-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
Wedn't You Know It?
- Thread starter ReDisniey E-Dew
- Start date
Lee
Adventurer
Pirate665
Well-Known Member
Is it just me, or are we stretching it here? Let's be honest. France is going to become a resturant/dark ride/water flum/roller coaster. All at once. You start off eating at a table, shoulder bars come down, you're told to hold on tight, take off at 55 mph, then hit the water after a loop and barrel roll. End. You're told to get off and view a movie right before you exit under the Tower.
>Steve
>Steve
coasterphil
Well-Known Member
I'd have to agree with you on that one. People seemed to be steering clear of Arrow's mess.
Unfortunately for Intamin they seem to be following in Arrow's footsteps with poor reliability and delayed openings. The whole ordeal with Maverick at CP with their zero-g pulling 7Gs in testing and having to be removed certainly didn't look good, along with the ongoing problems with the hydraulic launch rides.
I'm still having a problem trying to figure out how a 4D could be utilized anywhere in WDW, let alone the World Showcase. I guess thats why I'm so amazed by what Imagineers are able to do.
DisneyDellsDude
New Member
coasterphil
Well-Known Member
It was the most innovative coaster to come out in quite a while when it opened. Riders are suspended by twos on the sides of the track. The ride vehicles actually spin (controlled, not freely) during the course of the ride to give the most thrilling vantage point. It gets great reviews by almost all riders.
That sounds great right? Well there are several problems. The ride was scheduled to open in Spring/Early Summer of 2001, but because of problems didn't open until the following January. That was a bit PR hit for the park. Then even after the ride opened, it wasn't able to operate on a consistent basis. It would go down for weeks, even months, at a time with no timetable for reopening. Obviously another huge PR problem for a park that attracts a lot of guests on vacations. The top it all off though, the ride went way overbudget and ended up between 40 and 50 million, a huge investment for a ride that was an operational nightmare.
You can see some pics of it here, http://database.thrillnetwork.com/dbgallery/index.php?rideid=1483
That sounds great right? Well there are several problems. The ride was scheduled to open in Spring/Early Summer of 2001, but because of problems didn't open until the following January. That was a bit PR hit for the park. Then even after the ride opened, it wasn't able to operate on a consistent basis. It would go down for weeks, even months, at a time with no timetable for reopening. Obviously another huge PR problem for a park that attracts a lot of guests on vacations. The top it all off though, the ride went way overbudget and ended up between 40 and 50 million, a huge investment for a ride that was an operational nightmare.
You can see some pics of it here, http://database.thrillnetwork.com/dbgallery/index.php?rideid=1483
Rob562
Well-Known Member
Please tell more.
Never heard of the X coaster. Sounds interesting...
It's termed a "4th Dimension" coaster. Developed by Arrow, the same company that Disney worked with to design the Matterhorn and the Omnimover ride system.
In fact, at the heart of the coaster, it's an Omnimover. The cars ride the track, and on either side of the car sticks an arm. Attached to this arm is a pair of seats. So each "row" has four seats, two on each side of the car. The track is approximately at waist level when you're boarding. In addition to the load-bearing "running" rails in the middle of the track, there's another pair of rails on the outside of the track. Wheels running along these extra rails are attached to gears within the car. By varying the height of this rail along the track, it moved the gears, which in turn rotate the seats around the axle in a head-over-heels somersault type motion.
The effect of the coaster is the as the track dives and swoops around, the chairs rotate so that sometimes you're sitting upright looking forward, sometimes you're on your stomach in a "flying" position, sometimes you're upright but looking backwards.
On X at Six Flags Magic Mountain, you exit the station facing backwards, go around a curve and then up the lifthill. THe seat is kept failry level as you go up the lift. At the top, the track makes a slight dip, flattens out, and then makes a 90-degree dive straight down. The seats, on the other hand rotate as you start to dive down so that you're facing straight down at the ground. But before the train reaches the bottom and pulls up out of the dive, the seat rotates so that your behind is facing downward.
The other thing the coaster can do is do a half corkscrew, and if the seats also do a half flip, you go from sitting upright facing forward to sitting upright facing backwards.
It's kind of difficult to picture by just words, so check out the page on RCDB about the coaster, especially the photos:
http://www.rcdb.com/id750.htm
Pics 15 and 25 give a good idea of the setup of the cars. The inner yellow rail carries the weight of the cars, the outer pink rails control the rotation of the seats.
