Tower of Terror effects status watch

[marni1971]

Audio is really loud in both the cars we used.... The ride pic that is shown was actually from the car I was in.

Audio volume is part of the issue. It is unbalanced. Some shafts are too loud, and some are too quiet. All are inconsistent. The bigger problem is a lot of it is still out of sync. Sound fx (played in the show scenes) are usually close to being correct. Music (played in the VVC, or shafts) is out of sync from a second or two to several seconds. Occasionally the voiceovers are wildy out of sync too. I've actually been greeted into the drop shaft from the 5th D with the finale spiel. And I'm not alone.

The eyeball ride pic is one thing still mostly working from the lacklustre 2010 Nightastic overlay. Thankfully. Shame the 5th profile was removed though.

 

[thelookingglass]

Quality wise, consensus amongst Hops is the ascent shafts are reversed, D is best and A is worse at the moment.

Foxtrot return still has the crackling speaker. Over a year now.

Sounds about right. We rode three times, so it would have been Alpha, Bravo, and Delta. Although Bravo was nice and loud, the music was still out of sync. I noticed the cracking speaker at the bottom of the shaft on Foxtrot side like you mentioned, and also noticed on Echo side, the "final word of warning" message sounded like there was a bad connection and it was cutting in and out. I think I have even noted that before, and its frustrating that it hasn't been fixed after all this time.

Funny thing is, I shouldn't even be able to recall which lifts I rode, but due to the inconsistency of quality, I can. (Also I'm an obsessive fan, but that's another story!)

 

[SpaceMountain75]

Just got off the California Adventure Tower of Terror, dang. The show quality on this coast needs to be brought over to WDW. The audio was nice and loud in the preshow room AND the actual ride itself was nice and loud, you could hear every line of dialogue. The lights in the boiler room flickered like they're supposed to and the tv in the preshow wasn't some lame LCD. I understand that it would be tough to close down one of their only 4 main rides at DHS but it really looks inferior once you've seen a version in full working order. Here's hoping that Disney will fix one of their best Imagineering masterpieces in the near future.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Yeah. And the funny thing is, "you can clearly hear every line of dialogue" isn't something we should even be excited about, that is how something you're paying $90 to experience SHOULD BE at all times! But at WDW's ToT, its a total crapshoot on whether you will get halfway decent show quality or total garbage that you can't hear.

 

[SpaceMountain75]

Yeah. And the funny thing is, "you can clearly hear every line of dialogue" isn't something we should even be excited about, that is how something you're paying $90 to experience SHOULD BE at all times! But at WDW's ToT, its a total crapshoot on whether you will get halfway decent show quality or total garbage that you can't hear.

For sure, I totally agree. On a completely unrelated note, my family and I had another really cool experience at ToT tonight. We were the last group of the night, and they let us have an elevator all to ourselves. My sister pointed out that we had 5 people in our group just like the video in the preshow; it totally lit her eyes up!

 

[SpaceMountain75]

Also a quick question: does or did WDW's ToT ever have lights in the elevator that flickered as the elevator ascended? I just noticed it for the first time today it's a cool touch.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Also a quick question: does or did WDW's ToT ever have lights in the elevator that flickered as the elevator ascended? I just noticed it for the first time today it's a cool touch.

Yep, they have always flickered as you leave the load floor and travel to the first scene, but nowhere else. I wish they would also flicker and pulse during the drop sequences like Disneyland's ToT does.

 

[SpaceMountain75]

Yep, they have always flickered as you leave the load floor and travel to the first scene, but nowhere else. I wish they would also flicker and pulse during the drop sequences like Disneyland's ToT does.

Okay thanks! It seems like DLR's Tower of Terror has every minuscule detail working, and WDW's is just sitting over here like, "You can use your MagicBand to pay for more things in the gift shop!"

 

[Tom Morrow]

Okay thanks! It seems like DLR's Tower of Terror has every minuscule detail working, and WDW's is just sitting over here like, "You can use your MagicBand to pay for more things in the gift shop!"

