***Official*** Pandora: The World of Avatar Information Thread

[yulilin3]

So they may have been closed all day? Ouch. Wonder if we will get more info somehow.

not officially from Disney. Anything else will be speculation and what "so and so" told us

 

[KimBean]

Sitting here by Pongu Pongu. Rides have been closed since we got here today essentially it seems like. We got to AK at about 0915. The castmembers at the ride entrances keep saying they have no information on what's going on. If it's truly a fire alarm issue then say so and tell us a guess, even in the dark, on a time frame. This is our last day and I won't lie. We will be pretty bummed if we don't get to experience at least one of these rides.

This stinks. So sorry!

 

[tookydo]

This stinks. So sorry![/QU
I'm leaning on the test seat as I type. I'm giving up at 2:00. My 15 year old says he's not leaving. Lol. They keep announcing they have no idea when or if it will be up. Although i heard two managers say it was overheating and they need to figure out why. Not sure what "it" is. Lots of people standing around.

 

[Spridell]

well oh my. This is certainly different then I pictured it from just seeing the riding seats from behind. Can you tell you are really high up? This is freaking me out.

When I rode it I couldnt really tell I was that high up. You are too focused in the action on the screen to think about anything else.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

If anyone is interested, latest issue of D23 just arrived and has Pandora as the cover story with lots of great pictures and it came with, what I think is, one of the translator cards

 

[erionm]

it came with, what I think is, one of the translator cards

Correct and it's exclusive to the D23 Magazine.

 

[KimBean]

When I rode it I couldnt really tell I was that high up. You are too focused in the action on the screen to think about anything else.

Thank you. Someone told me you are pretty high up on Soain to but that has never bothered me. Something about this straight up and down looking like a cliff gives me the heeb jeebs.

 

[Gina Starr]

Something truly odd about that too.
They operated without issue on opening weekend, and on through opening week. With extremely high crowds, higher than are there now, I dare say.
Did they push it too hard then?
Is there an alarm within reach of guests and some idiot keeps tripping it off? (I always include the idiot factor)
Something else up?

It's kinda funny. We saw a fire alarm right on the wall in line for NRJ Wednesday when we rode and my husband commented on how some idiot would probably pull it. Then the next day there was a supposed fire alarm. I'm not sure that a guest did actually pull it but I know for sure there's at least one within a guest's reach.

 

[Lesley Wake]

Going on 2 hours down now....

2 things:
1. 2+ hours seems like an incredibly long time to clear a false fire alarm
2. Who was the idiot who thought it was a good idea to have the only 2 rides in a $0.5 billion land share a ride building? Operationally there would be no benefit. The only benefit I can think of is maybe a slight lowering of summer energy bills since each building has 1 less outside wall area since they are joined together. Everything thing else is negative, as we are seeing right now with both rides having to be down at the same time due to a fire alarm issue in one of the buildings.

Given that I have a very hard-fought FP+ for FoP tonight I hope they get this cleared up soon.

I'm a fire protection engineer so I have some insight on this stuff in general (but nothing specific for Pandora). For being part of the same building, it makes sense from a building code, cost, and convenience viewpoint. If there were 2 separate buildings they would need to be separated by a certain distance or rated walls, with limited openings between them. I'm not sure the exact layout of the rides and mechanics, but I could see them utilizing space above or below one of the rides to fit in the equipment for the other ride. For cost, it is much much cheaper to just create one fire alarm, fire protection, smoke control, HVAC, lighting, etc system that is sized for one larger building than two separate systems sized for two slightly smaller buildings. From what we hear, the bean counters cut costs on Pandora, so this could be a way that they were able to spend more money on the actual rides and land vs the infrastructure.

For the fire alarm system, I am surprised that a false alarm could cause the whole building to evacuate. I would have expected some sort of pre-alert system, where the security office gets an alert that an alarm has been triggered and the exact location; that way a guard can be sent to check it out. If it is a false alarm, they can reset it without guests being aware (or at least just a temporary halt to the ride). If it is a real alarm, then either the full fire alarm can be set off and people will be evacuated, or if its not a dire emergency, CMs can evacuate people in smaller groups to prevent a panic. That is similar to stadiums and large assembly venues.

Now, for these rides I am suspicious that maybe something set off the fire protection system (i.e. automatic sprinklers). If one of those was set off, even in a backstage area of the building, then the building would need to be evacuated. The fire alarm would sound automatically, as when the fire protection system activates it is assumed that there really is a fire vs a false alarm from a fire alarm device. The building would not be able to be occupied until the entire structure (all rooms, including closets, offices, etc) is again protected with the sprinkler system. That would mean the device that set off the sprinklers would need to be replaced and the system re-initiated. That does take time. And if a sprinkler did go off, there is a certain amount of clean-up needed (fire sprinkler water is disgusting-think water that has been sitting in pipes for probably years so it is black and smelly).