This type of dual-rail system is essentially how an Omnimover works, like in the Haunted Mansion. There's the load-bearing main track, but then there's another set of rails that control how the car turns along the way. The only way to change the "programming" of how the car turns is to re-weld the track rails.
-Rob
Epcotrob
New Member
X is one of the most fun rides I have ever been on. It looks Scary as heck and I swore I would never ride it. But I did and it was fun I have never laughed so hard on a ride before. :lol:
Would I like to see one built here in FL. Yes BUT not at WDW.
The ride is very reliable now, but in the first 3 years of its life it was as reliable as DeJa-Vu at SFOG.
Would I like to see one built here in FL. Yes BUT not at WDW.
The ride is very reliable now, but in the first 3 years of its life it was as reliable as DeJa-Vu at SFOG.
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
a roller coaster for Epcot? Yes, please.
rdour@techminds
New Member
Dejavu
That dejavu ride really is a complete dud. I just got back from SFGA (Six Flags Great America) and that thing was down again. My GF and I joke about it, saying not only is it the name of a ride, but also the feeling you get when you see it is down again. How wonderful. Unfortunately the ride replaced one of the most innovative rides ever created. It had three arms with rotating cabins. One arm would be loading while the other two spin in vertical circles slowly. The ride was relaxing, and none of the normal annoyance associated with a vertical spinning wheel with cabins that need to be loaded one at a time. Wikipedia has some info on it, but I just can't remember the name right now.
Anyway, the reason why Disney does so well and other theme park competition doesn't is due in part to their insistance on being involved directly with engineering. I very much doubt they simply take a ride design as is without stress testing the concept and even changing things that may pose a problem. Nobody wants to end up with a dejavu.
Ryan
That dejavu ride really is a complete dud. I just got back from SFGA (Six Flags Great America) and that thing was down again. My GF and I joke about it, saying not only is it the name of a ride, but also the feeling you get when you see it is down again. How wonderful. Unfortunately the ride replaced one of the most innovative rides ever created. It had three arms with rotating cabins. One arm would be loading while the other two spin in vertical circles slowly. The ride was relaxing, and none of the normal annoyance associated with a vertical spinning wheel with cabins that need to be loaded one at a time. Wikipedia has some info on it, but I just can't remember the name right now.
Anyway, the reason why Disney does so well and other theme park competition doesn't is due in part to their insistance on being involved directly with engineering. I very much doubt they simply take a ride design as is without stress testing the concept and even changing things that may pose a problem. Nobody wants to end up with a dejavu.
Ryan
DisneyDellsDude
New Member
Thanks Rob and coasterphil for the info.
:wave:
:wave:
coasterphil
Well-Known Member
That ride was the Sky Whirl. I personally never went on it because I'd seen so many get off the ride feeling queasy. That ride was going to come down regardless of DejaVu though because it was impossible to find parts for it. The maintenance was too costly to keep it running.
Here is a page dedicated to it:
http://www.greatamericaparks.com/skywhirl.html
I was lucky enough to get one ride on DejaVu at SFGAm, but I've yet to get on here at SFOG. I've been to the park 10 times since moving here and it hasn't opened once. The worst part is though, the ride isn't even that great IMO. It was a pretty big letdown when I rode it.
Epcot82Guy
Well-Known Member
I do miss the Sky Whirl. I remember when Deja Vu took over. I didn't realize SFOG's was dealing with the same issues until I moved down here to ATL.
Back to Disney, I really wonder about the use of 4th Dimension technology wtih other ideas. I would really be interested to see 4th technology used with a launch system. You then don't have to deal quite so much with the gravity drive, and you could have a smaller show building. It could be very cool to have a vista-oriented ride where you fly over areas and then do some maneuvers as you go from location to location. Very Epcot-esque attraction that could fit almost any theme. From Canada's "mountain" to the German rivers to Japan's bullet train or a dragon theme for China. Could be many, many things.
CrashNet
Well-Known Member
Sorry I didn't get back sooner to respond to your question...they answered it very well though.
Anyone know what causes Deja Vu so much trouble. I think there's one at Six Flags over GA and I never hear of any problems with it.
As for ride types and Disney...Disney purchases rides "out of the box" and then reegineers them to fit their needs, sometimes to the point where they are hardly even recognizable from their "out of the box" state.