DCA's Tower of Terror... future plans

[FireFly725]

Re: kind of fond of...

Originally posted by paulcmartens
Adding a shaft was necessary BECAUSE they cheaped out on horizontal movement a la TOT. The ride will be o.k., but less money was spent on it/budgetted for it, according to the Imagineer I spoke with.

But this one does have horizontal movement.

It cost over 100 million dollars. While it may be less than the original, that is still a large chunk of change for a ride.

 

[paulcmartens]

horizontal movement...

To clarify: When I say horizontal movement, I mean moving 20-30 ft...backing up into the shaft isn't what I had in mind when comparing WDW TOT.

I don't know what it cost, but it does look expensive...its just not as much.

 

[FireFly725]

True. . . But I still don't think the ride will be worse. Like you and I said above, If they budgeted less for it, they probably saved money by making an effect smaller than the 5D room so that they wouldn't have to make such a large building. Just because the new scene is smaller doesn't mean it will be any less interesting and effective as the 5D room.

 

[paulcmartens]

No, that 5d room is unbelievable!!...I'm sorry, but having studied a bit of engineering...I was like...this is so freaking incredible...!! And then the effects in that room...I forget all that happened, but I was blown away that they were able to achieve what they did.

I just don't think anything can compare with an elevator moving from one shaft to another. To me, it wasn't so much a fear based reaction to that, like 'yikes' but more like, knowing a little architecture/engineering...I was like...in awe...just crazy...I will never forget that ride.

Even the ending...you think your finished, but the elevator has to spin on axis so you get out. I mean, that's just crazy.

For me, you could kind of compare the rides like cars. TOT is like the Mercedes of rides. When it opened, it was a high end E class or S Class..now, it s a C or E, but the C and E's now have more tech. jazz than an E or S had 10 years ago, more little fancy gadgets, but the cars back then were still big, heavy, had more powerful engines and said much about the owner that could afford it at that time.

I think the bottom line is the company set out to spend less on the ride. Instead of spending more, and creating an even more inventive and imaginative ride, they will no doubt get something less than what was offered 10 years ago.

This isn't 'good' or 'bad'..merely what happened. The ride will be less impressive, have less WOW factor simply because of this: are you more impressed with a 60 000 car or a 40 000 car.

 

[FireFly725]

I disagree. Mostly because I don't have as much enthusiasm of the 5D room as you do. I don't think it would take much to make something better than the 5D room, aesthetically speaking.
Again with the car analogies, I would be more impressed with a sports car than an old pick-up truck. It may be larger, but not necessarily better looking.

 

[paulcmartens]

Well, there's more to an attraction than just aesthetics, in facts, that's a secondary issue.

Thrill factor is the key ingredient to a 'thrill ride'...so having a drop zone with a car coming in an out of a loading zone just isn't as thrilling as a ride vehicle that moves in any which direction, disorienting the rider.

To throw away an attractions 'attractibility' to mere preference as stated above would seem to say that it then it doesn't matter what is spent or thought through or executed in a thrill ride like TOT DCA edition. That bungee ride NE of celebration is just as good as TOT then?

No. Bottom line is, when it comes to an attraction, the most expensive on average tend to lure the most attention.

On average, fast pass rides (those that have long lines) tend to be the big expensive rides. Not saying its good or bad, that's just what happens.

 

[marni1971]

Originally posted by FireFly725
I have heard that there won't be any type of photography allowed on the ride, because the new Looking Glass scene is very senstive to things that emit light. Like infrared, flash, etc.
.

I hope there will be a video... I really do!!! There are plenty of attractions which ban videotaping, and they are all available on the net... just takes someone with `imagination` to record it.

BTW - I believe one factor why the 5d room may not be used is that the WDW version caused havoc with ride stops and 101`s - on this level, the car is tracked by a wire in the floor... and ANYTHING falling on the wire (theme park maps are the favourite) would disrupt the signal and cause an E-Stop. And apparently this is quite regular. I know in 10 years this could be overcome, but just a thought.

 

[DarkMeasures]

I want to know why the TDS version does not have the 5th dimension. I would think with the massive budget that it would have the new DCA room, the hallway, and the 5th dimension but I guess not.

 

[JackSkellington]

Originally posted by FireFly725
Yes and some people will like the differences, some won't. Maybe I'm missing your point.

What I meant is that if there are serious differences. Ie.. ride sequences, queing lines, audio and or video differences. Those could make the ride comparison favorible toward one or the other.

 

[FireFly725]

Originally posted by paulcmartens
Well, there's more to an attraction than just aesthetics, in facts, that's a secondary issue.

Thrill factor is the key ingredient to a 'thrill ride'...so having a drop zone with a car coming in an out of a loading zone just isn't as thrilling as a ride vehicle that moves in any which direction, disorienting the rider.

To throw away an attractions 'attractibility' to mere preference as stated above would seem to say that it then it doesn't matter what is spent or thought through or executed in a thrill ride like TOT DCA edition. That bungee ride NE of celebration is just as good as TOT then?

No. Bottom line is, when it comes to an attraction, the most expensive on average tend to lure the most attention.

On average, fast pass rides (those that have long lines) tend to be the big expensive rides. Not saying its good or bad, that's just what happens.

I don't understand. There are going to be things happening around you while you move in and out of the drop shaft, so it seems just as disorienting to me. Unless you know a lot about the ride beforehand, which is probably the minority of people.

I really don't get what you are saying in the second paragraph. Are you saying that only the 5D room will attract people?

And TOT will have Fastpass.

 

[JackSkellington]

Of coarse it will. Why do you think they are advertising for it online?

 

[FireFly725]

I know. I was responding to the last sentence in the post I was quoting.

 

[JackSkellington]

Oh. OK. Happy Easter.

 

[paulcmartens]

Speaking of crazy sensitivities with wires and such (and totally off topic) I talked to a cast member about DL's Star Tours... those walkways to the shuttle and back are lifted by cable clear up into the rafters, and are hyper sensitive...i.e. a piece of popcorn will shut that element of the ride down.

Anyway, am posting on the wrong thread...there's a different thread that's more in line with what I'm talking about WDW vs. DL tot.

 

[marni1971]

Paul - off topic, but nice!

 

[JackSkellington]

That was very interesting. But popcorn, maybe a little too sensitive?

 

[paulcmartens]

Well apparently some utility gentleman got stuck up in the rafters once...so...hey, over-react!

 

[MarioMagic15]

head on over to remainseated.com folks, awesome video of Tower, and I must say it is just as good as the mgm tower, the looking glass scene looks awesome, the camera messed with the effects a little so it's the only part not crystal clear, but you can get the basic gist of what it's supposed to be.

 

[Egged]

Like I said in another post DCA's ride is not scaled down at all but MGM's still looks a bit better. Thanks to the better facade and build up. But that mirror effect is great.

 

[paulcmartens]

aaah no spoilers . . hoping to catch it soon!