SPACE Developing

[Testtrack321]

I can REALLY see M:S opening early to prevent a further Test Track ordeal.

Pheonix, unless you can caugh up some more info that's more stable, we can only count it as perdiction.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Originally posted by RobFL
Its basically a centerfuge with little pods that have some motion ability. What that motion is exactly, is what's debateable. But the main movement iss centerfugal.

-Rob

If Disney has designed this attraction well (which, given the $150,000,000+ budget and 2.5 years it's been under construction, I think they have), you will never be able to feel the spinning or the rotation of the pods--just the effects of the G-Forces they produce. Disney would, of course, mark these motions 'proprietary', and we could never know exactly what happens...unless they decide to give $60 tours and tell us Kinda like Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror...no one REALLY knows how fast either goes (Disney released a vague 60 mph stat, some say 58 mph, some say 57 mph...no one knows; and we kinda guess Tower of Terror goes 40 mph or so, but again...we don't know, and disney won't say ANYTHING about its speed; it's 'proprietary')

 

[ToTBellHop]

Originally posted by RobFL
A thought...

They shut the marquee off when no one is in the pavillion. It was on for the imagineer party (i assume it was imagineers, the park was crawling with them) and then for the photo shoot. The typical "don't fall and get killed in the dark" lights were on, but no special lighting FX at night.

And whatever is inside the big red ball is bright, I remember the light blaring out and reflecting onto the imaineers as they looked inside and wandered about - it was an overcast day.
-Rob

Would Disney allow an official photo shoot of an attraction 4-6 months before it opens? Yet another of my infamous 'thoughts'

 

[RobFL]

Don't forget, NASA is in on it, and they're meticulous. Disney imagineers tend to design entirely theorhetically, and hope it works - NASA people spend hours calculating if every tiny detail will work, because all of their work is theorhetical, but it can't fail in space.

-Rob

 

[ToTBellHop]

not to insult NASA...but didn't an error in high school algebra cause a billion dollar accident a year or two ago? Remember, NASA is not doing ANY research for this attraction--no monetary help means no researchers. Basically, the deal allows disney to do its own research and get behind-the-scenes looks at NASA reseach areas so that Disney can give the most realistic depiction of space travel possible--they can also use copyrighten NASA diagrams. This attraction is still all done by Imagineers, whom I think are even more meticulous than NASA scientists. Remember...Imagineers are also engineers, so I would hope they understand their physics (which is theoretical by nature) enough to know how to make a centrifuge work well. Remember this is not the first centrifuge of its kind; it's the first used in a theme park in this way, and the first of its size, but much of the work to get this ride working had already been completed before construction began--and Disney would not go with a company selling multi-million dollar mechanisms without seeing them in action first; so we know the ride works, it's just a matter of whether or not it works up to Disney standards (say what you will about a drop it those standards, but on this attraction, they are VERY high due to the huge amount of money Compaq/HP was willing to pay for it...it was very much like the blank check Imagineers received to build DisneySeas.

 

[RobFL]

Ugh...

You jsut reminded me of some Jurassic Park references...


When Disneyland opened nothing worked..

Standing on the shoulders of giants... (using NASA's technological know-how)

The power going out...


Maybe being doing the Cast Preview isn't such a good idea...

-Rob

 

[RobFL]

Can't you just see it now? A bunch of CM's running in teror from some rampaging planet! :lol:

Oh my god.. The Moon is loose.. Even Nedery knew better than to mess with that .

"Where's the other Pod?!?! Where's the other Pod?!?!"

-Rob

 

[RobFL]

"Run.. as fast as you can... Past the marquee and under the monorail beam..."

-Rob

 

[RobFL]

Then two kids and a astrophysist have a heart felt moment sleeping in the vehicles overnight at UoE and wake up to the sounds of Brachiosaurs nibbling on the flora in the morning

Aww...

-Rob

 

[RobFL]

:wave:

*waves from the deep end*

Wont anyone join me?

-Rob

 

[Fido]

Here's what the official Mission:SPACE site (http://www.disney.go.com/vacations/missionspace/index.html) has to say in the latest update (I don't know how recent, but it sounds recent):

***Mission:SPACE is well over a year away from launch, but construction on the project has taken a giant leap forward with the soon-to-be-completed elements that make up the "Planetary Plaza".

The plaza is the "welcome center" for Mission:SPACE, the thrilling, one-of-a-kind "astronaut-like" experience presented by Compaq Computer that will open in 2003. In the plaza, astronaut candidates will be introduced to the International Space Training Center (ISTC) and their eventual journey into space.

"We wanted to give guests a sense of the extraordinary place they're about to go." saya Luc Mayrand, one of the designers of the Planetary Plaza. "The space is a bit disorienting because we've tried to remove any semblance of a horizon. We've used abstract forms like powerful, sweeping curves and more descriptive elements like spheres to create orbital patterns that create a feeling of movement in outer space."

