Space opening???? Test track????

[cindyfan]

Just in comparing the 2.....
Test track was originally scheduled to open.....????...was it March 97....
And it opened when?? I don't remember.

I was hoping.... maybe... Mission-Space would be spring. But I think that is unrealisitic.

Is August of this summer any more realistic??

[Another Voice]

According to all of the rumors, the buzz, and the grapevine from both inside and outside Disney:

Nope.

[Distriv]

A couple of months ago I was hoping they would have a soft opening presidents day weekend. Not happening.

Bye the way, I haven't seen any recent constuctin photos and would really like to see the finished show building (they are working on just the inside now, right?) If anyone has links that would be great.

[OnWithTheShow]

Voice, I do not know who your sources are but the operations manager for Epcot Attractions says that space is ahead of schedule and is planned for may/june soft openings.

[JonetteA]

correct me if i am wrong, but CM's have been riding Space and checking out the attraction. There is no stop button so if there is a Protein Spill, there is no way to shut down the attraction until it is over.

[Kenan]

Originally posted by JonetteA
correct me if i am wrong, but CM's have been riding Space and checking out the attraction. There is no stop button so if there is a Protein Spill, there is no way to shut down the attraction until it is over.

all attractions have stop buttons, space will not be different. i also believe that their might be a camera inside every cabin, but i may be wrong (just my own theory) so if someone does feel uncomfortable, they will hopefully have a chance to get off.

[Another Voice]

Any project as large as ‘Mission: Space’ has an awful lot of elements that need to be brought together all at the right time and in the right way. That is usually accomplished through planning – and Disney’s primary internal pastime has always been huge meetings where people sit around and plan things (and often never actually getting around to doing things). What’s basically created is a huge web where one plan is based on another which is based on the results of yet someone else’s plan, which in turn is based on the very first plan.

There have been a series of planning target set all along to get this attraction up and running. In order for everyone to get their own job done, everyone has no choice but to assume the schedules are going to be kept. When the ride opens, there has to be merchandise available (which in turn it has to be designed, manufactured, shipped and warehoused), there has to be marketing (ads created and shot, time and space purchased, reporter trips planned), and the operations have to be in place (cast members trained, hours adjusted, even stuff like additional electrical power has to be purchased). All of this stuff takes months to put into place; you can’t wait until the attraction is finished to start. Otherwise you’d have a glorious $120+ million empty building glittering in the sun.

The huge risk is, of course, is that you’ll have an eager knowledgeable cast, fresh t-shirts, and anxious informed fans all lined up – but no attraction. It’s happen before, ‘Big Thunder’, ‘Splash Mountain’, ‘Test Track’ are just some of the more notorious examples.

‘Mission: Space’ uses a type of simulator technology that’s been around for a long time, but it’s being used in a different way. It’s one thing to design and operate a machine to put a pilot through a twenty-five minute F-16 mission a couple times of days; it’s something else to build a machine that’s going to put 60 people through a three minute spin cycle a dozen times every hour, twelve hours a day, three hundred sixty-five days in a row. And it’s one engineering task to design a machine for a government with essentially unlimited maintenance resources; it’s different to design something for a struggling TV-network holding company.

The basic rumbling is that ‘Mission: Space’ is simply too much too fast. There is still a good chance that solutions to all of the challenges can still be found in time. And there’s an even better chance that corporate pressure will force solutions (even if only short term) to keep certain dates. Not only have a lot of resources been poured into opening this attraction on time, but a lot of personal assurances have been passed around The Halls of Power. Some of those assurances reach far beyond Burbank’s Team Disney Building and were made by a certain balding, spot-light hungry executive who’s getting really tired of making excuses to the likes of McDonald’s, Kodak and General Motors.

There’s also a lot of internal pressure within WDI itself (or at least what’s left of it). ‘M:S’ is really a chance for WDI to show what’s it capable of especially after the utter disaster of non-WDI projects like California Adventure. It’s also a chance for them to undo their corporate reputation, one that came about do to ‘Test Track’, ‘Rocket Rods’ and a host of other delayed attractions.

This reputation may also be playing a role in these rumors as well. Essentially no one trusts what WDI tells them. While they nod their heads in agreement at the planning meetings, once they get outside the conference room they all display a huge amount of skepticism. Part of figuring out rumors is to understand the motivations and the viewpoints of the groups involved. Because of the costs and reputations around ‘M:S’, there are just as many reasons for people to say the attraction is early as there are for people to say that it’s late.

One thing is certain; no one wants to be the first one around the conference table to say “we ain’t going to make our deadline”. I would not be surprised if ‘Mission: Space’ opens on time; in fact I really hope it does for a lot of reasons. But I won’t be putting any money on it.


P.S. – It seems like no one has noticed that ‘Philamagic’ has all but been official postponed until Fall. I don’t have any good rumors on this one, but this one is much harder to understand than ‘Mission: Space’. It’s nothing but a six minute 3-D film – Disney turns those out like Mrs. Fields turns out cookies. I can only guess there’s some sort of budget issue involved.