And, in case people are curious, when sprinklers go off, it is nothing like the movies. First, you will have one, maybe two sprinklers go off (they activate based on the temperature of the hot gases in their exact area), but all sprinklers are connected to the same piping system, so even if only one head activates, the water in the entire system may get released in that one area, unless you can turn off the water supply first. Second-sprinkler heads can be set off from heat, but also from impact; a lot of heads are designed with a glass bulb that is blocking the water within the pipes. Within that bulb is a certain fluid which expands when heated (like mercury in a thermometer), once it reaches a certain temperature it will cause the glass to break and water to come out of the opening. But if you hit the head, with say a ladder, it could also break the bulb and cause the sprinkler to go off.

So, sorry for the long post! And again, these are just my thoughts-no actual knowledge about the situation!

 

[tinkstoes]

We just left. This is a bit ridiculous. We are both very disappointed. Not sure we can make it back tonight and we leave in the morning. I am not pleased to say the least since this was the day I had the best options for fastpasses. Plus I planned this trip as my actual post deployment vacation.

 

[AngiTN]

Going on 2 hours down now....

2 things:
1. 2+ hours seems like an incredibly long time to clear a false fire alarm
2. Who was the idiot who thought it was a good idea to have the only 2 rides in a $0.5 billion land share a ride building? Operationally there would be no benefit. The only benefit I can think of is maybe a slight lowering of summer energy bills since each building has 1 less outside wall area since they are joined together. Everything thing else is negative, as we are seeing right now with both rides having to be down at the same time due to a fire alarm issue in one of the buildings.

Given that I have a very hard-fought FP+ for FoP tonight I hope they get this cleared up soon.

I know it's a bummer because it impacts two rides but I think it's a brilliant use to keep a smaller footprint.

Sitting here by Pongu Pongu. Rides have been closed since we got here today essentially it seems like. We got to AK at about 0915. The castmembers at the ride entrances keep saying they have no information on what's going on. If it's truly a fire alarm issue then say so and tell us a guess, even in the dark, on a time frame. This is our last day and I won't lie. We will be pretty bummed if we don't get to experience at least one of these rides.

No, never give a time, even a guess of one, ever. It can do nothing but backfire. No good can come from a guestimate of a time.

 

[AngiTN]

We just left. This is a bit ridiculous. We are both very disappointed. Not sure we can make it back tonight and we leave in the morning. I am not pleased to say the least since this was the day I had the best options for fastpasses. Plus I planned this trip as my actual post deployment vacation.

I am very disappointed for you. I will say, if they come back up, do whatever you possibly can to go back. You said you had a FP, right? You won't be riding stand by?

 

[dina444444]

Thank you. Someone told me you are pretty high up on Soain to but that has never bothered me. Something about this straight up and down looking like a cliff gives me the heeb jeebs.

The big difference is in soarin you move up in to the "tower" for FoP your already at the height of the ride when you load if that makes sense.

 

[AngiTN]

The big difference is in soarin you move up in to the "tower" for FoP your already at the height of the ride when you load if that makes sense.

And you can "see" the movement on Soarin'
You never "see" your seat or the theater movement on FoP

 

[KimBean]

The big difference is in soarin you move up in to the "tower" for FoP your already at the height of the ride when you load if that makes sense.

Yes, it makes perfect sense. So if I am logical about it, it really should be less scary because I am not moving to get there. But, where does logic come in with big chicken fears? HEHE!!! I have to try it, so...

 

[tinkstoes]

I am very disappointed for you. I will say, if they come back up, do whatever you possibly can to go back. You said you had a FP, right? You won't be riding stand by?

We had a fastpass. They changed it to a general for the park but could still use it there

 

[ifitzger]

Sitting here by Pongu Pongu. Rides have been closed since we got here today essentially it seems like. We got to AK at about 0915. The castmembers at the ride entrances keep saying they have no information on what's going on. If it's truly a fire alarm issue then say so and tell us a guess, even in the dark, on a time frame. This is our last day and I won't lie. We will be pretty bummed if we don't get to experience at least one of these rides.

Hard to believe this is simply an alarm issue. After the second time, I would think it would be easier to pay RCFD overtime to stand by at the building until the problem was fixed, rather than evacuate every time.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Thank you. Someone told me you are pretty high up on Soain to but that has never bothered me. Something about this straight up and down looking like a cliff gives me the heeb jeebs.

Plus on FoP you really can't see "down" as there is always the floor moving with you - you can see over to the other bank of seats you you can see how high others are up which I guess could implicitly tell your brain how high up you are but you really can't explicitly tell how high you are up

 

[dina444444]

Yes, it makes perfect sense. So if I am logical about it, it really should be less scary because I am not moving to get there. But, where does logic come in with big chicken fears? HEHE!!! I have to try it, so...

Look straight forward when you ride and you won't even notice where you are.

 

[corinne025]

We just left. This is a bit ridiculous. We are both very disappointed. Not sure we can make it back tonight and we leave in the morning. I am not pleased to say the least since this was the day I had the best options for fastpasses. Plus I planned this trip as my actual post deployment vacation.

I'm SO sorry!! I would be devastated

- hope something works out before you leave