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FEJ
01-30-2002, 09:43 PM
What exactly is the purpose of the "Observatron"?


Its lackluster light show fits perfectly with the theming of Tomorrowland, but what is its purose?


I think, as Ghoulish Delight has pointed out in another thread, that they needed something to put atop the motor from the Rocket Jets. It looks like someone said,"Lets put an ancient futuristic sculpture in the center of Tomorrowland". then someone else added" We could make it spin" , "and make it light up", etc...

But like the rest of the land, it fell short. If they would have added Lasers and some stratically plased mirrors or prisims around Tomorrowland, or even the whole park, they could have made a great light show.


Imagine the "Observatron" Starting up, spinning, sending Laser beams bouncing across the park, eventually displaying laser iumages on various landmarks throughout the park, ie Matterhorn, Space Mountain, Tom Sawyers Island, Small World, etc...


Even better the lasers could be cranked up a bit to get disintegrate attractions like "Cosmic Waves" or DCA...:D

What are your thoughts on this "Craptacular" attraction?

MonorailMan
01-30-2002, 09:45 PM
HEY!

It's better than a big blank spot!
Unlike the old RR/PM tracks :(

Morrigoon
01-31-2002, 01:52 AM
Tomorroland lost something when they took down the Rocket Jets. Today's kids don't get to experience the thrill of going up the "gantry lift" and riding in a rocket high above TL (what a great view) This was especially cool when there was a pop band at Tomorroland Terrace. Nope, they get a brown-out version of Dumbo and a pathetic "something" that plays bad music really loudly and spins every quarter hour.

Ghoulish Delight
01-31-2002, 09:44 AM
Hey, remember the lasers?! That's right, for a short period after they unveiled the fabulous :rolleyes: new Tomorrowland, they had exactly what FEJ proposed, "Lasers and some [strategically] pla[c]ed mirrors or prisims around Tomorrowland." They were about 10-15 feet up, and a green laser was bounced all over TL, then shot out the front, over Fronteirland, and into infinity.

But it didn't last long. Why'd it go? Perhaps because it was too cool?? Actually, probably not. The thing with lasers is for a beam to be visible, it has to have something to bounce off of (unless, of course, you eye is directly in line with the beam, but then you're in a little bit of trouble). "Laser" light is all traveling in a single direction. So unless it bounces off of something, it can't get to your eye, so you can't see it. So to produce the nifty laser effect, Disney had to nightly fill TL with smoke/fog/steam whatever to allow the beam to be seen. Not only was this kind of expensive, it made for a pretty foggy Tomorrowland. Made it kind of difficult to see. And while, in retrospect, that may not have been such a draw back as it would have obscured all the empty shells and eyesores that now inhabbit the land, Disney saw it is a problem and removed the effect.

So there you go. Another item to add to the list of failed ideas for the new TL.

Ace
01-31-2002, 06:27 PM
that laser thing sounds cooler than cool.

mrfantasmic
01-31-2002, 07:19 PM
So set up a couple of pyrotechnic fountains and get them to smoke.
They do it for Fantasmic and LuminAria

blusilva
01-31-2002, 07:34 PM
Wait a sec, the lasers really happened? Because I thought that they had hyped a "kinetic sculpture with a laser light show over Tomorrowland" and then when it opened they failed to deliver, using some excuse about how they couldn't shoot laser lights into the sky as it would interfere with air traffic. I thought it was like a lot of stuff having to do with Tomorrowland 98: the advance press and concept art was very exciting but misleading because they never actually came through with what they had hyped.

How long were there actually lasers?

Ghoulish Delight
01-31-2002, 08:24 PM
Yes, unless I have completely fabricated the memory (a possibility that is never out of the question with me), the lasers did indeed exist. It couldn't have been more than half a year, possibly less. I hoestly don't remember. Great. Now that I do a little searching, it looks like they never happened. AAARGH! I SWEAR I remember it. :mad: Oh well.