P.S.S. - I think the issue with the buttons has to do with the in-cabin emergency stop that a guest could press - similar to the "barf buttons" in the 'Cyber Space Mountain' cabins at DisneyQuest. The 'Mission: Space' attraction is really a souped upped version of that that technology. The difference is that 'M:S' will have several drums all linked on the same centrifudge. If a guest hit an E-stop inside, they'd stop the attraction for all those people as well. This is just one of the many operation "issues" that they're working on.

[rangebob]

I know one of the imagineers that are working on MS. When I spoke with him last they don't know when they are going to open it. There are multiple problems currently. The first one is they have one of the sims installed in the building. The sim in the park is running faster than the one that they are testing with at the manufacturer. Second there is a problem with almost everybody getting sick on the ride. They will need to figure out how to reduce the nausia rating or how to clean the cart alot faster.

Yes they are doing testing. But it isn't here at WDW. They are flying some people to the manufacturing plant and having the ride it there and the bringing them back.

I'm trying to get on the list with this person and see if they will use me. I know that he has asked another friend of his but he doesn't want to fly to where ever it is and try it out.

[wdwguide]

Hm... Sounds like project advisor Story Musgrave must have forgotten to tell them that the sensation of space flight is essentially a sensation of an indefinite free fall, which human bodies typically react to with nausea if it lasts longer than a few seconds...

Anyhow, I do hope that they decide against taming the attraction down like they did with Dinosaur, and instead work on the synchronization of the audio-visual elements to fix this problem.

[raidermatt]

Philarmagic is 10 minutes and WDW has been instructed to keep 6 months space between its opening and Space's...it's one of Rasulo's new deals about new attraction "pacing".
Is the 6-month spacing policy viewed as a maximum as well, or is it only a minimum?

[Testtrack321]

Minimum time matt. MK hasn't had a big name attraction in such a long time it isn't funny, so I guess they want that thing in there ASAP. And I also talked to someone in WDFA about the project and he says Fall 2003 is the projected time of launch and always has been.

[Mr D]

I hear the latest hangup is that Disney can't get all the oversized commercial laundromat dryers to operate without the guests having to put $5 in quarters for the 3 minute "spin" cycle....:p

[wdwguide]

"Included in your park admission is your choice of a Vomit Comet simulation or a suborbital Mercury experience. For the full-blown mission to orbit and beyond swipe your credit card here for just $8.99 extra".

[DC7800]

From the January 27th "Why For" column at http://www.Jimhillmedia.com came this:

According to members of the Mouse's marketing staff that I've spoken with, "Mission: Space" will only be doing test-and-adjust stuff this summer. Which means that this new Future World attraction is only slated to be open on a sporadic basis July - September. It won't actually be 'til October 1st of this year that "Mission: Space" will have its official unveiling (as part of WDW's annual birthday bash / press event) and then officially be open to the public.

Now, if there is any truth at all to the October official opening (with the "sporadic" opening to meet Eisner's rumored July deadline???) what does this do to Philarmagic? A six-month span between these attractions could concievably push Philarmagic into Spring 2004 (and it will be Christmas even if Space meets the mid-summer opening target).

[lrodk]

Mickey's Philharmagic, from what I understand, is far enough along to open this spring if need be. If that's the case then there would be plenty of lead-time for Mission's proposed October opening date. I will be visiting that month, so as you can imagine I would not have a problem with them waiting that long to unleash Mission onto the world. :)

[Another Voice]

The opening of ‘Mission: Space’ is, according to the grapevine, either “to be determined” or “get that **** open or my boot will be ****!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”. Rumors basically agree that problems remain with ‘M:S’ (as with any attraction) and it is impossible to demand they be fixed by a certain date. The October 1st date sounds like a planning target instead of a firm deadline. It also seems reasonable that further slips in the opening date are much more likely than a surprise “early” opening.

Then there’s the flip side. WDW has become somewhat dependent on frequent repeat visitors: most notable DVC owners and locals. There are rumors that significant numbers of the these visitors are hesitant to book a trip before the opening of ‘M:S’. As the ride’s opening has slipped from late 2002 to early 2003 to Summer 2003 to Fall 2003 more and more trips are being postponed. The average “we’re going to Disney World!” guest really doesn’t know or care, but those with an annual subscription to the Birmbaum guide, a large pin collection and a map of every ice cream cart in the Animal Kingdom… those people know and they care. And they’ve got money. So there is a tremendous pressure to get the ride open as soon as possible, and even more pressure to hide the fact that it’s late.


P.S. The other bits in Mr. Hill’s article aren’t so much wrong as they are incomplete. Much like the fable of the blind men and the elephant, those stories missed what was really happening. Person of the Century wasn’t stopped because of “Bob” (it couldn’t find a sponsor) and ‘Song of the South’ wasn’t a test-case for ‘Splash Mountain’. One suspects that just talking to marketing people in regards to ‘Mission: Space’ may lead to similar inaccuracies.

