News Unplanned ride system maintenance at The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror in Disney's Hollywood Studios

monothingie

monothingie

Nakatomi Plaza Christmas Eve 1988. Never Forget.
Premium Member
The scaffolding installed provides only support for people performing cosmetic exterior work. Since there was no crane or lift visible, all the equipment was small enough to be carried internally.

If I had to guess, it looks like the vents are positioned so that they relieve air pressure when the elevators move up and down in each shaft. It is possible that through years of operation, some portion of the duct work failed suddenly which required an immediate closure. I would go even further and say, that the duct work and surround facade, immediately opposite the exterior vents were probably water damaged or rotted and also needed to be replaced, hence the total removal of exterior in that location.
 
Rodj

Rodj

Well-Known Member
monothingie said:
The scaffolding installed provides only support for people performing cosmetic exterior work. Since there was no crane or lift visible, all the equipment was small enough to be carried internally.

If I had to guess, it looks like the vents are positioned so that they relieve air pressure when the elevators move up and down in each shaft. It is possible that through years of operation, some portion of the duct work failed suddenly which required an immediate closure. I would go even further and say, that the duct work and surround facade, immediately opposite the exterior vents were probably water damaged or rotted and also needed to be replaced, hence the total removal of exterior in that location.
Click to expand...
Not correct. I have a friend that is there and they asked a CM that said they were changing out at least one of the drop shaft motors, and even saw the crane too. This cut out is exactly where the motor room is located so I instead believe it is for ventilation for the motors. Whenever a drop sequence is in motion, the top horton door for that side will always stay open for the air to pass through until the sequence ends.
Back in my early 2019 trip, the strip that went around this cut out was dangling down:
1636058716440.png


I know that the previous motors were getting weak. They kept overheating/tripping because they can barely even handle the sequences. This is why over the past 5 or so years they modified all drop sequences to not be as intensive(longer pauses between motions, drops shortened or don't go as high, etc.)
I really hope they can bring back the original "more intensive" Tower4 profiles now that they are putting in new motors that are hopefully stronger than the old ones.
 
Tom Morrow

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
Rodj said:
Not correct. I have a friend that is there and they asked a CM that said they were changing out at least one of the drop shaft motors, and even saw the crane too. This cut out is exactly where the motor room is located so I instead believe it is for ventilation for the motors. Whenever a drop sequence is in motion, the top horton door for that side will always stay open for the air to pass through until the sequence ends.
Back in my early 2019 trip, the strip that went around this cut out was dangling down:
View attachment 598239

I know that the previous motors were getting weak. They kept overheating/tripping because they can barely even handle the sequences. This is why over the past 5 or so years they modified all drop sequences to not be as intensive(longer pauses between motions, drops shortened or don't go as high, etc.)
I really hope they can bring back the original "more intensive" Tower4 profiles now that they are putting in new motors that are hopefully stronger than the old ones.
Click to expand...

I thought the drop profiles were increased in aggressiveness in 2019 after running "soft" for a few years? I remember some discussion around that and noticing a difference.
 
EeyoreFan#24

EeyoreFan#24

Well-Known Member
This setup is very typical for large machinery inside a facility. There is a access point, not a door that you can open at any time or a hole you have to cut, but a designated access point. You do have very minor repairs after it’s used, but is built into the design of the structure and stucco is cheep. I think it was pointed out it was 13 years ago last time it was needed. Not a bad access need.

if you put heavy machinery inside a building, you either need to think ahead for when it needs to be replaced or be prepared to spend a lot of money in engineering consulting when it eventually needs to be.
 
U

Unbanshee

Well-Known Member
EeyoreFan#24 said:
This setup is very typical for large machinery inside a facility. There is a access point, not a door that you can open at any time or a hole you have to cut, but a designated access point. You do have very minor repairs after it’s used, but is built into the design of the structure and stucco is cheep. I think it was pointed out it was 13 years ago last time it was needed. Not a bad access need.

if you put heavy machinery inside a building, you either need to think ahead for when it needs to be replaced or be prepared to spend a lot of money in engineering consulting when it eventually needs to be.
Click to expand...

Ah, the Yeti Conundrum
 
Brian

Brian

Well-Known Member
TheGuyThatMakesSwords said:
Suggesting that in the future? WDW installs a service entrance, that does not require "chainsaw access" 😅 .
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Not the same, but a similar concept: the only way to replace the bulbs for these lights in the castle is to go up there with a cherry picker or crane, despite there being a walkway to get up to Tink's flight within a few feet of these "windows."

Sometimes these things are thought of, but they don't require maintenance frequently enough to justify extra expense.

Cinderella-Castle-at-Night-October-2020-1536x1152.jpg
 
Rodj

Rodj

Well-Known Member
Tom Morrow said:
I thought the drop profiles were increased in aggressiveness in 2019 after running "soft" for a few years? I remember some discussion around that and noticing a difference.
Click to expand...
Yes they are more aggressive in acceleration but they are still at the modified positions. Here is a breakdown of the changes to each of the profiles from their original version:
Profile 1:
-Pause increased after rising back to the top horton doors after 1st drop from top horton doors. Drop following this now only goes down to the air cannon/ghost molds level while before it went all the way down to the screen
Profile 2:
-1st drop following rise to 7th horton doors(lowest set) now stops above the air cannons/ghost molds(previously stopped directly in line with) rendering the effects there completely useless as it can't even be seen now.
Profile 3:
-Pause increased at the top horton doors
-After the lightning bolt effects following the raise after the "main" drop, the height before it drops again is much more lower, it previously used to go up about halfway up the 7th horton doors.
Profile 4(Biggest modifications done to this profile):
-Following the 2nd drop, the raise back up has been lowered to a fair bit under the 7th horton doors, it used to go all the way to the top of the 7th horton doors.
-Same going for the last raise back up, where it has been lowered to same height as the last one, similarly used to go all the way to the top of the 7th horton doors.

Video of Profile 4 in its original programming:


Video of Profile 4 after modifications:
 
Tom Morrow

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
Rodj said:
Yes they are more aggressive in acceleration but they are still at the modified positions. Here is a breakdown of the changes to each of the profiles from their original version:
Profile 1:
-Pause increased after rising back to the top horton doors after 1st drop from top horton doors. Drop following this now only goes down to the air cannon/ghost molds level while before it went all the way down to the screen
Profile 2:
-1st drop following rise to 7th horton doors(lowest set) now stops above the air cannons/ghost molds(previously stopped directly in line with) rendering the effects there completely useless as it can't even be seen now.
Profile 3:
-Pause increased at the top horton doors
-After the lightning bolt effects following the raise after the "main" drop, the height before it drops again is much more lower, it previously used to go up about halfway up the 7th horton doors.
Profile 4(Biggest modifications done to this profile):
-Following the 2nd drop, the raise back up has been lowered to a fair bit under the 7th horton doors, it used to go all the way to the top of the 7th horton doors.
-Same going for the last raise back up, where it has been lowered to same height as the last one, similarly used to go all the way to the top of the 7th horton doors.

Video of Profile 4 in its original programming:


Video of Profile 4 after modifications:
Click to expand...


Wow, this is the first I've heard of this, but after seeing the back to back comparisons, it all clicks. I thought I was going crazy with how much tamer the ride seemed, even with the increased acceleration.
 

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