If the changes are as minor as we're now expecting, what are they "testing" for the next 10 weeks? Doesn't it seem kind of early to have reached that stage?
The testing is on the ride system. For all intents and purposes, the ride control system is brand new. All of the sensors along the track have been replaced, operator consoles are new, and most importantly motors with kicker wheels have been added at all of the break zones throughout the ride path. What this last part does, as alluded to in a previous post, is it will prevent SM from going 101. Prior to this refurb, if the trains started stacking at unload it would cause break zones before the unload zones to start stopping trains entering them as a safety precaution. The problem was that once these trains stopped, they could not be started again automatically and thus the ride would have to be evacuated and the trains would have to be manually cleared. With motors and kicker wheels at all of the break zones as soon as the block in front of each train is clear the wheels can push the train forward, loaded with guests, and the ride will resume operation. Effectively the ride would be back up in 5 minutes instead of an hour plus. Additionally, the load station has been reconfigured for the addition of air gates and this configuration has to be tested to insure proper timing.
In my opinion from what I know, without the asbestos abatement, roof over the load additions, and the ride control system upgrade, almost everything in this refurb could have been done over 3rd shift or a few weeks of downtime.
As a summary, here is what I know has been done during the refurb directly pertaining to the ride or ride experience...
- Ride control system upgrade
- Load station roof
- Load station reconfiguration
- Load station queue theme enhancements (theming on operator consoles, air gates, etc)
- Load station queue reconfiguration to enhance fastpass and standby efficiency/confusion
- Interactive queue elements in load station
- Rework of some problem areas of the track
- Reconfiguration of bogeys (guide wheels) on trains (NOT NEW TRAINS!)
- Upgraded/improved launch and reentry tunnels (these could probably be updated relatively cheaply)
- Improved queue including lighting and queue effects (windows...) to match with new theme additions in load station (again, all of this could be done relatively cheaply)
- Enhancements to unload area to match load theme (again... relatively cheap)