Rumor Stitch's Great Escape Replacement— Don’t Hold Your Breath

Mike S

Well-Known Member
It wasn't meant to be physically feasible it was meant to be mentally doable. Let's not get this too out there. Just make believe that the Yeti was shot by a big game hunter and frozen solid by the cold air. The hunter unable to haul him (or possibly her) off the mountain just left him (or her) standing there as a Yetisicle to warn other Yeti's about what their fate will be if they try to grab anymore tourists as they pass by. Consider it a Nepal branch of the Adventurers Club.
Hard to do that when we see him alive and moving in shadow form earlier in the ride. You also proceeded to go "too out there" after telling me not to do so, lol.
 

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
Hard to do that when we see him alive and moving in shadow form earlier in the ride. You also proceeded to go "too out there" after telling me not to do so, lol.
Well, just unlike your comparison, my venture beyond the here, was obviously fictional and meant in humor... you were serious. We just all need to lighten up a bit. I will continue to say it... it's a ride in a theme park. No real Yeti's were harmed in this misadventure.;)
 
Batteries and a computer are mounted in every train. They are recharged every cycle using bus bars in the station. The new sleds for Matterhorn Bobsleds were a HUGE design dilemna: how do you fit bench seats, automatic locking system for seatbelts while keeping the weight the same or close to the original? That's where things like padding get cut sadly and why the current Matterhorn sleds are so uncomfortable.

On the aspect of weight, take a look at this:

train-indiana-jones-dlp-8-seats.jpg


Those were the original Indiana Jones et le Temple du Peril trains at Disneyland Paris. They had 4 seat per cars and 8 per train total.

temple-du-peril-train.jpg


Those are the current trains that were added in 2000. Notice something is missing? Padding. You went from sitting on comfortable foam padding in the original to having a hard headrest and two thin strips of foam for "comfort" as you sit on the fiberglass directly. They had to do this as they increased the capacity by having 6 person per car (12 per train) and having to keep the weight as close as possible to the original.

Going back to Space Mountain, there is no way to add the heavy on-board audio system to the existing cars or designing new trains with it that would not greatly increase weight. The current track is in so bad shape they had to install magnetic brakes a few years ago before the big drops to protect the curve and helix at the bottom. Heavier cars would certainly take us to a Disneyland circa 2003 situation.

Thanks for the insight!

I wasn't aware they had to invest in magnetic brakes to slow track wear (if the track has really reached the point where that sort of 'upgrade' is necessary to keep the ride running then I hope TDO is seriously considering a full rebuild). Any idea why the tracks have degraded so quickly? Other Arrow Dev. coasters from the era are still operating with their original track and those weren't shielded from the elements by a building. Did the addition of automatic restraints in the mid-80s(?) really add that much weight to the vehicles?

No, originally it was meant to be much better. We got the one that dragged the Rasulo version out of the gutter.

You must have missed that.

Has the original proposal ever been shown/leaked?
 

The Empress Lilly

Well-Known Member
I ran them three times. Ballpark figure I agree. 20k could push 1900 but not sustain all day. Assume all Skyway cars were full it was around 2900-3000.
I would think the Skyway, even both stations combined, barely made half of that.

There was a long interval between cars (I should count on one of your videos), with most of them transporting two/three persons. 600-900 p/h per station feels a realistic estimate.
 

Absimilliard

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the insight!

I wasn't aware they had to invest in magnetic brakes to slow track wear (if the track has really reached the point where that sort of 'upgrade' is necessary to keep the ride running then I hope TDO is seriously considering a full rebuild). Any idea why the tracks have degraded so quickly? Other Arrow Dev. coasters from the era are still operating with their original track and those weren't shielded from the elements by a building. Did the addition of automatic restraints in the mid-80s(?) really add that much weight to the vehicles?

Only 14 older Arrow coasters still run and out of those, only two (Matterhorn Bobsleds and Gold Rusher at Six Flags Magic Mountain) are located in year round parks. Gold Rusher dates back to 1971 and you can really feel the track gauge has gotten loose and it feels quite old. Matterhorn Bobsleds has received since 2000-2001 regular closures for intensive track work. Plus, in 1978, it received a really good reinforcement job when they moved from single cars to double car trains. I'd say that its in better shape than Florida Space Mountain at this point.

When Disney changed the rockets in 1989 to the lap bar equipped ones in FL, I hope they also worked on the ride structure. Else, the issues may have started that far back... Coasters age and a 42 years run with as little downtime for refurbishment as Space Mountain has received is remarkable. Unfortunately, it is a WDW thing as they tend to defer and not do maintenance on their coasters. Look at Rock n Roller Coaster: the one in FL can barely run 3 trains and the launch system is at the end of its life. Over in Paris, with the same ride that opened 2 years and half later, it was closed most of this year for.... a new launch system. Come on WDW! If Paris and its financial mess can afford to do that, what's your excuse?

