Strobe lights question

[bellanotte10]

I dont know if this had been posted previously, so if it was i apologize, but does anyone know of any major rides with strobe lights. I know that Disney can't make a comprehensive list because of how many use them for various parts of rides and some for brief seconds, but lately i've been feeling very sick and spaced out whenever i see them so I'd at least like to try and avoid places where they're used a ton

 

[jmartinez1895]

This is very old page, but it does list the rides that use strobe lights. I am not sure if it is all inclusive tho. My son has epilepsy and even tho strobe lights do not usually bother him we did have trouble on one ride. On Buzz Lightyear when the ride car turn around and you are in the area with the stars going by fast ( like you are going through space) he has to close his eyes or else he feels " sparkles" which usually means a seizure will happen.

 

[deegack]

expedition everest has some

 

[peemagg]

I would think that the lights in Space Mountain might be of a problem. They go by so fast that it looks like strobes.

 

[SueM in MN]

There are not actually any attractions at WDW that use lights that are technically strobe lights (i.e, fast, regular flashes of light) and they do not have any warnings for seizures and/or strobe lights on any attractions. Where they do have flashing lights, they are always irregularly flashing, which is a different situation.
Most true strobe lights flash many times per second, but slowing to 5 flashes per second or less means that the majority of even photosensitive epileptics are not going to have a problem. Only about 3-7% of people with epilepsy are photosensitive and have problems with lights; of those, only about 5% would have a problem with a light flashing 5 times per second or less.

If you do encounter flashing lights and are concerned, the Epilepsy Foundation recommends covering one eye and turning/looking away from the direct source of light. The reason for covering only one eye and looking away from the direct light is to prevent both eyes from sending exactly the same information to the brain.
This should work whether someone has a problem with epilepsy or has problems with lights for another reason.

This is a list of attractions I know of with light effects of some type. Many attractions have a single light or 2, so it is difficult to list all. But, I am sure that we have included most of them.
MK

• Enchanted Tiki Room - periods of darkness with simulated lightning. The lightning is random and short.
• Pirates - some lightning flashes in the first dark part of the ride.
• Big Thunder Mountain Rail Road - there are no light effects in this attraction, but if you are riding on a sunny day, you will go in and out of dark tunnels repeatedly at high speed.
• Splash Mountain - on a sunny day, there are several places where you will go from dimly lit indoor areas to outdoor. The ride moves slowly, so the change is slow. There is a single bright flash when your picture is taken during the big drop.
• Haunted Mansion - almost at the end of the preshow, there is a flash of lightning at the top of the ceiling.
• Buzz Lightyear - just before the last room of the ride, there is a long narrow tunnel room with swirling red lights and flashing white lights. The swirling and flashing are not rhythmic.
• Stitch's Great Escape - Most of this attraction takes place in the dark, but there are some random light flashes at times (while looking for Stitch)
• Space Mountain - flashing lights

Epcot

• Spaceship Earth - the first part of the ride and the last part of the ride are dark, long and narrow.
  The entrance 'tunnel' has screens high on the wall, warning that your 'time capsule' will turn and descend at some point during the ride. The screens are bright compared to the walls.
  The exit tunnel has some lighting effects, but not flashes.
• Ellen's Energy adventure - includes a movie where parts are dark and then light suddenly appears (the 'Big Bang' theory of earth's creation)
• Mission Space - Includes a flash of light for a picture.
• Test Track - includes a light flash for a picture. Also, during ‘evasive maneuvers test’, your ride car will be in a dark area with bright truck lights suddenly appearing in front of you.
• Living with the Land - simulated thunderstorm. The first part of the attraction is dim; the second part is in a greenhouse, where the light can be a bit of a shock when you first enter. The ride boat moves slowly though.
• Soarin' - the end scene includes fireworks
• Journey into Your Imagination - Some flashes of light. One bright flash near the end where a picture used to be taken.
• El Rio del Tiempo (Mexico) - fiber optic fireworks in the ceiling and wall in the last scene
• Maelstrom (Norway) - near the beginning there is a spinning, pulsating light. It is irregularly pulsating
• American Adventure - the Chief Joseph sequence has a few stokes of lightning

