JP

Parts of Sea World in San Diego are built on top of an old Landfill. When they were building the Polar Bear exhibit for Wild Arctic, they kept having problems with old tires rising up to the surface that they would have to remove. This type of development is actually going to become very commonplace, and it can be done safely with all the new technology that has been developed to remediate landfill sites.

There is a great article posted at Mouse Planet about the design of Space Mountain in Anaheim. Here's the link http://www.mouseplanet.com/mark/mg051026bw.htm Bill Watkins, an imagineer who worked on the ride, clearly states that it was Disney who designed and built the ride system (He also says they did the same for Big Thunder). The rear transfer track is still original, only the one that moves the train over to the handicap loading area is new - as is evidenced by the different track style of that piece. All the original parts were refurbished and repainted, but it's the same guts that have been there for nearly thirty years. Keep in mind that these portions of the track don't undergo the stresses of the rest of the ride, so why pay to replace it if it doesn't need to be done.

' This is true, it works essentially the same way a kicker tire you see on B&M coasters and many others. Note that when they did the rebuild of the ride, they only rebuilt the portions of the track the train takes at speed, meaning all the lift hills and most of the station track (except for the new transfer table) are STILL ORIGINAL. All the track the train coasts on is new. Vekoma did NOT do any fabrication of the track in the Anaheim ride. That track was built by AMEC Dynamic Structures. I met these folks at IAAPA last year, and they had a robocoaster mockup with a track structure which was exactly the same as the Anaheim Space Mountain track. Also, if you look at part of their website, in one of the banners is a pic of Space Mountain under construction, see link http://www.amecds.com/experience/. When I asked them about this, they did not say no, but they also said that they were not permitted to talk about it. Vekoma may have done some work on the Hong Kong Space Mountain. This makes sense as Vekoma does have some manufacturing abilities in China (they can build columns and support structure there - track is still made in Europe).

They will probably take Top Gun out and put in a Tilt-A-Whirl because it is more "Family Friendly"

There are a few different methods they could probably use to repair the ride if there really was a need to (like if the structure was Historically Significant). Without knowing what exactly is damaged, I would say they might be able to repair it by shoring everything up with temporary structures, bringing in new fill to stabilize the earth on the site, and then reinforcing the footers and replacing all the damaged wood, but I'm sure the damage is so extensive that it will be easier and cheaper to just tear the whole thing down, regrade the site and rebuild the ride from scratch.

You're right abuut the Zoo...It's nice and all but it's still just a zoo. It's the San Diego Wild Animal park that is really something to rave about. The exhibits there are much more like a natural enviroment and the animals have much more terrain to walk around in. Definitely the better of the two. As for the soak zone thing - I used to work at Sea World while I was in school, and every summer night when the park was open late, you could see all the people sitting in the "Soak Zone" with their cameras ready, ignoring the warnings, thinking, "Oh, well the chances of US getting wet can't be that great." Let me tell you, it's pretty funny to watch a person holding up a brand new $600 Digital Video Camera get doused with 55 degree Salt Water. I'm sure the ride home, soaking wet with a busted camera, was really fun.

Wow, I must say I'm surprised by the general response to this question. I would have thought for sure it was some mechanical issue, and not something that just seems so simple. I would bet a lot of the problem has to do with the fact that at the time, Universal Creative was based in Southern California, not Florida as it is now, and the designers of the ride just did not have the experience dealing with the freak Florida Lightning Storms.

From Screamscape: So, does anyone know why it has been so difficult for them to get this attraction, which seems very simple, up and running?

I did a search and I have not been able to find any info on this. Does anyone know if they ever got around to fixing the crash test scene in Test Track at Epcot, or have they just decided to let it go? Thanks...

Actually, The Universe of Energy Ride and The Great Movie Ride technically are trackless vehicles. While there is a groove in the floor with a cable embedded in it, it does not physically pull the vehicle along the course. The cable has a distinc signal "broadcast" through which a sensor on the vehicle follows. The vehicles steer and power themeselves. The vehicle's electrical energy is stored by capacitors located within each vehicle, that recharge by contact plates in the floor at every point the ride stops along its course. On GMR this would be the wizard of oz scene, etc. and on UOE this would be the various stops in each theater. I guess you could call Indy and Dinosaur trackless, because the track in the slot below the vehicle does nothing to dictate the direction the vehicle is traveling in. This is essentially an electrical buss bar system that transmits computer communication and power to the vehicle, but if you watch the ride as it operates, you will notice that the vehicle will be steering itself through all the turns (4 wheel steering, indidentally). This steering is totally independent of the track, and the computer must calculate every move carefully to be sure the vehicle doesn't accidentally disengage itself from the sled (whick sometimes happens - causing a ride stop). Also, you will notice, especially in the dart room section of Indy, that the vehicle does have some lateral freedom from the track, as it shimmies from side to side, but the track remains dead straight. These systems are all really complicated, so I'm sorry if this post is confusing. I've learned all of this from general observation and talking with people who have first hand knowledge of the ride systems design.