Construction continues on the rest of the facility as well, including the most prominent element in the plaza, a large red shere that serves as the entrance to the ISTC Recruiting Center, the first stop on guests' Mission:SPACE experience.***

I think the phrase "The space is a bit disorienting because we've tried to remove any semblance of a horizon." is telling, don't you think? Maybe they should have just said "Horizons" instead! :'/

 

[RobFL]

I think they're in the process of updating the website.. because that "soon to be completed" paragraph wasn't in that "News" story before... The plaza was no where near completion in 3/02.

And the most recent pictures on that site are from 2/18/02, so the new pics were probably jsut taken yesterday.

-Rob

 

[ToTBellHop]

Well, that certainly means the current construction wall will come down soon, but it's kinda vague...where is the ISTC? Is it inside the building or will it be outside (we can already see some displays inside). Perhaps they are following that old rumored plan with the inside displays opening well before the ride?

 

[Fido]

DogsRule wrote:

>>Well, that certainly means the current construction wall will come down soon, but it's kinda vague...where is the ISTC? Is it inside the building or will it be outside (we can already see some displays inside). Perhaps they are following that old rumored plan with the inside displays opening well before the ride?<<

I think the ISTC is where those lights are just inside the red planet. It sounds like there will be things to see and info about the ride inside there to look at and to peak curiosity about the ride before it opens. And don't forget gifts. Gotta sell stuff so that the spot isn't a total loss until the ride opens!

It does sound as if the ride isn't going to be open until the projected date now.

 

[wdwmagic]

Originally posted by DogsRule!


Would Disney allow an official photo shoot of an attraction 4-6 months before it opens? Yet another of my infamous 'thoughts'

Of course they would . They need to start gathering publicity material for the attraction. Things like the Disney Magazine, and other material are prepared months in advance. I am sure that during the months leading up to the opening, you will see Mission Space promos appearing from every area of the Disney company.

 

[wdwmagic]

Originally posted by DMC-12


Hiya Steve:wave:

Have you heard anything about them opening the Plaza in front of M:S and taking down the black walls anytime soon?

Hi!

The only info I have on this is from 5 November 2001, which was...

"The Mission: Space team are suggesting that it may be possible for the post-show of the attraction to open Summer 2002. The interactive post-show area will serve as a great teaser for the soon to open E Ticket attraction. "

 

[wdwmagic]

Originally posted by DogsRule!
Michael Eisner rode it about a year ago and is still alive...as I have said, this ride had a one year buffer time period for testing, which even if this ride were to open in late April, as planned way back in 2000 when this was announced, we would be into.

The development of Mission Space was done on a SINGLE POD version of the ride system over the last 5 or so years. This mock up was the version that Eisner and the select few have ridden. The challenge for the Epcot attraction is to take the single rider version and create a high capacity 2000 guest per hour version, that can sustain continual loads, day after day after day. The large unknown in Mission Space has been that WDI are doing this for the first time. Sure they can do it on a single rider version, but to do it on a large scale is whole new adventure!

Test Track had a single car mock up version that was used to test the concept. It was when they came to installing a high capacity version that the problems set in.

I don't want to be doom and gloom on this, but I just dont want you to think that Space is about to open, and then get dissapointed when it doesnt. I hope I am wrong and it does open early, but please dont build you rhopes up too much.

 

[JLW11Hi]

Originally posted by wdwmagic


Hi!

The only info I have on this is from 5 November 2001, which was...

"The Mission: Space team are suggesting that it may be possible for the post-show of the attraction to open Summer 2002. The interactive post-show area will serve as a great teaser for the soon to open E Ticket attraction. "

Mabey they were referring to the Mission Space place in Innoventions?

 

[wbboy29]

Hey everyone, I mentioned this in another thread but I thought I would mention it here too. I work at Epcot and from what I have heard, if it is true, the current construction walls will be coming down tonight, Sunday August 4th, after the park closes. But a new wall half the hieght of the current will go up so that guests can see the building more clearly. Also the new wall will be pushed back, closer to the building itself so that the old walk way from Wonders of Life to Test Track will be open once again. As I said this is just what I heard and it may not be true, but it would be awesome if it is. I guess I'll find out tomorrow morning when I go to work. I'll try to let y'all know if it happens or not.

 

[bamboo7]

Originally posted by RobFL
Well, it was for a 1 hour photo place.. and i dropped them off at about 6:15ish, so i'll be leaving to get them soon.

Oh yeah, i'm almost positive I heard "SPACE" music from the courtyard, and definately comming from the building itself. It was "twinkly."

-Rob

HEy, i am looking forward to seeing these pictures. are you going to be posting them in this thread? or have you already posted them elsewhere?


Dogsrule -- Remember that everything you have said in this post is a guess. stop acting like you know it will open soon, for a fact. if you look at your arguments objectivly, you will see that you certainly could be wrong. none of us are imagineers, so lets not go acting like everything we know is a fact. we are all just speculating.