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mi_mous
10-31-2005, 12:44 AM
I have talked this over with my husband, and perhaps I am crazy, or maybe I am not.
Do you turn around in Tower of Terror, and if so, how??
Let me make my observation:

You are facing the back of the building when you sit down.. then it seems you are looking out over the park, and facing the other direction. Does it spin you around at one point in the ride?? All the times I have been on it, I can't explain how they would turn you around.
My husband thinks you are already facing the park when you get in, but I just don't see how that is possible.
Perhaps I am just not realizing that the stairs leading up to it actually make you facing towards the park??

So, here is what I think happens, I don't even know if I am correct, but thought I would post this theory:

When you get into the ride, you are pushed back. I think you are pushed back into a "shoot" of some sort that does the rotating for the ride, without you knowing. It turns you around when you are seeing all the special effects, especially the stars.
But, having the lights turned on when you are going up makes it so the whole just turning around during the stars would not make sense, that is why I say it is a shoot.
When the lights turn on, and you see the floor number going up for one of the last drops, you are in the shoot turning around getting ready for the ride to end.
Am I totally crazy, right on, or not even close??

Just curious, to see if others have made these same observations. It would be neat to hear other people's theory's as well.. or do you not even turn around, like my husband suggested?:confused:

qwiksliver1022
10-31-2005, 01:03 AM
Nah, you don't turn around in the shaft. I had the problem of confusing the drop shafts though. When we were inside the boiler room i thought the far right elevators were those that were on the left side when viewed from the park. Once you are seated you are already facing the park like your husband said.

The DCA version the libraries and lobby are in front of the boiler room whic is inturn infront of the drop shafts.

I've never been on the original but they I think they load facing the opposite direction so they have a rotation in there somewhere. Also their boiler room and libraries are behind the drop shafts where ours are in front. This gives the florida tower that incredible height illusion. Im not sure of florida's layout so this needs to be confirmed/ corrected by someone whos gone to the original XD.

Skunker
10-31-2005, 07:06 AM
I have no input on this subject except to say that I LOVED TOT! I can't wait to go on it again. I had such a good time on this ride and on Soarin' at DCA.

PS - Doesn't the WDW version of TOT actually project the ride vehicle into a hallway and then back to the elevator shaft?

JP1
10-31-2005, 07:21 AM
The elevators never turn in the shaft, they always face the front of the building. Let me try to explain it in a way that's easy to understand.

When you walk in the lobby, you turn right 90 degrees to enter the library. After the library you turn left 90 degrees, so you are again facing the same direction as you were when you walked in through the lobby doors. At this point, when you are walking through the hallway, just after exiting the library, you are facing the elevators. Since you are facing the elevators, and you are going the same direction you were when you entered the building, then the elevators are facing the same direction as they were when you approached the building from the outside. Does this make sense?

mi_mous
10-31-2005, 11:43 AM
The elevators never turn in the shaft, they always face the front of the building. Let me try to explain it in a way that's easy to understand.

When you walk in the lobby, you turn right 90 degrees to enter the library. After the library you turn left 90 degrees, so you are again facing the same direction as you were when you walked in through the lobby doors. At this point, when you are walking through the hallway, just after exiting the library, you are facing the elevators. Since you are facing the elevators, and you are going the same direction you were when you entered the building, then the elevators are facing the same direction as they were when you approached the building from the outside. Does this make sense?

Yes, it does. I guess I sometimes think too much for my own good. Still love the ride, when I can get people to go on it with me.

mariogarza
11-01-2005, 05:28 PM
The elevators never turn in the shaft, they always face the front of the building. Let me try to explain it in a way that's easy to understand.

When you walk in the lobby, you turn right 90 degrees to enter the library. After the library you turn left 90 degrees, so you are again facing the same direction as you were when you walked in through the lobby doors. At this point, when you are walking through the hallway, just after exiting the library, you are facing the elevators. Since you are facing the elevators, and you are going the same direction you were when you entered the building, then the elevators are facing the same direction as they were when you approached the building from the outside. Does this make sense?

That's the way...when you are entering the elevators you're in the same direction as when you entered and when you seat, now you're facing the park......

