Hurrican Simulation...BAD IDEA!

[NowInc]

Ok...so I am sure all of you know about the Hurrican simulation attraction thats going to be in Disney Tokyo Seas...and i am also sure you have heard various rumors about them making a florida version of it (most likley in epcot...even connected to The Living Seas)...

Now..I am from florida....And personally...I dont enjoy hurricanes. I wouldn't want to go thru one (attraction or no) at any time...they arent fun. Besides....Universal Studios in Florida has the Twister Attraction...so doesnt this just seem like it just wont go over too well among us theme park addicts?

I would much rather see the addition of the "matterhorn" in epcot...in a sweden type theme. It is still a strong possibility..followed up by the sightings of "height" balloons in epcot about a year ago...something usually used to see how a TALL attraction would look in a park. World showcase needs a good kick in the butt to keep teens going there...they like coasters and such....and there are really no exciting attractions on that side of epcot.

 

[wdwcrazy]

A lot of people aren't from Florida who go to WDW. I've experienced a hurricane and didn't like it either. But I would like to see Storm Rider. I'm sure a lot of other peopel would like to see what a hurricane is like also. But with this hurricane, nobody gets flooded, houses don't get flown over and nobody hets hurt. I say Storm Rider would be a great addition to the Living Seas.

 

[Brett]

I wouldn't mind seeing a Hurricane Simulator at EPCOT, but my big problem with this is the fact that Universal already has one. I don't want Disney to ever take similar attractions from it's competition, but to come up with new or more exciting attractions

 

[Disney Maniac]

I have to agree with Brett on this one. I mean, Disney is known for coming up with innovative, exciting attractions that other parks attempt to copy, and with little success. Now, Disney wants to do a 180 and take another parks idea. Honestly, I think Storm Rider would be too much like Catastrophe Canyon, but with a lot more water.

 

[dopey]

disaster-themed attractions seem a little un-disney. after all, people do die in hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, etc.

i mean, you might want to kill yourself when you're on it's a small world or you might want to kill the guy who came up with food rocks! but come on!

what's next, attractions based on horrific tragedies? columbine, the ride!? l.a. riots roller coaster? the timothy mcveigh experience? it's the great depression, after all?

"it's a world of hungry, a world of tears; it's a world without hope and a world of fears; there's no food for us to share, so we're all in despair; it's a small world, after all...."

hey, maybe disney can develop a ride to tie in with pearl harbor! wouldn't that be neat? and it would be a surefire hit with military vets.

 

[Disney Maniac]

Heh heh heh! LOL, dopey!. That is right on the money!

 

[markymark]

I think that a hurricaine attraction would be pretty good (sorry Now-Inc, and all other Fla. residents). But I think they would be able to theme it really well, and it might seem a bit more realistic, in light of Florida suffering with hurricaines the way it does.
Perhaps they could get the guy who did the "fantastic" Twister attraction at USF

 

[sillyspook13]

I actually like the idea of simulating the winds of a hurricane. I have been in a simulator of a category 1 hurricane before. It was quite refreshing. I kept going through there again and again. The operator got to the point of letting me stay in there!

Plus, Disney could do so much better than Universal. On Twister, I noticed that the cables holding up the flying debris are easily visible. That really ruins the effect.

 

[dopey]

thanks, disneymaniac. i try to entertain.

or annoy.

whichever comes first.

 

[Chad]

I wrote a ride description for a ride called stormchasers that was my spin on the ride idea. You can see it at my website <see the signature> I hear that the tokyo ride was a simulator that was packed with special effects, and was film based, I fail to see how this copies universal florida, except that they both involve weater?

 

[LaffnStock]

Oh don't fool yourselves! Disney is just as good as stealing as any other company. People that don't think so don't remember Disney/MGM when it opened. The ENTIRE IDEA was stolen from Universal Studios! Everywhere you looked you saw attractions that were like the forgotten stepchildren of USH. Their tram ride (after a decade of operation!) has less excitement than any five-minute section of the Universal tramride. Their original sound show was poorly conceived and even more poorly scripted. Their backstage tour was and still is a pale imitation of a REAL Universal soundstage tour. Superstar Television was fun, but Universal had already had SEVERAL versions of that type of show by the time that one debuted. And don't even get me going on the originality of having a stunt show!

Sure Disney/MGM got better, but the ideas sure weren't original. ToT is just a freefall ride with excellent theming and special effects. Fantasmic has roots everywhere, including from France roots (Disney got the idea of the water screens from there.) The word for Disney isn't often "original" but more like "unique."

Which brings me to the hurricane simulator. I thought it was in pretty poor taste at first. But then I thought that this can truly be educational. If they add a preshow about how hurricanes are born and the devastation they can cause, then Disney will once again have a truly unique attraction. With such an approach, I don't think there will be many comparisons to Twister. Apples and oranges. And learning something would be a nice change after the anti-cranial Test Track!

PS - The Matterhorn copy woul actually be in Switzerland. Sweden has big blondes, not big mountains! LOL

PPS - The hilarious thing is that Disney planned on turning the boat portion of the Backstage Pass into a Pearl Harbor thing! They also wanted to do a walk-through Armageddon attraction. So Disney clearly DOES want to get into the disaster business! LOL

 

[wdwcrazy]

There would be more to this attraction then just simulating a hurricane. You would be educated on how they form and how they work. They could have a room where they tell about Huricanes, then go and experience on. Kinda like earthquake in Universal Studios.