Can anyone definitively either back me up, or definitively build a case for sending me to the loony bin?

Oh, and just to be clear, the lasers I'm remembering were NOT part of the Gravitron, but were just beamed over TL.

Not Afraid
01-31-2002, 08:33 PM
I think this is a question for Mr. Happy Face. :)

Napsto
01-31-2002, 08:43 PM
stupid use of operating cost

slaakker
01-31-2002, 09:05 PM
I don't remember the tomorrow land lasers but I do remember they had them at the DL hotel many years ago. It was one or two main beams that was bounced off mirrors on the hotel in different locations.

As far as lasers not being visible without the smoke is false. I depends on how powerful the beam is and how far it has traveled. There was no smoke in the courtyard of the hotel and you could see it fine. Here in Las Vegas, the Hilton used to shine a very powerful laser to the north and the south. You could see it every night, especially if coming in from CA.

The laser show in Tomorrow Land would be awesome and relatively inexpensive. It can get really expensive when you add different color lasers and add control features instead of a unmoving beam.

Imagineers, get to work on this!:)

Ghoulish Delight
01-31-2002, 09:10 PM
If you could see them, it was only because there was dust or moisture in the air.

LIMANDL4EVA
01-31-2002, 09:11 PM
hey! dont dis the observatron, its pretty darn cool and plays great music.

slaakker
01-31-2002, 09:29 PM
OK, technically yes. But the sky pretty much always has enough moisture or dust to see a strong laser. Not really an important discussion for the thread.

JoeCanadian
01-31-2002, 09:39 PM
a pathetic "something" that plays bad music really loudly and spins every quarter hour. [/B][/QUOTE]

I liked the music. I'm pretty sure it's from the Space Mountain at Paris. You can check it out here if you want it though

MP3 File (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LayzeesFiles/files/)

Could somebody tell me where the following music came from? Someone told me it was from Disneyland Paris' Space Mountain too.

Direct Link To MP3 File (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LayzeesFiles/files/Disneyland%20Paris%20-%20Krull.mp3)

I'd suggest right-clicking the above link and saving it to your hard drive. You can left-click too, might open up in Quicktime if you go that route.

Nigel2
01-31-2002, 10:54 PM
Ok this was on the back of a little card they use to give out at tland when it was still new.(Parapharsing) The observatron is supposed to be an alien communication device the beams back to its homeplanet (unkown) every 15 minutes. I think the only powerfull light that was on it (they had small beams on the arms) was at the very top in the "flower". That thing can be very noisy if you are standing on the 2nd floor of innoventions when its running.

stan4d_steph
02-01-2002, 08:14 AM
Originally posted by Not Afraid
I think this is a question for Mr. Happy Face. :)

Yes! Where are you when we need you? :) Maybe we need to modify the Observatron to send out the "Happy Signal" so that he will get the message and come to our rescue. :D

By the way, this thing hardly ever seems to be running. I think they either scaled back from every 15 minutes, or it isn't working right (what a shock).

Not Afraid
02-01-2002, 09:05 AM
Waiting for a reply from MHF. He's only speaking in Blacksploitation lingo lately so I'm not sure I'll be able to understand his response.

An Observatron story. We were watching Barrage perform at the Tomorrowland Terrace. They were on their last night of performances. In the middle of their set the Light Chaser suddenly started up. They finished their song then waited for the cacophany to stop. While waiting, one of the members said "that thing hasn't gone off the whole time we've been performing. Why now? I think its possessed." Too funny.

blusilva
02-01-2002, 02:19 PM
Ghoulish Delight, I hope you realize I wasn't calling your sanity into question, but my own. It's pretty shaky sometimes. :)

Nigel2
02-01-2002, 10:20 PM
I know they use to deactivate it for fireworks right after it started up. Also I have seen it in a perpetual spin (no arm movement or sound) which I have no idea why it was doing that (it wasn't a showtime), also for a while one arm was broken so it would always stay immoble.

