Walt Disney World Moves Mountains to Celebrate New Attraction

NEW YORK (PRNewswire) – New York City's famed Times Square was transformed into the legendary Mount Everest on Feb. 15 by Walt Disney World Resort. A 57-story spectacular brought the Himalayas to life, with dazzling special effects and the ferocious roar of the yeti, plus world-renowned aerialist acrobats performing a never-seen-before display of vertical acrobatics. The show, "Everest in the City," took place hundreds of feet above Times Square to celebrate the launch of the thrilling new Walt Disney World at-traction Expedition Everest, grand opening in April at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Project Bandaloop, fea-turing the world's most creative aerial acrobats, flew through the sky as they performed off a pair of tower-ing billboards spanning two skyscrapers at Broadway and 47th Street. Serving as the dramatic backdrop, the billboards featured a runaway train racing through snow-covered mountains, just narrowly escaping the wrath of the fearsome red-eyed yeti, legendary protector of the Himalayas. To broaden "Everest in the City" beyond a traditional billboard, Walt Disney World Resort partnered with industry leaders including Sylvania, Hip Cricket and AOL CityGuide. Sylvania gave the yeti his glowing red eyes using the new OS-RAM LED-powered light technology. While Sylvania is responsible for giving the yeti his eyes, Hip Cricket is controlling their stare. Visitors to Times Square can use their wireless phones to interact directly and in real time with the yeti by texting the word DISNEY to the short code "4YETI", which will make the yeti's eyes flash at a specific time. For anyone not able to view the show in person, AOL CityGuide will feature exclusive video of the event. Visitors on aolcityguide.com also can enter an online contest that will award 25 lucky visitors to the site a trip for four to Walt Disney World Resort to experience an exclusive tour of Expedition Everest.