Technical parade questions

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

1) In each parade zone are all the background speakers in that one zone playing the same thing or do they change along with the floats? This question goes for all parades.

2) Where do they fit the drivers cabins in the Alice in Wonderland cabins in those thin thin shaped floats?

3) As unsafe as it looks do Dopey and Snee actually drive their own floats? I cannot see where they would fit a drivers cabin unless the float is driven by wireless controls.

4) This might be a very sad question and as much as I doubt this I still cant break this theory. Does Goofy have any control of the functions of the float? Sometimes it even looks like he's driving it but I will let someone else answer that and face the humiliation.

I hope no one is getting tires of my technical Disney questions, I find these topics interesting and if so hook me up with some sources so I can look it up myself if you know any.

 

[marni1971]

The parade zone speakers play the underliner - some parades this is the same from start to end, with spiels and a finale, other parades it will change slightly for groups of floats or theme.

 

[Captain Hank]

I'm assuming your questions involve the electrical parade?
2) For the Alice float, I'm pretty sure the driver looks out of the Cheshire Cat. For the Caterpillar float, it's likely in the stalk of the mushroom.
3) Dopey and Smee do indeed drive their own floats. Smee controls his with his oars.
4) Not sure about this one.

 

[RAXIP]

4)Yes

 

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

I looked into it more the driver controls in goofys cabin, weather Goofy is driving with no hands surrounded by a bunch of kids while wearing a mask or he is a passenger I do not know. I noticed the slight changes, when the american parade is half way thru the parade zone. I guess it isn't to noticeable with the music of that float. I know when you stand to close to a speaker all you hear is the keyboard and the drums and no float music and it is the most annoying sound you will ever hear. Spectro Magic does that to and at the end to. I am doing an investigation and I want to say the Spectro Magic music changes after the Fantasia scenes hit the middle of the sound zone.

 

[marni1971]

Just get a copy of each underliner

 

[dhoywdw20x]

I think that Goofy does indeed drive the float. But a better question is why would they allow three of the most unreliable and unintelligent disney characters drive floats.

 

[unkadug]

I think that Goofy does indeed drive the float. But a better question is why would they allow three of the most unreliable and unintelligent disney characters drive floats.

The characters aren't driving the floats. The friends of the characters are driving.

 

[raven]

There are sensors along the parade route in the ground that look like gum embedded into the pavement (sorry, no photo). When the floats go over them it syncs the music on the float and the background music together. The sensors also provide a live reading in the show control room of where each float is at any given time.

 

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

There's one thing I dont get, if the censors are imbedded in the concrete how do they service them, is there some kind of tunnel or access from the underground corridors?

 

[Captain Hank]

There's one thing I dont get, if the censors are imbedded in the concrete how do they service them, is there some kind of tunnel or access from the underground corridors?

The pucks really don't need much in the way of maintenance. The actual puck-reading and communication system is located on the floats themselves.

 

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

The pucks really don't need much in the way of maintenance. The actual puck-reading and communication system is located on the floats themselves.

So pretty they are pretty much magnetic devices that hold different combinations or codes? I am assuming there is no power lines or hard wires involved with the pucks.

 

[Captain Hank]

So pretty they are pretty much magnetic devices that hold different combinations or codes? I am assuming there is no power lines or hard wires involved with the pucks.

That's my understanding of the system. A modified version of this is used to track the safari vehicles at Kilimanjaro Safaris and activate the pre-recorded audio.

 

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

I thought that system was broken and being worked manually but then maybe that only went for Spectro Magic because the Electrical Parade was synchronized perfectly. I also didn't see hundreds of cast members guiding the parade like they did with Spectro. Last time I was there were at least 5 guys at the front gate. Take notice in this video how there arrant that many cast members working the route nor are there allot of people guiding the parade with the blue lights, just one guy in the back. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKx-9sMcTRQ .

 

[spectrodanny]

Does the Electrical Parade use DTMF to synchronize the audio & Special effects? i know last time it was at the MK it hadn't yet been equipped w/ that technology

 

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

Does the Electrical Parade use DTMF to synchronize the audio & Special effects? i know last time it was at the MK it hadn't yet been equipped w/ that technology

I just read today read that they are no longer using the pucks in 06. Weather its true or not I do not know. Raven said they use them, Raven is pretty on top with these things so I cant really tell now LOL. Maybe they work with the DTMF system, hope this helped. I do notice that the music is better synchronized now then it used to be.

 

[Rob562]

I just read today read that they are no longer using the pucks in 06. Weather its true or not I do not know. Raven said they use them, Raven is pretty on top with these things so I cant really tell now LOL. I do notice that the music is better synchronized now then it used to be.

I seem to recall reading that an automated mixing board died a number of years ago, and that the parade was being mixed by hand for quite a while because they didn't have the budget for a new board costing tens of thousands of dollars. Perhaps they've finally replaced it, and all the queues and mixing is automated again.

-Rob

 

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

I seem to recall reading that an automated mixing board died a number of years ago, and that the parade was being mixed by hand for quite a while because they didn't have the budget for a new board costing tens of thousands of dollars. Perhaps they've finally replaced it, and all the queues and mixing is automated again.

-Rob

Yeah , I know about 3 or 4 years ago there were times where the background track would end and the parade float would pass and there would be no music at all for as much as 10 seconds then the background track would start again, it was weird. I no the last couple of years it caught me by surprise on how good the music was synchronized. It sucks having a good ear for sound, having a passion for it and making it a hobby, possibly a career because at concerts or the Light parades my OCD is on fire is something doesn't sound right. It takes away from the enjoyment a little LOL.

 

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

One more thing I would like to know... is todays Electrical Parade the same one that came around in the 70's or is it a replica. I once heard the original one was sitting in a wear house overseas. I also heard that there is an identical parade that used to me in Disney World.

 

[Rob562]

One more thing I would like to know... is todays Electrical Parade the same one that came around in the 70's or is it a replica. I once heard the original one was sitting in a wear house overseas. I also heard that there is an identical parade that used to me in Disney World.

The MSEP that runs in the MK now is (mostly) the original parade from Disneyland.

There were two nearly identical parades built back in the 70's, one for each coast. (I believe Disneyland's opened first, but it was based on the original Electric Water Pageant in WDW)

When Florida got Spectromagic in the early-90's, their copy of MSEP was shipped off to Paris. *That* copy of the parade has never returned to Florida, and probably has never returned to the US at all.

Since that point, every time the MSEP has appeared in Florida, it's been Disneyland's copy. They got it in the late-90's when Spectro went on an extended refurb and Disneyland debuted the ill-fated Light Magic. When it was done in Florida, it went back to California to help boost DCA's low numbers. And now it's back in Florida again, since DCA can't run both MSEP and World of Color at the same time (at least for the time being).

-Rob