[mjstaceyuofm]

There are rumors that significant numbers of the these visitors are hesitant to book a trip before the opening of ‘M:S’.I can believe that - I'm one of 'em! Had a trip planned for October '02, but went to Vegas instead and decided to plan a fall '03 trip instead. I'm sick of waiting anymore though. If it's not open in September, oh well. So I ride it after it's been "seasoned" by thousands of riders. ;)

there is a tremendous pressure to get the ride open as soon as possible, and even more pressure to hide the fact that it’s lateGreat analysis. This line truly does say A LOT!

OK - so I've read the posts, and while I've gotten a TON of great info, there still seems to be no real consensus on when the thing's gonna open. Realistically, you're probably looking at a scenario where it opens when it opens and whenever it does open Disney will say that's when they intended to open it....

Make any sense? :crazy:

[raidermatt]

There are rumors that significant numbers of the these visitors are hesitant to book a trip before the opening of ‘M:S’. As the ride’s opening has slipped from late 2002 to early 2003 to Summer 2003 to Fall 2003 more and more trips are being postponed.

Guess that's what happens when you go 4 years between major attractions.

But its time to reap the fruit of past investment....right?

[Testtrack321]

So we now shouldn't guess when it will open but rather when Disney will announce it to be open.

Just hope that it might be in softopenings when I go in July.

And it better.....

[SamR]

Bye the way, I haven't seen any recent constuctin photos and would really like to see the finished show building (they are working on just the inside now, right?) If anyone has links that would be great.Here are three pictures that I took on Monday. For each one I've also included a link to the full size version (over 1 MB each) for anyone interested.
<IMG SRC="http://www.sam-reynolds.com/wdw-jan-2003/Mission-Space-1-small.jpg">

Link to large version of above picture (http://www.sam-reynolds.com/wdw-jan-2003/Mission-Space-1.jpg)

<IMG SRC="http://www.sam-reynolds.com/wdw-jan-2003/Mission-Space-2-small.jpg">

Link to large version of above picture (http://www.sam-reynolds.com/wdw-jan-2003/Mission-Space-2.jpg)

<IMG SRC="http://www.sam-reynolds.com/wdw-jan-2003/Mission-Space-3-small.jpg">

On the full size version of the above picture, you can see the displays (for wait time) mounted above what will be the standby, single rider, and fast pass return lines. You can also see part of the fast pass distribution display.

Link to large version of above picture (http://www.sam-reynolds.com/wdw-jan-2003/Mission-Space-3.jpg)

[Luv2Roam]

Maybe M:S will go the same opening route as Pop Century! :jester: :jester: That's what the M:S building needs: "Where's the Beef" or "Whazzup" in big bold letters right on top! ;) :jester:

[airlarry!]

Count me in as one of those families that are waiting for M:S to open to schedule the next trip.

[raidermatt]

Thanks for the pics Sam... very nice!

[ohanafamily]

COOL, Thanks for the pics...I will try to sneak a peak FRIDAY when we are there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:bounce:

[rangebob]

There is some information about MS and other pictures on www.wdwmagic.com

[cindyfan]

Great pictures Sam:D

From looking at these and the ones on Deb's site....
Looks like you will kinda walk to the left around the small blue "planet" to reach the entrance where the wait time clocks are.
What are the doors way over to the left?? Would that be the exit/gift shop???

[d-r]

I don't know, if one is a repeat visitor then if it isn't open this time it probably will be next time. No big deal really.

[HorizonsFan]

That's pretty much what I was thinking dr.
I make my reservations 11 months out to the day. If M:S is open, great! If not, I'll do it next year.

[raidermatt]

Of course, as with any decision, there are those on each side of the fence. Some go at a given time no matter what. But certainly there are others that don't, which is one reason opening delays can be costly.

[ohanafamily]

Just Got Back from 3 Days at WDW, and the DVC Cruise.
1. The official opening date is "Sometime this year"
2. Building looks cooooool
3. when you walk in there is a sign over the door...Fast Pass Return, Single Riders, Stand By, and FastPass Distribution.
4. saw a picture of what the simulator will look like; it looked like 4 seats facinig windows.

[Mooobooks]

As a DVC owner, I would disagree with Another Voice's assessment that they need new rides to lure DVC owners into going to WDW. DVC owners go to WDW at a minimum of every other year, and many go several times a year. Many don't even get to the parks on more than a few days of their visit since they go so often.
DVC owners know that, unlike other visitors, they are DEFINITELY going to come back in 6 to 12 months, so what's the difference if the ride is open now or later?
I'm going for a week at the end of April, early May. It would have been nice if Mission Space and Philharmagic were or are open, but that doesn't affect my trip plans. I'm going before it gets too hot and between very crowded periods, before it gets too rainy, and during the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival. These other factors are more important to me because I go often, and going when it's crowded, hideously hot, and raining, is not my idea of a good time.