Forbidden Journey Refurbishment (Update: Early Dec)

[JoeCamel]

It helps that they recently put some new paint on Space Mountain. I've been going the last few years and while still white there was a noticeable build up of dirt. Also, the boats in the Frozen ride are in the same worn condition from when Maelstrom closed. One would think they would've been given a fresh paint job during the downtime but nope.

Yep, they washed it and painted it (SM). Was interesting to see the progression. The lighting was installed and now you have changing colors. With the lights they could do a show, not projections but the dome looks cool

 

[LJGonz]

It helps that they recently put some new paint on Space Mountain. I've been going the last few years and while still white there was a noticeable build up of dirt. Also, the boats in the Frozen ride are in the same worn condition from when Maelstrom closed. One would think they would've been given a fresh paint job during the downtime but nope.

Going a bit off topic, but you mentioned boats and i thought of Epcot. I recently went to my sisters christmas concert in Epcot, and I had time to ride all the rides. (there being like, 5) please don't take the number of rides seriously. I know theres not only 5 I'm just exaggerating. I know how people on this forum are very statistical and opinionated (Tb to the Hulk and rocket argument) Back tot topic. I went on Frozen (which was horrible) and the three caballeros ride. I noticed that these rides are free floaters, and they bump hard a lot of the times when passing through turns. No offense to this person but, i was on Frozen and this really fat guy sat to the right of the boat and i felt like the boast was going to FLIP. The entire ride i was thinking about how uneven the boast was, and whenever we hit a turn It hurt. I'm not used to this since universals only kinda free floating boast ride is Rip saw, and the fact that its like space mountain you don't notice unevenness. the point is that I don't like the boat rides at Epcot.

 

[LJGonz]

Was this the forum where we talked about the fireworks that where gonna start at hogsmeade ?

 

[666ParkAve]

We rode twice on Saturday and no movement at all on the Womping Willow. Is it broken?

 

[JoeCamel]

We rode twice on Saturday and no movement at all on the Womping Willow. Is it broken?

Sometimes it does not whomp. With that much moving towards you they are overcautious with the sensors and it will shut down rather than cause a problem. Probably be working next time you ride

 

[epcyclopedia]

Sometimes it does not whomp. With that much moving towards you they are overcautious with the sensors and it will shut down rather than cause a problem. Probably be working next time you ride

A tech once mentioned that the Willow drops data like it's a leaky pipe. Something about the programming gets all corrupted and yadda yadda.. and the system shuts it down. No idea how that actually works on a technical level, but in my mind it's akin to just leaving a computer on indefinitely and the system getting slower and buggier over time.

 

[LJGonz]

What could be fixed on the FJ ride?

 

[Wolf359]

A tech once mentioned that the Willow drops data like it's a leaky pipe. Something about the programming gets all corrupted and yadda yadda.. and the system shuts it down. No idea how that actually works on a technical level, but in my mind it's akin to just leaving a computer on indefinitely and the system getting slower and buggier over time.

It's more likely a connection issue, it's common for tables etc to be lost from a database where one of the clients has connection issues. It ends up corrupting the database to the extent that it needs "cleaning" I'd guess in this case that the program in question is run on the willow, I can't remember the name of the boards they use lol, that feeds data into the main program and gets corrupted over time in which case they need to reinstall the original files quite often, and in the meantime you end up with issues with the willow until eventually it stops all together

 

[Skubersky]

Rode FJ last night during #OIMeetup for the first time since Feb, and all of the projections were far sharper & brighter.

The musions in the queue were back to their old selves (Dumbledore had nearly disappeared) as was the Hermione reflection that tosses Floo powder. Also, both floo sequences are much better, especially the finale which was previously completely dark in spots. Most important, all the domes were brighter & sharper than I can ever remember, I noticed texture details that were previously just a blur.

The downside is that the reflecting dome light makes all of the scenes much brighter; you can see all hanging fabric and dead dementors before done 3 much too easily now.

That, and I saw more people get off and puke in one night than in the past year combined. The motion felt the same to me, so maybe it was the free butterbeer?...

