"Real" lightening on Maelstrom? Wow!

PhilosophyMagic · Feb 3, 2005

I just purchased the book ""Walt Disney Imagineering: A Behind the Dreams Look at Making the Magic Real" and I saw something that really surprised me. There is a picture of a giant "tesla coil" being tested, along with a caption explaining that it's for the effects on Maelstrom! (If you don't know, a "tesla coil" is a generator-like device that can shoot HUGE bolts of electricity through the air to a grounded conductor.)

I've never noticed this on Maelstrom. Perhaps during the storm scene? Maybe they were removed?

joel_maxwell · Feb 3, 2005

i think i remember lightning during the storm scene..................... but that maybe wishful thinking.

marni1971 · Feb 3, 2005

Yep.. its there. Or at least used to be - If I recall it no longer works (surprise surprise)

I have it on home video somewhere. As you drop into the north sea, the Oil Rig is illuminated by lighting effects. Way up infront of you is where the tesla coil is - when it fired it illuminated so much you could make out the edge of the ceiling.

joel_maxwell · Feb 3, 2005

marni1971 said:
when it fired it illuminated so much you could make out the edge of the ceiling.

COOOOOOLLLLLL!!!!!! bet that killed some coch-roaches

bigbadwolf · Feb 3, 2005

PhilosophyMagic said:
I just purchased the book ""Walt Disney Imagineering: A Behind the Dreams Look at Making the Magic Real" and I saw something that really surprised me. There is a picture of a giant "tesla coil" being tested, along with a caption explaining that it's for the effects on Maelstrom! (If you don't know, a "tesla coil" is a generator-like device that can shoot HUGE bolts of electricity through the air to a grounded conductor.)

I've never noticed this on Maelstrom. Perhaps during the storm scene? Maybe they were removed?

Oh Ive seen that picture.. I can remember there was a lightning effect they used on the Maelstrom... but i guess like people said.. It is gone.

Pioneer Hall · Feb 3, 2005

That's really interesting. I am surprised they went through all that work when they can probably make pretty good fake lightning. Shows how Disney used to make sure everything they did was perfect.

maelstrom · Feb 3, 2005

Is the tesla coil actually still there? I know it doesn't work, if it is, but I wan't to know if it is still there. Would I be able to see it? I was trying to look when I last went on Maelstrom, but I didn't see anything.

ogryn · Feb 3, 2005

A picture is the best I can do, but for those who haven't seen it...

(I'd recommend the book

)

marni1971 · Feb 3, 2005

Let me look for the video still. Or find the video its on and grab the frame. Back soon!

kengels · Feb 3, 2005

Isn't there lighting when you go around the oil rig (in the middle of the ocean)?

maelstrom · Feb 3, 2005

ogryn: I have that book and I've seen that picture. It's pretty cool, isn't it?

I was just wondering if there was any of that currently in the ride, just sitting dormant.

ogryn · Feb 3, 2005

Indeed... I could spend hours looking at it.

You know, I'm sure we've had this topic before on these boards... (goes off on a search)

EDIT: Yep, http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=32812&highlight=maelstrom+lightning

Fantasmic!329 · Feb 3, 2005

marni1971 said:
Yep.. its there. Or at least used to be - If I recall it no longer works (surprise surprise)

I have it on home video somewhere. As you drop into the north sea, the Oil Rig is illuminated by lighting effects. Way up infront of you is where the tesla coil is - when it fired it illuminated so much you could make out the edge of the ceiling.

Now that you mention it, I do vaguely remember that on the way into the Oil Rig scene.

marni1971 · Feb 3, 2005

Ta da... fresh off the disc... from 1990. Guess what? It is still there - the grounded conductor only happens to be the oil rig arm!

For comparrison, you can see the normal fx lightning in the bottom of the last 2 pictures. I present - Maelstroms Tesla coil:

SpenceMan01 · Feb 3, 2005

Wow. I'm surprised they could do that with all the water around and guests in a boat so close to said water. I didn't notice any lightning last month though

. Come to think of it...the wave were pretty wimpy too

marni1971 · Feb 3, 2005

SpenceMan01 said:
Wow. I'm surprised they could do that with all the water around and guests in a boat so close to said water. I didn't notice any lightning last month though . Come to think of it...the wave were pretty wimpy too

If I recall from school (ouch!) the lightning just completes the circuit.... it won`t strike anything out of the circuit (hence the WDI staff standing so close in the picture up top)

Seems like it may be broken (like lots of Epcots other special effects - those that are left - I should start a list!)

PurpleDragon · Feb 3, 2005

Well I have read that the initial idea for that part of the ride was to be a simulation of a real storm. There were even talks about passing out rain coats to guests when they boarded the ride. They were going to have a wind machine, sprinklers for the rain effect, the telsa coil, and there were plans to have a wave machine generate high waves to crash against the rig. Obviously those plans got canned probably due to safety concerns. I assume the telsa coil is leftover from those days.

I can't rememeber where I read all this, but if I do I will post a link or something similar here.

celestia · Feb 3, 2005

I'm disapointed now, i've been on Maelstrom a lot in the past few years and never saw it, how neat that would be!

marni1971 · Feb 3, 2005

I`ve read that too... it would seem there are some other leftover effects as well - in the wall to the right of the North Sea exit there are two large vents - they look large enough to have wind machines behind them. Also, around the base of the Oil Rig are devices sticking up out of the water - unrelated to both the ride system and waves. You can see their outlines if you look back once you have turned the corner... they look like spray heads. Okay... here; I`ve circled the heads in question. And also they are the wall grilles.

celestia · Feb 3, 2005

Do people ever aproach WDW about all the broken and missing effects from rides? like the broken cannon in SGE, and the lightning and cannons from this ride, as well as the always broken effects in splash mountain? I know they do a lot of rehabs and are extreamly busy, but things always seem to be eternally falling into disrepair. It feels like they can't keep up with everything they have to do now.

"Real" lightening on Maelstrom? Wow!

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