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Radiator Spring Racers ......Tech revolution or mishap

Disneyland: wanted ....... insiders views as to the workings of Disnesy newest Disneyland ride

From Carl Fox
Posted July 2, 2012 at 11:45 AM
hi all,

Through the power of twitter i have been kept upto date with all the down time of Radiator Spring Racers and it seems to be having a lot.

whats your thoughts as to why ???

I'm sure for the cost its not parts or track do you think its just the massive workload its doing ??

I feel so bad for everybody involved because I'm sure Bob & Tom aren't happy ! In fact Theme Park Adventure today reported it went down with Jeffrey Katzenberg on it Awkward......

carl


Comments in chronological order. Most recent at the bottom. Scroll down to respond.

From N B
Posted July 2, 2012 at 11:56 AM
Disney, welcome to Universal 1990 when Jaws broke down every ten minutes.... with celebrities on board (Speilberg and his family spent hours in the lagoon, and they weren't happy)

From Skipper Adam
Posted July 2, 2012 at 12:33 PM
As anyone may know, new rides, especially running at peak efficiency break down.

If you want to bring in the comparison to Universal, didn't Rip Ride Rocket also just recently have a greater tech mishap and far more down time? Also if you must compare and contrast, Transformers, on the other hand, is pretty much the third use of the Spider-Man tech so it runs more smoothly. Also, it uses more screen and less new tech. Car's is very cutting edge laden with things to go wrong.

In the end, I have been following RSR's non stop as well and the break down times are not noteworthy and it most definitely not a mishap. In fact, as the industry goes, the Cars Land operation has gone very smooth. Besides, would we rather have rides that push the limit in technology with bugs that can be worked out or mediocre rides with nothing new to offer?

On a very technical note, it is probably software issues. I started working at WDW Space Mountain right after the last refurb where they added a ton of new technical features and a new program to run the ride. As it goes with new/refurb rides nowadays is they have to systematically fix all the program errors. It took them most of a year to have Space Mountain breaking down twice a day because of operating error from the computer to weeks at a time before a breakdown.

On another side note of things, unlike most Universal rides where loading and unloading can take as long as needed, many Disney rides can shut down if guest take too long boarding or unboarding the ride. It is called cascading and it is where there are so many ride vehicles on track that if the load/unload stations aren't moving vehicles, there's a back up of vehicles idling on the ride, which causes safety stops. This, by far, is the most common break down of Disney rides, not the ride failing. So this too may be the case with RSRs.

From N B
Posted July 2, 2012 at 3:18 PM
I was just pointing out the growing pains of a new attraction and it seems no park is immune. RRR actually closed for a while (over a month, I think) for some mechanical fixes and software tweaks.

The biggest critics are on the Disney boards, however. There are pics of people sleeping in line for RSR who were waiting out the repairs.

From Russell Meyer
Posted July 3, 2012 at 9:05 AM
This is the third application of this ride technology (Rocket Rods at Disneyland and TestTrack at EPCOT). However, even with an established ride platform, a custom installation is always going to go through a "break-in" period. Sensors are going to go off inexplicably, and computers are programmed to error on the side of caution, shutting the ride down for the slightest irregularity. Once the ride has been put through its paces over the busy summer months, the system will be more aware of the ride's tolerances and adjust the safety buffers accordingly.

From Carrie Hood
Posted July 3, 2012 at 9:27 AM
Trust me, you do NOT want to know what happens to that ride system if the computers aren't communicating properly and those sensors aren't working.

There is a reason the original Test Track at Epcot didn't have a car 19 anymore!

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