Disney World is the most magical place on earth. But, even magic has mishaps sometimes (ask almost every Disney character that has made a wish in their movie).
Magic Kingdom
Nonetheless, the show must go on, and if there’s one thing Disney does best, it’s making sure they do whatever they can to do so. But how do they keep the curtains from closing? Well my little friend, let me introduce you to a little something called ‘B-Mode’.
A great way of understanding B-mode is thinking of it like an understudy. An understudy steps in when the main actor of a show steps down for whatever reason, and this is exactly what B-mode does when the main A-mode element has an off day (because even animatronics or special effects need their days off too). If you’re not sure if you’ve ever spotted B-mode in action, we got you covered with a few of the most iconic and common ones you can spot.
Rise of the Resistance in Hollywood Studios
Rise of the Resistance is no stranger to “technical difficulties.” This popular ride has had issues since its opening in 2019 due to its highly complex system, making downtimes very common. Because of this, however, Disney has created an alternative element in case one of their “stars” has some difficulties working correctly (Pfft, diva much?).
Rise of the Resistance
During one scene of the attraction, Kylo Ren (in awesome animatronic form ) appears and threatens to use the Force against riders when an explosion opens a hole in the hull, stopping him from doing so. Unfortunately, it is common for this animatronic to have issues, so Disney Imagineers have created an alternative ending to the story, taking riders over to the windows of the ship where they will view Kylo Ren inside of his TIE Fighter instead. This eliminates the use of the animatronic in general, making the scene entirely powered by a projection screen. This change isn’t entirely too bad and can still be pretty cool, but we do miss getting to see the Kylo Ren animatronic in action whenever B-mode is in use.
Rise of the Resistance
Na’vi River Journey in Animal Kingdom
The Na’vi Shaman is one of the most impressive animatronics Disney Imagineering has ever created and has reportedly cost Disney $23 million to make. It’s definitely a huge draw for those wanting to ride Na’vi River Journey, but sadly, you might not even get to see it if B-mode is in place.
Na’vi River Journey
When the Na’vi Shaman is malfunctioning, a screen is put in place to project a CGI version of the Shaman, making it feel a little anti-climactic. This version of the attraction is truly the one that breaks our hearts the most since that animatronic is so incredible in person and is the star of the attraction. But, with advanced technology comes advanced technological problems, and the show must go on one way or another.
Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom
Now, this one is very different than the rest of the B-Modes we mentioned because Expedition Everest is ALWAYS in B-Mode. Yup, it’s pretty permanent folks.
Expedition Everest
The shining star of this attraction is none other than the Yeti, who the story strongly revolves around. When entering Mount Everest, riders encounter a MASSIVE Yeti animatronic that would swipe at the vehicle, scaring and impressing riders all at once. And, by massive, I mean this Animatronic cost about $100 million to make (the gasp I just gusped when I found that out). It’s beautiful and intricate, and HUGE…and that’s just the issue.
The Yeti!
Unfortunately, Disney realized that the animatronic was causing damage to the structure of the mountain, so it has been placed in perpetual B-Mode for a few years now. This B-Mode consists of the Yeti staying fixed in place, with the illusion of it moving towards the vehicle thanks to the use of strobe lighting. Because of this, fans of Expedition Everest have named this version of the attraction ‘Disco Yet’, which we think is very fitting and fun. This is a version of the attraction that some of us are only familiar with, so the loss isn’t huge, but we definitely wish we could have seen the Yeti in full action.
B-Mode can be a bit disappointing when you’re headed to an attraction you’re really excited about, but it allows everyone to ride attractions that would otherwise be down for days without these creative alternatives.
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We saw B role Hondo on Smugglers run in Disneyland in June. He was “out of office “ that day and phoned in his speech.
Wow, I didn’t know about a B team, but it makes sense for how big Disney is. Also, I’m astonished by how much money is put into these animatronics and the work that goes to keeping the show going. This has given me a new appreciation of the attractions and looking forward on my next Disney trip.
I’ve been to Disney a few times and never knew about this, thank God there’s someone out there giving us this kind of interesting insider information.
Wow B-mode is wild, but it doesn’t compare to what the traitorous rebels of the galactic empire were up to in Star Wars.
It’s so sad you might miss her completely if she’s in b-mode, but it’s totally understandable, did you know the Na’vi Shaman never stops doing her thing ?! She’s always at it, they never turn it off 😳