 

[Mad Dog]

Rode FJ last night during [HASHTAG]#OIMeetup[/HASHTAG] for the first time since Feb, and all of the projections were far sharper & brighter.

The musions in the queue were back to their old selves (Dumbledore had nearly disappeared) as was the Hermione reflection that tosses Floo powder. Also, both floo sequences are much better, especially the finale which was previously completely dark in spots. Most important, all the domes were brighter & sharper than I can ever remember, I noticed texture details that were previously just a blur.

The downside is that the reflecting dome light makes all of the scenes much brighter; you can see all hanging fabric and dead dementors before done 3 much too easily now.

That, and I saw more people get off and puke in one night than in the past year combined. The motion felt the same to me, so maybe it was the free butterbeer?...

Thanks for the update. :thumbsup:...Sounds great for my May trip.......Actually, the butter beer remark makes sense. I rode it a few times after drinking butterbeer and my stomach was super queasy. Since they calmed it down two years ago, I've been fine except for the butterbeer times.

 

[JoeCamel]

Thanks for the update. :thumbsup:...Sounds great for my May trip.......Actually, the butter beer remark makes sense. I rode it a few times after drinking butterbeer and my stomach was super queasy. Since they calmed it down two years ago, I've been fine except for the butterbeer times.

I find that if I focus on the action I am fine and it sounds like the better projections let you do that but if I am gawking around looking for the edges and the backstage things then I really feel it. Maybe there is a purpose to the effect?

 

[Skubersky]

Rode FJ last night during [HASHTAG]#OIMeetup[/HASHTAG] for the first time since Feb, and all of the projections were far sharper & brighter.

The musions in the queue were back to their old selves (Dumbledore had nearly disappeared) as was the Hermione reflection that tosses Floo powder. Also, both floo sequences are much better, especially the finale which was previously completely dark in spots. Most important, all the domes were brighter & sharper than I can ever remember, I noticed texture details that were previously just a blur.

The downside is that the reflecting dome light makes all of the scenes much brighter; you can see all hanging fabric and dead dementors before done 3 much too easily now.

That, and I saw more people get off and puke in one night than in the past year combined. The motion felt the same to me, so maybe it was the free butterbeer?...

Rode again today and the projections in 2 of the 3 carousels didnt look quite as amazing today; either its luck of the draw which domes have been upgraded, or my eyes weren't adjusted from the daylight.

 

[UNIrd]

Has there ever been a ride that's had it's programming tinkered with this much in its history? 7 years now and they keep trying new things.

 

[JoeCamel]

Has there ever been a ride that's had it's programming tinkered with this much in its history? 7 years now and they keep trying new things.

Shows the versatility of the system IMO

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Has there ever been a ride that's had it's programming tinkered with this much in its history? 7 years now and they keep trying new things.

I think we'd be surprised if we found out how little they've altered the programming.

 

[Crabald]

I went on it multiple times on 3/16 and 18 and the willow never did anything. I asked a TM if it ever worked anymore and he said it had been awhile.

 

[Alicia]

I went on it multiple times on 3/16 and 18 and the willow never did anything. I asked a TM if it ever worked anymore and he said it had been awhile.

Yea, the entire womping arm is removed now, so not only is there nothing happening in that scene, but it's real easy to see the dark unthemed walls in there without the arm in your face. I haven't seen it womping in weeks, maybe months, personally.

 

[Mad Dog]

Yea, the entire womping arm is removed now, so not only is there nothing happening in that scene, but it's real easy to see the dark unthemed walls in there without the arm in your face. I haven't seen it womping in weeks, maybe months, personally.

Maybe Disney bought the womping arm from Universal to replace the Yeti?

 

[captainmoch]

I've been on FJ with the Willow not moving before... not a good look. They need to get it fixed ASAP because honestly, it is worse than Disco Yeti, by a mile.

 

[JoeCamel]

I've been on FJ with the Willow not moving before... not a good look. They need to get it fixed ASAP because honestly, it is worse than Disco Yeti, by a mile.

Well they didn't build the whole ride around the willow....