Well, WDW's ToT has never had lights flicker during the drop sequences, but it could probably easily be added. But yeah. It seems the attitude is "does it drop?" "yes" "okay good enough."

 

[marni1971]

Well, WDW's ToT has never had lights flicker during the drop sequences, but it could probably easily be added. But yeah. It seems the attitude is "does it drop?" "yes" "okay good enough."

I dare say WDWs being the first version, and a test in some ways, the other items were added for previous versions.

At least WDWs VVC strobes are working properly. Most of the time.

 

[SpaceMountain75]

Well, WDW's ToT has never had lights flicker during the drop sequences, but it could probably easily be added. But yeah. It seems the attitude is "does it drop?" "yes" "okay good enough."

It's kind of a bummer that that's the attitude around WDW right now. Unfortunately I never experienced the "golden age" of WDW in the 80's and 90's as I wasn't born yet, but I just can't see why that same excellence can't be carried into my generation. The only thing I can think of is laziness, but that should be inexcusable.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

It's kind of a bummer that that's the attitude around WDW right now. Unfortunately I never experienced the "golden age" of WDW in the 80's and 90's as I wasn't born yet, but I just can't see why that same excellence can't be carried into my generation. The only thing I can think of is laziness, but that should be inexcusable.

There is no reason besides lazy greed. Disney now is an infinitely wealthier, larger and more powerful company than it ever was in the 80's or even early 90's. And they absolutely did NOT get that way by cutting budgets and slashing maintenance crews, or by avoiding making meaningful investments in the parks. Those cuts at the absolute best add short term insignificant chump change to the money bin, but the truth is that this shift ended up losing them an absurd amount of profit by alienating a large portion of loyal customers from that era who have stopped visiting WDW due to rot and stagnation. What got Disney where they are today was by being "the best", at the time an uncompromising and idealized vision of quality and innovation. And especially not by resting on dried up and disintegrating laurels (growing fat and unhealthy while your followers become more and more irritated). And because that vision was compromised starting in the 90's and onwards, more and more people are taking notice and it has heavily stunted their potential growth. It has also lead to a substantial and growing amount of negative PR, something their social media drones have been unable to drown out.

Disney has become incredibly wealthy and powerful. However, the reality is that the company is only functioning at a tiny fraction of what they would have been had they continued investing properly in WDW and keeping maintenance at the old standard (a standard only Tokyo still seems willing to allow, despite being owned and run by a different company). The foolish business moves under both Eisner (during his second half that is) and Iger have heavily crippled Disney's growth and even helped shore up and create their most dangerous competition.

The irony is that I think the best way to combat this greed is by becoming MORE greedy, so to speak. Want more out of life, much like the main female characters in their 90's films funny enough. Their current form of greed is driven by laziness, wanting to exploit as much as they can get within their current means while doing as little as possible and always finding new things to cut. Effectively they're milking an already emaciated cow dry while refusing to feed it properly, driving away a ton of loyal customers in the process with small quantities of poor quality but absurdly overpriced dairy. The remedy to this is to adopt a greed wherein you target as many people as possible no matter what the initial cost and avoid doing things that alienate your customers, knowing that you have to spend money to make money. Properly nurture a very healthy cow that produces a ton of milk that all customers enjoy, while also knowing what the affordability ceiling of your market is. Realizing that your profits will grow exponentially and you won't alienate a portion of your market in the process.

 

[thelookingglass]

Update from Christmas/NYE week:

*Some of inside queue was stuffy and smelled bad
*Still can barely hear preshow video (one side worse than the other). This video is supposed to intimidate you and get you pumped to ride, not be soft and timid. Plus if new riders can't hear the narration, then they won't know the story.
*Pre-show screens are still obvious modern HDTVs
*Attraction audio still either too quiet and/or out of sync and/or speakers popping - the errors you experience depend on which load elevator you board
*Hallway scene window projection still too bright, making it obviously a screen and ruining the illusion that the hallway disappeared into stars
*Starfield before entering the drop shaft on one side has a patch of broken fiber optics.