MonorailMan
02-02-2002, 01:54 AM
I was at DL one day, and It's music wouldn't stop playing :)

Many people asked fo it to be shut off. :)

Glitch-O-Rama :)

Nigel2
02-02-2002, 01:56 AM
Really? what did it do, just loop over and over again?

mrfantasmic
02-02-2002, 09:45 AM
Every time I have been to the resort, the Obsrevatron has worked, just not with lasers.

Morrigoon
02-02-2002, 03:32 PM
May I just say that for two weeks straight (in 98), it played THE SAME tune every quarter hour! Not the annoyingly small rotation of 4 that they've got, but THE SAME ONE TUNE! And back then it was *really* loud.

Uncle Dick
02-02-2002, 10:55 PM
Originally posted by FEJ
What exactly is the purpose of the "Observatron"?


Its lackluster light show fits perfectly with the theming of Tomorrowland, but what is its purose?


Does it really need a purpose other than simply to be something that looks cool and is relatively entertaining? Isn't that the purpose of a lot of things at Disneyland?


But like the rest of the land, it fell short. If they would have added Lasers and some stratically plased mirrors or prisims around Tomorrowland, or even the whole park, they could have made a great light show.

Now that I agree with. The concept of a spinning, light beaming, music playing scuplture thingy is pretty cool, IMHO. I do have a problem with lasers shining all over the park though. Just like the searchlights and Maliboomer do now, lasers would ruin the quiet ambiance of the Rivers of America at night, especially now that Fantasmic is on hiatus. It would be cool if the Observation got into the act during Believe and synced up to the soundtrack.


Even better the lasers could be cranked up a bit to get disintegrate attractions like "Cosmic Waves" or DCA...:D

Cosmic Waves is another thing I think could have been cool if they did it right. First of all, the placement was pretty bad, as has already been noted by numerous people. Secondly, although I like the idea of a granite ball thingy (perhaps in Triton Gardens?), I think it should have been separate from Cosmic Waves. Finally, Cosmic Waves is up and running far too little to be entertaining for me. To be perfectly honest, I think Cosmic Waves does make the whole area look nice from the 2nd story of Innoventions, but it's a traffic control disaster. The whole thing should have been moved to Triton Gardens. Or maybe bordering the Radio Disney/Rocket Rods/Observation tower.


Originally posted by Morrigoon
Tomorrowland lost something when they took down the Rocket Jets. Today's kids don't get to experience the thrill of going up the "gantry lift" and riding in a rocket high above TL (what a great view)

I know I'm probably in the minority here, but the about the only thing I miss about the old Rocket Jets is the old school look they (and the rest of Tomorrowland) had, although the Astro Orbiter is more visually stunning (perhaps too much compared to the low key Main Street). I consider the view from the Rocket Jets unremarkable (unthemed tops of buildings. wow.) and to be perfectly honest, I was scared to be up so high, even at age 13. The elevator aspect of ride was kind of cool, but not as efficient as the new (and less cool looking) queue. Anyway, overall, I like the new placement better.


Nope, they get a brown-out version of Dumbo and a pathetic "something" that plays bad music really loudly and spins every quarter hour.

First of all, the Astro Orbiter is a whole lot more exciting than Dumbo. If you stay down low, you get a whole lotta centrifugal force goin' on. The spinning globes and lights of the Astro Orbiter make for a vastly superior experience. On the music side of things, I don't see how anybody could not love the music that thunders forth from the observation. In fact, that and the music from the Space Mountain Concourse, are my favorites from the park. It's a great way to pass the time in line for Autopia, Space Mountain, HISTA, or (heaven forbid) Innoventions.

Some final thoughts: As I said earlier, the concept for the Observation is sound, and I appreciate the attempt to recycle an old attraction. Unfortunately, the final result comes off looking, well, recycled. The limited motion of the arms and pointless spinning of the device makes it quite obvious what was previously on top of the platform. Some additional kinetics could make the Observation more interesting to watch.