Soarin' at Epcot

MattyMitch

Active Member
Original Poster
So i'm back again and this time I want to know about Soarin'.

So what I want to know:
Can the ride return to loading area if the ride fails or power loss?

How do smells and breeze work?

Where does the ride get controlled?

What is below the screen as there is a big dark room underneath?

If everything fails would the ride fall back down to station?
 

Tom

Beta Return
Yes, the ride carriage can return to the load level if the power goes out. It's all on generators, plus they have fail-safes in place.

Breeze from the little fans in the canopy above each guest. Smells come from atomized fluid that contains the scent and is injected in front of those same little fans.

Control booths off to the side of each theater.

Just a big pit.

The ride apparatus will never fall. It will be lowered in a controlled manner - either electrically or manually/mechanically.
 

MattyMitch

Active Member
Original Poster
Yes, the ride carriage can return to the load level if the power goes out. It's all on generators, plus they have fail-safes in place.

Breeze from the little fans in the canopy above each guest. Smells come from atomized fluid that contains the scent and is injected in front of those same little fans.

Control booths off to the side of each theater.

Just a big pit.

The ride apparatus will never fall. It will be lowered in a controlled manner - either electrically or manually/mechanically.

So when concourse 1 is in 'flight' is the other loading/unloading?
 

Rob562

Well-Known Member
Being down is the off the position of the ride system. If power is lost the ride will just roll back down into place.

Actually, if power is lost, I believe the ride carriages lock into place where they are.

On the ride console there are two buttons that can be used to stop the show. The one prominently labeled "Emergency Stop" operates the same way that an E-Stop button does on all heavy machinery, namely it stops all machinery where it is and locks it into place, just like you'd have in a factory assembly line or something like that. CM's operating the attraction are taught to only use this in extreme cases where any movement by the carriages could put someone in danger (like a few years ago where a guy and his kid somehow got out of the carriage before takeoff and the CM's missed it, and they were suddenly seen standing there after the carriages were in the air). If the E-stop is pressed, only Maintenance can release the locked system, so riders would be stranded in mid-air for a while.

The other stop button that CM's are told to use to stop the show is labeled something like "Return to Home" and it does just that, it immediately stops the show and lowers the carriages to their home position. This is obviously the preferred option if the emergency is with one of the riders up in the air. If something is wrong with someone up there, you want to bring the carriages down right away, not lock it up in the air.

In case of a power loss, I presume that they function as if the E-stop had been pressed.

-Rob
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
Actually, if power is lost, I believe the ride carriages lock into place where they are.

On the ride console there are two buttons that can be used to stop the show. The one prominently labeled "Emergency Stop" operates the same way that an E-Stop button does on all heavy machinery, namely it stops all machinery where it is and locks it into place, just like you'd have in a factory assembly line or something like that. CM's operating the attraction are taught to only use this in extreme cases where any movement by the carriages could put someone in danger (like a few years ago where a guy and his kid somehow got out of the carriage before takeoff and the CM's missed it, and they were suddenly seen standing there after the carriages were in the air). If the E-stop is pressed, only Maintenance can release the locked system, so riders would be stranded in mid-air for a while.

The other stop button that CM's are told to use to stop the show is labeled something like "Return to Home" and it does just that, it immediately stops the show and lowers the carriages to their home position. This is obviously the preferred option if the emergency is with one of the riders up in the air. If something is wrong with someone up there, you want to bring the carriages down right away, not lock it up in the air.

In case of a power loss, I presume that they function as if the E-stop had been pressed.

-Rob
Locking the carriages automatically would mean stranding people in the event of a sudden emergency like a fire.
 

MattyMitch

Active Member
Original Poster
Locking the carriages automatically would mean stranding people in the event of a sudden emergency like a fire.
I would think there is a sort of ratchet mechanism?? So CM's could lower it manually without any power and the ratchet makes it controlled, i'm guessing but it seems like it could work.

Actually, if power is lost, I believe the ride carriages lock into place where they are.

On the ride console there are two buttons that can be used to stop the show. The one prominently labeled "Emergency Stop" operates the same way that an E-Stop button does on all heavy machinery, namely it stops all machinery where it is and locks it into place, just like you'd have in a factory assembly line or something like that. CM's operating the attraction are taught to only use this in extreme cases where any movement by the carriages could put someone in danger (like a few years ago where a guy and his kid somehow got out of the carriage before takeoff and the CM's missed it, and they were suddenly seen standing there after the carriages were in the air). If the E-stop is pressed, only Maintenance can release the locked system, so riders would be stranded in mid-air for a while.

The other stop button that CM's are told to use to stop the show is labeled something like "Return to Home" and it does just that, it immediately stops the show and lowers the carriages to their home position. This is obviously the preferred option if the emergency is with one of the riders up in the air. If something is wrong with someone up there, you want to bring the carriages down right away, not lock it up in the air.

In case of a power loss, I presume that they function as if the E-stop had been pressed.

-Rob

So what other buttons is there on control pannel?

