Although Beastly Kingdom was never built for a variety of reasons, Disney knew that the park needed an "E ticket" attraction, to help boost its popularity. On April 22, 2003, and in celebration of Animal Kingdom's fifth anniversary, Disney announced that they would be building a new roller coaster, Expedition Everest, in the Asia portion of the park <ref> http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/expedition-everest/news/22apr2003-disney-announces-expedition-everest.htm </ref>.
Taking some inspiration from the Matterhorn in Disneyland, Imagineers decided to set the new roller coaster in the Himalayan Mountains of Asia<ref name= "jack"/>. Like the abominable snowman in the Matterhorn, this new attraction would feature the Yeti, who has long been rumored to live within the mountains<ref name= "jack"/>. Since most people are most familiar with Mount Everest (the tallest peak in the world) Imagineers wanted to base the attraction on the famous summit. Due to Mount Everest’s lack of distinctive shape however, Imagineer Joe Rohde chose to create a mountain range with Everest in the background<ref name= "jack"/>. The attraction itself would instead take place in the Forbidden Mountain.