Disney confirmed at D23: The Ultimate Fan Event that the Yeti audio-Animatronic inside Expedition Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom is being brought back to life. Thomas Mazloum, Chairman of Disney Experiences, shared the news on the Horizons stage at the Honda Center, interrupting a presentation from Neil Patrick Harris to do it. The announcement ends a stretch of more than a decade in which the animatronic has run in a stationary, strobe-lit “B-Mode.” Fans have long nicknamed the figure the Disco Yeti for that lighting effect.
Yeti Animatronic Fix Announced for Expedition Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
IN THIS ARTICLE:
- Disney confirmed the Yeti will be brought back to life at Expedition Everest
- The announcement came during the Horizons showcase at D23 2026 in the Honda Center
- No completion date or reopening timeline has been announced
Disney Expedition Everest Yeti Fix at D23 Expo
Mazloum’s announcement drew a loud reaction from the crowd inside the Honda Center. “We’re bringing the Yeti back to life inside Expedition Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom,” he said. Cheers carried through the arena.
Before the announcement, presenters on stage referenced the crowd’s own nickname for the animatronic’s current state. They called it the Disco Yeti, a nod to the strobe lighting effect Disney added years ago. That lighting creates an effect that simulates motion the figure can no longer perform on its own. Disney followed the reveal with a musical send-off. Gloria Gaynor performed her 1978 hit “I Will Survive” as a farewell to the Disco Yeti era.
Disney has not detailed the scope of the repair work. The company also has not shared a start or end date. We’re going to work to try and get some answers about how the fix will be completed.
The Yeti at Expedition Everest
The Yeti figure inside Expedition Everest stands roughly 25 feet tall. It was built as one of the most complex audio-animatronics Walt Disney Imagineering had created at the time. In its original working state, the figure would jolt toward the ride vehicle. It would swipe at passing guests along the coaster’s track through the Forbidden Mountain.
The animatronic has not performed that full range of motion in years. Disney implemented a strobe lighting effect to simulate movement in the darkened show scene instead. That workaround led fans to coin the Disco Yeti nickname.
Expedition Everest sits inside a nearly 200-foot-tall mountain structure in the Asia section of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Imagineers themed the mountain to the fictional Forbidden Mountain. It draws inspiration from the northwest face of Mount Everest, along with geological elements found in Tibet and Nepal.
From the queue through the ride itself, the attraction builds the legend of the Yeti through a trailside museum, torn train tracks along the coaster route, and the animatronic’s show scene. The attraction opened as one of the last major non-intellectual property additions to a Disney theme park in the United States.
Story So Far
- June 2020: Former Imagineer Joe Rohde said there were “no easy or timely solutions yet” for fixing the Yeti
- June 2023: Rohde said repair solutions existed but had not lined up into a workable opportunity across the company’s operations, finance, and engineering teams
- August 2026: Disney confirmed the Yeti fix at D23: The Ultimate Fan Event
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