DAK AVATAR progress

[NoChesterHester]

Which part? The renovating the restaurant you don't own part, or spending the 200 million you don't have part?

This is the post of the day. I spit milk through my nose reading it.

 

[CDavid]

May I suggest MagLev??


It's even been endorsed by Bob Gurr, designer of the WDW and DL monorail!
http://micechat.com/19851-bob-gurr-podcasts/ (Part 5)

Uh, no. Please no. About anything would be preferable (and cheaper) over Maglev. Among many issues, you just don't need a train which can do 300 mph for a journey of five or six miles. It's silly.

 

[nytimez]

I propose Harrier jets.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Uh, no. Please no. About anything would be preferable (and cheaper) over Maglev. Among many issues, you just don't need a train which can do 300 mph for a journey of five or six miles. It's silly.

So exploding pneumatic tires, killing dozens of people potentially is preferable? Florida summers are only going to get hotter. Not all maglev systems go 300+ miles nor do they have to. I bet Siemens could build a nice 150mph maglev system for WDW at a discount.

 

[Prock3]

So exploding pneumatic tires, killing dozens of people potentially is preferable? Florida summers are only going to get hotter. Not all maglev systems go 300+ miles nor do they have to. I bet Siemens could build a nice 150mph maglev system for WDW at a discount.

The monorails have had tires blow previously and no one has died from it. But still its much worse than a maglev crash...

 

[articos]

If I'm reading your question correctly, the axel travels around the so called pods in a giant circle, always looking in.

They don't have to, that's just the way Vekoma designed it for their dog & pony. The pods can be arranged around a winding track, or an inner track looking out. It's very similar to what Uni has done with FJ, except that - in theory - it allows for a taller footprint, allowing axis armature to go higher or lower than the Kuka's, while the Kuka allows for a more free range of movement. If it can all be made to work.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

They don't have to, that's just the way Vekoma designed it for their dog & pony. The pods can be arranged around a winding track, or an inner track looking out. It's very similar to what Uni has done with FJ, except that - in theory - it allows for a taller footprint, allowing axis armature to go higher or lower than the Kuka's, while the Kuka allows for a more free range of movement. If it can all be made to work.

Did Vekoma build a proof of concept for Pandora's box like they apparently did for their Soarin' 2.0?

 

[trr1]

they could do this http://www.ultraglobalprt.com/?page_id=26

 

[articos]

Did Vekoma build a proof of concept for Pandora's box like they apparently did for their Soarin' 2.0?

I don't believe so - just the CG mock-ups. They were trying to use a concept for Efteling to finance some work on this ride system, but I believe Efteling wanted higher capacity, and wanted some guarantees before handing over money. And Vekoma needed those funds to build the concept to see if it would even work, and Pandora's is a very expensive ride system. Chicken or egg. None of the ride companies are generally in a position to spend to build completely new $$$ high concept rides. They can design them, but that's it. They need deep pockets to be the guinea pigs, which said deep pockets never want to be. Soarin' 2.0, as you call it, I believe was paid for by a Taiwanese client.

(By dog and pony, I mean the presentation video they're shopping around, not a physical dog'n'pony.)

 

[twebber55]

I don't believe so - just the CG mock-ups. They were trying to use a concept for Efteling to finance some work on this ride system, but I believe Efteling wanted higher capacity, and wanted some guarantees before handing over money. And Vekoma needed those funds to build the concept to see if it would even work, and Pandora's is a very expensive ride system. Chicken or egg. None of the ride companies are generally in a position to spend to build completely new $$$ high concept rides. They can design them, but that's it. They need deep pockets to be the guinea pigs, which said deep pockets never want to be. Soarin' 2.0, as you call it, I believe was paid for by a Taiwanese client.

(By dog and pony, I mean the presentation video they're shopping around, not a physical dog'n'pony.)

thats the one negative i see with this ride system..i question capacity...thats one of the great things about Forbidden Journey great ride capacity...could definitely see this as the next big thing though...so i m wondering does disney play it safe and go vekoma flight simulator (soarin 10.0 with 3d) or do they step out of the (pandora's) box and look at something innovative

 

[Tim_4]

Still, it's not like all this money Disney saved from being cheap and charging up the wazoo is sitting around. If they want to get really serious about fixing WDW, they'll need to get quite a bit of debt. Our resident spirit once said it would take 5-10 billion to get WDW back in shape.

That's absurd. 10 billion isn't "back in shape" money, it's "build every fanboy's wet dream" money. All of DAK cost $1B originally. $4B could build a fifth and sixth gate, $2B could build four resorts. $2B for monorail expansion. Leaving $2B for getting "back in shape" money.

The Spirit folks lose a ton of credibility in a lot of people's eyes when they go off the deep end like that.

