The Yeti figure inside Expedition Everest is slated to move again at Disney's Animal Kingdom. The announcement confirms that the large Audio-Animatronic figure is slated to move again after years in a static presentation.
Disney has not announced a closure window, work schedule or completion date. The current ride experience uses lighting effects around the stationary figure during the coaster's final encounter.
The Existing Yeti Will Stay in Its Current Scene
BlogMickey reports that Disney plans to repair the existing Audio-Animatronic figure where it stands today. The project does not call for a replacement figure, a new position or a different scene.
Disney's public announcement and Disney Parks Blog coverage confirm that movement will return but do not provide those technical details. Disney still has not announced when work will begin.
Ethan Reed Welcomes the Yeti's Return
Ethan Reed, the original animator of the Yeti figure, said he was “genuinely thrilled” to hear that Disney plans to animate it again. In comments reported by WDWNT, Reed described working on the figure during development and pre-programming, missing its final installation, and seeing it function in the attraction once.
Reed also expressed regret over suggesting the strobe effect used for the B-show. He praised the Walt Disney World and Imagineering teams for bringing the figure back and singled out Gloria Gaynor's “I Will Survive” performance at the D23 reveal.
We're bringing the Yeti back to life inside Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom.
— Disney Parks (@DisneyParks) August 16, 2026
There was no shortage of interest to audition for the Yeti.
— Disney Parks (@DisneyParks) August 16, 2026
Watch Disney's official Yeti audition video on X.
Disney Has Not Announced the Work Schedule
The D23 announcement commits to restoring the Yeti but leaves the construction plan open. Disney has not said whether Expedition Everest will need an extended closure or when guests should expect to see the moving figure.
How the Original Yeti Moved
Expedition Everest opened in April 2006 with the encounter as its mechanical finale. A contemporaneous engineering account described a 25-foot, 20,000-pound figure with 19 axes of motion. A boom attached to its back moved the figure about two feet vertically and five feet toward or away from the train while its head, torso, arm, and fingers moved independently.
The figure appears for only a few seconds near the end of the ride, after the train reverses through the mountain. In the original presentation, it lunged and swiped above the passing train. The queue and earlier scenes spend the rest of the attraction building toward that encounter, placing the Yeti at the center of the ride's story.
Why Fans Call It Disco Yeti
The Yeti's full motion did not last. Orlando Sentinel reported in 2010 that the figure had remained motionless for more than a year. Disney instead lit the stationary figure with a strobe, using the flashes, the train's speed, and moving fur to suggest motion. Fans dubbed that version “Disco Yeti.”
Disney has never publicly provided a detailed failure report, so long-circulating claims about cracked foundations and specific construction defects remain unconfirmed. The original engineering record does show why access is complicated: the moving coaster track, rigid mountain shell, and Yeti mechanism were designed as separate structural systems packed inside the same finished mountain.
New announcement, images and video: Disney Parks and Disney Parks. Background: Machine Design's 2006 engineering report, the Orlando Sentinel, and ABC News' opening report. Repair and placement details: BlogMickey's original reporting. Original animator comments: WDWNT's report.