Maelstrom & Dinosaur: Reduced Effects & Calmer Ride?

Another two things that have been bugging me, was it seems the lighting effect in the ascent tunnel of the Maelstrom and the time travel tunnel of Countdown to Extinction / Dinosaur have changed at some point.

This thread on the removed lightning on the Maelstrom and another post regarding reduction of motion base of Dinosaur to lower the ride height reminded me and at least confirmed part of my suspicion for Dinosaur.

Maelstrom: Monocolor psych-out effect gives way to pretty rainbow tunnel and smooth seas?
Did the ascent tunnel on Maelstrom used to be a much more powerful effect? Right now you have the rainbow spectrum light illuminating the tunnel, and a fair amount of light leaking in from up above. But when I was younger and the ride was new, which could explain my memory, it seemed light the light cone was monocolor (green?) with everything else dark. The spinning nature made you really feel like your boat was flipping over. Or is this completely off-base?
On the note with the lightning, I and my parents remember the North Sea room to be much more intense as well. Not just lightning, but being justled around and getting fairly wet, sea spray stinging the eyes. My dad even opted out last time after feeling off from MS, but my mom and I came back saying it was nothing.

Dinosaur: no more bright time travel lights?
As for Dinosaur, at least the reduced motion has been confirmed. But another lighting effect seems to have been reduced. It seems like the time travel tunnel at the start was really bright. You couldn't see beyond the portal. The vehicle was jostling around backwards as if storing up energy, and then in a sudden burst it jumped through the portal, combined with the instant shut-off of lights and resulting flashblindness as you entered the dark jungle, it really gave the effect of jumping through some time portal. (I do believe this was during the initial phase, as I recall the meteor ending mentioned in the above thread, and all the dialog from Bill Nye in both queue rooms was still present. They were still conducting big guest surveys for Animal Kingdom on exit.) On my last few ridings, the lights weren't even close to painfully bright, and I could look back and seem them lazily dim off, a less-stellar effect. So, does that sound familiar either?


Your slightly forgetful and newbish (but long time lurker),
Syntho_Magnetic

id say it can be three possible things:

1, they need a refurb as there getting older now etc, changing bulbs etc.

2, you forgot what it was like and you bigged it up in your head before you rode it so you expected more

3, when you were younger you are more suspect to feel things and because your smaller things feel alot bigger, for example i used to think the drop in pirates was massive and felt massive to me like i was falling into some whirlpool or something

i know in dino- on the time travel accent - it was red lights and smoke, and then in the decen . its like no lights, it just looks like stars. (this was in oct. when i went)

Maelstrom have always had these simple effects. The spinning light, as long as I can remember, has always been multi colored. I used the same lighting fixture for a few stage productions myself. The sea was never really rough. Just sounds, projected lighting and an occasional splash from below the oil rig is all that's been there. More was planned but never materialized

Dinosaur's time tunnel has changed over the past few years. There used to be a green laser making a square (or frame) that you "broke through" to enter the dino period. The laser effect has been missing for years but the sound of the glass breaking is still there when you hit that point. There also used to be more haze in the air which, commbined with the bright lights, made it difficult to see beyond the tunnel.

Hope this helps. :wave:

when you were younger you are more suspect to feel things and because your smaller things feel alot bigger, for example i used to think the drop in pirates was massive and felt massive to me like i was falling into some whirlpool or something

wow that is so true. When I was a kid I was terrified of that drop and always thought I was really being thrown down into the ocean. Now its like nothing lol so very interesting point.

As for Maelstrom it is in dire need of an overhaul. I was on it last week and effects dont work, narration is in and out sometimes not running at all, and the paint on the walls is all peeling, and stained. In the north sea room there are big patches of torn off paint on the left wall. Its really been let go and looks bad.
I also think the loading area wall painting needs to go. I know its an original, but I would like to see them turn that area into an ancient forest like it was originally planned. They have a lot of floor space on that side, they could do a huge new wall mural with actual trees and props in front of it. They only reason why they did that painting was because the government and sponsors wanted to showcase modern Norway, which is fine, but its showing its age. But the whole ride just needs work, I use to always be mesmerized by it and now its not the same. Maybe its that kid/adult point again lol.
As for the about the effects in the ascent, I am not sure maybe it did use to be more green. I remember the rock work on the sides of the walls at the beginning use to be more lit with hanging leaves and howling wind sound effects. all that seems to have been let go too.

