MotherOfBirds
Well-Known Member
Seriously? Struck by lightning? How has everything else on Disney property survived all these years with lightning striking with such frequency? :lol:
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Kilimanjaro Safaris tilting bridge is back!
- Thread starter Disco Yeti
- Start date
Captain Hank
Well-Known Member
Geysers have been mostly reliable for a while. Sometimes they're turned off to mitigate flooding. They're also somehow tied into the system that runs Little Red, so if one goes down for whatever reason, the other one does too.
As it currently functions, whether or not you get the Tilting Bridge show depends mostly on which vehicle goes over the bridge immediately prior to yours. The bridge weighs each vehicle before it activates the show. If the vehicle is lighter than a safari truck, not only does it go into B Show (sound effects only) for that vehicle, but it automatically does a B Show for the next one as well. Spacing and timing *shouldn't* be an issue that factors into this, as there is a block light just prior to the bridge that lets the driver know when they can proceed and get the show. The other main variable is how fast the driver goes across the bridge. If the truck is moving too fast, the show won't activate.
wizards8507
Active Member
Wait, there are scripted elements?
Exactly. And with more non-safari-truck vehicles on the ride path, that means fewer instances of the tilting bridge.
Ha. Just about everything is scripted, not just the obvious (Wilson, poachers), but even down to which animal facts are "approved."
But they can't script the animals. I've heard about all kinds of things happening in or around the road over there. :lol:
B. Mode
The Disco Yeti
Goofygirl07
Active Member
I remember when I was younger that bridge scared the crap out of me and I actually thought we was going to fall! When I was there recently last July the effect never happened but I was still nervous about going over that bridge! lol
Rob562
Well-Known Member
That's because most things that get hit by lightning in WDW are buildings with tons of lightning rods built in. But if you're talking about a low-to-the-ground metalic mechanical structure with only a few trees around it, not much you can do to protect it.
There's also the electronics of the control system that could easily be shorted out. In buildings those things are usually nice and protected well inside the building.
I've used this as an anecdote before when this discussion came up, but my office building sits near the top of a hill, surrounded by trees. The building itself is very well-protected with lightning rods. Our building has been struck by lightinig a number of times, as well as trees in the immediate area of our building.
The building was no worse for wear with one exception: the card readers on the entry doors. I think they've improved them within the past year or two, but for many years lightning didn't even have to directly strike the building for them to conk out from the EM burst or a surge from the ground.
-Rob
jakeman
Well-Known Member
Yeah, most of the components are outside in the elements and as another poster said, this included the track.
It was great to have, but in this case I totally understand Disney giving up on it.
I think they had given up on the Jeep completely by the last time I worked there in 2002.
Of course, the Jeep getting struck wasn't near as cool as when Little Red was struck by lightning and half it's face melted off. That was awesome.
As for the bridge, what Captain Hank said is completely accurate. This was the fundamentals of the bridge operating when I was there, and it seems that it remains the same. I know it has gone down a bit at different intervals because the sensor are so sensitive (for example, the bridge was down for about two months after they added the black skirts to the trucks) and have to be reconfigured.
Also, I don't think there would be a noticeable decrease in the tilting bridge show. You are looking at, what, four extra vehicles going across the bridge in a day?
Captain Hank
Well-Known Member
Yesterday was the first day it was part of normal operation again. It has been functional for rather a while now, but wasn't turned on due to necessary re-training of the drivers. Caused a bit of a SNAFU yesterday figuring out who was and wasn't trained on it and working to (re)train those that weren't.
Disneyson 1
New Member
Happy that it works! Glad to see that "plus"ing is occurring.
jakeman
Well-Known Member
This isn't really plus-ing...it's more like "fixing".
baymenxpac
Well-Known Member
my favorite phantom feature of kilimanjaro is when they used to have a live CM "standing guard" over the recently procured little red simply to say "little red is okay!" even when i was a teenager, it always used to bum me out thinking about the fact that someone had to do that for any amount of time. same thing with "chris" grabbing joe perry's black les paul in rock n roller coaster.
Disgruntled Walt
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
Sorry to resurrect a dead thread, but when did this effect turn off permanently/when was the last time it was on?
GhostHost1000
Premium Member
after seeing the title of this thread I was hopeful it may have been turned back...
then I realize it's just a thread bumped from 13 years ago to ask a question about it
then I realize it's just a thread bumped from 13 years ago to ask a question about it
Disgruntled Walt
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
My apologies. You don't know the answer, do you?after seeing the title of this thread I was hopeful it may have been turned back...
then I realize it's just a thread bumped from 13 years ago to ask a question about it
At least 11 years ago. I am thinking more 12.
MerlinTheGoat
Well-Known Member
Not THAT long ago. The tilting bridge was still operating very intermittently between 2018-2019. Less frequently as time went on though. I'm unsure if they've operated it at any point after the Covid lockdowns ended though. I've not found any evidence that they have.
Dang, very rare then. I don't think it would even be easy to find a videos of it in the post 2013 world where it was happening.