Scale the Forbidden Mountain!
The Yeti! Disney
Expedition Everest has been one of Walt Disney World’s premier attractions since it opened in 2006. Despite some well-known technical issues surrounding its heavily promoted Yeti animatronic, the ride has become a favorite attraction of many due to its thrilling coaster layout, including a backward portion.
Like any popular roller coaster, there are many opinions as to the best seat to experience Expedition Everest. Before we tell you our choice though, let’s see what our readers thought.
We polled our Facebook audience with the simple question “Which row is BEST on Expedition Everest?” We received a multitude of answers, but there were a few that seemed to reach consensus.
For starters, we got a few responses from readers who said that they weren’t big fans of Expedition Everest, but that if they had to ride it, they’d aim for the middle of the coaster car. For example, reader Kristin wrote “The benches outside the ride. Unfortunately, the backward portion triggers my motion sickness. If I had to ride, I’d probably aim for the middle in hopes of avoiding the worst of it in either direction.”
Expedition Everest
However, beyond those answers, there were seemingly two options for best that battled back and forth. Many readers responded with the first row at the front of the train. As reader Erwin put it, the “front row hits you good going backward”, while reader Sheila added, “1st for me and my son especially when the track ends.”
However, while there was a decent amount of love for the front seat, a seemingly equal amount of our Facebook readers preferred sitting in the back row. Reader Brian wrote, “Very back! Especially for the drop” while reader Doug added, “I’m sure a lot of people will say the front row, but the back row is absolutely wild!”
Expedition Everest
Meanwhile, reader Mike gave us our new favorite way to describe coaster trains and vehicles: “Santa Claus seat, the very back, keep all the reindeer up front.”
There were also some diplomatic wanders, such as reader Robb writing, “Not a bad row on the ride. You’re at Animal Kingdom, not a bad moment in my life.” Readers Ben and Jarrod expressed similar sentiments, saying “I’ve been all over and it’s always a good ride!” and “the first one with any available seat so I can ride it” respectively.
©Google Maps
So with all those reader opinions expressed, what’s our take? Well, first off we definitely agree with the diplomatic takes that there’s really no bad seat on Expedition Everest. That said, we have to say our favorite is the front seat. We love the feeling of reaching the top of the mountain and encountering the “broken” tracks with seemingly nothing in front of us but an open sky. As if that wasn’t enough, the feeling of plummeting backward with the weight of the rest of the train pulling us faster might be in the top two or three most thrilling experiences at Disney World.
Expedition Everest
There’s no “bad” seat on Expedition Everest, but sitting in the first seat of the coaster train definitely adds a massively chilling element to the attraction. Stay tuned to DFB for further Animal Kingdom coverage.
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Where’s your favorite spot to sit on Expedition Everest? Let us know in the comments below.
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Either the front or the back row. The front row especially The View when the tracks are ripped up is great plus when you’re going down forward you can feel the car kind of pushing though the curves.
The back row is a lot of fun especially when you’re going backwards then when you get locked and you start going forward you’re at the back and you’re getting slung through the turns as your car is trying to keep up.
I’m confused by the headline of this blog post. Is Row 17 the last row?
Hi June! Yes, row 17 is the last row on each train.
I like both front and back for different reasons. But I rode like 6 or 7 times in a row with my sister a couple of years ago as an adult, and I was in the left seat of the car most of the time. The couple of times I was on the right seat felt way less intense and she agreed. The first time she rode on the inside around the curves she understood why I was laughing uncontrollably like an idiot ?
Middle…right side for me. I’m too old for the biggest thrills, but still like to hang with my kids and grandkids. Don’t Judge, like I said I’m old!!