Big Thunder Mountain Railroad closing for major refurbishment August to November 2016

Bocabear

Bocabear

Well-Known Member
Mike S said:
Really? They can't do such a simple thing now? At this point we'll probabably never see the Hatbox Ghost either which was also rumored to come at some point.
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It's always baffling to me that Walt Disney World is supposedly the flagship resort for the Disney Company, but they seem to get the second best of everything... Why haven't we gotten the Hatbox Ghost? Why did they not put the lift hill enhancements in BTMR when they added the other new effects for the queue enhancements, why did we get the incomplete Space Mountain refurb? It would be nice if we started getting the original grand versions of attractions again...not just overlays and clones...
 
DizArielFan

DizArielFan

Member
cwoms197 said:
Judging by the pictures on the refurb walls it looks like they could be adding new effects. Or enhancing the existing ones and adding more goats. Plus I don't think they need 3 months to paint the whole mountain. Has to be other work going on somewhere.
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That is what I was thinking as well.
 
Mike S

Mike S

Well-Known Member
cwoms197 said:
Judging by the pictures on the refurb walls it looks like they could be adding new effects. Or enhancing the existing ones and adding more goats. Plus I don't think they need 3 months to paint the whole mountain. Has to be other work going on somewhere.
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Can you post them here?
 
C

cwoms197

Member
Courtesy of laughingplace.com
 

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brb1006

brb1006

Well-Known Member
MerlinTheGoat said:
The mountain is currently covered in scaffolding, so definitely some exterior cosmetic work (paint and whatnot) is happening.

WDW1974 mentioned last year that WDW would get Disneyland's new effects sometime this year. While that plan may have changed, i'd be surprised if it didn't get them. The new effects don't seem complex, difficult or time consuming to install (or even expensive). They honestly look like something that could be installed within a week without even closing the ride (during third shift). Just some digital mapping and/or fiber optics mixed with smoke for the third lift. And the bats flap their wings now (not complicated animatronics by any stretch).

Paris is also getting the effects apparently. I realize both DL and DLP variants of the ride were closed far longer than WDW's, but they're addressing more serious structure/rebuilding/track work.

It would be truly pathetic if they don't add the new effects. Even I think they probably will, and i'm far from a WDW optimist lately...

EDIT- If they're refurbing the mountains for the 50th however, I hope that includes Space Mountain. I won't even ride that anymore as it's gotten so awful. Splash Mountain on the other hand seems to have been kept in decent to good condition for the last several years. It got a huge overhaul a while back, including a new paint job and massive fixes to all the animatronics and such. Still looks pretty darn good overall (I do find an occasional missing or non-working AA, but it seems maintenance related as they return fairly quickly).
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The ride audio for SM at WDW gets drowned out by how fast your ride vehicle is going.
 
djkidkaz

djkidkaz

Well-Known Member
Bocabear said:
It's always baffling to me that Walt Disney World is supposedly the flagship resort for the Disney Company, but they seem to get the second best of everything... Why haven't we gotten the Hatbox Ghost? Why did they not put the lift hill enhancements in BTMR when they added the other new effects for the queue enhancements, why did we get the incomplete Space Mountain refurb? It would be nice if we started getting the original grand versions of attractions again...not just overlays and clones...
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I personally think a lot of it has to do with the fact that most of Imagineering is in California and they all consider Disneyland the flagship. They are more familiar with it and visit it much more frequently. I think they also understand the demographics better since it's their "home" park.
 
brb1006

brb1006

Well-Known Member
habuma said:
There's ride audio for WDW's SM? Not being sarcastic...just never have noticed it. (Unlike DL's SM where the ride audio is right there in your ears and so much a part of the experience.)
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Yes the ride has it's own soundtrack. I remember it was mostly quite and due to the speed of your ride vehicle you would hear it for a couple seconds including the sound effects. It's an inferior and cheaper version of Disneyland's SM since WDW almost gotten the same treatment with gaining it's own onboard audio and better effects.
 

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