Mexico Goes Digital

MythBuster

MythBuster

Active Member
Original Poster
I don't know if anyone has noticed but the Mexico Boat Ride (Gran Fiesta Tour) during the last couple of weeks, all the film projectors have been changed out to digital video projectors.

Slowly, they will be replacing all the film with video. After Star Tours shut down, there is only a couple of film projectors left in DHS. AK only has 2 in the Tree. Epcot will changing out the films for digital projection slowly, but I don't know if it means they will update the movie also. I heard France is the next pavilion to be converted. So they are updating the technology and if prices come down on some of the equipment, I'm sure they will upgrade them quicker.
 
SeaCastle

SeaCastle

Well-Known Member
MythBuster said:
I don't know if anyone has noticed but the Mexico Boat Ride (Gran Fiesta Tour) during the last couple of weeks, all the film projectors have been changed out to digital video projectors.

Slowly, they will be replacing all the film with video. After Star Tours shut down, there is only a couple of film projectors left in DHS. AK only has 2 in the Tree. Epcot will changing out the films for digital projection slowly, but I don't know if it means they will update the movie also. I heard France is the next pavilion to be converted. So they are updating the technology and if prices come down on some of the equipment, I'm sure they will upgrade them quicker.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the information. I always thought that the Gran Fiesta Tour film was digital (with the movies being QuickTime based), but I guess this was not the case.

This is also in line with what raven posted with them making Soarin' digital. A digital France film would look great. After IDF, how many more films would be film based? Are CircleVision using standard film or are those digital as well?
 
Animaniac93-98

Animaniac93-98

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the news. Digital France sounds great (especially if it gets a restoration to go with it) and hopefully The American Adventure will be soon!
 
jt04

jt04

Well-Known Member
This is awesome news! I know many people see this as Disney just choosing the cheapest option but that is short-sighted. Incresing park profits through new technology makes it easier to justify more capital spending so this is great IMO.

Looking forward to continued progress. I need to add this to my "Less is More" thread.

Thanks for the news!
 
CaptainWinter

CaptainWinter

Active Member
MythBuster said:
I don't know if anyone has noticed but the Mexico Boat Ride (Gran Fiesta Tour) during the last couple of weeks, all the film projectors have been changed out to digital video projectors.

Slowly, they will be replacing all the film with video. After Star Tours shut down, there is only a couple of film projectors left in DHS. AK only has 2 in the Tree. Epcot will changing out the films for digital projection slowly, but I don't know if it means they will update the movie also. I heard France is the next pavilion to be converted. So they are updating the technology and if prices come down on some of the equipment, I'm sure they will upgrade them quicker.
Click to expand...

"Impressions de France" is going digital? That would be totally great. How good is your source for that?
 
R

ryno1982

Active Member
raven said:
They changed to digital over a year ago.
Click to expand...

I believe you are incorrect about this. When it reopened it looked digital, but within 6 months it was obviously blurry again. And the screen still flickers, which means it's still film. It just got a new print.
 
ChrisFL

ChrisFL

Premium Member
yeah, Philharmagic still doesn't look Digital even after it was rumored to be changed.

I think part of it is quality, but another part is that digital projectors are probably better for upkeep and reliability, maybe even using less power (though I'm not an expert)
 
MythBuster

MythBuster

Active Member
Original Poster
CaptainWinter said:
"Impressions de France" is going digital? That would be totally great. How good is your source for that?
Click to expand...

Pretty Good. It is going to happen, it is just a matter of when. I think it is going to be France and The Land next. Epcot still has film in Energy, Norway, China, AA, Canada, Captain EO, Soarin. It is going to be a while to replace it all, but it is all planned to be replaced eventually. They are having a hard time finding parts for the projectors, power supplies, lamphouses, and film cabinets.
 
Kamikaze

Kamikaze

Well-Known Member
MythBuster said:
I don't know if anyone has noticed but the Mexico Boat Ride (Gran Fiesta Tour) during the last couple of weeks, all the film projectors have been changed out to digital video projectors.

Slowly, they will be replacing all the film with video. After Star Tours shut down, there is only a couple of film projectors left in DHS. AK only has 2 in the Tree. Epcot will changing out the films for digital projection slowly, but I don't know if it means they will update the movie also. I heard France is the next pavilion to be converted. So they are updating the technology and if prices come down on some of the equipment, I'm sure they will upgrade them quicker.
Click to expand...

Except for Soarin, correct? The common excuse is that there isn't a digital projector that works for the screen format.


ChrisFL said:
yeah, Philharmagic still doesn't look Digital even after it was rumored to be changed.

I think part of it is quality, but another part is that digital projectors are probably better for upkeep and reliability, maybe even using less power (though I'm not an expert)
Click to expand...

The biggest part is that you aren't running film through a projector anymore. You are just running a hard drive with the film on it. Or a DVD/Blu-Ray I suppose. That means no film to clean.
 
raven

raven

Well-Known Member
ryno1982 said:
I believe you are incorrect about this. When it reopened it looked digital, but within 6 months it was obviously blurry again. And the screen still flickers, which means it's still film. It just got a new print.
Click to expand...

Philharmagic indeed went down for a digital projector change out about a year ago. It was noted on the cast website when it reopened.
 
FutureWorld1982

FutureWorld1982

Well-Known Member
Yes, I knew this, but I was afraid to post it since I wasn't 100% sure...
Thanks for confirming this!

I took a picture, even though you can't really tell the difference by looking at it. it's much more obvious while on ride:

10f9xrl.jpg


5uekcx.jpg
 
rct247

rct247

Well-Known Member
Rode it today. It looked great. They also may have recently added LED color changing lights in the fiesta scene (where all the balloons are on the ground). I noticed that today, but haven't in previous rides.
 
hpyhnt 1000

hpyhnt 1000

Well-Known Member
rct247 said:
Rode it today. It looked great. They also may have recently added LED color changing lights in the fiesta scene (where all the balloons are on the ground). I noticed that today, but haven't in previous rides.
Click to expand...

LED lights in the fiesta scene have been there for at least two years ish.
 

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