 

[CDavid]

That's absurd. 10 billion isn't "back in shape" money, it's "build every fanboy's wet dream" money. All of DAK cost $1B originally. $4B could build a fifth and sixth gate, $2B could build four resorts. $2B for monorail expansion. Leaving $2B for getting "back in shape" money.

The Spirit folks lose a ton of credibility in a lot of people's eyes when they go off the deep end like that.

In fairness, $10 billion was the top figure, from $5-10 billion. Five billion plus might well be needed, a lot depends on if we are just talking about fixing the parks or also including solutions to WDW's transportation woes and future resort development. New resorts aren't necessairily part of being "back in shape", but even if we are referring solely to the parks, it will obviously cost a lot more to remedy issues with stale attractions and a general lack of expansion and new experiences than it would to simply fix issues of park capacity and a simple lack of things to do ("half day parks" - specifically so few rides in Animal Kingdom).

Resort transportation will only continue to grow worse until something is done.

 

[SirLink]

That's absurd. 10 billion isn't "back in shape" money, it's "build every fanboy's wet dream" money. All of DAK cost $1B originally. $4B could build a fifth and sixth gate, $2B could build four resorts. $2B for monorail expansion. Leaving $2B for getting "back in shape" money.

The Spirit folks lose a ton of credibility in a lot of people's eyes when they go off the deep end like that.

Let us dissect that DAK cost $1billion, however it is extremely bare bones on the attraction front.

Let us base it on WDI pricing:
-DAK + DHS need about $2billion each pumped into them so $4billion
-Epcot + MK need about $1billion each pumped into them so $2billion
-Better transport system rather than "Buses" so $2billion
-Resort wide improvements so another $2billion

Total = $10 billion, put it over 5 years and a building schedule similar to Universal building schedule. However if they budgeted like Uni when they design Disney still would need to pump $8billion into the resort.

For WDI $2billion improving four parks isn't enough. We end up with nothing of substance. I love how you love to disrespect our Spirited members but 8-10 billion in Disney hands doesn't build a whole lot.

 

[WDWDad13]

I know some companies spend more on things to have good PR and advertise in the news, etc. they are doing something to be more "green". Getting rid of the bus transportation and replacing it with monorails (or something similar) might have that affect.

 

[midwest_mice]

I'd really like to see more monorails throughout the resort. But by them adding more bus stops at the MK, that is looking less likely in the near future. I'd rather be crammed on a monorail anyday over a crammed bus.

 

[George]

I do find it interesting that Vekoma called the ride system "Pandora".

I know for a fact that the name "Pandora's Box" isn't a cultural/literary/mythological reference as most would suspect, nor is it a reference to Pandora from "Avatar". The guy who designed the ride system had a girlfriend named Pandora he was really into.......

 

[CDavid]

So exploding pneumatic tires, killing dozens of people potentially is preferable? Florida summers are only going to get hotter. Not all maglev systems go 300+ miles nor do they have to. I bet Siemens could build a nice 150mph maglev system for WDW at a discount.

You don't even need a rail system of any type (maglev, monorail, light rail, MK steam trains, etc.) which does 150 for short trips like in WDW. All it does is make the project significantly more expensive (say, 2-3 times more) to save perhaps one or two minutes trip time on most routes. It is not top speed but average speed which is important; A conventional rail line with a top speed of 60 mph might get there in a little more than half the time of the buses simply by avoiding stop-and-go traffic. If the train instead averaged 90 mph on that same hypothetical 6-mile trip you would potentially save a whole 90 seconds.

 

[Tim_4]

Let us dissect that DAK cost $1billion, however it is extremely bare bones on the attraction front.

Let us base it on WDI pricing:
-DAK + DHS need about $2billion each pumped into them so $4billion
-Epcot + MK need about $1billion each pumped into them so $2billion
-Better transport system rather than "Buses" so $2billion
-Resort wide improvements so another $2billion

Total = $10 billion, put it over 5 years and a building schedule similar to Universal building schedule. However if they budgeted like Uni when they design Disney still would need to pump $8billion into the resort.

For WDI $2billion improving four parks isn't enough. We end up with nothing of substance. I love how you love to disrespect our Spirited members but 8-10 billion in Disney hands doesn't build a whole lot.

$2 billion each for DAK and DHS? Furrealz? DCA was just "fixed" for half that and it was in far worse shape than any WDW park.

 

[Tim_4]

I'd really like to see more monorails throughout the resort. But by them adding more bus stops at the MK, that is looking less likely in the near future. I'd rather be crammed on a monorail anyday over a crammed bus.

The idea with growing the bus fleet is you wouldn't be "crammed" anywhere.

 

[SirLink]

$2 billion each for DAK and DHS? Furrealz? DCA was just "fixed" for half that and it was in far worse shape than any WDW park.

Yes, money for repairs and refurbs across the park(s) as well as significant expansion - BTW since when does half of 2 equal 1.5?