Space Mountain trains cycling today (Sat 26 Sep) - photo

[EPCOT Explorer]

How could I forget the rest of the year?! And then there's the amazing lighting package they've recently installed for year-round use on Sleeping Beauty Castle, the new night lighting shows in Pixie Hollow that debuted this summer, the lighting overlays and new digitial projectors they gave Fantasmic! last year, etc.

WDI has been adding digital projection and LED based lighting effects to many major Disneyland shows, buildings and facades in the last few years. The creepy Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy dome shows are only the latest. They are getting very good at it, as it's truly an art form.

After an 8 month rehab they aren't just going to let WDW's Space Mountain sit there with some basic industrial lighting fixtures. I'm sure digital projections and LED tech is on the way for the exterior of WDW's Space Mountain.

Here's the latest video from this weekend at Disneyland's new Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy and the exterior dome shows. I am 99% postive that this same audio/visual technology (installed in just a two week rehab at Disneyland) will be debuting on WDW's Space Mountain a few months from now! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COTUDNB7sWU

Bold statement.:wave: I hope you are right.

 

[tigger248]

I'm hoping this means it opens earlier than expected. Since I'll be there middle of November... wishful thinking I know.

That's about the same time that we're going! I can't even begin to say how much I hope that they are having some kind of soft opening a week early....

 

[Lee]

Ooooohhh....good thread.

Despite all of the money spent on DL SM, I actually prefer WDW SM in its current state.

:brick:
See...it's statements like that that allow them to justify this sad little "refurb."

I dont want everything to turn into a smooth ride with onboard audio.

Oh, I do! No such thing as too smooth, and no excuse for leaving out the audio.

There's a HUGE part that nostalgia plays in this, but there's the general rule of Show. Keeping the show in a dated condition (IMHO!) is bad show. They can keep the general feeling of the ride in it's aesthetics, and even music, but it can be modern too. Look at HM. It still feels like it's 1971 original...but it's been plussed, added to. It's no longer mediocre in terms of presentation.

Very well said. I agree completely.

As for FL/SM...I would not be sure on this, but you might...Are the budgets really that close? I would think that SM was a separate entity and budgeted separately and before FL was being allocated?

True. They were budgeted at vastly different times and neither effected the other. SM is getting the refurb they wanted it to have. They aimed low.

So thats they way it is. I'm going to choose to enjoy it as I always have.

Hah! And I'm gonna give it a swift kick and shout "Stupid old Space Mountain."

What would be nice to do, and what is actually feasible are very different things.

True. The said part in this case is that it was entirely possible to do something nice. Feasible didn't enter into it, as I never heard of a non-feasible concept for SM that made it past blue-sky. Every concept, even the more ambitious ones that almost made the cut, were all feasible. They just required more money and downtime.

Of course I think about what it could have been, but some posters on here will be going on about this for YEARS - seriously.

:wave: I intend to make it my rallying cry.

Please, Steve. On board audio was very feasible.

Yep. Feasible. Affordable. Practical. Successful. And unfortunately...cut.

[/B]
Of course they will. Nothing is good enough for some.

Again: :wave:
I'll never settle for second best when it comes to Disney. Got way too much love for them to see them aim low.
Show trumps Efficiency....I think I'm gonna get that put on a shirt....

 

[MousDad]

Methinks Lee doth not bring good news. :lol:

 

[SirGoofy]

How were the past few days in the World, Lee?

Again: :wave:
I'll never settle for second best when it comes to Disney. Got way too much love for them to see them aim low.
Show trumps Efficiency....I think I'm gonna get that put on a shirt....

Bingo. Exactly. Righto. Correct-a-mundo.

 

[Lee]

How were the past few days in the World, Lee?

Non-existant.
Life got in the way this weekend and kept me trapped down here at the far end of the peninsula.

Methinks Lee doth not bring good news. :lol:

Who knows. Reading these two SM threads shows clearly that "good news" is entirely subjective.
I really hate how these threads are getting so....heated. Everyone needs to just step back and take a deep breath.

 

[SirGoofy]

Non-existant.
Life got in the way this weekend and kept me trapped down here at the far end of the peninsula.

Ah, sorry to hear that.

There's always next weekend.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Ooooohhh....good thread.


:brick:
See...it's statements like that that allow them to justify this sad little "refurb."


