Wallpaper pictures of the history and construction of the "Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain" roller coaster in the Asia section of Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park - presented in 4:3 regular and 16:9 widescreen formats!

Ever since the Abominable Snowman was added to the incredibly popular "Matternhorn Bobsleds" Disneyland attraction back in 1978, one of the most common questions asked was:  When will Florida have its version of the Matternhorn?

Many rumors have come and gone telling about how the Matternhorn was going to be added in Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom, as part of the proposed Switzerland in Epcot's World Showcase, or even in the Disney-MGM Studios with a behind-the-scenes look into the ride.

But then along came Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park with its dedication to the real, extinct and mythological animals throughout the world.  And just after the park opened to the public in 1998, it was already evident that the park was in need of another major E-Ticket ride.  Something big and original.

The whole "lack of attractions" problem could have been mostly solved with the proposed Phase II addition of Beastly Kingdom.  The expansion would have added several rides and attractions to the park as part of a major expansion, and this would have included a certain roller coaster themed with a dark castle and a dragon.  The problem with the Beastly Kingdom's coaster is that back in the mid 1990's, Disney let go a bunch of Imagineers, and several of them were picked up by Universal.  The idea for a dragon-themed roller coaster went with them, and as a result the Islands of Adventure park opened with the incredibly popular and highly themed "Dueling Dragons" roller coasters.  The opening of the "Dueling Dragons" in 1999 signaled the delay if not outright removal of the plans for Disney's dragon-themed coaster.  We may still see such a coaster in the future as the Universal coasters are already over ten years old, but that will depend on the economy and general tourism levels in the near future.

So instead of building a dragon-themed roller coaster just after the opening of the "Dueling Dragons" coasters just down the street, why not build an entirely different roller coaster and ride experience in a different area of the park?

The answer evolved into Florida's Matternhorn, only instead of a famous mountain in the Swiss Alps, the Imagineers went bigger and better.  The new mountain was themed for the Himalayan Mountains and Mount Everest.  Along with the mountain comes the Yeti, the first mythological animal to be added to the theme park.  Personally, I believe that such creatures do exist in the world, but right now that falls into the field of cryptozoology.  Until such creatures are proven without a doubt to exist or have once existed, then for the time being they are classified as "mythological."  That's fine with me as long as they build the ride ;)

Thus, "Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain" was born.

Plans for the new roller coaster were created back in 2002, and by 2003 land was being cleared between "Kali River Rapids" and down towards the Theater In The Wild in DinoLand USA.  A new path was built along the edge of Discovery Lake, and a bridge was added over the water, connecting the new path in Asia to DinoLand USA, greatly helping with the anticipated surge in traffic.  The new path and bridge helped the area again when the new and still quite popular "Finding Nemo - The Musical" show was added to the Theater In The Wild.

By the end of 2005 the mountain and ride system were nearly complete, and starting in the Winter of 2006 the annual passholders and then general public were allowed to go for rides on the new roller coaster.  A major new landmark had been added to the growing theme park, and this mountain is just absolutely amazing!

Note - Each picture can be opened in one of two styles - regular (4:3 ratio) and widescreen (16:10 ratio). You may download and share these pictures, but please, do not modify or alter them in any way!  All shared photos must be referred back to this website!

The above Disney's Animal Kingdom guidemap pictures are (c) The Walt Disney Company.

The regular 4:3 pictures all have a resolution of 1600x1200 (960x1280 for vertical pictures), unless it's otherwise noted.  They can also easily fit monitor resolutions of 1280x960 or even 2133x1600 without needing any special modifications.  Just select the image and have Windows stretch and fit it to the other 4:3 resolution.

The widescreen 16:10 pictures all have a resolution of 1440x900, unless it's otherwise noted.  They can also easily fit a resolution of 2560x1600 without needing any special modifications.  Just select the image and have Windows stretch and fit it to the other 16:10 resolution.

Warning - There will be some slight variations between the regular and widescreen pictures!

To help save bandwidth for the other visitors, please open each picture only once. If you like it, save it to your hard drive. You can also right click on the link and select "save as" instead of manually loading each picture.

2004:

- Expedition Everest - construction - 2004 - 01 - regular, widescreen

- Expedition Everest - construction - 2004 - 02 - regular, widescreen

- Expedition Everest - construction - 2004 - 03 - regular, widescreen

- Expedition Everest - construction - 2004 - 04 - regular, widescreen

Mid-2005:

- Expedition Everest - construction - mid-2005 - 01 - regular, widescreen

Late 2005:

- Expedition Everest - construction - late 2005 - 01 - regular, widescreen

- Expedition Everest - construction - late 2005 - 02 - regular

- Expedition Everest - construction - late 2005 - 03 - regular, widescreen

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