Disney will bring the Expedition Everest Yeti back to life at Animal Kingdom

By entgrove · August 16, 2026

Disney Experiences Chairman Thomas Mazloum announced at D23 that the Yeti audio-animatronic inside Expedition Everest at Disney's Animal Kingdom will move again, nearly two decades after structural problems locked the massive figure in place. Gloria Gaynor marked the moment on stage with "I Will Survive."

Disney will bring the Yeti audio-animatronic inside Expedition Everest back to life at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Thomas Mazloum, Chairman of Disney Experiences, made the announcement on stage at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, interrupting host Neil Patrick Harris to deliver the news, and the crowd answered with some of the loudest cheers of the show.

The announcement at D23

The reveal came on the "Horizons: A Carousel of Progress" stage at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event presented by Visa. Mid-show, Mazloum cut in on Harris with a single line: "We're bringing the Yeti back to life inside Expedition Everest at Disney's Animal Kingdom!" The audience reaction was immediate and loud.

Disney then leaned into the joke that fans have been making for years. Gloria Gaynor took the stage and performed "I Will Survive," a nod to the Yeti's long stretch in what the fan community calls "disco mode," the strobe-lit workaround Disney has used since the figure's original motion was disabled.

Why the Yeti stopped moving

When Expedition Everest opened in 2006, its Yeti was one of the largest and most complex audio-animatronic figures Disney had ever built, lunging at ride vehicles near the end of the coaster's run. Not long after opening, structural concerns with the figure's framing forced Disney to lock it in place. Since then, riders have seen a static Yeti lit by a flickering strobe that suggests movement without delivering it. Imagineers, including the late Joe Rohde, spoke openly over the years about wanting to fix it, but a repair was never announced until now.

The mountain that hides him

Expedition Everest's nearly 200-foot Forbidden Mountain is built around the Yeti's legend. The queue winds through a trailside museum stocked with evidence of the creature: records of campground attacks, sketches from claimed sightings, and a mold of a giant footprint. Guests board an aging tea train and climb the peaks, passing torn train tracks that hint at the mountain's guardian before the encounter itself. The mountain's design draws on the northwest face of Mount Everest along with geological features of Tibet and Nepal.

What this means for guests

A moving Yeti restores the intended finale of one of Walt Disney World's best coasters, a moment guests have not seen in nearly two decades. Disney has not shared a timeline or said whether the work will require a lengthy refurbishment, so riders should expect more detail before any downtime is scheduled. GenieGrove will report specifics as Disney releases them.