that deadline. As I pointed out in our Animal Kingdom Lightning Lane Guide, Expedition Everest is a bad deal for Individual Lightning Lane due to relatively short waits and Single Rider. Also, Genie+ needs as much ride capacity as possible, since Disney recently updated their Genie+ language to lower expectations. I will be updating that guide to reflect Expedition Everest’s new Genie+ status later today.

We want to hear from you!

Are you excited to go back on Expedition Everest? What do you think about the new Genie+ status? Let me know in the comments below!