Any new thunder mountain info?

MerlinTheGoat

MerlinTheGoat

Well-Known Member
wdwmagic said:
No moving rocks.
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Massive fail.:brick:

I wonder if all the figures have been put back into the flooded town scene (like the opossums that used to swing from the tree). Heck, I hope the town is actually flooded.

djkidkaz said:
No moving rocks? Is it still a black tarp?

What was the kaboom queue stuff Raven was talking about?
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They actually removed the tarp and replaced the rock work well before the ride went down for refurb. I think the tarp has been gone since early last year in fact.
 
csm

csm

Well-Known Member
Here's what I just replied back elsewhere to a friend who asked my thoughts:


If I had to pick between "good" or "bad" my vote would be "bad." The cheesy bats are the same. They did NOT add the wing-flapping, much more realistic bats that have been in every OTHER Thunder for years. C Lift's shaking rocks (disabled since one fell a few years ago) were completely removed and now are just rocks attached to the wall. The awful gobo lighting effect at the top of the lift tunnel was NOT replaced with the cool fiber optic effect all the other Thunders have - it was simply removed and replaced with nothing. The queue looks awful - all the talk of how well themed it is - there's nothing. Granted the "interactives" won't be online for several more months so there will be some added, but just from a theming perspective, or more importantly a show set perspective, it looks like total crap. I would have rather see just the Six Flags-esque switchbacks remain. At least those served a sensible purpose.

I love Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - I always have and I always will - but in terms of "added surprises" after a lengthy (needed) refurbishment, adjust your expectations accordingly. To zero.

Oh - well they *did* get the geysers working again. I think those have been out of service for several years now, so that's good, but again, not new.


Edit to add - since someone asked above - No - the opossums do not function again - in fact they are not even there. Mom is, but the swinging babies aren't even on the branch. Town is flooded.
 
C

Cactusspade

New Member
Didn't someone say a projection system was going to simulate falling rocks? Someone said it was installed the last before the rehab started, but the rocks were falling upward, as the projector wasn't set up correctly yet.
 
csm

csm

Well-Known Member
Cactusspade said:
Didn't someone say a projection system was going to simulate falling rocks? Someone said it was installed the last before the rehab started, but the rocks were falling upward, as the projector wasn't set up correctly yet.
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I believe what was there before the refurbishment was just gobos. It was different from the one that had been running long term, but it still did not have the right look to be beliveable. Beyond that - yes - you are correct - the rocks fell upward with it.
 
dxwwf3

dxwwf3

Well-Known Member
I'm really shocked to hear that the falling rocks scene isn't working. Luckily it is still in super soft opening mode. You would think that fixing that effect would have been near the top on the list of things to fix during this rehab.....wouldn't you?
 
csm

csm

Well-Known Member
dxwwf3 said:
I'm really shocked to hear that the falling rocks scene isn't working. Luckily it is still in super soft opening mode. You would think that fixing that effect would have been near the top on the list of things to fix during this rehab.....wouldn't you?
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But you're missing the key though - if you're talking about the rocks on the walls, they do not exist any longer. They are just rocks attached to the cave like all the other rocks that form the cave. There are no shaking "falling" rocks over the lift anymore.

If you're talking about the top of lift effect specifically, yeah, I'm baffled by that. It was brighter lit at the top than ever before - which made it look worse because it made it obvious that it wasn't real track or even to scale. Lighting is your friend, Mr. Designer. Why must you make an enemy of him?
 
dxwwf3

dxwwf3

Well-Known Member
csm said:
But you're missing the key though - if you're talking about the rocks on the walls, they do not exist any longer. They are just rocks attached to the cave like all the other rocks that form the cave. There are no shaking "falling" rocks over the lift anymore.

If you're talking about the top of lift effect specifically, yeah, I'm baffled by that. It was brighter lit at the top than ever before - which made it look worse because it made it obvious that it wasn't real track or even to scale. Lighting is your friend, Mr. Designer. Why must you make an enemy of him?
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I'm sorry, but that's pathetic. How could they not fix the rocks on the walls? So they just gave up on fixing the effect completely? Wow
 
csm

csm

Well-Known Member
dxwwf3 said:
I'm sorry, but that's pathetic. How could they not fix the rocks on the walls? So they just gave up on fixing the effect completely? Wow
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Well that is "the fix" - the effect was simply completely removed. "Problem solved."

Look in the theme park world, that sort of thing DOES happen. Basically things get weighed by how much the cost to maintain versus what they add to the attraction. Not to go off topic, but given the options I'm much more ok with rocks not moving on Thunder than the Compys not jumping for the past several years on Dinosaur.

Clearly something wasn't right with those rocks - but it's bizarre that they operated for so long before the problems started showing, and then all of a sudden bam, they're here, paris, all over. I wish I had more info on that but I honestly do not. I just know they were exactly one year apart - and that is freaky.
 
Thurp

Thurp

Member
I noticed some RFID readers at the top of the a pole over the fast pass line. There were also some boxes throughout the queue that looked like they may be used for interactive elements but I could be wrong, it's hard to tell if anything that is currently there will be interactive or if they will add other things later (likely.)

There is AC in the standby line now but it still gets kind of hot, but some cool air is better than none.

Everything looks great, the rocks are unfortunately not moving in the earthquake scene but they geysers at the exit are working once again, so that's good news!

Here are some pictures I took. We happened to be at the right place at the right time and we were in the first train that was dispatched. There was a lot of clapping by guests and CMs alike during dispatch and when we arrived back at the station.
 

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csm

csm

Well-Known Member
Thurp said:
Everything looks great, the rocks are unfortunately not moving in the earthquake scene but they geysers at the exit are working once again, so that's good news!
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But again though - to prevent someone who cannot just go ride it from getting their hopes up reading this - it's not that the rocks are not moving - the moving rocks were *removed forever*.
 
Thurp

Thurp

Member
csm said:
But again though - to prevent someone who cannot just go ride it from getting their hopes up reading this - it's not that the rocks are not moving - the moving rocks were *removed forever*.
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Correct and I am also as disappointed as you are. Disney should be be able fix these things, but weren't there some rumors about perhaps using some animation? I don't know if that was a wishful thought or if there was some truth to it, at least at some point.

I figured that it is OK to cut them some slack during this unannounced soft-opening. For example, the waterfalls at the top of the first hill were not turned on. I doubt this means that they have been turned off for good, they were probably just turned off for now. So maybe they are still planning on some effect for the earthquake section, I don't know. I don't have high-hopes but I welcome them to surprise me.
 

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