"the on-board audio system and we saw just how quickly that aspect was cut while keeping in things like adding a rider photo camera system"
Well... you charge folks for the pictures. Maybe they would have added the audio if they found a way to charge you for it as you boarded. "Please place $5 in the rocket's money slot to activate the on-board music while keeping your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times..."
Joined: Feb 21, 2006 Posts: 4196 Location: Sanford, Fl
Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 3:05 pm Post subject:
Space Mountain has reopened!... even if just for soft openings [/url] _________________ Up or Down North, South, East, or West An Adventurer's Life is Best!
Joined: Feb 21, 2006 Posts: 4196 Location: Sanford, Fl
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 4:41 am Post subject:
Space Mountain rehab illustrates differing approaches of Disney World, Disneyland
After a seven-month makeover, Walt Disney World is about to formally reopen Space Mountain, its iconic indoor roller coaster.
Crews have installed video games in the waiting area of the 34-year-old Magic Kingdom attraction, recalibrated its tracks to make the ride smoother and quieter, and darkened the interior to make it more difficult to anticipate sudden turns and sharp drops.
But the re-launched attraction, now in the midst of a preliminary “soft opening,” is also notable for what it doesn’t include — an entirely new track, next-generation ride vehicles with on-board audio speakers, or other features that were added to the Disneyland version of Space Mountain during a roughly two-year rehab completed in 2005.
The limited overhaul this time around reflects the different philosophies between Disney theme-park executives in Orlando and Anaheim, Calif.
At Disneyland, which caters heavily to its Southern California population, executives are more willing to take down a popular attraction for an extended stretch of time because so many of its guests make multiple visits each year.
But at Disney World, attendance is driven in large part by out-of-state and international guests, many of whom may visit the resort only once every three to five years. And so executives don’t want to risk souring their experience — and losing out on any future return trips — by having a marquee attraction out of commission.
“An attraction like Space Mountain is on everybody’s short list. It’s a big consideration to have it up and running,” said Alex Wright, a senior show designer with Walt Disney Imagineering and creative director of the Magic Kingdom’s Space Mountain rehab.
Although Disney would not discuss how much it spent reworking the Magic Kingdom attraction, permits put the construction cost at about $12 million — a relatively modest sum by Disney standards.
Still, Orlando’s Space Mountain has undergone a number of changes during the seven months it has been closed. The ride will formally reopen Nov. 22, just in time for the busy holiday travel rush, though workers are expected to continue tweaking until mid-December.
The reworked queue, for example, now features 87 video-game stations to keep guests entertained while they wait in line.
Disney says guests will eventually be able to play four distinct games from the terminals, all designed to further the ride’s story line: That they are about to blast off on a voyage from the equivalent of an interstellar airport. The tasks in the games will include clearing runway fields of asteroids, sorting through items lost by travelers, moving cargo loads across busy taxiways, and helping builders expand the space station.
During the ride itself, designers have done several things designed to make the interior of the ride darker.
The ride-loading area was enclosed with a themed ceiling to prevent light from reaching the main chamber. A wall along the Tomorrowland Transit Authority — a separate attraction that passes through Space Mountain — was extended to prevent sunlight from seeping into the building. Glow-in-the-dark strips were removed from the sides of ride vehicles.
Crews even added a pulsing light near the beginning of the ride that serves two purposes: Masking the flash from a new in-ride photo system, and making it more difficult for guests’ eyes to adjust to the darkness that follows.
The goal, Wright said, was to increase Space Mountain’s thrill quotient by making its maneuvers more unpredictable. “We don’t want to put any light out in the mountain,” he said.
As for the changes that weren’t made, Wright said there are some advantages. Adding on-board audio would have meant getting rid of Space Mountain’s original, low-slung rockets, which he said make for “a different, kind of visceral experience” compared with modern coaster trains.
Disney World also opted not to add projection lighting to Space Mountain’s exterior, something Disneyland uses to help re-theme its version of the ride during special events — such as a “Ghost Galaxy” Halloween overlay it devised this fall. Disney World executives are less interested in such overlays because they involve shutting the ride down for several weeks to complete.
Great article and interview that shows the differences between DL and WDW management. And if they did not want to bring SM down for a few weeks to do a Halloween overlay, you can forget about getting a NBC overlay for HM down here... _________________ Up or Down North, South, East, or West An Adventurer's Life is Best!
Joined: May 22, 2007 Posts: 415 Location: Atlanta, GA
Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 7:48 am Post subject:
On the upside....my friend rode it last weekend and reported that the chocolate chip cookies are still floating through space. I don't know why, but that makes me happy. I am bummed about no audio system, though. I love that aspect on the DL ride. _________________ Beth's Blog
At first I was hoping for the 2 seaters cars like they have at Disneyland, but I'm glad we have the unique original. And, glad also that they have it dark again. I rode it in 1975 when it was a couple of months opened. It was so dark then, that you really couldn't see the tracks at all. You had to sit on the floor of the car, (no seats) and seat belts were attached to the bottom of the car. You put your feet around the person in front of you. The next time I rode it a few years later, I was amazed how it wasn't so dark anymore. Of course I laughed that they had seats. Only recently have I heard why it became less dark. I'm glad that parts back to the way it was.
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