 

[sillyspook13]

I know! A couple of tourists could be picked from the audience to stand on an escalator and scream while the hurricane blows them away!!! Oh, wait. Does Universal have that already? Nevermind. Just kidding.

 

[Chad]

I live in florida too, and was in noway offended by this Idea, People do need to be educated, and its not like it would make the destruction seem 'cool' it would be educational, on what causes it, what to do if one comes, talking about the hurricane force scale.

And in Disney's defense, they do come up with alot of 'Original' ideas, Tower of terror is not just another free-fall system, they invented the motor that is used, because all other elevator systems wouldn't do what they wanted to do. They also invented 360 screens, I believe, and have patents elsewhere, they are ALOT more original than other themeparks, anyways.

 

[dopey]

chad, circlevision, originally dubbed circarama, was unveiled at the world's fair in paris in...(drumroll, please)...1901.

with all due respect, circlevision is not a terribly good example to support disney as a cutting-edge innovator.

i'm sure there are other good examples. like...like...i don't know.

that said, i'm sure other theme parks copy disney more than the other way around.

 

[sillyspook13]

Originally posted by Chad
And in Disney's defense, they do come up with alot of 'Original' ideas, Tower of terror is not just another free-fall system, they invented the motor that is used, because all other elevator systems wouldn't do what they wanted to do. They also invented 360 screens, I believe, and have patents elsewhere, they are ALOT more original than other themeparks, anyways.

Check out http://www.hiddenmickeys.org/Patent/Patent.html for a whole list of Disney patents.

 

[Chad]

1901, see walt was innovating at such a young age!
I thought i read that they patented that, well, just bypass that message though. I stll stand on the grounds that disney is more original than other theme parks..

 

[dopey]

it was actually ub iwerks. i know that only because i just finished reading his bio, "the hand behind the mouse." it's a book that every disney fan should read.

one of the amazing things is how many of iwerks' many innovations continue to be industry standards even today. he was a genius and mentor to most of the all-time great animators.

no argument from me on disney being more innovative than other theme parks.

 

[MrPromey]

"ToT is just a freefall ride with excellent theming and special effects" Never mind the fact that they developed their own drop system from scratch or that the cars transfer onto this drop system after being carried up by a separate lift system and run along a track. Also, I guess we should also forget that unlike other "freefall rides" this one actually pulls you down at faster than the speed of gravity and also is programmable allowing it to go up and down with any desired variation in height or speed desired since it uses lift motors rather than compressed air cannons and gravity to do its job. Yep, nothing at all original about that ride...
As for the hurricane thing. Several people on this thread have stated that Universal already has one. That's not true. They have an attraction based on the movie Twister which is about Tornados and is done in a (hokey) cinematic way. Disney could easily create an attraction based around a hurricane as long as they treat the design seriously and with respect. Epcot would be a great place for something like this since it could be presented in an informative way that would be to at least some degree educational. They could probably have seating like the Tiki Room or Alien Encounter and present the whole thing as a demonstration where the force winds are felt and particles of soft items are allowed to fly freely (they have a very small scale version of this at the Museum of Science and Industry it Tampa, FL). Having walls and a ceiling blow away would be more dramatic but it would also be very disrespectful to all that are Disney's neighbors in the state. If it was a smaller attraction that was in a larger pavilion the way The Land or Met Life has multiple attractions it would probably be fine and do very well. Not a headliner, but a good attraction none the less that would hold true to Epcot's theme of educating...
On a side note, I actually think Twister is hyped a lot more than it deserves to be. The attraction isn't really all that great. It has a low capacity for guests (which is probably the biggest reason for longer waits) and the unmoving small cow on the visible wires makes what is supposed to look dramatic laughable. In my opinion, it should not be billed as the big attraction that Universal makes it out to be.

 

[JAY-ROD]

Originally posted by MrPromey
"ToT is just a freefall ride with excellent theming and special effects" Never mind the fact that they developed their own drop system from scratch or that the cars transfer onto this drop system after being carried up by a separate lift system and run along a track. Also, I guess we should also forget that unlike other "freefall rides" this one actually pulls you down at faster than the speed of gravity and also is programmable allowing it to go up and down with any desired variation in height or speed desired since it uses lift motors rather than compressed air cannons and gravity to do its job. Yep, nothing at all original about that ride...
As for the hurricane thing. Several people on this thread have stated that Universal already has one. That's not true. They have an attraction based on the movie Twister which is about Tornados and is done in a (hokey) cinematic way. Disney could easily create an attraction based around a hurricane as long as they treat the design seriously and with respect. Epcot would be a great place for something like this since it could be presented in an informative way that would be to at least some degree educational. They could probably have seating like the Tiki Room or Alien Encounter and present the whole thing as a demonstration where the force winds are felt and particles of soft items are allowed to fly freely (they have a very small scale version of this at the Museum of Science and Industry it Tampa, FL). Having walls and a ceiling blow away would be more dramatic but it would also be very disrespectful to all that are Disney's neighbors in the state. If it was a smaller attraction that was in a larger pavilion the way The Land or Met Life has multiple attractions it would probably be fine and do very well. Not a headliner, but a good attraction none the less that would hold true to Epcot's theme of educating...
On a side note, I actually think Twister is hyped a lot more than it deserves to be. The attraction isn't really all that great. It has a low capacity for guests (which is probably the biggest reason for longer waits) and the unmoving small cow on the visible wires makes what is supposed to look dramatic laughable. In my opinion, it should not be billed as the big attraction that Universal makes it out to be.

yeah they make to much out of this ride. I thought it was ok and thats about it. Disney could do much better