Expedition Everest: Disney World's Newest Rollercoaster is Their Best Ride Ever

So is Walt Disney World Animal Kingdom’s newest attraction Expedition Everest worth the price of admission? In a word, yes. I recently had the pleasure of taking a journey on this rollercoaster thrill ride and I can honestly say it is the most thrilling ride in any of Disney’s Orlando parks. At least any that I have ridden.

The peak of Everest rises high into the sky at Disney World Animal Kingdom. In fact, next to the gigantic Tree of Life, nothing in the park rises quite as high. From a distance it actually does look like a snow-covered mountain. I don’t know for sure about this, but I’m also betting that it actually is the highest mountain in the entire state of Florida. Because, you see, we don’t have mountains here.

If you go to Disney World with the express intent of riding Everest Expedition, I highly recommend getting a Fast Pass. A Fast Pass gives you a time frame in which you can come back and avoid the long lines. And there will be long lines. To give you an example of the use of Fast Pass, I showed up at the allotted time and walked right up to the rollercoaster and got on. The next to last seat. The ride took off with the clanging and clacking of an old-fashioned coaster and we soon were on our way through the Himalayas of Tibet.

Expedition Everest is particularly exciting because the first part takes you right up to a section of the track that has been torn apart by the Yeti. There’s a little hesitation and soon you are traveling backward down the path you just took. Only this time it’s mostly in complete darkness.

I won’t give away what happens next because part of the initial thrill is your encounters with the Yeti. I will say that as soon as you exit the ride—and make your way through the gift shop that Disney makes you have to go through after seemingly every ride—you will immediately want to get right back onto it. I would suggest you don’t actually do that, of course, but go get another Fast Pass.