One of WDW's Longest Broken Effects Quietly got Fixed this Week

[Boston Bruins]

Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin has a ton of effects broken; this is probably the ride in the worst shape on property but nobody ever notices because it doesn't have a lot of fans.

The pterodactyl in the Planet Z room has been broken since mid 2008. He's been stuck in the same position for almost 15 years - the majority of the attraction's existence. I've been watching it closely the last few weeks because he's been randomly moving positions (which I'm assuming was due to ongoing maintenance to get him working), but in the last week he's started flying again. See here -



This video is 100% recent, as one of the three Dreamflight chickens in the Planet Z room has been missing for a few months now, which can be seen in this video. Hopefully he's just undergoing repairs and will be back soon.

Per my understanding the pterodactyl was the second-longest broken effect on the ride. The crown goes to the fog machine in the "Escape Hatch" tunnel, which has been broken since 2006.

Note that I have no desire for this to become a debate on the merits of Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin and whether it belongs or not in Tomorrowland, as every mention of the ride seems to turn into.

 

[JohnD]

Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin has a ton of effects broken; this is probably the ride in the worst shape on property but nobody ever notices because it doesn't have a lot of fans.

The pterodactyl in the Planet Z room has been broken since mid 2008. He's been stuck in the same position for almost 15 years - the majority of the attraction's existence. I've been watching it closely the last few weeks because he's been randomly moving positions (which I'm assuming was due to ongoing maintenance to get him working), but in the last week he's started flying again. See here -



This video is 100% recent, as one of the three Dreamflight chickens in the Planet Z room has been missing for a few months now, which can be seen in this video. Hopefully he's just undergoing repairs and will be back soon.

Per my understanding the pterodactyl was the second-longest broken effect on the ride. The crown goes to the fog machine in the "Escape Hatch" tunnel, which has been broken since 2006.

Note that I have no desire for this to become a debate on the merits of Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin and whether it belongs or not in Tomorrowland, as every mention of the ride seems to turn into.

You got my hopes up. Disco yeti? Nope. Okay, this is cool. Thanks.

 

[Weather_Lady]

A step in the right direction!

 

[Virtual Toad]

What is it with WDW and pterodactyls? Seriously, good to see they're addressing it. Small steps as it were....

 

[celluloid]

Hopefully "INCOMING" is next. That ride getting fixed up would make me happier than Zootopia ever could.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Can't complain about that.

Between this and Space Mountain's repaint I wonder if they're attempting to spiff things up before the media descends on the land for TRON's opening.

 

[lazyboy97o]

You got my hopes up. Disco yeti? Nope. Okay, this is cool. Thanks.

Nobody cares about nondescript primates themed like snow or whatever.

 

[marni1971]

Can't complain about that.

Between this and Space Mountain's repaint I wonder if they're attempting to spiff things up before the media descends on the land for TRON's opening.

Let’s see if they fix the multitude of show issues in Space Mountain.

 

[HauntedPirate]

The pterodactyl has been in one position so long I forgot it even moved.

 

[WorldExplorer]

Hopefully "INCOMING" is next. That ride getting fixed up would make me happier than Zootopia ever could.

Isn't the pterodactyl on that ride intentionally bolted in because they decided it was a safety hazard to have something swoop over the guests, not because they just haven't fixed it? Or was that the reason they made the compies a projection?

 

[Smiley/OCD]

Now they can fix a bunch of the “guns” on the ride that either don’t swivel properly or don’t shoot at all, and then move onto the leprechauns on iasw that haven’t worked in at least 5 years…

 

[marni1971]

The pterodactyl has been in one position so long I forgot it even moved.

Moves in Paris

Isn't the pterodactyl on that ride intentionally bolted in because they decided it was a safety hazard to have something swoop over the guests, not because they just haven't fixed it? Or was that the reason they made the compies a projection?

Yes and yes.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Yes and yes.

Is this the case on both coasts or only Florida?

There are still several elements that move over guests heads in California.

 

[marni1971]

Is this the case on both coasts or only Florida?

There are still several elements that move over guests heads in California.

There’s elements in a lot of places that still move over guests heads. If I recall (big if) there wasn’t sufficient failsafe at Dinosaur with the bird.

Compies were more mechanically challenged. They failed before H&S got twitchy.

 

[celluloid]

Isn't the pterodactyl on that ride intentionally bolted in because they decided it was a safety hazard to have something swoop over the guests, not because they just haven't fixed it? Or was that the reason they made the compies a projection?

That may be so. But they could still come up with a version that is the effect while remaining safe. We know for sure theme parks have had effects over guest's heads safely for decades.

 

[hopemax]

90% of the ride is in the dark. How many can possibly be broken that you can see anyway.

When they did the major rehab on Disneyland's Space Mountain when they had to replace the track and reopened for their 50th, I think they found that something like 40-60% of the projectors didn't work. People don't notice one projector failing time and time again, but when all those projectors are working again... it does make a difference.

 

[YouMakeTheWorldGoRound]

Glad to hear Space Ranger Spin is getting some love. A personal favourite as well as being very popular.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Bizarre that when something stops moving you get so used to it being frozen, it seems like that’s how it always was, then when it gets fixed and starts moving again it stands out as something special. OMG don’t know how I’ll respond if and when Yeti magically moves.

 

[jimbojones]

Will Big thunder ever get some love.... that ride is a shadow of its former glory without the moving rocks/blasting scene. That has been static for what, a decade, two?

 

[EagleScout610]

"One of Disney's longest broken effects" ahem...