Technical Questions about M:S and others

[Timekeeper]

I'm not as much of a die hard Mission Space fan as others seem to be, so I've go a question about the technical workings of the ride - that I've been on a few times.

1) I often wondered how the ride vehicles can shake and tilt left and right without hitting the floor because they rest mere inches above the floor during loading/unloading. While exiting the vehicles on my latest ride I noticed a "seam" in the floor that made it look as though the circular floor section below the circle of pods could lower - as if it were on a hydrolic lifting/lowering mechanism. This makes a lot of sense - *if* that's how the attraction operates. Am I crazy? If the floor doesn't lower to allow room for the vehicles to tilt (as they do near the end of the ride during the star-wars-like canyon flying) then how do they accomplish this?

2) Most tomorrowland attractions at the Magic Kingdom have videos as part of their pre-shows. Where is the video feed coming from? Does each attraction have their own video players (hard disc, laserdisc, etc.) or is there a central hub for all the video signals, like the sound effects and AA control programming seen on TV?

Thanks,

Tk

 

[MrNonacho]

Originally posted by Timekeeper
1) I often wondered how the ride vehicles can shake and tilt left and right without hitting the floor because they rest mere inches above the floor during loading/unloading.

Yep, the part of the floor with the seams drops down just before the ride starts. If you peek through the crack between the exit doors as the ride is running you can see the trough below the spinning capsules. While you're in the pod, you can hear a few bangs as it lowers.

Sorry, but I can't help with your second question. I'd like to know the answer too, though.

 

[X2CommNavISTC]

I believe what hes talking about on the second question is stuff like with The Haunted Mansion...You know, all the music and sound effects are run from the control rooms underground and all.

I believe, but dont hold me to it, thats how most of them are done, using a computer system underground.

 

[mbro2002]

I think that most of the older rides (especially the ones at MK and Epcot) were run from a central location in their parks. The main reason was probably that the computers were so big and couldn't be installed and maintained as easily in the field.

The newer rides mostly have all of their control equipment within the ride building, even though they are connected to the park network for overall monitoring and control.

I know that all of the rides at DAK are controlled from within their own areas, but can be monitored from DAKBASE (the control facility).