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View Full Version : What's The Deal With Haunted Mansion Holiday Going 101?



SoCalDisneyLover
10-05-2003, 02:15 PM
I went on the CHOC Walk this morning through the park. Walked past the Haunted Mansion, and they had characters dressed as Jack & Scary Mary. I thought that was a great touch, and I was looking forward to going on the ride itself when the park opened.

After finishing the walk at around 9:15, I went to Downtown Disney where they were handing out some free goodies, so I waited in a couple of lines for those. Finally, at about 10:30, I went back to the Main Entrance, after noticing that they were only running 1 Monorail, and I had just missed the last one, so I walked through DD, and to the Entrance Plaza.

Got over to Haunted Mansion Holiday at about 10:45, only to see a short line, and a couple of CM's telling people that they were experiencing "Technical Difficulties," and they did not know when the ride would reopen. Of course, there were people who still wanted to wait, in the hopes that it would be open soon. I sat down on a nearby bench and watched and listened as person after person went up and got the standard verbage from the CM's. "Please try one of our other attractions. Winnie The Pooh is that way and Pirates is over there." I even got to hear some people say..."We'll just go on Splash Mountain instead." Of course, that ride too was closed for refurb.

After waiting about 15 minutes, I realized nothing was happening, and I went back to Carnation Cafe on Main Street and had breakfast. By 11:45, it was time to head back to the Mansion, and I figured by then, it would be up and running. No such luck. The gates were still closed, and the same CM's were there explaining that they did not know when the ride would be open. I hung around until about 12:15, and then I was tired, so I came home and took a nap.

I had heard this ride went down on Friday afternoon as well. Why after being closed for the past month, can't they work out the kinks in an attraction which people are making special trips to the park to see? How come on a Sunday, over 2 hours after park opening, this ride is still down with "technical difficulties?" Thankfully I'll be able to return again and go on it, but I could tell that there were plenty of people and kids disappointed that the ride they specially walked to that part of the park for...was closed. It seems like even though HMH is a somewhat complex ride, they should be able to have it running properly when the park opens in the morning. At 12:15, not a single person had gotten to ride it, and with Splash & Big Thunder closed, that area of the park became even more crowded as people walked around looking for something to do. Times like that, it seems like Disney does not have a clue what they're doing, and after hearing one person say...."Well, everything's closed...let's just go get some lunch." Perhaps that's their real goal. "Our rides are all closed, but feel free to shop, eat & spend more money, that's what you really came for, right?"

Undertaker72
10-05-2003, 02:34 PM
Man I was at choc walk too and had a long of fun and was looking forward to riding haunted mansion. Please if anyone one knows please let us know.:D

LIMANDL4EVA
10-05-2003, 03:42 PM
On Friday it was closed for OVER an hour. I couldn't really get a straight answer from anyone, but apparently something was wrong with the sound system and/or only one of the elevators was working.

SoCalDisneyLover
10-05-2003, 09:09 PM
Anybody at the park today? It was definitely closed for 2 1/2 hours this morning, so I'm wondering when it opened, if anyone knows.

BornieoTheLoveBug
10-05-2003, 09:37 PM
I belive someone mentioned on another thread that the trouble was the sound. It was closed at 3:15, when I had a fastpass. I came back around 5 and got on pretty quick as they were letting in only FP folks from earlier.

With all the bodies (in line that is) I really had a great time at HMH...

Ghoulish Delight
10-05-2003, 09:56 PM
We were there on Friday when it went down. This is what we saw. We got in the standby queue. A half hour later we were being loaded. As we walked across the front of the building I noticed that the queue was mysteriously empty and then that the gates were closed. Very odd. We got in, went down the elevator, and rode the ride, no problem. We got off and the gates were still closed.

We wandered back a little later. I heard the same sound system explanation. But when we rode it, after they closed the gates, I certainly didn't notice any sound issues. But when we rode it later in the day, there was only one thing we noticed that was working that hadn't been the first time (I'll put it in spoiler tags for those who would like to be surprised because it's one of this year's additions)

The Lock, Shock, and Barrel cutouts that pop up in front of the mirrors were not working the first time we rode.