Oh, I do! No such thing as too smooth, and no excuse for leaving out the audio.


Very well said. I agree completely.


True. They were budgeted at vastly different times and neither effected the other. SM is getting the refurb they wanted it to have. They aimed low.


Hah! And I'm gonna give it a swift kick and shout "Stupid old Space Mountain."


True. The said part in this case is that it was entirely possible to do something nice. Feasible didn't enter into it, as I never heard of a non-feasible concept for SM that made it past blue-sky. Every concept, even the more ambitious ones that almost made the cut, were all feasible. They just required more money and downtime.


:wave: I intend to make it my rallying cry.


Yep. Feasible. Affordable. Practical. Successful. And unfortunately...cut.


Again: :wave:
I'll never settle for second best when it comes to Disney. Got way too much love for them to see them aim low.
Show trumps Efficiency....I think I'm gonna get that put on a shirt....

Thank you, Lee. Coming from you, that means a lot.

 

[csm]

So they actually did that?

:brick:

Yes, they did - long before the refurbishment started - but it was determined that they would not move forward with it. Now, whether that determination stemmed from a feasibility issue or a financial issue, of that I am not certain. :shrug:

 

[csm]

As am I!

WDI has had grand plans for WDW's Space Mountain for years but instead TDO waits till the ride is on the verge of collapse and then shuts it down for a couple months to do the bare minimum to keep it running! Disgraceful and unacceptable.

and SM's redo would not have affected the FL redo in the slightest. That's like saying The Little Mermaid e-ticket at DCA is affecting the budget for Carsland or Star Tours II. It's nonsense talk.

Correct. Entirely unrelated capital investment plans spanning entirely seperate fiscal calendars. Space Mountain went cheap because MK management wanted it to go cheap; this had nothing to do with the benefit of a better Fantasyland.

 

[csm]

I was on the TTA on the 25th when I could hear trains moving, could see the lift chain moving, and heard voices over the loud speakers calling out sections of track and saying vehicles were entering them and other such stuff, but I didn't see a train.

BUT! A little later I went on and my vehicle stopped for a while. And it happened to stop right in front of a wide-ish space between the curtained windows and the wall before you leave, and I got a pretty good view of the insides, track included! Looks nice, actually. My memory may just suck, but the track looks more like a modern tubular steel coaster with banked curves and a lot less superstructure.

Sorry, but it's the same track that was there in April.

 

[jakeman]

Phil Holmes, Erin Wallace, Meg Crofton, and Jay Rasolu are holdovers from Eisner's really bad management team and they are really doing damage to the Disney brand in WDW. Eventually something will be done about these jokers but many of us feel that something should be done sooner rather than later. TDO needs to be reorganized and weakend in the same way TDA was thanks to Matt Quimet and John Lasseter.

Michael Eisner: Resigned Septmeber, 2005

Meg Crofton: Promoted August, 2006
Erin Wallace: Promoted August, 2006

So you are half right.

 

[_Scar]

I'd like to think Lasseter loves WDW too

 

[wdwmagic]

Ooooohhh....good thread.


:brick:
See...it's statements like that that allow them to justify this sad little "refurb."

Large scale refurbs aren't always the best thing. Take for example Space Mountain Paris. They took probably one of the best themed coaster experiences anywhere and totally butchered it with the big makeover. I would love to have the original back.

In the case of DL SM, I admire the show, but the actual ride itself is for me not as good as WDW. If I had a choice at any one moment in time to ride either WDW SM as it is now, or DL SM, I'd go with the WDW SM. I know not everyone agrees, but thats my view.

 

[wdwmagic]

True. The said part in this case is that it was entirely possible to do something nice. Feasible didn't enter into it, as I never heard of a non-feasible concept for SM that made it past blue-sky. Every concept, even the more ambitious ones that almost made the cut, were all feasible. They just required more money and downtime.

Just to clairfy my comment on feasibility. I wasn't referring to technical feasibility, but more the entire picture. IE. Money/Time/Perceived Need.

 

[Jasonflz]

Large scale refurbs aren't always the best thing. Take for example Space Mountain Paris. They took probably one of the best themed coaster experiences anywhere and totally butchered it with the big makeover. I would love to have the original back.

In the case of DL SM, I admire the show, but the actual ride itself is for me not as good as WDW. If I had a choice at any one moment in time to ride either WDW SM as it is now, or DL SM, I'd go with the WDW SM. I know not everyone agrees, but thats my view.

