illuminations globe last night

[peter11435]

Sort of off topic, but is it common for there to be alot of firework debris falling in the crowds during and after Illuminations? We were watching between the Christmas tree and the lake one night and the wind seemed to be blowing straight in toward Spaceship Earth. Large chunks of casings etc, were falling into the crowd. Also, many people got debris in their eyes. I was just curious if this was common.

That is common if you a re downwind. That is why it is important with illuminations to observe what direction the wind is blowing and go to the other side. This will not only get rid of the debris but it will provide for a better view, as the smoke will travel away from you. An easy way to tell is to observe the torches before the show. If the flames come on and are blowing towards you ...Move fast.

 

[Hakunamatata]

If the flames come on and are blowing towards you ...Move fast.

Good idea. We will have to do that next trip....

 

[CrashNet]

That is common if you a re downwind. That is why it is important with illuminations to observe what direction the wind is blowing and go to the other side. This will not only get rid of the debris but it will provide for a better view, as the smoke will travel away from you. An easy way to tell is to observe the torches before the show. If the flames come on and are blowing towards you ...Move fast.

:lol: So right. All of us who do Illuminations Crowd Control (ICC as we call it) at Showcase Plaza all look down and groan when we get out there and look at the flags on the buildings and they are blowing towards us. Its one of those, "here's to another Alpha Unit Evening!" But yes, make sure to pay attention to the direction the wind is blowing, which usually blows towards the UK or the Mexico area. It does smoke out nearly every area of World Showcase every once an while (meaning the wind can blow any direction), but most of the time it blows towards those two countries.

Speaking of, I'll be out there tonight, so if anyone is around, drop by and say 'hi'! I'm Chris.

 

[DisneyBound]

It was out in the middle both times we went last week

 

[CatLady]

That is common if you a re downwind.

It happens anywhere there is pyro shot off, I believe (Boo might drop in and say something to counter me, since maybe there's "cleaner" stuff on the market). I have been hit by burning debris at MK (standing near the Pirates) and at municipal fireworks displays, too. I think it's less common at MK because that display is much higher in the sky, so there is more time for the debris to drift before it reaches the ground.

"Don't stand downwind" is good advice in many aspects of life, and it certainly applies to IllumiNations, too.

 

[lightboy]

Not sure about cleaner stuff...I think I asked one of our fireworks friends that awhile ago, and they replied..."yeah, air launch". It's still igniting powder, and exploding. And yes...my Epcot tech buds tell me inferno barge is awaiting parts and some other odds and ends. And yes, for the time being the Earth Globe barge is being left in the center of the lagoon as per a prior incident...that didn't affect the public watching the show. Didn't have anything to do with the product. The 'cockpit' is protected somewhat...and the lagoon is quiet while it drives out. Not sure if it'll change. But it WAS driven by a real person, with a backup person on board to drive.

 

[xfkirsten]

It happens anywhere there is pyro shot off, I believe (Boo might drop in and say something to counter me, since maybe there's "cleaner" stuff on the market). I have been hit by burning debris at MK (standing near the Pirates) and at municipal fireworks displays, too. I think it's less common at MK because that display is much higher in the sky, so there is more time for the debris to drift before it reaches the ground.

"Don't stand downwind" is good advice in many aspects of life, and it certainly applies to IllumiNations, too.

I've gotten a lot of fallout in my eyes at Illuminations, too. The last time I saw it, my eyes were burning like crazy by the end. Got a few big souvenir chunks, though.

Don't know about much cleaner stuff - no matter how you launch it, you've still got to have the shell itself, which will leave bits (lord knows I spent enough nights at SeaWorld last summer driving the barge around Mission Bay to clean up after their fireworks! :lol: ). I think you're right on in saying the display is farther away at MK, and that's why you don't get it. I have seen it hit inside the park, though. I remember when I did glow sales at MK during my CP (2002) a huge, burning chunk from FitS fell on the roof of Hall of Presidents and they had to bring out a firetruck.