So perhaps that is what they were fixing? Who knows. Maybe there were one or two speakers out in the graveyard or something (which would be hard to notice).

TheatreTech
10-05-2003, 10:26 PM
I think you could be right, GD. As mentioned in the spoiler tag, I too did notice that on my second venture through. I assumed that I just missed it the first time. But, would they close the whole ride for that?:confused:


(I know...I know...if you didn't read the spoiler you're just dying to read it now:p )

cstephens
10-06-2003, 10:08 AM
We went on HMH on Sunday at about 2pm after hearing that it had been down in the morning.

At the event Thursday night, on the general ride-through, we were in the left stretch room and the sound didn't work at all. We were disappointed even though it was our second ride that night, but for most of the others, it was their first ride, so it was even worse. The CM got permission from the lead to let those who wanted to try it again stay in the room, so we went up and then came back down, with the sound working this time.

Technical glitches happen.

Andrew
10-06-2003, 10:16 AM
Originally posted by cstephens
The CM got permission from the lead to let those who wanted to try it again stay in the room, so we went up and then came back down, with the sound working this time.

How many people would you say were in the stretch room when it went back up? I only ask because my (admittedly rather old) copy of the Mansion SOP says that the elevators aren't rated to take more than eight or ten people up.

cstephens
10-06-2003, 10:24 AM
Originally posted by Andrew
How many people would you say were in the stretch room when it went back up? I only ask because my (admittedly rather old) copy of the Mansion SOP says that the elevators aren't rated to take more than eight or ten people up.

Ummmm, maybe 20 or 25? Not packed, but not sparse either. The times I've gone back up previously, there have been no more than about 8 people. Definitely more than 10 this time. I can ask my husband to see what he remembers if you'd like.

adriennek
10-06-2003, 10:27 AM
When we went up the Stretching room a few weeks ago with a friend who uses a wheelchair, the CM told us that the maximum number of people that are supposed to be on it going up is 12.

The stretching room is not technically an elevator, it's a lift. <--- trivia from that same day.

Adrienne

Bill Catherall
10-06-2003, 10:40 AM
Originally posted by adriennek
The stretching room is not technically an elevator, it's a lift. <--- trivia from that same day. And the difference is... :confused:

robsmustang
10-06-2003, 10:40 AM
i have a question, what is a CHOC Walk? i have never heard of this

MammaSilva
10-06-2003, 10:43 AM
I'm not 100 percent sure but based on the several trips and various information... something about hydrolics vs cable issues.. and the fact that when the floor is at the lobby level it's at the full extention...then it lowers down holding the weight.. going back up it's not designed to support that much weight while extending.

cstephens
10-06-2003, 10:44 AM
Originally posted by robsmustang
i have a question, what is a CHOC Walk? i have never heard of this

It's a walk to benefit this organization (http://www.choc.com/index.html).

Bill Catherall
10-06-2003, 11:43 AM
Originally posted by MammaSilva
something about hydrolics vs cable issues.. Okay, if the stretching room uses hydraulics instead of cables then I think I get the difference in terms. Typically though, a "lift" is the British term for "elevator." So, depending on what side of the Atlantic you're on, they're really the same thing. But since elevators (and British "lifts") use cables and not hydraulics then the stretching room really is a different animal. They are probably using the term "lift" as a shortcut to "hydraulic lift."

This would also explain why it is unable to lift as much weight as it lowers. In this type of system, if the hydraulic ram is under the floor (which is probably the best place for it) then no work is done lowering the room. All you have to do is slowly bleed the hydraulic pressure out of the ram. But in order to lift the room you have to put the pressure back in, and the amount of force you can apply to lift the room is determined by the size of the hydraulic pumps.

Bruce Bergman
10-06-2003, 11:57 AM
Originally posted by cstephens
Ummmm, maybe 20 or 25? Not packed, but not sparse either. The times I've gone back up previously, there have been no more than about 8 people. Definitely more than 10 this time. I can ask my husband to see what he remembers if you'd like.

Please do, and get back with us... If I Remember Correctly there is a load limitation on the Stretching Room elevators. Because they never planned to take large quantities of people back up (the regular guests would go up the Speedramp at the unload station) they found a good place to save some money.