AND that is too for the original....almost....

there you enter the garden facing the tower, then you go round the building to the right and the entrance is in that side (so that the entrance is not on the front, but in the west side when looking it from the front).....you go in and it's very similar to the DCA version, you walk into the lobby and then you turn right into the library...just like in DCA, but then instead of turning left into the boiler room when you exit the library, in florida you go straight into the boiler room and elevators, so you're facing the tower like when you entered the garden and you seat facing the park.....

So, neither the FL or the CA version rotate....WELL....after all, that's not exactly true.....the elevator DO rotates in Florida.....let me explain.......
The thing is that in DCA once you board the elevator it move a bit backwards, the vehicule goes into the shaft then up and all your ride is in that shaft.....when the ride ends, you go a bit fordward back to the hall where you boarded the elevator........that's not true for florida......there they have 4 shafts (which they call Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta) for loading (only loading) and 2 more shafts for the drops sequences (Echo and Foxtrot) and unloading...........Let's suppose you are boarding at Bravo....there you board the elevator and inmmediatly go up to the 3th floor (a show floor like the one at the second stop at DCA).....then the doors close and go up to the 5th floor (the fifth dimention, which you won't find at DCA)...there your elevator moves forward and it goes into one of the two drop shafts, either Echo or Foxtrot....there is your drop sequence and when it ends you go down to the bottom...but when it stops, the elevator here rotates 90 to the left and to exit into the hallway to the shop and the exit of the tower at the east side of the tower....so, you do rotate, but just to exit, not during the ride....

mi_mous
11-01-2005, 08:31 PM
So, this is another question, not about rotating. Aren't they going to re-do the ride at DCA, to be more like WDW? That is what I heard, but I guess I don't know if its a rumor or not.
If it isn't a rumor, will there be a 5th dimension, like WDW? (I don't know the difference, cause I haven't been to WDW yet, I want to go sooo bad though!) I heard that they will be closing it to add a random dropping pattern, similar to WDW.
Just wondering, and when are they closing it to re-do it?

qwiksliver1022
11-01-2005, 11:50 PM
I heard about the random drop sequences being added sometime in the future. The 5th dimension was not placed in the DCA version because thats the part that had the most computer trouble since the computer lost track of the cars (so i've heard). So to avoid the all of the potential down time and it would have cause i guess they got rid of it for the DCA version?

ArthurBang
11-02-2005, 04:31 AM
The Tower in DCA would have to be a lot thicker to add the fifth dimension from Florida... There are basically two shafts with a pathway in between them. While DCA's is fairly skinny, WDW's takes up a lot more space.

I've heard the same reasoning for not including it here. And from what I understand, Tokyo's version will be built like DCA's as well.

JP1
11-02-2005, 06:51 AM
They will NOT be adding a 5th dimension scene. They will be enhancing the rides drop profile.

TowerofTerror
11-02-2005, 08:42 AM
Well everything correct you don't move how you enter is exactly how you are when the doors open up during the ride. I cant wait for them to add the new drop sequence at The DCA Tower of Terror.

audibleatom
11-02-2005, 10:48 AM
The 5th dimension was not placed in the DCA version because thats the part that had the most computer trouble since the computer lost track of the cars (so i've heard).

LOST TRACK OF CARS!!! thats a ride i really want to go on :eek:

danyoung
11-02-2005, 12:50 PM
Doesn't the WDW version of TOT actually project the ride vehicle into a hallway and then back to the elevator shaft?

Sort of. The shaft going up and the shaft going down are 2 different shafts, and your vehicle actually rolls forward out of the first lift and into the drop shaft. It's a pretty cool technology.

SilverStyle
11-03-2005, 10:32 PM
Well thats not really true, they never lost the vehicle. It happens that the track system is based on frequency that bounce off the track if a park map goes blocks the signal it goes into E-stop. From my understanding, they didnt want to deal with the problem, so they added the looking glass instead.

Like mentioned above, the vehicle is pushed back into the cab where it then takes u to the show scenes then drops ect. DCA tower doesnt have motors like WDW does which makes out vehicle much lighter, that is why your able to float a little more than WDW. If you wanted to u could prob drive the WDW vehicle like a car.

Clotho
11-03-2005, 10:55 PM
I understood that the main reason why DCA's was only the one shaft was because of space. Plain and simple. MGM has much more real estate to play with thean DCA, so the DCA one had to have a smaller profile. Sounds right to me...

What a bummer though. I fell in LOVE with TOT at MGM, only to find the DCA a sloppy second go-round of this amazing ride in Florida.