Are we there Yeti?

So imagine my excitement when I got an exclusive invitation to preview Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom. As an annual passholder I was entitled to ride this coaster before the public. So on Sunday we awoke at the crack of dawn and journeyed to Animal Kingdom. We all thought we were getting there when the park opened. The sad reality was we miscalculated and got there an hour later. Six adults, six kids all jogging to get in line. How bad could the line be? We were the select few.

Snark was gimping along, and the rest of us raced to get in some line that Disney employees were herding us to. I looked back to keep pace with him but all I heard was

"Go, save yourself. I'll only hold you back."

Actually the exact words were.

"Hold a place before the lady in the Amigo runs you over." he shooed us all away and limped along with his cane. I did see him surreptitiously stick that cane out to trip someone passing him .

So we get in a line that wraps around a lagoon. Hey, wait a minute here. I begin to realize I am a little ant in a sea of passholders, vacation club owners, resort guests, employees....you get the idea. Hell, why not just open the ride to the public since everyone is going on it anyway.

No, this was not the line for the ride. This was the line for id check to make sure the two people left in the park not able to ride were not let in.

We left that line to rejoin the Fastpass/gift voucher line. That was a bit shorter but then we joined the standby line which read 50 minutes but realistically was 90 minutes. Snark was being a grump since his back was not better. Only four kids could ride with us so the adult who couldn't stand lines took the other two little ones for another ride.

I was scared at the thought of this coaster. Yes, I am the supreme chicken. I was quaking in my shoes and the only thing that made me stay in the line was the thought that my two kids would roll with laughter if they saw how nervous I was. My friend poked me and told me that the only reason her kid was getting on this ride was because I told her it was like Thunder Mountain in Magic Kingdom. So in essence, I had better grin and get on.

Disney is wonderful for building the suspense. We pass through a temple dedicated to the Yeti. There are fallen statues, offerings and drawings. We walk through a tea garden and see "snow" blowing from the summit. We know we are getting near when we pass through a museum showing artifacts from Nepal.

We board a steam train and go up "Everest"and then drop back 80 feet. We see hints of the Yeti tearing up tracks hear his growls. I won't tell you the end but it was a blast and I didn't widdle in my pants once.