Animatronic functions turned off at Dinosaur?

[Buried20KLeague]

The meteor effect was great but what they couldn't get was the blast effect from the explosion, they wanted a big gigantic blast of hot air and have the finale fill up with smoke, they could do it but not repeatly every 18 seconds. They tried with smoke and LN2 but they couldn't get the effect right before the Eisner ride through. So when Eisner rode through when came to the finale, he got a little shot of air and little puff of smoke. He thought the ride was great but finale needed to be GREAT!! A BIG FINALE!! By the way, we had to trigger almost all the show scenes manually so he got a good ride.

I love when you post. Thanks.

 

[Figments Friend]

The meteor effect was great but what they couldn't get was the blast effect from the explosion, they wanted a big gigantic blast of hot air and have the finale fill up with smoke, they could do it but not repeatly every 18 seconds. They tried with smoke and LN2 but they couldn't get the effect right before the Eisner ride through. So when Eisner rode through when came to the finale, he got a little shot of air and little puff of smoke. He thought the ride was great but finale needed to be GREAT!! A BIG FINALE!! By the way, we had to trigger almost all the show scenes manually so he got a good ride.

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Great insights there, Alektronic. I thank you for sharing them.
Interesting to hear about the issues with the finale regarding the timing of the smoke.
I wonder if it would work now with today*s tech? Things have progressed a bit in that department over the years since the ride opened.
Perhaps a slight upgrade to the unit could make it fire off more consistantly?

Triggering the show scenes for Mike....heh heh heh...nice !

 

[Figments Friend]

It's such a shame.... I've been looking through the audio alone for the attraction. So much unused dialogue from at least three different scripts. At least two different musical ride scores (one from soft opening). Such a great story to tell. Like a few other attractions they are more than half way there. It' wouldn't take much more to make it amazing. As originally intended.

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I agree. It makes you long for seeing those effects back in the attraction.

Watching your CTX/Dinosaur tribute video again recently made that clear to me.

Nice job on that by the way, Martin...some of the behind-the-scenes footage and concept art i had never seen before.

 

[Figments Friend]

Good for you, but make sure you are specific. Tell them which effects are not working and how bad show quality is. Don't say the ride is broken or maintenance is bad, because they will look at their attraction readiness charts and say the ride is running 99% of the time. So the ride is running good and the maintenance PM's are working.

Because they concentrate on the ride and ride vehicles, that part works fine. If management directed them to work on the show and committed the same resources to that, then the show would look incredible also. So it is not that they can't do it, it's because they don't want to do it because they think nobody will notice or knows the difference.

Great advice when it comes to writing to Disney about such issues.
The bottom paragraph perfectly sums up why we see attractions in the state they are in sometimes.
Sad for Park fans...but all too true.

 

[George]

Good for you, but make sure you are specific. Tell them which effects are not working and how bad show quality is. Don't say the ride is broken or maintenance is bad, because they will look at their attraction readiness charts and say the ride is running 99% of the time. So the ride is running good and the maintenance PM's are working.

Because they concentrate on the ride and ride vehicles, that part works fine. If management directed them to work on the show and committed the same resources to that, then the show would look incredible also. So it is not that they can't do it, it's because they don't want to do it because they think nobody will notice or knows the difference.

Would you guess that letters make a difference?

 

[articos]

Would you guess that letters make a difference?

Don't expect anything to happen quickly, but yes, they are noted, and so they can make a difference. Not always, but it never hurts.

 

[articos]

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Great insights there, Alektronic. I thank you for sharing them.
Interesting to hear about the issues with the finale regarding the timing of the smoke.
I wonder if it would work now with today*s tech? Things have progressed a bit in that department over the years since the ride opened.
Perhaps a slight upgrade to the unit could make it fire off more consistantly?

Triggering the show scenes for Mike....heh heh heh...nice !

Smoke is complex. It's more about the air handling in the building than it is the actual smoke effect, and trying to fill a room and dissipate within a normal continuous peak-season ride cycle is difficult even today on any sort of reasonable budget. Smoke/LN2 density varies with temperature, so on cold days it's different from hot days, and it varies even from hour to hour. And it can build up over the course of the day, so by the end of the day, your light haze may be a pea soup, which is a challenge to moderate. LN2 is harder to control, and theatrical fog will build up on everything - 6 of one, half dozen of the other, but either presents challenges. You could potentially do a blast screen that will inevitably clog and require regular maintenance, and will be thin during certain seasons. Or you could do the fog-screen that's used for the rats in Indy, but that won't provide a light barrier, and it needs a certain amount of time to replenish if you're driving a ride vehicle through it every 18 seconds - the reason there's a pause before that scene is so the screen will re-form after the EMV in front has gone through. And beyond all of that, the first thing that gets turned off in any budget cut is fire and fog, so...

It's common for VIP run-throughs to be partially or fully triggered the way they did for Mike E., as it's usually reliable at that stage, but not always, and the project team doesn't necessarily want to chance their Dinosaur attraction not having any dinosaurs.