Sort of almost off topic... I've never been on Maelstrom. It's not too intense is it? I ask because my boyfriend won't go on anything too crazy. Example: He loves Big Thunder and would gladly ride it all day and he wants to try Space this year, but he refuses to go on Splash again because of the drop.
Could he do Maelstrom? I would imagine it's nowhere near Splash's drop, but I'm just making sure.

lilclerk said:

Sort of almost off topic... I've never been on Maelstrom. It's not too intense is it? I ask because my boyfriend won't go on anything too crazy. Example: He loves Big Thunder and would gladly ride it all day and he wants to try Space this year, but he refuses to go on Splash again because of the drop.
Could he do Maelstrom? I would imagine it's nowhere near Splash's drop, but I'm just making sure.

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Will he do Pirates? If yes, then he can handle Maelstrom. The drop is about the same. Actually, if he can handle BTMR he can handle Maelstrom.

Whether he will be able to handle the volume of the post-ride Norway film is another matter...

lilclerk said:

Sort of almost off topic... I've never been on Maelstrom. It's not too intense is it? I ask because my boyfriend won't go on anything too crazy. Example: He loves Big Thunder and would gladly ride it all day and he wants to try Space this year, but he refuses to go on Splash again because of the drop.
Could he do Maelstrom? I would imagine it's nowhere near Splash's drop, but I'm just making sure.

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Oh yeah---it's more like Pirates than anything. (incline-wise) Little bitty kids can ride it without seatbelts or bars, so it's really not a big deal, just fun!

lilclerk said:

Sort of almost off topic... I've never been on Maelstrom. It's not too intense is it? I ask because my boyfriend won't go on anything too crazy. Example: He loves Big Thunder and would gladly ride it all day and he wants to try Space this year, but he refuses to go on Splash again because of the drop.
Could he do Maelstrom? I would imagine it's nowhere near Splash's drop, but I'm just making sure.

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Maelstrom is very tame. I don't think the drop is as big as Pirates, even.

Yes he loves Pirates. Perfect, thanks guys! I didn't even think of that as an example, haha.

splash mountain not that big of a drop..

I am sorry but two things:
Maelstrom used to come much further out of the cave. much further. Now the ride is a disappointment.

and Splash mountain, while being the biggest "drop" in a coaster at WDW is very very tame. Sea World is much, much, MUCH bigger. in fact splash is not in the same breath as Atlantis. Not even close. on a scale of one to 100, about a 6. for tameness.

bjlc57 said:

I am sorry but two things:
Maelstrom used to come much further out of the cave. much further. Now the ride is a disappointment.

and Splash mountain, while being the biggest "drop" in a coaster at WDW is very very tame. Sea World is much, much, MUCH bigger. in fact splash is not in the same breath as Atlantis. Not even close. on a scale of one to 100, about a 6. for tameness.

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Oh I know that. But there's now way in heck he'd get anywhere near Atlantis. :lol:

Can someone confirm if this is just my bad memory? On the subject of Dinosaur, back when it was Countdown, both me and my father could've sworn that at the end of the ride, just as the carnotaurus is right in front of you and you go under it, that the drop used to be a lot bigger. I seem to recall it being a very decent size drop, whereas now it seems like a Maelstrom/Pirates size drop. Anyone? I don't know if I'm anywhere close to being right, but it's been bugging my mind for a while. I thought maybe when they tamed the ride down, they shortened the descent.....

bjlc57 said:

Splash mountain, while being the biggest "drop" in a coaster at WDW is very very tame. Sea World is much, much, MUCH bigger. in fact splash is not in the same breath as Atlantis. Not even close. on a scale of one to 100, about a 6. for tameness.

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Never ridden Atlantis, so I can't argue, but while Splash may be tame compared to it, I wouldn't call it tame for most of the people who go to WDW. I know it's the biggest fright in WDW for me (I have middling acrophobia). I guess what I am saying is that I would put a strong divdier between Splash and rides like Pirates.

donvincenzo said:

Can someone confirm if this is just my bad memory? On the subject of Dinosaur, back when it was Countdown, both me and my father could've sworn that at the end of the ride, just as the carnotaurus is right in front of you and you go under it, that the drop used to be a lot bigger. I seem to recall it being a very decent size drop, whereas now it seems like a Maelstrom/Pirates size drop. Anyone? I don't know if I'm anywhere close to being right, but it's been bugging my mind for a while. I thought maybe when they tamed the ride down, they shortened the descent.....

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The *physical* drop has not changed since it opened. It's still a ramp down from the show building's second floor to the first floor. In order to make the drop bigger, they'd have either had to raise the hight of the building, or lower the level of the first floor, neither of which ahs happened.