Do you know who controls the pre-show??
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
I would think there is a sort of ratchet mechanism?? So CM's could lower it manually without any power and the ratchet makes it controlled, i'm guessing but it seems like it could work.
That would be time that may not be there in an emergency and would likely require someone from maintenance. It also means building the system so that when unpowered it is applying all that force necessary to lift. The whole idea of fail-safe is to fail in a safe manner. The ride system defaulting down is safer than it just getting stuck or defaulting up.
 

MattyMitch

Active Member
Original Poster
That would be time that may not be there in an emergency and would likely require someone from maintenance. It also means building the system so that when unpowered it is applying all that force necessary to lift. The whole idea of fail-safe is to fail in a safe manner. The ride system defaulting down is safer than it just getting stuck or defaulting up.

Why does it need to lift up it wants to go down when unpowered jot back up?
 

MattyMitch

Active Member
Original Poster
Can you clarify?

' It also means building the system so that when unpowered it is applying all that force necessary to lift'

Why would the ratchet system need to lift? All it would do is so if the system looses power CM'S can lower the ride manually and since it's a ratchet it would be controlled.
 

WDW Monorail

Well-Known Member
' It also means building the system so that when unpowered it is applying all that force necessary to lift'

Why would the ratchet system need to lift? All it would do is so if the system looses power CM'S can lower the ride manually and since it's a ratchet it would be controlled.

An upward force needs to be applied in order to allow the ride system to maintain its upward position while up in the air. In other words the "ratchet" or some other system must be capable of supporting the weight of steel, hydraulic and power lines, control boxes, seats and riders in the fully elevated position until a CM is able to lower it.
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
' It also means building the system so that when unpowered it is applying all that force necessary to lift'

Why would the ratchet system need to lift? All it would do is so if the system looses power CM'S can lower the ride manually and since it's a ratchet it would be controlled.
Think about a swing. Which requires more effort: letting it hang there or or holding it up. That ratcheting mechanism would still have to be holding up the ride system, but for what purpose? It's a lot easier to just let the system fail into the down position.
 

Rob562

Well-Known Member
That would be time that may not be there in an emergency and would likely require someone from maintenance. It also means building the system so that when unpowered it is applying all that force necessary to lift. The whole idea of fail-safe is to fail in a safe manner. The ride system defaulting down is safer than it just getting stuck or defaulting up.

Except "safe" in terms of large industrial machinery typically means "stop and lock in place".

Unless they've changed procedures since then, this story from 9 years ago backs up my assertion that a power failure results in a lock-in-place in mid-air.
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/riders-hit-by-outage-at-epcot.116468/

As for the question about the pre-show from another poster, the pre-show starts automatically so that it ends at the proper time in the adjacent ride cycle. (Though knowing other attraction's operations, there is most likely a "hold" switch that allows the pre-show CM's to keep the pre-show from starting if they don't have the next group in place yet before it would normally begin)

-Rob
 

MattyMitch

Active Member
Original Poster
Think about a swing. Which requires more effort: letting it hang there or or holding it up. That ratcheting mechanism would still have to be holding up the ride system, but for what purpose? It's a lot easier to just let the system fail into the down position.
Think about a swing. Which requires more effort: letting it hang there or or holding it up. That ratcheting mechanism would still have to be holding up the ride system, but for what purpose? It's a lot easier to just let the system fail into the down position.

How could it when there is no power?

Except "safe" in terms of large industrial machinery typically means "stop and lock in place".

Unless they've changed procedures since then, this story from 9 years ago backs up my assertion that a power failure results in a lock-in-place in mid-air.
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/riders-hit-by-outage-at-epcot.116468/

As for the question about the pre-show from another poster, the pre-show starts automatically so that it ends at the proper time in the adjacent ride cycle. (Though knowing other attraction's operations, there is most likely a "hold" switch that allows the pre-show CM's to keep the pre-show from starting if they don't have the next group in place yet before it would normally begin)

-Rob

Who controls the hold button then?
 

Rob562

Well-Known Member
Who controls the hold button then?

Since such a control would typically be located on the panel along with the phone used to contact other CM stations in the attraction, I'd guess that's where it is located at Soarin', too. And presumably it would be up to whichever CM is currently in the rotation position of answering that phone if it rings.

(Again, this isn't direct knowledge, but rather educated guesses based on my knowledge of how other attractions and their pre-shows operate, and the fact that the Soarin' pre-show covers important safety information that all riders should see before riding)

-Rob
 

R2D2 1982

Member
Soarin has a ride stop button a return to load button and an e stop. Ride stop basically stop the motion of the carriages but the film comtinues to play. In order to bring the flight down you need to disengage the ride stop and press return to load. E stop is going to kill the power on the vehicles so to recover from that you need to reset the carriages and manually bring them down. Also the ride returns to load when it gets a 101 but if it has a power disconnect is going to stay in the air till the issue is fixed.
 

Rob562

Well-Known Member
And they dont have a "hold" button for the preshow lol

Knowing how some other attractions' pre-shows operate, that's actually surprising...

Edit to add: Though now that I think about it, Star Tours' seems to be linked to the ride cycle rather than making sure the grouping is done first, and they have ride safety info in theirs...

-Rob
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom