FLE vs. Cars Land...

[AEfx]

Test Track is pretty much just that, a demonstration and showing off of technology.

Which is why the recurring breakdowns are so funny. I have heard more than one comment while in-line from other guests saying how it's not exactly a ringing endorsement for GM's quality.

Let's hope they have worked some of those kinks out with Carsland...

 

[TP2000]

Let's hope they have worked some of those kinks out with Carsland...

That should be an interesting story, especially after the ride is established and running daily in 2013, 2014, 2020, etc.

I've been on Journey To The Center Of The Earth at DisneySea a few times, and it uses a more advanced version of the Test Track technology, and seems to work well there.

I have a hunch they've gotten the major bugs worked out of the Test Track technology by now for the later versions of the ride system. But I also have a hunch it's going to be the multiple track switches along the ride track and changes from a single-lane dark ride to a dual-lane racing ride outdoors that will cause the most headaches for WDI and Disneyland's maintenance department.

Following this ride track layout of Radiator Springs Racers, and it's those track switches from outdoor to indoor and single-track to dual-track that seem to throw a lot of brand new problems the way of the engineers and the maintenance guys.

http://i49.tinypic.com/5tz2ar.jpg

But, at least SoCal gets only a handful of rainy days per year, so they won't have to worry about the rain and lightning that shut Test Track with regularity year round, and can also wreak havoc in Tokyo's rainy weather for the outdoor portions of Journey To The Center Of The Earth.

For those unfamiliar with that image above (I just realized that may be a new image for many East Coasters here), the blue lines are the ride track and the red lines are the queue and exit paths. The green shaded areas are the entirely indoor dark-ride sections of the ride. The grey shaded area is vehicle storage and maintenance area. The tan shaded areas are rockwork and semi-indoor areas. And the white areas are completely outdoors.

The numbers correspond with the following;

1 = Unload Area, with off-line wheelchair boarding zone
2 = Loading Area
3 = Track goes over bridge over waterfall as vehicles climb rockwork facade
4 = Car Prep Room 1 for race sequence
5 = Car Prep Room 2 for race sequence
6 = Bunny Hills on fast race segment
7 = Super-banked turn on fast race segment

 

[lazyboy97o]

But I also have a hunch it's going to be the multiple track switches along the ride track and changes from a single-lane dark ride to a dual-lane racing ride outdoors that will cause the most headaches for WDI and Disneyland's maintenance department.

So long as recent trends continue this should not be a problem, but too much of recent Disney park history is filled with times where these complications would just result in one side being shut down "temporarily". Hopefully this will never be the case for Radiator Springs Racers or any future versions, if they opt to keep this potential headache.

 

[RSoxNo1]

The Tea Cups and Dumbo were both C Tickets at Disneyland from the 1950's through the early 1980's. But both Luigi's and Mater's are a step above that, due to their interactive elements, big animatronic Cars characters that sit inside the ride or boarding area, in addition to their themed queue buildings and indoor pre-shows (NextGen perhaps?).

The Flying Saucers at Disneyland were actually an E Ticket while they existed from 1961 to 1966!

And the Flying Saucers had a simple switchback queue, no pre-show, no music, no animatronic flying saucer characters talking to you and interacting with you, etc. While I don't think you can apply the modern interpretation of what an E Ticket is to Luigi's Flying Tires, it's definitely not just a C Ticket among the likes of the simple Teacups.

I think D Ticket is a good, solid rating for these two outdoor rides with a lot of extra bells and whistles added in just for fun, at John Lasseter's design request.

It's not 1950 anymore. What would qualify as an E-Ticket in 1950 would not necessarily qualify as an E-Ticket today. I don't doubt that Luigi's Flying Tires and Tow Maters Junkyard Jamboree would be better attractions than their 1950s C-ticket counterparts, but relative to today's standards they likely won't be higher than a C.

That should be an interesting story, especially after the ride is established and running daily in 2013, 2014, 2020, etc.

I've been on Journey To The Center Of The Earth at DisneySea a few times, and it uses a more advanced version of the Test Track technology, and seems to work well there.

I have a hunch they've gotten the major bugs worked out of the Test Track technology by now for the later versions of the ride system. But I also have a hunch it's going to be the multiple track switches along the ride track and changes from a single-lane dark ride to a dual-lane racing ride outdoors that will cause the most headaches for WDI and Disneyland's maintenance department.

Following this ride track layout of Radiator Springs Racers, and it's those track switches from outdoor to indoor and single-track to dual-track that seem to throw a lot of brand new problems the way of the engineers and the maintenance guys.

http://i49.tinypic.com/5tz2ar.jpg

But, at least SoCal gets only a handful of rainy days per year, so they won't have to worry about the rain and lightning that shut Test Track with regularity year round, and can also wreak havoc in Tokyo's rainy weather for the outdoor portions of Journey To The Center Of The Earth.

For those unfamiliar with that image above (I just realized that may be a new image for many East Coasters here), the blue lines are the ride track and the red lines are the queue and exit paths. The green shaded areas are the entirely indoor dark-ride sections of the ride. The grey shaded area is vehicle storage and maintenance area. The tan shaded areas are rockwork and semi-indoor areas. And the white areas are completely outdoors.

The numbers correspond with the following;

1 = Unload Area, with off-line wheelchair boarding zone
2 = Loading Area
3 = Track goes over bridge over waterfall as vehicles climb rockwork facade
4 = Car Prep Room 1 for race sequence
5 = Car Prep Room 2 for race sequence
6 = Bunny Hills on fast race segment
7 = Super-banked turn on fast race segment

Thanks for sharing this with us. It seems that many people on here thought that it was a dual track throughout the entire ride - I assume because that's not the case the capacity will be comparable to Test Track?

 

[JoClovesCARS]

I have said all along that WDW is the perfect place for RS and they are putting it in DCA. At least in HS they had McQueen and Mater,but they don't do anything. If you have a child or grandchild like me who loves all things CARS and you have seen how their face lights up when they get up close to McQueen and Mater you can understand how CARS LAND will be successful. My grandson is 6 and he is determined to be the first in line to see the new movie and he knows every word of the first one. There are books, shorts and so many cars and accessories (not to mention clothes) taken from the movie theme that this land can't help but be successful. I only hope that WDW will add this as well. They can put it in the same area where the cars now are and do away with that part of the backlot tour and expand RS all back there. I think they will be sorry if they miss out on the opportunity again in WDW.:wave:

 

[tomes1225]

I have said all along that WDW is the perfect place for RS and they are putting it in DCA. At least in HS they had McQueen and Mater,but they don't do anything. If you have a child or grandchild like me who loves all things CARS and you have seen how their face lights up when they get up close to McQueen and Mater you can understand how CARS LAND will be successful. My grandson is 6 and he is determined to be the first in line to see the new movie and he knows every word of the first one. There are books, shorts and so many cars and accessories (not to mention clothes) taken from the movie theme that this land can't help but be successful. I only hope that WDW will add this as well. They can put it in the same area where the cars now are and do away with that part of the backlot tour and expand RS all back there. I think they will be sorry if they miss out on the opportunity again in WDW.:wave:

Cars Land would be very succesfull in DHS for this reason. Everyone from my six year-old sister to my mom and dad love the movie and know almost all the words. The cars franchise could be a real money maker in DHS.

 

[TP2000]

Cars Land would be very succesfull in DHS for this reason. Everyone from my six year-old sister to my mom and dad love the movie and know almost all the words. The cars franchise could be a real money maker in DHS.

But they'd have to spend money to make that money. And TDO would need to spend big, BIG money. The Radiator Springs Racers ride alone has been pegged at $350 Million, and Cars Land as a whole with all the other Cars themed shops/restaurants/rides is well past the Half Billion dollar mark.

That's the type of money they'd spend on a good chunk of a fifth theme park, if the fifth park ever arrives. Unless attendance at DHS really starts to decline for several years, I can't imagine that TDO would shell out even the smaller figure of 350 Million for Radiator Springs Racers, much less the whole Cars Land package.

I have a hunch the bump in attendance that Star Tours 2.0 will give DHS will be enough for TDO to put DHS back on auto-pilot for at least a few years, with maybe the Monsters Inc. indoor coaster coming along later in this decade as the next major new ride for DHS.

 

[TP2000]

It's not 1950 anymore. What would qualify as an E-Ticket in 1950 would not necessarily qualify as an E-Ticket today. I don't doubt that Luigi's Flying Tires and Tow Maters Junkyard Jamboree would be better attractions than their 1950s C-ticket counterparts, but relative to today's standards they likely won't be higher than a C.

Well, you are probably right, since so many Disney fans are too young to even remember the A-E ticketing system and their point of reference for it is so messy. Anything that doesn't make you want to vomit after riding it is not really an E Ticket, as most folks explain it now. :lol:

When WDI can spend over 100 Million dollars to build a lavish and technologically advanced animatronic musical spectacular attraction like Little Mermaid, and have most fans dismiss is as a "nice little D Ticket", there's probably no way something as unique and detail-filled as Luigi's or Mater's outdoor attractions can ever rank above a middling C Ticket.

 

[lazyboy97o]

It's not 1950 anymore. What would qualify as an E-Ticket in 1950 would not necessarily qualify as an E-Ticket today. I don't doubt that Luigi's Flying Tires and Tow Maters Junkyard Jamboree would be better attractions than their 1950s C-ticket counterparts, but relative to today's standards they likely won't be higher than a C.

But some of the original E-Tickets do continue to remain considered as such. Only a few attractions moved around during the life of the Tickets, the biggest traveler probably being the Jungle Cruise which was promoted to D-Ticket and then E-Ticket as each level was subsequently added onto the original A-C ticket system.

When WDI can spend over 100 Million dollars to build a lavish and technologically advanced animatronic musical spectacular attraction like Little Mermaid, and have most fans dismiss is as a "nice little D Ticket", there's probably no way something as unique and detail-filled as Luigi's or Mater's outdoor attractions can ever rank above a middling C Ticket.

Except the people who keep repeating that it is considered a D-Ticket the most are the insiders who report this as being the internal consensus.