Studio

• Star Tours - flashes of light during the attraction (you are in a space ship and end up in a spaceship fight)
• Voyage of the Little Mermaid - some flashing light, some twinkling lights and some pulsating blue lights above your head to simulate the top of the water. All are random
• Rock N Roller Coaster - one bright flash of light during picture taking
• Tower of Terror - one bright flash of light during picture taking. Elevator door opens suddenly to give a view of outdoors (so bright light on a sunny day). Some twinkling lights during the early part of the ride and I was too busy being scared and holding DD down to notice any more.

AK

• Festival of the Lion King - one act includes twirling flaming sticks
• Dinosaur - dark ride with sudden appearance of dinosaurs in front of you. Random flashes of light. One big flash as a picture is taken.
• Expedition Everest - includes some bright light effects

My mother has migraines and finds that reflections off water (especially the World Showcase Lagoon) bother her on a very bright day. She also has problems sometimes with the 360 movies in China and Canada because they are all around.

 

[bellanotte10]

thank you all so much! this is so helpful! glad to know there are no real strobe lights, and thank you for posting rides that have lighting affects! I really dont' know why i feel sick, as I don't have epilepsy (that i know of), but i still get very sick, and i've had a history of migraines. I went to see two movies and one had the fire alarm sprung on me and the other had strobe effects and both times I felt sick! Didn't want that to ruin my upcoming disney trip!

 

[chartle]

expedition everest has some

Don't forget Disco Yeti. Doesn't it use a strobe. I guess I'm wonder what is or is isn't a strobe.

 

[SueM in MN]

Don't forget Disco Yeti. Doesn't it use a strobe. I guess I'm wonder what is or is isn't a strobe.

A strobe light has fast, regular rhythmic flashes of light.
I don’t know how to explain it better, but those kind of lights that flash on and off and make it seem like you are seeing a series of photos are strobe lights. They also have strobe lights on fire alarms in public buildings.

A single flash of light or a series of flashes that happen randomly (even if they are fast) don’t usually cause any problems.

 

[chartle]

A strobe light has fast, regular rhythmic flashes of light.
I don’t know how to explain it better, but those kind of lights that flash on and off and make it seem like you are seeing a series of photos are strobe lights. They also have strobe lights on fire alarms in public buildings.

A single flash of light or a series of flashes that happen randomly (even if they are fast) don’t usually cause any problems.

Yes I know what a strobe is (I grew up in the disco days) , I'm just not sure why you are not calling the light they flash on the broken yeti a strobe.

As far as I know, its not random but a timed sequence of lights that is used to simulate movement by looking like a series of photos.

Not trying to be a pain just curious.

Also to add to the list maybe Great Movie Ride in the Alien scene.

 

[BarbossasWench]

I believe that "Ellen's adventure" at the Energy pavilion has a strobe-like light in a tunnel as you are exiting the area where the dinosaurs are, into the next theater where they are talking about the Wooly mammoths and other "Ice Age" phenomena.

 

[chartle]

Just to add to the conversation, its being reported that the Yeti is is dark right now.

 

[SueM in MN]

I believe that "Ellen's adventure" at the Energy pavilion has a strobe-like light in a tunnel as you are exiting the area where the dinosaurs are, into the next theater where they are talking about the Wooly mammoths and other "Ice Age" phenomena.

It's random sparkly light. They kind of look like confetti coming down.

 

[mickey&minniealways]

I am epeleptic as is DS24 and DD15. I have been going to Disney since "75" and only a handful of times have any of us had to close our eyes or turn away. If I stare intently at them I will get a headache. Tylenol or Excedrin for some reason really helps. Buzz Lightyear, Space mountain once on Star Tours but that might have been from something else. I have more problems at DH company winter party with the strobe on the dance floor then we do at Disney.