 

[boo52]

Even with air launch there is still debris and fallout. Air launch only makes it cleaner because there is no black powder smoke residue from the lift charge. After it leaves the tube the firework is still the same as a traditional lift firework.

 

[Rob562]

12/9: Globe traveled across the lagoon.
12/19: Globe was placed in final position before show began.

Steve's reason seems the most plausible.

Also you can add 12/2, the globe had some apparent propulsion difficulties, as it started to pull out from AA, but only made it a few yards before stopping. We were watching from Norway/Mexico, and wondered if we'd see a rescue boat zoom out to pull it out to center, but after about 30 seconds it started moving again.

Oh, and as for the fireworks at MK... My friend was hit in the thigh with a HUGE chunk (about 8"x10") of shell casing duing the MVMCP in '04. The wind was blowing VERY hard directly from the north, showering the entire park with fallout. They inhibited a large number of the castle-area pyro because of it. Looking at the size and curvature of the piece we had, it looked to be part of one of the 16" shells they use toward the end.

Also, this trip was the first time I noticed the sprinkler systems they installed on the rooftops of the Fantasyland and Liberty Square buildings... A friend of mine said they installed them about two weeks after Wishes started.

-Rob

 

[peter11435]

Well the globe was back to normal last night 12/28. It was parked by the AA all evening. The globe then moved like normal into the center. The show was great. Sylvania is definitly now in the pre show announcements. After the first announcement an 18-20 year old kid looked at his father and said "Dad is Sylvania a country." I wanted to slap him.

 

[boo52]

Oh, and as for the fireworks at MK... Looking at the size and curvature of the piece we had, it looked to be part of one of the 16" shells they use toward the end.

Also, this trip was the first time I noticed the sprinkler systems they installed on the rooftops of the Fantasyland and Liberty Square buildings... A friend of mine said they installed them about two weeks after Wishes started.

-Rob

Ok, Wishes doesn't use 16" shells. The largest is 10". As for fallout size I have never seen a piece that large enter the park. And I have seen thousands of pieces over the years. I'm not saying it wasn't a big piece, but that's a pretty big fish there. As for the sprinkler systems. Your friend is wrong. Wishes has had sprinklers since day one. No incident on Wishes caused the sprinklers to be added as has been falsely reported here ages ago.

 

[Rob562]

Ok, Wishes doesn't use 16" shells. The largest is 10". As for fallout size I have never seen a piece that large enter the park. And I have seen thousands of pieces over the years. I'm not saying it wasn't a big piece, but that's a pretty big fish there.

Looking back at our pictures, I overstated the size a little. It looks more like 7"x7". And doing a quick estimate, it did have about the curvature of a 10" round piece. You can take a look at the pics we took:

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b84/steerr/Debris/100_4008.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b84/steerr/Debris/100_4011.jpg

We were standing at the Hub end of the Tomorrowland bridge, across from the Mickey & Minnie topiaries. Like I said, it was a *VERY* windy night...

We actually didn't throw it away. At first one of us was going to keep it as an odd souvenier, but then on our way out of the park, we visited City Hall to ask an unrelated question. So we decided to give the Guest Relations CMs something to talk about, so we turned it in as a "Lost and Found" item. ("Yes, I think your pyrotechnics crew lost something, and we just wanted to return it to them..." ;-)

Glad the TSA didn't swab my backpack at the airport going home that week. It would've come up positive for black powder, and then how do you explain that?

-Rob

 

[boo52]

Looking back at our pictures, I overstated the size a little. It looks more like 7"x7". And doing a quick estimate, it did have about the curvature of a 10" round piece. You can take a look at the pics we took:

After looking at the pics, that is actually a 6" canister shell. Wishes only uses 4 of them. 2 at the begining and 2 at the end of Romace. They are called Farfalla's

 

[Illumineer]

i thought they leave the earth globe out now b/c there is no inferno barge, which usually would have been an issue

no?