A major shutdown appears to be on the horizon for one of Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s most popular attractions.
Disney has confirmed plans to finally fix the famous Yeti inside Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain. While the company hasn’t announced when the coaster will close, we expect the project will likely begin sometime in late 2027 or early 2028, after Tropical Americas opens.
That timing could allow Disney to tackle a problem that has followed Expedition Everest for nearly its entire existence without leaving Animal Kingdom dangerously short on major attractions.
Disney Is Finally Fixing the Yeti
Expedition Everest opened in 2006 with an enormous Yeti Animatronic serving as the coaster’s climactic encounter.
The approximately 25-foot-tall figure originally featured significant movement, including the ability to move vertically and horizontally as riders raced underneath it.
But that experience didn’t last long.
Only months after the coaster opened, the Yeti’s movement became severely limited. Disney began illuminating the stationary figure with strobe lights, creating the effect fans eventually nicknamed the “Disco Yeti.”
Now, roughly two decades later, Disney is finally preparing to address it.
Disney confirmed at the 2026 D23 Ultimate Fan Event that the Yeti will be fixed. The announcement even included Gloria Gaynor helping Disney give the “Disco Yeti” a fitting farewell.
Expedition Everest Could Close After Tropical Americas Opens
Disney hasn’t announced a closure date, so late 2027 or early 2028 remains our expected timeframe rather than an official schedule.
Waiting until Tropical Americas opens would make plenty of sense.
Animal Kingdom is already undergoing a massive transformation as Disney replaces DinoLand U.S.A. with Pueblo Esperanza. Closing Expedition Everest while that work continues would further reduce the park’s already limited attraction capacity.
Once Tropical Americas opens with new experiences, Disney should have more flexibility to temporarily remove Expedition Everest from the lineup.
And this may not be a quick refurbishment.
The Yeti sits within a complicated attraction consisting of separate structures for the coaster, mountain and Animatronic. Former Imagineer Joe Rohde previously discussed how difficult accessing and repairing the massive figure would be.
Disney hasn’t revealed whether it will repair the existing Animatronic, substantially rebuild the system or replace portions of it.
That also means we don’t know how long Expedition Everest will remain closed.
What we do know is that Disney has committed to fixing one of Walt Disney World’s most famous attraction problems.
After roughly 20 years of the “Disco Yeti,” Expedition Everest could finally receive the experience Imagineers originally intended — but guests should expect a major shutdown before that happens.
