While going through Space Mountain on the people mover a few weeks ago the lights went on inside Space Mountain. I havent been on the people mover for probably 8-10 years because I just skipped it and dont recall this happening. Does it usually happen to show the riders on the people mover the inside of Space Mountain? We saw the whole ride in the light and I believe the cars kept on moving on the track so the ride didnt seem to stop or anything. Just curious. Thanks.
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Space Mountain lights came on?
- Thread starter drc304
- Start date
George
Liker of Things
I was part of an evacuation about 21 years ago when I was in high school. It was terrible for me since I can ride Space Mountain and not worry about the heights. Turning on the lights and making me walk out was very scary for me. Very non-Disney type words were issuing from my mouth. The cast member took it in stride. Probably not the first panicked crazy they had dealt with.
MonoManBlue
Member
Truth.
Rob562
Well-Known Member
Also, because Space Mountain is made up of two separate coasters, one side can still have trains rolling on it even though the other has shut down for some reason. What they'll usually do is to cycle emptry trains through the still-operating side until all Guests are off before shutting that side down, too. Then after all rockets have stopped moving, they'll send CMs out to reset the other side.
If they need to evac the Guests, this is when they'll do it. But most resets simply involve resetting each brake zone and releasing each stopped rocket manually, starting with the one closest to the end of the ride. They'll then work their way backwards up the track until all rockets have been released. Then they'll reopen the ride and turn the lights off.
So, if you happen to go through while the lights are on, and there are rockets moving, you're seeing either the final moments before CMs head out on the track, or the reset process in-progress.
-Rob
JML42691
Active Member
I am kind of confused by your post, do you mean that every time that one side goes down (due to bake backups) they will eventually shut down the other side? Or only if they need to evac guests on the other side?
Figment82
Well-Known Member
That's what happened to me last year - the other side cascaded but we were still sent through.
Nansafan
Active Member
We have seen the lights on quite a few times while riding the TTA. My brother shot some video footage of it a few years ago. Interesting thing happened too. He had the camera out taping (there was no glass at that time). There was a worker with a hard hat doing something to the track, he saw my brother taping. The worker picked up a telephone and said something then the lights went immediately out. A day or two later while running off of Splash to try and get one more time in line before the park closed, my brother slipped and fell hard. He ended up breaking his arm. Coincidence hmmmmm.... We like to say that it was Disney Black Ops who took him out. BTW my brother was 36 at the time.:lookaroun:lookaroun
DAKOTADISNEY
Active Member
We were on the people mover a few years ago at night and the lights were on in Space Mountain. It was pretty cool to look to see. We just figured they were doing safety checks or something.
julwh
New Member
It's probably been about 25 years now (dating myself!!!) but I was in SM with my brother and a friend when it shut down once. The lights came on and they had to bring people off of the ride - we were almost to the front of the line so needless to say, we were bummed! It was cool to see it though.
Figment1989
Active Member
Does anyone else find it disturbing that this ride breaks down so often? Yes, people lose their hats and such, but in August, there were two days that it was pretty much completely shut down. I'm a little nervous to even get back on it.:veryconfu
lilclerk
Well-Known Member
Yes. It's the one coaster I've ever been scared of, mostly because of how often it's down... but I still ride it.
hrcollectibles
Active Member
I hae seen Space Mountain on Twice. Once the cars were still moving the second time (earlier this month) I saw them with the cars stopped and one was just about to reach a drop 
.. That ride does look scary with the lights on
.. That ride does look scary with the lights on
Rob562
Well-Known Member
Correct. For two reasons:
One, it's bad show to be sending more Guests through the ride with the lights on than is necessary. (Often they'll even wait until the other side has cycled out to turn the lights on)
The other and more-important reason is that it's not safe to send Cast members out into the structure with rockets still operating. The tracks intertwine with each other, and to access some parts of the ride, it may be necessary to walk past the opposite-side's track.
So, they cycle out the non-E-stopped side and then set it up to a point where it can simply be re-started. Then they work to reset the other side, evac-ing Guests if necessary. (Though that's rare)
As for those who mentioned about being nervous about it "breaking down" so often, most of the time it's not really breaking down. It's simply cascading to a stop because either load or unload has gotten backed up (usually it's unload)
At full capacity, each side of Space Mountain is running 14 trains. That means that each rocket is released into the ride every 21-seconds. So, when a rocket comes into the unload platform, it has 21 seconds to unload before the next one comes in. When all is running smoothly, it's a ballet of rockets that are always moving, never really bunching up anywhere. There are enough brake "zones" at unload to allow two or three rockets to back up behind the one that's actually at the unload station. But after that, they run out of available parking slots. So, the next rocket, which would be somewhere back near the reentry tunnel is stopped at the brake zone before that. Then the rocket behind THAT one is stopped at the brake zone before that, and so on and so on until all rockets cascade to a stop. (hence the term "cascade shut-down") The system does what it's designed to do, and it's done in a safe manner.
So, the CM working unload is constantly aware of this time limit. If any rocket sits at unload for a full minute, the ride WILL shut itself down. Sometimes it's not just a single rocket, but a few rockets in a row, each needing a little more than 21 seconds to unload. Little by little, the rockets start backing up, the unload station can't keep up, and the inevitable happens.
After a shut-down like this, they need to clear the track out, rocket-by-rocket. They start with those sitting at the unload platform, advance those to the load area, and then walk the track backwards, releasing each rocket from its brake zone as they come to it. Eventually, all brake zones are clear and the ride re-opens.
Test Track actually operates in a very similar fashion. If something happens at the load/unload platform, there's only a certain number of slots the cars can park at before they back up out the thermal-image tunnel, and the cars on the high-speed loop need to stop themselves. But because the cars are powered and computerized, the CMs don't have to walk the track. The system and the cars can come back up on their own. The only time the CMs would have to walk to track would be in the event of a breakdown that requires an evac.
-Rob
LivingtheDream
Member
if anyone cares to see what is being talked about ....... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoEd8rGhKEM
the-reason14
Well-Known Member
This is alittle OT, but do they have lights that come on during Rockin roller coaster if it breaks down? I think they do, but I just remember seeing the exit area light up.