 

[_Boolean]

Last trip, the alioramus was completely frozen in place when we rode during morning EMH. It was disappointing and killed the mood for the rest of the ride. It was a shame, since when he's working he's a great figure!
A side note: Back when it was "Countdown to Extinction", my grandmother thought it was the best ride she'd ever seen aside from her favorite, IASW. Go figure!

When did you guys go? I remember riding that back in '11 with my little sister and that dinosaur was frozen also.

 

[marni1971]

There are so many easy to achieve effects that combined would give the ride a true Impact finale.... But given the state of the rest of the attraction the chances of anything new actually being designed and added are so slim.

 

[articos]

There are so many easy to achieve effects that combined would give the ride a true Impact finale.... But given the state of the rest of the attraction the chances of anything new actually being designed and added are so slim.

It doesn't need anything added, just put it back the way it was.

 

[Figments Friend]

Thank you for the informative explanation, articos. Makes sense...with smoke being difficult to control.

Something i was wondering recently, as i have been looking over a lot of various prehistoric AAs lately.....

Does anyone know if any of the figures in *Dinosaur* were copies from other attractions? What i mean by this, is did any previous prehistoric figures from past attractions get re-used or perhaps just re-molded to appear here?
The thought crossed my mind while viewing the fabulous diorama at DisneyLand, as the battling T-rex and Stegosaurus in that display were duplicated and re-used again for a scene in UoE.

The figures in *Dinosaur* all look to be custom made for that specific attraction, but i thought it would be worth asking anyway.

 

[MissAlmyra]

When did you guys go? I remember riding that back in '11 with my little sister and that dinosaur was frozen also.

He was frozen during an October 2012 trip, I believe it was the morning of the 15th if you're interested in specifics! It's disappointing to see him stationary, since he's so out in the open and it's blatantly obvious if something is wrong with him.

 

[DisneyCoop]

It ticks me off too and I'm just a customer. When will management realize this sort of thing drives customers away? When more customers stay away I suppose. But DisCo is still laughing its way to the bank by treating its guests like fools, and they've been getting away with it because the guests keep coming back for more. Fortunately I do think the word is getting out. At least here in Florida, folks are staying away from the mouse in increasing numbers. I'd love to enjoy Animal Kingdom and CTX as they were-- working-- when the park first opened. But a broken-down product? No thanks.

Well if you don't like the status of Disney's theme park rides, I'd say its best if you collect a crowd of people who feel the same thing and mob the entire company to satisfy yourselves because I don't want to hear any more complaints. I want to talk about how beneficial the ride is.

 

[Epicpilot]

When I went in late this past April everything looked like it was working. I did not notice anything not working and everything was acting right.

 

[Skip]

When I went in late this past April everything looked like it was working. I did not notice anything not working and everything was acting right.

Really? Were the laser boxes working at the beginning and end of the ride? Were the dozens of small meteorite collision effects working throughout? Was the eating dinosaur at the beginning of the ride actually chomping on its prey and moving its head all the way up towards the ceiling? Were the compies jumping again? Was the pterodactyl moving towards you? Was the sauropod moving its neck in its full range of motion? Was the laser net on the Iguanadon functioning?

Just checking to make sure everything is indeed acting right on DINOSAUR, as that would be great news indeed...

 

[Epicpilot]

Really? Were the laser boxes working at the beginning and end of the ride? Were the dozens of small meteorite collision effects working throughout? Was the eating dinosaur at the beginning of the ride actually chomping on its prey and moving its head all the way up towards the ceiling? Were the compies jumping again? Was the pterodactyl moving towards you? Was the sauropod moving its neck in its full range of motion? Was the laser net on the Iguanadon functioning?

Just checking to make sure everything is indeed acting right on DINOSAUR, as that would be great news indeed...

1. begining yes, end no, though i may have missed them. 2. IIRC yes, not 100% sure though. 3. Yes and yes. 4. Not sure what those are. 5. Yes. 6. Yes. 7. Yes. Hope this helps. I will happily answer anymore questions about the ride.

 

[ctxak98]

1. begining yes, end no, though i may have missed them. 2. IIRC yes, not 100% sure though. 3. Yes and yes. 4. Not sure what those are. 5. Yes. 6. Yes. 7. Yes. Hope this helps. I will happily answer anymore questions about the ride.

Not to sound rude but there is no way the Alioramus, compys, cearadactyl, or sauropod had full motion. Also the Hadrosaur moves WAYYYY less then it use to. They haven't for a long time and through recent videos I can see they still aren't so you may be confused on what "Full Motion" actually looks like on these guys

 

[marni1971]

1. begining yes, end no, though i may have missed them. 2. IIRC yes, not 100% sure though. 3. Yes and yes. 4. Not sure what those are. 5. Yes. 6. Yes. 7. Yes. Hope this helps. I will happily answer anymore questions about the ride.

Ceara has been deactivated for years. As has the laser net (it was removed).
Sadly.

 

[flynnibus]

The reality is... you can't take people's reports at face value because honestly most people don't even know what the working condition really looks like.

 

[dadddio]

The reality is... you can't take people's reports at face value because honestly most people don't even know what the working condition really looks like.

Still, their reports highlight the fact that even though the ride experience has changed over the years, it is still enjoyable and the changes aren't even noticed by many (most?).