7-9-07: Wand Removal Begins

[BuzzComplexCM]

Ok, I couldn't help myself. I'm gonna go to WDW for a few days this month. Will be heading out July 12 and staying until the 25th. I will be staying with my father in Kissimmee so I will try to get to the parks as much as I can. Funny thing is my sister and mother will be staying at Saratoga Springs for a few days while I am there so I will bunk up with them for a few nights as well. I will definetly get to Epcot and take as many pics as I possibly can. As soon as I can I will post them. I will keep you all updated with what is going on.

I CANNOT WAIT!!! :sohappy: :sohappy: :sohappy:

 

[NemoRocks78]

Just read on another site that by 3am they already had "a couple dozen" of SSE's omnimover vehicles outside the building. So, that answers our question of how easy it is to get them outside the building.

They started that quickly?

 

[brianplace]

thank you!

thank you pigletismycat

damn, no sign of spontaneous combustion though.

 

[brianplace]

speed

this new guy (Jim MacPhee) seems to kick some ______.

I'm seriously expecting they do "something" for the 25th now. He'll make sure it happens.

SSE vehicles already being refurbed? They are moving faster than I expected all around...

 

[PigletIsMyCat]

From the angle, i would say it's in the big plaza south of the wand that would typically lead to Guest Relations. I bet that area is completely closed off.

They could theorheticaly park a large crane in the patch of grass between Energy and Guest relations but they would probably close Guest Relations and the monorail both if they did that.

Isn't that where SSE exits, though? I wasn't in the park today, just drove by to take pics. Looking from backstage, it looked like the base would be pretty close into SSE.

 

[WDWFanatic]

Hey you can watch from the weather cam and do an elapsed time to watch as it comes down.

http://www.instacam.com/showcam.asp?id=LKBNV&size=S

 

[WDWfreak89]

so will they still light the wand at this point? Or are they shutting them off completely?

 

[BuzzComplexCM]

so will they still light the wand at this point? Or are they shutting them off completely?

It was lit last night. They may keep it lit until they begin the "real" work.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Hey you can watch from the weather cam and do an elapsed time to watch as it comes down.

http://www.instacam.com/showcam.asp?id=LKBNV&size=S

or mousemerf could take a picture of SSE from the exact same position every day when he's in Epcot, and then create an award-winning YouTube video in a couple months...

 

[RiversideBunny]

Also- Maybe try to go to lunch with one of the workers when they break for lunch and see if he can give you any inside scoop on the project.

 

[ROEFan88]

Can anyone offer an insight as to how exactly they'll go about taking it down? I expect to get the stars off the sphere itself someone will have to climb up through the SSE trapdoor - but I can't really picture how exactly they'll go about getting the wand down.:shrug: Do you think there's any possibility of damage to the sphere as a result of this work - it seems a pretty risky endeavour in such a confined space.

Do you think ALL of the work will be done at night? It's interesting to wonder what kind of effect this work will have on the surrounding area during park hours. Any thoughts?

 

[rdour@techminds]

Hmmm, now I'm curious. How do you properly wash a spherical building? Normally on our boxy buildings a window washer would use a platform attached to the roof to pull off the job. Now, do those tiles need polishing? I'd imagine the rain takes care of the tiles on top, until the curve of the building reaches 90 degrees vertical. Then what?

Ryan

 

[ToTBellHop]

Hmmm, now I'm curious. How do you properly wash a spherical building? Normally on our boxy buildings a window washer would use a platform attached to the roof to pull off the job. Now, do those tiles need polishing? I'd imagine the rain takes care of the tiles on top, until the curve of the building reaches 90 degrees vertical. Then what?

Ryan

then the hurricanes take care of it.

 

[mousermerf]

Isn't that where SSE exits, though? I wasn't in the park today, just drove by to take pics. Looking from backstage, it looked like the base would be pretty close into SSE.

SSE dumps into a pretty long building for the post-show. It has exits on both sides. I assume it's not completely filling the plaza on the east aside.

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=nqw88g863tgj&style=o&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=3949774&sp=Point.nqw7x4863tfk_Crane_Where%20I%20think%20the%20crane%20is.__~Point.nqw6py863twt_Guest%20Relations___~Point.nqw5yd863t7n_Project%20Tomorrow%20Doors___&encType=1

Local-live map with locations marked.

 

[rdour@techminds]

I'm just happy to see that they're removing the wand. I actually thought that it was quite the lightning rod for SSE. I wonder if they ever had a count of how many times that thing has been hit.

Now, in a hurricane, wouldn't that structure be one of the weakest? It is a single support if I'm correct. Imagine if a really strong hurricane did come through, good idea to get that wand out and just not find out. 7 years of luck, with nothing strong enough to knock it over. Guess they felt their luck was up with it.

Did it ever rust?

 

[dandaman]

^I thought it was strong enough to withstand 200 mph winds, but that might be SSE itself...

 

[Main Street USA]

What will be really cool, is that when the wand is finally down, the webcam link posted earlier in this thread has a 28 day time lapse feature, where you'll be able to watch the actual deconstruction of the wand over the course of about 5 minutes.

 

[jmvd20]

Can anyone offer an insight as to how exactly they'll go about taking it down? I expect to get the stars off the sphere itself someone will have to climb up through the SSE trapdoor - but I can't really picture how exactly they'll go about getting the wand down.:shrug: Do you think there's any possibility of damage to the sphere as a result of this work - it seems a pretty risky endeavour in such a confined space.

Do you think ALL of the work will be done at night? It's interesting to wonder what kind of effect this work will have on the surrounding area during park hours. Any thoughts?

The removal of the wand is actually a simple process, of course dangers exist but it is still a rather simply process nonetheless. No damage to SSE will ocurr unless there is an accident, which is unlikely due to today's safety protocols, unfortunately even with the methods we use today accidents can and do happen.

I posted how it will most likely come down on page 2 of this thread, which is still an educated guess as there are numerous things about the wand structure itself that I do not know.

 

[jmvd20]

Here they are... these are from a backstage area....

You're welcome. :wave:

Something tells me that this isn't the only crane that is going to be used to remove the wand...

Thanks for the pics!

 

[DisneyDellsDude]

Where did they bring in the crane to get them under the monorail line?