Rumor Stitch's Great Escape Replacement— Don’t Hold Your Breath

[Wngo905]

Can I ask what is probably a stupid question and a thread drift?

With all the discussions about WIR and a change to the Speedway, what is the possibility with today's technology to make the Speedway into Sugar Rush using VR glasses? I don't know how VR works. Can computers have the processing power to track cars, display the images of your VR surroundings and most importantly, for the end, put a car's image in real time to the glasses of the car behind them so you don't bump them while nearing the Finish line?

 

[Tinkwings]

I have been so hoping for positive confirmation that Stitch is being evicted, I actually read a bunch of this....guess I will believe it when it's "official".....sigh. And as for Tommorowland speedway, how hard would it be to theme out the ride story better to a futuristic landscape with things to drive through.....like in terms of the future that never was fun thing.....think this thread has reached its potential.

 

[NearTheEars]

I have been so hoping for positive confirmation that Stitch is being evicted, I actually read a bunch of this....guess I will believe it when it's "official".....sigh. And as for Tommorowland speedway, how hard would it be to theme out the ride story better to a futuristic landscape with things to drive through.....like in terms of the future that never was fun thing.....think this thread has reached its potential.

I'd rather just see complete retheme of the speedway Instead of just seeing it in my head.

 

[seabreezept813]

Can I ask what is probably a stupid question and a thread drift?

With all the discussions about WIR and a change to the Speedway, what is the possibility with today's technology to make the Speedway into Sugar Rush using VR glasses? I don't know how VR works. Can computers have the processing power to track cars, display the images of your VR surroundings and most importantly, for the end, put a car's image in real time to the glasses of the car behind them so you don't bump them while nearing the Finish line?

I'm sure there is the capability, but I think it would cause serious safety concerns and maybe not be the best investment. I just rode the Superman coaster in VR in New England. It was pretty cool, but I couldn't help but think it was quite unsafe. I couldn't see anything and didn't know what to hold onto during the ride. This ride also had several issues (crashes, etc.) when it first opened years ago. While those issues are out of the rider's control, I would think it would help to see your surroundings in a threatening situation so you could do whatever possible to protect yourself.

 

[NothingRhymeswithOrange]

Maybe SGE will be replaced by a Gargoyles attraction! What's that? Two decades too late? *sigh* oh well....how about a M&G with Goliath...no? Crap.

They need to bring this show back, it was SO GOOD

 

[rle4lunch]

Are we ever going to get the hat box ghost?

Here you go. From my phone in DL last September.

 

[Brad Bishop]

And BTMR is in the middle of a lake in Paris. Its an imagination thing to overcome problems.

I always thought that was really cool how they did that.

 

[Jon81uk]

I'm sure there is the capability, but I think it would cause serious safety concerns and maybe not be the best investment. I just rode the Superman coaster in VR in New England. It was pretty cool, but I couldn't help but think it was quite unsafe. I couldn't see anything and didn't know what to hold onto during the ride. This ride also had several issues (crashes, etc.) when it first opened years ago. While those issues are out of the rider's control, I would think it would help to see your surroundings in a threatening situation so you could do whatever possible to protect yourself.

There wouldn't be much more you could do if you could see on a rollercoaster, if your restraint is secure it makes no difference if you hold on, if the restraint isn't secure then there is a serious issue no matter if you can see or not.
I agree the Speedway would be a bad choice for VR as they would have to remove the ability to control the car yourself, as bumping would occur without the ability to see the actual road!

 

[lazyboy97o]

Can I ask what is probably a stupid question and a thread drift?

With all the discussions about WIR and a change to the Speedway, what is the possibility with today's technology to make the Speedway into Sugar Rush using VR glasses? I don't know how VR works. Can computers have the processing power to track cars, display the images of your VR surroundings and most importantly, for the end, put a car's image in real time to the glasses of the car behind them so you don't bump them while nearing the Finish line?

What you suggest is more than possible. The bigger issue is weighing down the cars with capable computers and the necessary batteries. The current VR ride systems utilize a mobile solution (a Samsung Galaxy smartphone) which lacks the sensors required to track other objects in physical space.

I'm sure there is the capability, but I think it would cause serious safety concerns and maybe not be the best investment. I just rode the Superman coaster in VR in New England. It was pretty cool, but I couldn't help but think it was quite unsafe. I couldn't see anything and didn't know what to hold onto during the ride. This ride also had several issues (crashes, etc.) when it first opened years ago. While those issues are out of the rider's control, I would think it would help to see your surroundings in a threatening situation so you could do whatever possible to protect yourself.

You're confusing Ride of Steel at Darien Lake with Superman - Ride of Steel at Six Flags New England. Even then, there is little that can be done when one is strapped in place.

 

[seabreezept813]

What you suggest is more than possible. The bigger issue is weighing down the cars with capable computers and the necessary batteries. The current VR ride systems utilize a mobile solution (a Samsung Galaxy smartphone) which lacks the sensors required to track other objects in physical space.


You're confusing Ride of Steel at Darien Lake with Superman - Ride of Steel at Six Flags New England. Even then, there is little that can be done when one is strapped in place.

Not sure what you mean here..I know which ride I went on and its history

 

[Coaster Lover]

With all the discussions about WIR and a change to the Speedway, what is the possibility with today's technology to make the Speedway into Sugar Rush using VR glasses?

