Matt N
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Mako (SeaWorld Orlando)
Hi guys. For many years, Expedition Everest at Disney's Animal Kingdom held the coveted title of "the world's most expensive roller coaster". Touted as costing $100m, the ride contains one of the first known instances of switch track technology, and large swathes of it are enclosed in a huge replica of Mount Everest. The ride also infamously contains a long defunct animatronic often nicknamed the "Disco Yeti". Anyway, before I get too wrapped up in the features of Expedition Everest, my point is that it was the world's most expensive coaster for 13 years. Many thought it would never be beaten, but in 2019, a ride came along that managed to be even more expensive... Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure at Islands of Adventure, costing an alleged $300m, opened in June 2019. It is quite similar to Expedition Everest in many ways; it too uses switch track technology, and like Expedition Everest, it looks to employ heavy storytelling. However, Hagrid's is arguably on a different level of complexity, with 7 launches, a spike, and a drop track joining the switch track, which was itself the debut of Intamin's high speed switch track technology.
With these two rides being fairly similar, and with them both having held the roller coaster price record, I'd be keen to know; which do you prefer? Do you love Expedition Everest? Or are you more of a Hagrid's fan?
I can't personally answer this poll at present, as I've only ridden Expedition Everest, but that will soon change, as I am riding Hagrid's in June when I go back to Universal.
I'll admit, however, that I would be surprised and a bit disappointed if I didn't prefer Hagrid's to Expedition Everest. I apologise if this is controversial, as I know I risk putting myself in the firing line here, but I've never especially rated Expedition Everest. Don't get me wrong, it's a perfectly fine family coaster, it's got some clever tricks, and it's stunningly themed, but I've always come off it feeling somewhat underwhelmed, and I can't quite put my finger on why. It's a perfectly fine family coaster, but it's a coaster that I've never rated especially highly; there are numerous coasters within Walt Disney World alone that I prefer, in spite of Everest being comparatively far more grand on paper than any of the other WDW coasters that I've ridden.
But which of these two expensive coasters do you prefer? Are you an Expedition Everest lover, or are you more of a Hagrid's fan?
With these two rides being fairly similar, and with them both having held the roller coaster price record, I'd be keen to know; which do you prefer? Do you love Expedition Everest? Or are you more of a Hagrid's fan?
I can't personally answer this poll at present, as I've only ridden Expedition Everest, but that will soon change, as I am riding Hagrid's in June when I go back to Universal.
I'll admit, however, that I would be surprised and a bit disappointed if I didn't prefer Hagrid's to Expedition Everest. I apologise if this is controversial, as I know I risk putting myself in the firing line here, but I've never especially rated Expedition Everest. Don't get me wrong, it's a perfectly fine family coaster, it's got some clever tricks, and it's stunningly themed, but I've always come off it feeling somewhat underwhelmed, and I can't quite put my finger on why. It's a perfectly fine family coaster, but it's a coaster that I've never rated especially highly; there are numerous coasters within Walt Disney World alone that I prefer, in spite of Everest being comparatively far more grand on paper than any of the other WDW coasters that I've ridden.
But which of these two expensive coasters do you prefer? Are you an Expedition Everest lover, or are you more of a Hagrid's fan?