I guess I just don't understand how these errors can go years at a signature attraction without being addressed. I mean yes its a little nitpicky, and most people won't notice if, say, the music is off by a few seconds, but with enough effects being somewhat off, the end result is an attraction that does not wow you like it should and did in the past.

 

[thelookingglass]

Last time I rode ToT (several times) everything was in good shape except for the audio in the first room. It could be louder for sure. Other then that no complaints. I can think of other rides that have big problems.

and that's why they don't bother to fix this stuff, because people don't necessarily notice, even though the end result is a mediocre product instead of a great one. Or, you rode the one lift out of four that actually has decent show. Compare the audio on Disneyland's ToT to WDW's. Or even go ride something like Spider-Man or Transformers. THAT is how thrill ride audio should be.

 

[cjkeating]

and that's why they don't bother to fix this stuff, because people don't necessarily notice, even though the end result is a mediocre product instead of a great one. Or, you rode the one lift out of four that actually has decent show. Compare the audio on Disneyland's ToT to WDW's. Or even go ride something like Spider-Man or Transformers. THAT is how thrill ride audio should be.

Did you leave feedback at guest services?

 

[marni1971]

Did you leave feedback at guest services?

Yes. And more.

 

[Magenta Panther]

It just sickens me to read that the last truly great attraction built by the Imagineers is now going to seed...the last time I rode ToT, which was two years ago, it was in good shape. I guess...the TV in the library was still the original? Anyway, the sound, timing and effects were all working fine. Come ON, TDO, what the heck? How could you do this? Get your act together already! The Tower of Terror is one of the best - if not THE best - attractions in all of WDW! How could you mess it up and let it fall apart????

 

[mergatroid]

It just sickens me to read that the last truly great attraction built by the Imagineers is now going to seed...the last time I rode ToT, which was two years ago, it was in good shape. I guess...the TV in the library was still the original? Anyway, the sound, timing and effects were all working fine. Come ON, TDO, what the heck? How could you do this? Get your act together already! The Tower of Terror is one of the best - if not THE best - attractions in all of WDW! How could you mess it up and let it fall apart????

I was there in September/October and rode it about 10 times and it didn't feel much different to any other time and I've been nearly every year since it first opened! Ok a couple of times when at the bottom the audio didn't play saying "Now the next time" just before you exited, that was it. Now I'm not doubting the reports of audio issues etc, but reading through this thread you'd be mistaken for thinking it was like downtown Baghdad or something inside that attraction now.

Now I agree that things should be maintained and repaired and audio issues in the big scheme of things should be relatively easy to fix, bad show on Disney for not doing that. I'm not going to say that people shouldn't moan on here either because I'll be accused of being responsible for the faults because "people like me allow Disney to get away with things because we accept lower standards" etc, that may even be true to some extent also.

However reading your post you seem to have read this thread and decided that the ride is beyond repair and literally falling apart (a slight exaggeration there from me) which from what I saw a few months back, it clearly wasn't. Now I'm not having a go at you or any of the people who've contributed to this thread with this post, but I'm merely trying to say that to me it's not nearly as in a bad shape as I would perceive it to be had I just read this thread and not been on it a short while back. I could be completely off the mark with this post but after reading this thread I felt like the attraction needs condemning, which it clearly doesn't.

Ok ladies and gentlemen, as you were

 

[marni1971]

There have been serious audio issues for a few years now. Replacing the laserdiscs to solid state only made it worse.

It's not just happened the past few months. Said the Bellhops who agree with me.

 

[Magenta Panther]

There have been serious audio issues for a few years now. Replacing the laserdiscs to solid state only made it worse.

It's not just happened the past few months. Said the Bellhops who agree with me.

So they replaced the TV screen with a new LED screen, and altered the sound system, and for what? The TV is NOT supposed to be modern, state-of-the-art - it's supposed to look like a '60's television! Jeez! And solid state - really??? I have a friend who's a sound engineer - and he once told me that solid state amps suck. You'd think that the Disney techs would have some insight into that kind of thing. I just don't understand their reasoning...