The current/popular/(cheap?) VR option in the amusement industry currently is to use Samsung VR gear. It's only bee used on rollercoasters where the track/path is fixed though the speed may be variable from ride to ride. The trains of the coasters are equipped with a device that monitors the speed of the ride by counting wheel rotations. The VR animations displayed are then speed up or slowed down to sync with the speed of the ride. While you can view a full 360 degrees at any point in the ride your actual X/Y/Z location in the ride environment is based solely on where the ride assumes you to be based on wheel rotations and not where you actually are in the real world environment. Fortunately, this set up works VERY well for a roller coaster and the opportunity that I had to try a VR experience on a coaster was VERY positive (though that was at a media event where there was no line and little to no pressure on pushing guests through the system).

Allowing VR in a variable movement attraction or an attraction where you are interacting with other guests in the virtual environment concurrently to interactions in the actual environment would require exceptionally accurate GPS and geolocation. Note that even being off by a fraction of an inch could result in motion sickness. In theory, the variable movement aspect could be overcome by removing the steering aspect of the ride and the issue of interacting with other guests could be overcome by eliminating rider control of speed (in essence, make the ride system equivalent to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride where you just sit in the car and don't steer or control the speed).

Other issues to contend with VR are load times (one of the worst issues with the system currently used by amusement parks... routinely seeing dispatch times on coasters of 5 minutes or more) and sanitation (as the VR is strapped to your head and typically pressed to your face, each time the headset is used it needs to be cleaned which takes time and manpower).

If anyone can do VR right, it's Disney, but if they even hope to consider this, I hope they take a long hard look at some of the other uses of VR in the amusement park industry and see the current hurdles/issues and have valid plans to over come them...

 

[dreamfinder]

Can I ask what is probably a stupid question and a thread drift?

With all the discussions about WIR and a change to the Speedway, what is the possibility with today's technology to make the Speedway into Sugar Rush using VR glasses? I don't know how VR works. Can computers have the processing power to track cars, display the images of your VR surroundings and most importantly, for the end, put a car's image in real time to the glasses of the car behind them so you don't bump them while nearing the Finish line?

What you are describing isn't really VR. It's more augmented reality. VR would have you sit in a chair with a steering wheel and between a headset/motion actuators you think you are driving a car through Sugar Rush. Augmented reality takes an actual experience, and overlays additional information/images on top of it.

Is it possible? Yeah, but seeing as how there are still reports of people getting sick using those systems, not to mention the potential issues from people crashing the cars from not seeing the whole environment/trying to see some little Sugar Rush thing, I can't see them doing it.

 

[ChrisFL]

And yet I haven't heard anyone make that observation about Tron being the centerpiece of Shanghai Tomorrowland, a story firmly set in the early 80's.

Not sure if you heard but there was a sequel that wasn't set in the 80's, called TRON Legacy

 

[Brad Bishop]

A few things to note with this VR goggles:
- They're going to slow load/unload times, which will make capacity suck.
- They're strapped to your head and are very likely to be really gross after the first person or two has throughly sweated through the bands.
- If they're not 100% in synch then you're going to get sick people.

They just seem like a bad idea, to me. They seem "technically neat" and "practically stupid".

 

[dreamfinder]

- They're strapped to your head and are very likely to be really gross after the first person or two has throughly sweated through the bands.

The previously mentioned Six Flags coaster used removable pads that are supposed to be removed/cleaned/replaced after each guest uses them. But your other points sound valid to me.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Here's the thing about "theme."

People get caught up in a legalistic (overly concerned with technicalities) understanding of theme and ignore the fact that theme is really more about feeling than it is about rules. A good example is the sorcerer hat in Hollywood Studios. Technically, the hat is from Fantasia, a film that was made by Disney in a studio in Hollywood (technically Burbank, but same thing). Thus, you could make the argument that it absolutely belonged in a place called "Disney's Hollywood Studios." The problem with the hat is that it didn't fit in with the feel of the park even if it was technically "themed" appropriately.

Another example would be Splash Mountain. Frontierland is the home of the American old west. Splash Mountain is set in reconstruction-era Georgia. Yet I don't see people crying that Splash Mountain is an outrage that doesn't belong in Frontierland. Why? Because it feels right.

So no, there's technically nothing "tomorrow-ish" about Sugar Rush or Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor, but I get how video games and monsters fit in with aliens and spaceships in "Tomorrowland." It doesn't feel out of place.

TL;DR...

Sorcerer hat: Fits rules, doesn't fit feel
Splash Mountain: Fits feel, doesn't fit rules

 

[Monorail_Red_77]

What would that bill have to do with any attraction? I'm not following that at all.

I think it is a hint to Wreck It Ralph.

Bill deals with internet gaming, etc.
So not much of a leap to arcade games, which is where Ralph is based in movie.

That's my thoughts though.

 

[Matt_Black]

Another example would be Splash Mountain. Frontierland is the home of the American old west. Splash Mountain is set in reconstruction-era Georgia. Yet I don't see people crying that Splash Mountain is an outrage that doesn't belong in Frontierland. Why? Because it feels right.

Oh, no, there ARE a few on the board who complain about Splash Mountain.

 

[RoysCabin]

It's good news if they're finally moving away from Stitch in that location, and nothing against Wreck It Ralph, but man oh man this company really just doesn't give a thought to original ideas anymore, does it? I know I shouldn't be surprised, but for some reason it's sticking out really badly here, maybe due to how off-theme Tomorrowland has felt for so long or just the onrush of overlay updates that have been coming in here over the past couple of weeks.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

It's good news if they're finally moving away from Stitch in that location, and nothing against Wreck It Ralph, but man oh man this company really just doesn't give a thought to original ideas anymore, does it? I know I shouldn't be surprised, but for some reason it's sticking out really badly here, maybe due to how off-theme Tomorrowland has felt for so long or just the onrush of overlay updates that have been coming in here over the past couple of weeks.

Wreck It Ralph is an original idea.

So is Frozen for that matter, but people don't want to hear that when there's torches to light and pitchforks to sharpen.