If it's built like a standard hydraulic elevator car (ignoring the show mechanisms on the walls and ceiling...) with a hydraulic lift cylinder that is sunk into a pit below the elevator shaft, in the "dead center" ;) of the room. And the elevator car has a floor structure that's rated to hold and lower the car and the rated load of guests...

A hydraulic pump big enough to raise the car fully loaded would have been a lot more money for a 40HP or more "freight elevator" sized pump (and cost a lot more to install the larger power lines and the heavier electric bill from starting it ~100 times a day, and a lot more whenever it needed replacement), so they used a standard 10 to 15HP or so "passenger elevator" sized pump.

Put too many people in the car to try and go up, and one of these options happens:
A - The internal overload pressure relief valve on the car valve block pops open, and you don't go up. If there is no check valve in that circuit (or it leaks) you might even go down another 6 or 12 inches onto the spring car buffers (Big truck size coil springs) at the bottom of the shaft.
B - A seal pops on the lift cylinder or one of the pipe joints (Victaulic (http://www.victaulic.com/) fittings) to the elevator machine. Down onto the buffers again, but it will be messy to repair.
C - The pump and motor (close coupled or belt drive) stalls. Which can get messy (or smoky) if the motor starter doesn't cut the power fast enough - the belts snap, or the motor gets really hot... And on the models where the motor is close-coupled to the pump and submerged in the hydraulic oil tank... :eek: Well, I'll leave it to your imagination.

I can always call the California DOSH Elevator and Ride Safety Office (http://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/Elevator_Offices.html) and ask to see a copy of the elevator permits for the DL HM Stretching Rooms which will have all the load restrictions spelled out, or call the manufacturer (probably Otis (http://www.otis.com/)) to dig through their records, but it's probably easier to ask at City Hall the next time I'm there.

:fez: --<< Bruce >>--

cstephens
10-06-2003, 01:48 PM
Originally posted by Andrew
How many people would you say were in the stretch room when it went back up?

The husband agrees with my range, though he thinks it was closer to 25 than 20.

Darren
10-06-2003, 02:28 PM
Perhaps the rooms are more like a scissor lift. This to me seems to make the most sense. It would run on hydralics but is really nothing like an elevator from a mechanical point of view. It is possible that going down could not be powered, just lowered by good old gravity. Held back by hydralic pressure. This would explain to me why a much higher load capacity would make sense going down.

BJW
10-06-2003, 08:11 PM
In June I was in the left elevator when it came back up by mistake before the door could open and let us out into the hallway. I had heard these rumors about the possibility of the oil lines breaking before and was kinda concerned that something serious could happen. The elevator was packed at that time. The CM restarted the spiel and we rode the elevator back down. They have brought my grandmother and me back up to the top before because she can't take the wheelchair up the speedramp, but that was just us and 2 CMs. I'm wondering if something has been added to the lift mechanism to prevent the oil lines from breaking since the ride opened? Maybe that's why they're not as concerned about it now. (Just my guess, can anyone else elaborate?)

Bruce Bergman
10-06-2003, 10:39 PM
The "oil lines bursting" rumor of old would be a rare scenario, since the lift cylinder and hydraulic lines have to handle the fully loaded Stretching Room (elevator car) when everyone gets in and are lowered down to the "basement" level to cross under the DLRR tracks...

"Down" is gravity powered, they only have to open the valve back to the Hydraulic Oil reservoir, meter the descent speed, and slow down to make the floor level stop at the bottom. And it's simple math for the engineers - take the weight of the elevator car and a full load of Guests, multiply by the effective surface area of the lift cylinder to get the maximum system pressure. As long as you're within the safety margins for the piping and cylinder, nothing should burst.

But unless they've installed powerful enough pumps to hit that needed 'fully loaded' system pressure with enough flow volume to get anywhere, they might not have the "oomph" to get back up again if the Stretching Room is fully packed.

Or the old rumors about bursting pipes and/or undersized pumps are just that, old rumors. :D Just like the one about the Sinking Matterhorn... :p

:fez: --<< Bruce >>--

Morrigoon
10-06-2003, 10:59 PM
Indeed, the stretching room is limited in its ability to rise back up- there is a limit on how many guests may ride back up because of that.