Welcome to Serka Zong! The Walt Disney Company rarely does anything halfheartedly. So when they decided to create a new Himalayas-themed ride at the Animal Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World in Florida, they not only built the ride (Expedition Everest), they also built a small village around it. The village is called "Serka Zong" (Fortress of the Chasm), and this page features photos of it. A lot of research went into designing Expedition Everest and Serka Zong, including months-long trips to the Himalayas by Disney Imagineers, scientists from Conservation International, and video crews from Discovery Communications. As Imagineer Joe Rohde says in one of the Discovery specials, "Anybody can go buy some roller coaster and stick some fake rocks around it and call it 'Amazing Adventure of the Himalayas.' That's not what we do." You can find out more about the ride and the research behind it at these web sites: DisneyEverest.com Mission Himalayas (video journals of the research done for the ride) Discovery's main Expedition Everest page The Travel Channel's "Journey to Sacred Lands" The Science Channel's "Building A Thrill Ride" Animal Planet's "Realm of the Yeti" (Click on any photo to see a larger version.) Patty's Walt Disney World Trip, April 2006: Pre-planning | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 Animal Kingdom Lodge flowers Animal Kingdom Lodge theming Yeti yoga Back to Patty's Disney page patty@wintertime.com Text and photos (c) 2006 Patricia F. Winter. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Do not distribute to other persons by electronic or non-electronic means (including posting on a web site) without prior permission from the copyright owner. Last updated 9/3/06