 

[TP2000]

Except the people who keep repeating that it is considered a D-Ticket the most are the insiders who report this as being the internal consensus.

I was using the term "E Ticket" that key leaders for the Disney Company used to describe the Little Mermaid; Jay Rasulo in several public presentations in '08 and '09, most recently at the D23 Expo in September, 2009. And John Lasseter used the phrase "E Ticket" to describe the Mermaid ride in the video playing in the Blue Sky Cellar.

Fans didn't christen Mermaid as an E Ticket, it was key DisCo executives used that term and set the bar that high. Insiders on message boards have been skeptical of that description, and are saying its a D Ticket instead.

Regardless of what ticket we assign it in our pretend-land here, the thing is going to have a MASSIVE line when it soft-opens in DCA this May. :lol:

 

[Lee]

I was using the term "E Ticket" that key leaders for the Disney Company used to describe the Little Mermaid; Jay Rasulo in several public presentations in '08 and '09, most recently at the D23 Expo in September, 2009. And John Lasseter used the phrase "E Ticket" to describe the Mermaid ride in the video playing in the Blue Sky Cellar.

Fans didn't christen Mermaid as an E Ticket, it was key DisCo executives used that term and set the bar that high. Insiders on message boards have been skeptical of that description, and are saying its a D Ticket instead.

I've had more than one WDI type roll their eyes when hearing Mermaid referred to as an E. Internally, it's a D.

But, yeah...it's gonna be a big hit. DCA's numbers might approach DL levels this summer.

 

[cbconglom]

I've had more than one WDI type roll their eyes when hearing Mermaid referred to as an E. Internally, it's a D.

But, yeah...it's gonna be a big hit. DCA's numbers might approach DL levels this summer.

i believe you but my gosh the aa's look impressive i just posted a link to video of the ursula aa. in another thread

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...her-lair-at-disney-california-adventure-park/

 

[TP2000]

i believe you but my gosh the aa's look impressive i just posted a link to video of the ursula aa. in another thread

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...her-lair-at-disney-california-adventure-park/

Meh, that's just a pleasant, little D Ticket. It's no big deal.

 

[eastvillage]

Does anyone happen to know why the Flying Saucers only lasted 5 years at DL?

It just surprises me that they would build a new ride similar to an attraction that was so short lived.

 

[sponono88]

Does anyone happen to know why the Flying Saucers only lasted 5 years at DL?

It just surprises me that they would build a new ride similar to an attraction that was so short lived.

It may look similar, but the new Flying Tires ride uses new and improved technology. It's a new system developed by WDI:

[youtube]jgKoj4olEm0[/youtube]

 

[eastvillage]

Thanks for that video! Very cool.

So does that mean there were technology problems with the flying saucers (ie breaking down, wear and tear, etc) which led to the attraction's closure?

 

[sponono88]

^ Yes, I believe it was that as well as the high cost of maintaining and operating the ride.

 

[TP2000]

Thanks for that video! Very cool.

So does that mean there were technology problems with the flying saucers (ie breaking down, wear and tear, etc) which led to the attraction's closure?

Yup. The Flying Saucers had problems galore. In 1961 when the ride opened there was no such thing as a computer-controlled system that could instantly sense when the gazillion valves in the floor needed to open and close, or when a certain section of the ride surface needed more or less air pressure as people drove their saucers in a hundred different directions. The system was very basic, and based solely on massive air pressure everywhere instead of targeted pressure controlled by supercomputer.

Bob Gurr, as the master Disneyland engineer of the 20th century, has done several articles and interviews over the years talking about what a nightmare the Flying Saucers were to operate and maintain at Disneyland from 1961 to 1966. Apparently when the air compressors got out of sync, the system would cause all the saucers to bounce violently up and down for a few moments and then crash to a stop with a giant thud of air. It was quite dramatic, and often scared people. And to be kind, that was 50 years ago when Americans were far skinnier and lighter than we are today. Who knows what would happen with larger people trying to use them today?

When the New Tomorrowland of 1967 came along, it was apparently an easy decision to make to close the Flying Saucers and not try to reinvent them for the updated land.

Supposedly, they have updated the system quite dramatically, and now computers will control the flow of air in and around the flying surface, allowing the air valves in the floor that lift the saucers to open and close with much more precision and effectiveness. Also, the tires are physically much bigger than the saucers were, and the tires will be capable of operating with a heavier passenger load. :lookaroun

 

[eastvillage]

Apparently when the air compressors got out of sync, the system would cause all the saucers to bounce violently up and down for a few moments and then crash to a stop with a giant thud of air. It was quite dramatic, and often scared people. And to be kind, that was 50 years ago when Americans were far skinnier and lighter than we are today. Who knows what would happen with larger people trying to use them today?

I laughed a bit imagining this, but in all seriousness, I am sure it was very scary.

Thanks to both of you for the info on the Flying Saucers!

 

[lazyboy97o]

Meh, that's just a pleasant, little D Ticket. It's no big deal.

Just think of how this raises the bar for the true E-Ticket, Radiator Springs Racers.