There may have been some motion-base reprofiling since opening that gives the *feeling* of a smaller drop. Also, the asteroid impact lighting is a little different than it has been. I'm convinced that in part it's lighting control issues that need some work done on them.
For one, there's a red light up and to your right that stays on the entire scene. It makes all the "hidden" elements of the scene slightly visible (like the Carno head and the drop into the tunnel).

How I remember it being was the VERY bright flash as you drove under the Carno head lit the head up for the first time. Then it went pitch black, which left the image of the Carno burned in your vision for a few moments. This was accompanied by the drop in darkness down into the time tunnel. So it felt like you were falling through darkness with an after-image of the Carnotaurus in your vision. Then all of a sudden you saw the time tunnel zooming up at you quickly as your vision returned to normal. But now the "stuck" red light illuminates the scene a bit more, and the Carno/asteroid flash isn't quite as powerful, so you see the whole drop down into the time tunnel.

-Rob

I thought it was confirmed that Dinosaur/CTE has never changed as far as motion is concerned. I remember some discussion about this a while back.

bjlc57 said:

I am sorry but two things:
Maelstrom used to come much further out of the cave. much further. Now the ride is a disappointment.

and Splash mountain, while being the biggest "drop" in a coaster at WDW is very very tame. Sea World is much, much, MUCH bigger. in fact splash is not in the same breath as Atlantis. Not even close. on a scale of one to 100, about a 6. for tameness.

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There also used to be the tiny dinos that seemed to leap over your vehicle. They are still there but they haven't "leaped" in years either.

Rob562 said:

The *physical* drop has not changed since it opened. It's still a ramp down from the show building's second floor to the first floor. In order to make the drop bigger, they'd have either had to raise the hight of the building, or lower the level of the first floor, neither of which ahs happened.

There may have been some motion-base reprofiling since opening that gives the *feeling* of a smaller drop. Also, the asteroid impact lighting is a little different than it has been. I'm convinced that in part it's lighting control issues that need some work done on them.
For one, there's a red light up and to your right that stays on the entire scene. It makes all the "hidden" elements of the scene slightly visible (like the Carno head and the drop into the tunnel).

How I remember it being was the VERY bright flash as you drove under the Carno head lit the head up for the first time. Then it went pitch black, which left the image of the Carno burned in your vision for a few moments. This was accompanied by the drop in darkness down into the time tunnel. So it felt like you were falling through darkness with an after-image of the Carnotaurus in your vision. Then all of a sudden you saw the time tunnel zooming up at you quickly as your vision returned to normal. But now the "stuck" red light illuminates the scene a bit more, and the Carno/asteroid flash isn't quite as powerful, so you see the whole drop down into the time tunnel.

-Rob

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Thanks for clarifying. Makes sense. A combination of effects made it seem like a bigger drop as opposed to an actual physically longer drop.

Well I wish they would change it back, because the old ending was really cool....

tonya said:

Oh yeah---it's more like Pirates than anything. (incline-wise) Little bitty kids can ride it without seatbelts or bars, so it's really not a big deal, just fun!

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Well except for the cold plunge underwater, but other than that....J/K :lol: The ride is no big deal and is awesome.

raven said:

Dinosaur's time tunnel has changed over the past few years. There used to be a green laser making a square (or frame) that you "broke through" to enter the dino period. The laser effect has been missing for years but the sound of the glass breaking is still there when you hit that point. There also used to be more haze in the air which, commbined with the bright lights, made it difficult to see beyond the tunnel.

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The green box was working last time I was on it in Dec.

donvincenzo said:

Can someone confirm if this is just my bad memory? On the subject of Dinosaur, back when it was Countdown, both me and my father could've sworn that at the end of the ride, just as the carnotaurus is right in front of you and you go under it, that the drop used to be a lot bigger. I seem to recall it being a very decent size drop, whereas now it seems like a Maelstrom/Pirates size drop. Anyone? I don't know if I'm anywhere close to being right, but it's been bugging my mind for a while. I thought maybe when they tamed the ride down, they shortened the descent.....

Click to expand...

Still the same set up, it could seem different due to the motion of the car. Also one of the things that has changed is at one time it was the metor that was about to crash before you took the dive in time, where now it is the Carnos head.

Pete C said:

I thought it was confirmed that Dinosaur/CTE has never changed as far as motion is concerned. I remember some discussion about this a while back.

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I don't think anyone will ever win this war. I know that it has not been changed, they just added padding to the seats to adjust the hight limit. But people will scram at the top of their lungs that they remember it being different. But it is still the same, just like it is the same layout as Indy here in DL but no one buys that either.