I fully agree. I haven't experienced DL's SM in person but I still wouldn't take it over ours.

(especially the queue)

 

[WDW1974]

Excuse me, don't mean to interrupt a very serious discussion on ... um ... ah ... whatever it is being discussed, but I've been away for a bit ... working, traveling, walking red carpets and playing at Disney resorts in Paris and Anaheim.

I'm so confused ... where are all the threads on the new Incredible Hulk meet and greets next to the Cinderella cottage in the new F-Land? And when is Spidey being moved by the Sheriff from IOA to TPFKaTD-MGMS? And what's this I hear about cheaper, crappier hot dogs on the menu at WDW? And a very hum-drum Food and Wine Fest debut? And very slow park attendance ... the kind that means more discounting is on the way?

Missed so much ... so much ... the whole D23 droolfest, that must have flooded Atlanta.

Don't really have anything to add here, other than Space Mountain is getting a very basic cleaning and track work, same thing that most here have said for months. And I don't think a 1975 era coaster in Tomorrowland should be left in 1975 form in 2009, no good excuse for it. That's basically what's happening. And after riding SM at DLP again (even a ride in the front row!) it just amazes me how pathetic the current MK ride truly is.

Oh, and while I won't comment on Phil Holmes as a human being because I don't know him, I do know enough about the job he has done as MK VP to be uber-critical of the man. Frankly, he and his predecessor have done many things to diminish the quality of so-called No. 1 theme park in the world. That's not based on Internet drivel, but real world knowledge and facts. Of course, if you think the MK has never been better than it has in the past 5-10 years then you'll likely have issues with that view.

Phil gets no credit for the MK expansion anymore than Karl Holz gets credit for DCL expansion or Ed Grier gets credit for the DCA redo. This stuff has all come from a higher level.

Anyway ... when can I meet the Fantastic Four at EPCOT?

 

[WDW1974]

Large scale refurbs aren't always the best thing. Take for example Space Mountain Paris. They took probably one of the best themed coaster experiences anywhere and totally butchered it with the big makeover. I would love to have the original back.

I'd like to be able to have experienced it. Never made it there before Mission 2. That said, the ride/show experience totally blow the other versions away. The roughness factor is what bothers me, although I did discover that riding upfront or even close makes for a much better ride and a lower chance of a brain bleed.

In the case of DL SM, I admire the show, but the actual ride itself is for me not as good as WDW. If I had a choice at any one moment in time to ride either WDW SM as it is now, or DL SM, I'd go with the WDW SM. I know not everyone agrees, but thats my view.

Everyone has an opinion. I'd much prefer any of the other ride versions to WDW's. Anaheim and HK are smooth and have nice effects (better in HKDL) and Paris, while rough, is just an incredible experience (and that's well-knowing that they did indeed dumb it down from the original).

 

[WDW1974]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lee
True. The said part in this case is that it was entirely possible to do something nice. Feasible didn't enter into it, as I never heard of a non-feasible concept for SM that made it past blue-sky. Every concept, even the more ambitious ones that almost made the cut, were all feasible. They just required more money and downtime.

Just to clairfy my comment on feasibility. I wasn't referring to technical feasibility, but more the entire picture. IE. Money/Time/Perceived Need.

Unfortunately, money/time/perceived need have all been allowed to take precedence over show quality/freshness/cutting edge.

That may make the nostalgia lovers happy, but living in the past didn't get Disney to the top of the themed entertainment business.

What it did do was allow the MK to fade ... and fade badly.

And while the F-Land project is great (any influx of capital in the hundreds of millions as well as demolishing TentLand can be nothing else) it still leaves issues in many areas of the park.

It is amazing that the same company that created DL and DLP's F-Lands is also responsible for the MKs.

 

[sponono88]

I fully agree. I haven't experienced DL's SM in person but I still wouldn't take it over ours.

(especially the queue)

what a shame.. I was going to write out a response to this, but i'll just quote Lee instead

:brick:
See...it's statements like that that allow them to justify this sad little "refurb."

wdwmagic said the show was better at DL.. isn't it all about the show? that's what separates a Disney roller coaster from all the rest. If you can't provide a good show for guests then something is wrong, no matter how good the coaster aspect is.. but then this is someone who said they like rides that feel like they are falling apart :shrug: