[1] The queue starts at the office of the fictional "Himalayan Escapes" travel agency, progressing to a replica temple with little holy figures.

The riders board the roller coaster in the model village of Serka Zong, to begin a speedy route through the Himalayas to the base of Mount Everest.

When it emerges from the other side, the train suddenly comes to a halt due to the track in front of the guests being bent and broken apart, presumably by the yeti.

As the shadow moves away, the train rolls forward out of the mountain, going past the on-ride camera and plunging down the main 80-foot (24 m) drop.

[5][18] The "locomotive" itself is designed to resemble a vertical boiler configuration and is placed at the rear of the train rather than the front, so not to obstruct the riders' view.

[17] Although moderate in height and length by contemporary standards, Expedition Everest was the first ride for Disney to have its trains travel both forward and backward.

[21] Expedition Everest is often compared to the 1959 Matterhorn Bobsleds roller coaster at Disneyland, which also features a snowy mountain setting and an "abominable snowman" figure throughout the ride.

[18] Moreover, there is a small shrine on the ground level in the Asia area of the park which has been designed to perfectly overlap with the view of the distant attraction.

The yeti was the largest and most complex audio-animatronic figure ever built by Walt Disney Imagineering at the time of its construction.

[23] A few months after the ride opened in 2006, the yeti figure's framing split, threatening catastrophic malfunction if it were to be operated further in "A-mode".

[23] Since then it has been operated only in the alternative "B-mode", in which a strobe-light effect is used to give the appearance of movement, earning it the nickname "Disco Yeti" from some fans.

[23] The problem with the concrete is rumored to have occurred due to a glitch in the 4-D scheduling software that prevented adequate curing of a portion of the Yeti's foundation before the fabrication of mountain elements and roller coaster track.

Rohde responded, "You have to understand, it's a giant complicated machine sitting on top of, like, a 46-foot tall tower in the middle of a finished building.

"[26][27] Rohde retired from Walt Disney Imagineering effective January 4, 2021, never having completed the repairs to the Yeti animatronic.

[14] The expeditions and the making of the attraction were chronicled in three documentaries broadcast on Discovery's cable television channels in April 2006.

[11] The first was Expedition Everest: Journey to Sacred Lands, broadcast on the Travel Channel on April 9 to coincide with the attraction's grand opening.

(During construction, for example, instead of traditional scaffolding the Imagineers used interior poles that poked through the outside of the mountain and were connected by wooden platforms.

Including sets and extras, the total cost of the ride was reported to be US$100 million over six years of planning and construction.

[4] In 2019, this record was surpassed by Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which cost US$300 million.