Lights of Winter not being displayed this year (2009)!?!

wdw71fan

wdw71fan

Well-Known Member
wdwmagic said:
The Osborne lights run on current equipment from a third party, which is still supplied/supported. There would be nothing stopping the Lights of Winter running on the same system.
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True.. and I've said as much.. But my point is that the LoW system as it stands is dead-tech.. What people are asking for (whether they realize it or not) is a NEW LoW... The metal arches are not outdated, but the lighting system is... and there are no plans to rebuild the LoW.. As a matter of fact, last I knew the Arches were de-listed from inventory... Which means they are close to the scrap pile.. Which is truly ashame.. but as it is, one of them was struck by heavy equipment months and months ago (over a year?) and is mangled one side.

The arches are gone, that's a fact.. but I wish something 'new' would come down the pipe to us.. Sad fact is that DHS is the focus for 'light show' budget with Osbourne, and MK is heavily supported for MVMCP and various other decorations.. Truthfully, there hasn't been a major modification of the Holiday overlay for all 4 parks in quite some time.. It's a situation where management feels the parks are 'decorated' and nothing more is needed at this time, just maintain what is there..

Not saying they are right, but that's what the deal is.
 
muteki

muteki

Well-Known Member
PhilharMagician said:
What I do not understand is that the LoW were nothing but static incandescent lights mounted in a large tubular steel frame with each color light on a seperate circuit. There was really no elaborate control of these lights just a rolling color change.

So what is this technology that cannot be repaired? Maybe a simple process logic controller and relays that could easily be replaced by Siemens and some software to control timing?

I just sounds like it was decided that the ROI was not there and the budget was pulled.
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It sounds like it can't be "repaired" today, in the sense that they can't go out and order a part and have a tech swap it out and *boom* it works. Instead they would need someone who gets paid a lot more money to research and find a suitable alternative, create a new system to interface with it, get all that drawn up, documented, parts ordered, then installed.

Since they have waited so long, likely at least all the bulbs and wiring would have to be replaced at this point, basically starting from scratch (except the frames, which also might even not be usable. EDIT - looks like one/some are damaged...).

So what you are saying, yes, I don't think they thought the ROI would be enough to justify the above.
 
wdwmagic

wdwmagic

Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
Original Poster
wdw71fan said:
True.. and I've said as much.. But my point is that the LoW system as it stands is dead-tech.. What people are asking for (whether they realize it or not) is a NEW LoW... The metal arches are not outdated, but the lighting system is... and there are no plans to rebuild the LoW.. As a matter of fact, last I knew the Arches were de-listed from inventory... Which means they are close to the scrap pile.. Which is truly ashame.. but as it is, one of them was struck by heavy equipment months and months ago (over a year?) and is mangled one side.

The arches are gone, that's a fact.. but I wish something 'new' would come down the pipe to us.. Sad fact is that DHS is the focus for 'light show' budget with Osbourne, and MK is heavily supported for MVMCP and various other decorations.. Truthfully, there hasn't been a major modification of the Holiday overlay for all 4 parks in quite some time.. It's a situation where management feels the parks are 'decorated' and nothing more is needed at this time, just maintain what is there..

Not saying they are right, but that's what the deal is.
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I dont think guests really care about the technology - whether it is dead or not. Guests want to see lights, synchronized to music, on those arches. It is very simple.

The main point is that there is nothing stopping the Lights of Winter being brought back with a simple replacement of the lights and the controller. It is a straightforward task to do this.

Disney frequently replaces end-of-life technology throughout the attractions and shows. It does not just abandon a show or attraction because an element of it requires replacing.
 
wdw71fan

wdw71fan

Well-Known Member
wdwmagic said:
I dont think guests really care about the technology - whether it is dead or not. Guests want to see lights, synchronized to music, on those arches. It is very simple.

The main point is that there is nothing stopping the Lights of Winter being brought back with a simple replacement of the lights and the controller. It is a straightforward task to do this.

Disney frequently replaces end-of-life technology throughout the attractions and shows. It does not just abandon a show or attraction because an element of it requires replacing.
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I agree with you.. My point was that the company has it's holiday lights interests anchored elsewhere on property.. They are not trying to make Epcot a 'draw' with a special lighting experience.. That is being left to Osborne and MVMCP..

Basically, LoW was broken, and since there is no initiative to enhance the Epcot holiday experience beyond what is still there, they were not refitted or repaired.. It's not quite the 'evil Disney is out to destroy the xmas experience in Epcot' scenario that some have put forth.
 
wm49rs

wm49rs

A naughty bit o' crumpet
Premium Member
So basically eliminating LoW is just a form of benign neglect by TDO when it comes to EPCOT. Excellent.....
 
lego606

lego606

MagicBandit
Heard from an ex-Imagineer: Lights of Winter was cancelled due to issues when setup was changed from in-house to outside companies. The outside companies had 2 cranes fall over, and as with all liability issues in the recent TWDC history (see: BTMRR shaky rocks), the response is to remove/turn off, not fix. :/
 
lego606

lego606

MagicBandit
BwanaBob said:
Doesn't gel. Missing some key information.
Not saying not credible, just missing some key info.
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Obviously this is totally hearsay from him and I imagine there were bigger people than him involved. Though I think it does provide somewhat of a better reason than "outdated tech"
 
danlb_2000

danlb_2000

Premium Member
lego606 said:
Heard from an ex-Imagineer: Lights of Winter was cancelled due to issues when setup was changed from in-house to outside companies. The outside companies had 2 cranes fall over, and as with all liability issues in the recent TWDC history (see: BTMRR shaky rocks), the response is to remove/turn off, not fix. :/
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So they won't put up lights of winter due to liability concerns with their setup, yet they have no such concerns with hanging lights on a 190 ft tall castle?
 
lego606

lego606

MagicBandit
danlb_2000 said:
So they won't put up lights of winter due to liability concerns with their setup, yet they have no such concerns with hanging lights on a 190 ft tall castle?
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Apparently the cranes at MK have had no such issue so therefore everything is just dandy over by the castle, or because they still do it in-house (I have no idea if, following the logic, they've contracted out for those lights or its done by someone with, say, WDI)
 
Cosmic Commando

Cosmic Commando

Well-Known Member
can't find it... swear I just left it in a stroller thread the other day... danggit... say, anyone around here see... oh, here it is!

eat20popcorn.gif
 

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