25th May 2002: One Year Without Webcams

[RogueHabit]

Today marks the one year anniversary since Walt Disney World shut off their webcams. I know that a few people have emailed WDW and been told they would be back, I guess the budget cuts killed that off.

I really used to enjoy watching the webcams as we planned our vacation, it was yet another way to get into the 'Disney Mood.'

The last ever images from the CAMS are still there to see at:

http://disney.go.com/disneyworld/havefun/hitech_mkwebcam.html

Hopefully, one day, they will be back.

It's a shame that both Disney and USF felt that they weren't a worthwhile tool.

 

[SykedOwt]

Yea, That Really is a Shame, It was Awesome to Look at those.

 

[wanabeimagineer]

Wow you read my mind, I was gonna make a post about this :lol:
Well I agree they were good to look at and it got you in "the disney mood" I would watch them everyday, I just wish they had a better one for Epcot cuz I like to use them to check the crowds and with the Epcot one you cant even see any people.

 

[MinnieFan]

I really wish they would bring them back. Does anybody have any idea how much they cost to operate?

 

[Justin149]

i know my school has one on our quad, a much better resolution one as well, and it actually is pretty cheap to run and maintain.

-justin

 

[NowInc]

Originally posted by MinnieFan
I really wish they would bring them back. Does anybody have any idea how much they cost to operate?

Its not really the cost as much as it is the hassle to maintain them. They are outdoor cams...and the amount of bandwith they used was probobly pretty high.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Disney needs to take a lesson from Cedar Point's website: http://www.cedarpoint.com . They have 3 webcams that update by the minute, they're never turned off, and show 3 different locations in the park. They used to have another view of the park but it was moved to show their new coaster.

 

[RogueHabit]

Originally posted by NowInc


Its not really the cost as much as it is the hassle to maintain them. They are outdoor cams...and the amount of bandwith they used was probobly pretty high.

I don't think the bandwidth would be a major issue to Disney. I'm sure they have pretty big 'pipes' running.

 

[tenchu]

I always used to 'tune in' in the middle of the night!!! All i used to see was darkness! :lol:

 

[RogueHabit]

I think they used to turn them off after closing so that you couldn't see the park being cleaned and stuff.

The Universal cams were 24 x 7 and far superior in thei implementation.

That is what Disney should put in. Large images, with camera control, zoom and stuff like that. Maybe, if things pick up in the general economy, they will do something like that.

 

[Al]

the universal ones were awesome. you could zoom in etc etc. its a shame they got rid of them

 

[Dizknee_Phreek]

this is completely off topic (sorry) but, I just had to tell you, Alberrisford, how much i love your avatar! it's gorgeous!!

 

[neilybealy]

Originally posted by Ratcat
I don't think the bandwidth would be a major issue to Disney. I'm sure they have pretty big 'pipes' running.

bandwidth is ALWAYS a major issue

disney should get it up and running again though :animwink:

 

[RogueHabit]

Originally posted by neilybealy


bandwidth is ALWAYS a major issue

disney should get it up and running again though :animwink:

Only if you don't have the resources to provide it. Bandwidth costs are falling, and have been for ages. The entire world is entering the broadband revolution, slowly but surely.

If you look at the architecture of the kind of Cam solution that Universal employed, it wasn't actually that bandwidth heavy, fot the service it provided. Disney would be well served to implement something similar, if they ever decide to do it at all.

 

[neilybealy]

Originally posted by Ratcat
Only if you don't have the resources to provide it. Bandwidth costs are falling, and have been for ages. The entire world is entering the broadband revolution, slowly but surely.

the size of the "pipe" that disney has far exceeds "broadband"

as an example the price for a 2Mb pipe in the UK is £30,000 per year

not sure on the costs in USA though

 

[RogueHabit]

Originally posted by neilybealy


the size of the "pipe" that disney has far exceeds "broadband"

as an example the price for a 2Mb pipe in the UK is £30,000 per year

not sure on the costs in USA though

I'm not sure what your point is???

However, I don't know how you can state a figure for the cost of a T1, as it is not as clear cut as that. All such comms lines are quoted from site to site and are thus variable, dependant on the distance between the connection suppliers point of access (typically a main exchange) and the site of the customer.
(If we really want to get into discussions on the planning and implementation of highspeed data provision then we can, but I think it would be a little boring for the majority of members...)

Anyway, that is definately not the issue here as Disney is undoubtably running on some fairly large networks and would have very little problems with the outward bound bandwidth, and the kind of service I am referring to, for the Cams, that were run by Universal, were operating when the majority of users were still running on 56K modems and finding the operation perfectly userable.

 

[neilybealy]

:hammer: :hammer:

like you said, it's a bit boring (for most members here) to go into detail about network bandwidth and it's provision.....

i just wish they would get them going again as i loved to check up on the parks

Neil

 

[space42]

bandwidth sandwich!

Its not like they were just setting the cams up and realized they didn't have enough bandwidth!
The cams ran fine for quite a while. The question is why all of a sudden they could not longer run the cams? I suspect this is just another non-revenue generating item that was subjected to the cutbacks of the last few years.

 

[no2apprentice]

I tend to agree with space42. As we've all seen with some attractions being closed, and other attractions needing some "sprucing", Disney seems to be very concerned about returns on their investments. Look at the "dot com" business bust, and all the established retail companies that lost money going on line. Maybe when companies figure out the correct business stratagies to use the internet, Disney will find a way to utilize WebCams again. I wouldn't be surprised if we had to pay for it.

 

[DMC-12]

Bandwidth is not an issue at WDW, as the place is laced with Fiber Optic Lines.... I loved the cams to and I wish they would bring them back...It would be great if they could land a deal with Perceptual Robotics here in Chicago...and have a few cams that pan and tilt in each park!


http://www.perceptualrobotics.com/