Blizzard Beach Construction

bpiper

Well-Known Member
I believe that is the boom for the tower crane they will be assembling there. The red crane is probably there to help with the assembly of the tower crane.
Here is a blow up. Tower crane booms come in large sections just like the vertical sections of the tower, that are bolted together in the air once the tower itself has been erected.. The photo shows that they are basically building the contraption out of individual pieces. Their are piles of parts on the ground and you can see a curved section of rollers

1659994244946.png
 

J4546

Well-Known Member
itd be cool if they added an expansion to BB, or a mini golf course imo. I like mini golf and a glacier/snow covered themed course would be really cool to play and walk through. If they eventually add an expansion of the skyliner and connect BB and Disney Springs to the line, that would make BB a pretty cool and easy option imo
 

HauntedPirate

Park nostalgist
Premium Member
itd be cool if they added an expansion to BB, or a mini golf course imo. I like mini golf and a glacier/snow covered themed course would be really cool to play and walk through. If they eventually add an expansion of the skyliner and connect BB and Disney Springs to the line, that would make BB a pretty cool and easy option imo

Yes, a mini-golf course at Blizzard Beach would be nice...


And why would they add a gondola line to something that's closed for multiple months each year?
 

danlb_2000

Premium Member
Original Poster
Here is a blow up. Tower crane booms come in large sections just like the vertical sections of the tower, that are bolted together in the air once the tower itself has been erected.. The photo shows that they are basically building the contraption out of individual pieces. Their are piles of parts on the ground and you can see a curved section of rollers

View attachment 658959
I see what you mean, there is also a curved section towards the bottom of the picture which would make sense for the conveyor. Is there a conveyor like this already in this area of the park that is being replaced, or is this something new?
 

bpiper

Well-Known Member
I see what you mean, there is also a curved section towards the bottom of the picture which would make sense for the conveyor. Is there a conveyor like this already in this area of the park that is being replaced, or is this something new?
I'm thinking for those 3 slides. Notice in the blowup that they are doing construction at the central launch point for the 3 slides.

Also, the more I think about it, they really don't need to go through the hassle of putting up a tower crane. The crane they already have assembled has a long enough reach to lift up and out to this point. Usually tower cranes are put together by a high reach mobile telescoping boom crane which is what would have been used to put together the existing red crane. That red crane would have been 20 semi loads of pieces to assemble. A tower crane would be another 20 loads. I wonder if they originally couldn't get a crawler crane and went with a tower crane but then one became available so they switched. Maybe it became available with the completion of some of the Brightline bridges.

I was trying to see if that concrete pad had anchor bolts installed (they would have been installed before the concrete pour to tie them into the rebar structure) but the resolution isn't enough to tell. Right now the red crane is sitting on a timber pad so it doesn't sink into the sand/soil, but could crawl onto the concrete pad and do the lift from there. It would be closer too.



1660070005905.png
 

JoeCamel

Well-Known Member
I'm thinking for those 3 slides. Notice in the blowup that they are doing construction at the central launch point for the 3 slides.

Also, the more I think about it, they really don't need to go through the hassle of putting up a tower crane. The crane they already have assembled has a long enough reach to lift up and out to this point. Usually tower cranes are put together by a high reach mobile telescoping boom crane which is what would have been used to put together the existing red crane. That red crane would have been 20 semi loads of pieces to assemble. A tower crane would be another 20 loads. I wonder if they originally couldn't get a crawler crane and went with a tower crane but then one became available so they switched. Maybe it became available with the completion of some of the Brightline bridges.

I was trying to see if that concrete pad had anchor bolts installed (they would have been installed before the concrete pour to tie them into the rebar structure) but the resolution isn't enough to tell. Right now the red crane is sitting on a timber pad so it doesn't sink into the sand/soil, but could crawl onto the concrete pad and do the lift from there. It would be closer too.



View attachment 659148
They own a tower crane but I dont know if its in use
 

bpiper

Well-Known Member
They own a tower crane but I dont know if its in use
Disney owns a tower crane? Why on earth would they? Much cheaper to rent one when needed. Actually its done by the general contractor, not the project owner. Also, they take specialized skill to setup and tear down. You have to be an expert in that type of work. What would those employees do when they weren't setting it up or taking it down? I sure wouldn't want one put up or taken down by someone who only does it once in a great while. That would be a Disney lawyer's nightmare.
 

JoeCamel

Well-Known Member
Disney owns a tower crane? Why on earth would they? Much cheaper to rent one when needed. Actually its done by the general contractor, not the project owner. Also, they take specialized skill to setup and tear down. You have to be an expert in that type of work. What would those employees do when they weren't setting it up or taking it down? I sure wouldn't want one put up or taken down by someone who only does it once in a great while. That would be a Disney lawyer's nightmare.
They have a red one that's been used alone or in conjunction with others on projects over the last five or so years maybe more. Check pictures of the builds and you see it show up again and again. Probably knew they had long term constructions so it would be a better deal to own. I'm sure they did the math.
Takes specialized skill to shoot off fireworks every night but they managed to find those people.
 

CentralFLlife

Well-Known Member
They have a red one that's been used alone or in conjunction with others on projects over the last five or so years maybe more. Check pictures of the builds and you see it show up again and again. Probably knew they had long term constructions so it would be a better deal to own. I'm sure they did the math.
Takes specialized skill to shoot off fireworks every night but they managed to find those people.
WDW absolutely does not own a tower crane. That would be a colossal waste of money for them. I believe they own a few very small boom cranes.

Cranes are built by very few companies, so they all kinda look the same. It probably wasn’t the same crane.

And if it is indeed the same crane, it’s likely just a trusted vendor that the contracted construction companies use.
 

CentralFLlife

Well-Known Member
I'm thinking for those 3 slides. Notice in the blowup that they are doing construction at the central launch point for the 3 slides.

Also, the more I think about it, they really don't need to go through the hassle of putting up a tower crane. The crane they already have assembled has a long enough reach to lift up and out to this point. Usually tower cranes are put together by a high reach mobile telescoping boom crane which is what would have been used to put together the existing red crane. That red crane would have been 20 semi loads of pieces to assemble. A tower crane would be another 20 loads. I wonder if they originally couldn't get a crawler crane and went with a tower crane but then one became available so they switched. Maybe it became available with the completion of some of the Brightline bridges.

I was trying to see if that concrete pad had anchor bolts installed (they would have been installed before the concrete pour to tie them into the rebar structure) but the resolution isn't enough to tell. Right now the red crane is sitting on a timber pad so it doesn't sink into the sand/soil, but could crawl onto the concrete pad and do the lift from there. It would be closer too.



View attachment 659148
A tower crane seems excessive for this job right? Doesn’t seem like anything major is happening over an extended period of time, which is typical for tower cranes.
 

danlb_2000

Premium Member
Original Poster
They have a red one that's been used alone or in conjunction with others on projects over the last five or so years maybe more. Check pictures of the builds and you see it show up again and again. Probably knew they had long term constructions so it would be a better deal to own. I'm sure they did the math.
Takes specialized skill to shoot off fireworks every night but they managed to find those people.

Here are pictures from four recent projects, all used different tower cranes...

Toy Story Land:

1660088026071.png


Pandora:

1660088048833.png


Tron:

1660088063321.png


Disney Springs West Garage:

1660088092266.png
 

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