Answering the question - what's in the dark at SSE during the descent?
I got my face on a video twice and those times I ignored the dark - so it does apparently work as intended, but once I got no face-imprint and the evil "Luggage of Doom" video, so i spent some time exploring what's in SSE as you glide down backwards.
Let's start at the top! Up in the 180-top, the apparent mounts for the old Global News screen are still there, but there's no sign of the screen. Instead, you go under a sort of scrim that is clearly visible making a sort o roof over the vehicle train as it begins sinking into the core. I don't know what it's there, i would think it'd be for protection if there was something above, but there doesn't appear to be anything above that part of the track.
Anywho - you float under that and then right where you would of seen the classroom screen, you enter the blue-dot-matrix. You can look up through the blue dots and see the earth, as it's where the core really starts.
That matrix extends until you go under the infamous little-girl-window. The little girl window is still there, untouched, and fully intact.
The video screens turn on about halfway through the blue-dots. They've fixed up the "void" sort of area to the right of the vehicles, with the clouds and lightning. It looks better then it did before the ride closed, but the left passenger can barely see it, and there is nothing on the left side of the vehicle. Overhead, a new grid/track for supporting dangling fiber optics runs the remainder of the descent.
This theme continues, with not much being on the left. When you reach the area where the pepper's ghost windows used to be, the left again has nothing, but the right side has the fiber optic curtains with stars. Further down, the stars are on both sides.
Essentially that overhead grid that dangles stars, and curtains on either side depending on where you are. White light occasionally bleeds from behind the curtains, but that's probably just from the machines for the fiber optics.
Once you reach the part where the fiber optic tail of the old color changing tunnel was, the remnant white fiber optics twinkle overhead (seemingly improved from before, where they REALLY looked like remnants) and then the side of the track just has curtains against the walls, with nothing where SSE used to be.
So, that's it. Nothing amazingly spectacular, but the window for the girl is still there, and there's no sign of coming effects, but maybe they'll do something.
All i want to see is some of the theming from the post show - the swirly backlit panels and the lighted arches - and i'll be happy.
The good news is that the screens with the animation and my face plastered on it do distract me from the ending not having much there. I will admit I was wrong about that not being entertaining.
Most noticeably, it wasn't apparent until the 2nd time through, when it failed and i got luggage-of-doom with the red head and the black girl, how much it improves it. The two vehicles around me also failed, and i heard the people loudly complain about the stupid animation - whereas on the first trip through, people really liked the videos with their faces.
To confirm my theory, and since i had a physical reaction of hatred toward the luggage-of-doom (ever just had that flash of "hate hate hate!") I road again - and when it worked, people were again happy and enjoying the ending. Laughing, going "that's so cute" and other such comments, versus "stupid animation" and "god they ruined SSE" when the infamous red head pops on the screen.
It really makes a difference.
I got my face on a video twice and those times I ignored the dark - so it does apparently work as intended, but once I got no face-imprint and the evil "Luggage of Doom" video, so i spent some time exploring what's in SSE as you glide down backwards.
Let's start at the top! Up in the 180-top, the apparent mounts for the old Global News screen are still there, but there's no sign of the screen. Instead, you go under a sort of scrim that is clearly visible making a sort o roof over the vehicle train as it begins sinking into the core. I don't know what it's there, i would think it'd be for protection if there was something above, but there doesn't appear to be anything above that part of the track.
Anywho - you float under that and then right where you would of seen the classroom screen, you enter the blue-dot-matrix. You can look up through the blue dots and see the earth, as it's where the core really starts.
That matrix extends until you go under the infamous little-girl-window. The little girl window is still there, untouched, and fully intact.
The video screens turn on about halfway through the blue-dots. They've fixed up the "void" sort of area to the right of the vehicles, with the clouds and lightning. It looks better then it did before the ride closed, but the left passenger can barely see it, and there is nothing on the left side of the vehicle. Overhead, a new grid/track for supporting dangling fiber optics runs the remainder of the descent.
This theme continues, with not much being on the left. When you reach the area where the pepper's ghost windows used to be, the left again has nothing, but the right side has the fiber optic curtains with stars. Further down, the stars are on both sides.
Essentially that overhead grid that dangles stars, and curtains on either side depending on where you are. White light occasionally bleeds from behind the curtains, but that's probably just from the machines for the fiber optics.
Once you reach the part where the fiber optic tail of the old color changing tunnel was, the remnant white fiber optics twinkle overhead (seemingly improved from before, where they REALLY looked like remnants) and then the side of the track just has curtains against the walls, with nothing where SSE used to be.
So, that's it. Nothing amazingly spectacular, but the window for the girl is still there, and there's no sign of coming effects, but maybe they'll do something.
All i want to see is some of the theming from the post show - the swirly backlit panels and the lighted arches - and i'll be happy.
The good news is that the screens with the animation and my face plastered on it do distract me from the ending not having much there. I will admit I was wrong about that not being entertaining.
Most noticeably, it wasn't apparent until the 2nd time through, when it failed and i got luggage-of-doom with the red head and the black girl, how much it improves it. The two vehicles around me also failed, and i heard the people loudly complain about the stupid animation - whereas on the first trip through, people really liked the videos with their faces.
To confirm my theory, and since i had a physical reaction of hatred toward the luggage-of-doom (ever just had that flash of "hate hate hate!") I road again - and when it worked, people were again happy and enjoying the ending. Laughing, going "that's so cute" and other such comments, versus "stupid animation" and "god they ruined SSE" when the infamous red head pops on the screen.
It really makes a difference.
