Some random questions about the resort

[Time_machine]

Hello folks,
I've had a few questions about the parks that I was hoping some of the knowledgeable regulars could answer.

To begin with, considering a lot of the early rides relied heavily on projection-based effects I was wondering if WDW ever had facilities to copy film reels. If not, did they ship in everything from California when they needed to replace damaged film reels?

Moreover, has Disney completely phased out old ride control systems over the years or is it still possible to find old DEC minicopmputers strapped to magnetic tape drives or some microcomputers from the late 70s running some of the attractions?

Lastly, would it be possible to move the Progress City model out of its current location (possibly for restoration) or are some components of it too big to be moved out?

 

[copcarguyp71]

The only one I can speak to on a conjecture basis would be the first regarding film facilities. My feeling is that with their early ties at the waist to Kodak my gut feeling is that they would rely on Kodak for those services rather than going to the trouble of having it in house. Kodak was deeeeply invested in the park(s) and I am sure they were more than happy to endear themselves even further. Heck there is even a Main Street legend that the Fuji Coaster initially slated for Japan at Epcot was given the heave-ho due to the rivalry between Fuji and Kodak and Kodak's feelings of not wanting anything related to the name Fuji.

 

[Time_machine]

The only one I can speak to on a conjecture basis would be the first regarding film facilities. My feeling is that with their early ties at the waist to Kodak my gut feeling is that they would rely on Kodak for those services rather than going to the trouble of having it in house. Kodak was deeeeply invested in the park(s) and I am sure they were more than happy to endear themselves even further. Heck there is even a Main Street legend that the Fuji Coaster initially slated for Japan at Epcot was given the heave-ho due to the rivalry between Fuji and Kodak and Kodak's feelings of not wanting anything related to the name Fuji.

Good point. I hadn't considered how close the working relationship between the two companies was. Still, I wonder if they ever had some sort of lab on the grounds of the resort where they could duplicate film reels. I mean they did have severalphoto labs on the property for a while.

 

[dreamfinder]

Remember that back in the day, WDW believed in having spares already on hand. So a reel broke, you just grabbed the spare sitting out back and ordered another. So there wasn't as much of a need to have facilities on hand to do something that is fairly limited in scope and number, as it was to simply have a proper kanban in place instead of ordering things just in time, or after they broke.

Re progress city, I do believe that within the last 6 months or so, in a peoplemover thread, someone posted how it has undergone a few restorations in the last few decades, one much more successful than the other. See this post -> http://forums.wdwmagic.com/goto/post?id=7347577#post-7347577

 

[Time_machine]

Remember that back in the day, WDW believed in having spares already on hand. So a reel broke, you just grabbed the spare sitting out back and ordered another. So there wasn't as much of a need to have facilities on hand to do something that is fairly limited in scope and number, as it was to simply have a proper kanban in place instead of ordering things just in time, or after they broke.

Re progress city, I do believe that within the last 6 months or so, in a peoplemover thread, someone posted how it has undergone a few restorations in the last few decades, one much more successful than the other. See this post -> http://forums.wdwmagic.com/goto/post?id=7347577#post-7347577

Thanks for the insight! It's nice to see that someone finally got around to cleaning up the model.