ToT of Disneyland

[Distriv]

I just heard that Disney is bringing ToT to California Adventure. The ride is being redesined to look a bit diffrent and to have 3 drop shafts. One more thing is that there will be a new effect that Disney will only say involves "Disappering Guests". Any thoughts on it?

 

[carterman_12]

I'm not 100% sure of this...but Disney announced that TOT was coming to CA a while ago

 

[Another Voice]

In order to save money, the “Fifth Dimension” show room is being eliminated from the California and Paris versions of ‘Tower of Terror’. This is the room where the elevator car leaves the load shaft and travels forward past the giant eyeball and into the actual drop shaft. Not only is the lateral movement one of the unique aspects of the WDW’s ‘Tower of Terror’, it also greatly increases the attraction’s capacity by allowing several cars to be moving through the same sets of shafts and tracks at the same time. DCA makes up some of that capacity difference by adding a third elevator (but then capacity is not really a problem at DCA).

The “disappearing guests” trick is the show replacement for the eliminated Fifth Dimension. Your elevator will stop and the doors will open. You will look into a mirror and see the reflection of you, your fellow guests and the car around. A bolt of lightening will flash – and when you look at the mirror again you will see the car and the seats – but all the people will be gone. The doors than close and the elevator ascends up to the top of the tower.

The illusion itself (I’m assuming) is the centuries old “Pepper’s Ghost” illusion that’s used in the ‘Haunted Mansion’ and can even be seen in the windows of any glass high-rise built in the last fifty years (notice how in the daylight the windows are reflective, but at night when the light comes from inside the building you can see in the offices).

There are rumors that the mirror gag may be retrofitted in the WDW Tower at some point as well.

 

[Distriv]

Thanks for the info Another Voice!

 

[Mooobooks]

Another Voice, I don't know why you feel it's necessary first, to state that because something is a Pepper's Ghost effect it's not very good, and second, why you feel it's necessary to explain the illusion.
Illusions work best when people don't know how they're done.
The "Pepper's Ghost" principle is one that has been delighting people for over a hundred years and continues to do so on an HOURLY basis all around the world.
The fact that you don't feel the Pepper's Ghost effect (and that's certainly not the only way something like this might be done) is less interesting than the Fifth Dimension room is a different issue.

 

[Another Voice]

Mr. Moonbanks, I wrote what I did basically because this board seems to be one of the few places where people who wish to can “look behind the curtain”. The Internet is filled with places for people to chat about how cute Figment is or how simply marvelous the new Peter Pan pin is, but there are very few places for people to discuss the business and creative aspects of putting on the show. So, someone asked a very straightforward question and I gave a very straightforward answer.

As for “spoiling” things, I wonder if you enjoy movies reduced because of taking the “behind the scenes” tour at the Disney/MGM Studios. The magic of effects is not in its mechanics, but in its presentation. ‘Pearl Harbor’ is not a lesser movie because you’ve seen how water tank effects work. Nor does seeing a picture of an audio-animatronic figure with the hydraulics hanging out suddenly ruin ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’.

I never said the effect itself was bad. The term “gag” is a common industry term for a specific isolated effect and is applied to everything from a stunt (as in a high-fall gag) to a single shot (as in the cat startles the heroine in the spooky dark basement bit that’s seen in every horror movie).

Again, the magic is in the show and not the machinery.