Sadly, Expedition Everest is quickly going down the path of deferred maintenance as well...
 

cheezbat

Well-Known Member
IMHO, saying Disneyland's Space Mountain musical soundscape is better than WDW's is quite debatable.
Debatable sure...but honestly if you listen to both and you find MKs to be better, either you like techno synth music or you're deaf lol. Michael Giacchino's track for DL is so epic and fun. Almost every time I ride Space Mtn at MK I'll put my earphones on and play his soundtrack on the ride. (Major plus to DL...the ride is about 30 seconds longer!)
 

Haymarket2008

Well-Known Member
Debatable sure...but honestly if you listen to both and you find MKs to be better, either you like techno synth music or you're deaf lol. Michael Giacchino's track for DL is so epic and fun. Almost every time I ride Space Mtn at MK I'll put my earphones on and play his soundtrack on the ride. (Major plus to DL...the ride is about 30 seconds longer!)

Or I just prefer the atmospheric, haunting and brilliantly composed score written by the man who geniusly also wrote Horizons. Maybe you are referring to onboard audio. I'm referring to the entire queue and set up of the ride.
 

The Empress Lilly

Well-Known Member
Tbh I don't know why all the hate on Stitches Great Escape. It was certainly better than the Enchanted Tiki Room Under New Management that got put in around the same time as Stitch
I wonder how Stitch would've been received had it been built as an original attraction, instead of as a replacement for Alien Encounter. Perhaps opinion might have been milder.

Then again, from what I understand Stitch receives low customer satisfaction results from the audience at large, may of whom likely have little idea of what was there before.
 

jt04

Well-Known Member
Define dredful. Stiches Great Escape was alright. I never found the seats to be uncomfortable, so i have no idea why people are saying it is. The chilly dog smell isn't enjoyable so i guess that's one factor

That s a huge factor and people know there is a bit of cynical condensation behind its inclusion. Same with Tiki UNM. But I digress.

Stitch just does not resonate with the MK. That is also a factor. Just as Monsters does not fit Tomorrowland.
 

Mike S

Well-Known Member
That s a huge factor and people know there is a bit of cynical condensation behind its inclusion. Same with Tiki UNM. But I digress.

Stitch just does not resonate with the MK. That is also a factor. Just as Monsters does not fit Tomorrowland.
So you do have a line where things won't fit.
 

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
I still don't understand the uproar about the items in Tomorrowland. Let's look at the beginning. We have Flight to the Moon, Already done, follow closely by Journey to Mars, OK futuristic. Circle Vision 360, America the Beautiful, nothing to do with tomorrow at all. If we had wings/ Delta Dreamflight all current travel and destinations. CoP all history with a small, but, insignificant hint to the future at the end. Skyway to Fantasyland... nothing to to with the future. Grand Prix racers, just the future of children. Many of these weren't there on opening day and were added over the first 10 years including Space Mountain which hinted of tomorrow, but, only hinted. After that the Tomorrowland mantra should have been renamed Sci Fi land. The people mover was a genuine attempt to show what we could have in the future and it did happen in many places. That didn't show up until 1975 or so. Sci Fi is what we got Timekeeper was again history and only the time travel concept was anything at all to do with the future. Buzz, Alien Encounter (the much whined about missing attraction as well as Stitch) and Monsters, Inc. is all Sci Fi. Basically it never had much to do with Tomorrow. Which is why I so many times question all this crap about theming. It is themed to something and only our own imaginations either accept or question the accuracy. Which also explains why I put so little attention as to the location of stuff. If it's good and I enjoy it, I don't care even a little where they put it. If I like it, I'll find it.
 

jt04

Well-Known Member
So you do have a line where things won't fit.

Especially the MK. I was of that mindset with Epcot but had an epiphany one day. The globe has become World Showcase and Future World Pavilions are ubiquitous. Epcot Center set a vision and succeeded. Time for a new vision. Time for a reimagining.

And if IPs help facilitate it, I am fine with that.
 

IMDREW

Well-Known Member
Why don't they change it to discovery land like disneyland paris has? I think it works very well there. The jules verne theme is also beautiful to look at and it never gets old.
 

Calm Down Rover

Well-Known Member
Define dredful. Stiches Great Escape was alright. I never found the seats to be uncomfortable, so i have no idea why people are saying it is. The chilly dog smell isn't enjoyable so i guess that's one factor

As others have said before, I think it's a fusion of unpleasant special effects (yes, other attractions have used smell effects, but that chili dog scent LINGERS like nothing else), its focus on Stitch before the events of the film made him more endearing, and generally unfunny jokes. And since it recycles elements specifically tailored for a horror experience (long periods of darkness, suffocating restraints) it doesn't appeal to many young kids either. Though I personally think there are worse attractions on a technical level (ex: The Nemo seacab overlay), Stitch's Great Escape is just... Uniquely icky.
 

DznyRktekt

Well-Known Member
Which is why I so many times question all this crap about theming. It is themed to something and only our own imaginations either accept or question the accuracy. Which also explains why I put so little attention as to the location of stuff. If it's good and I enjoy it, I don't care even a little where they put it. If I like it, I'll find it.
Theme can enhance the experience and aid in the enjoyment of environment, at least for those who notice it.
 

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