Frogberto
06-26-2006, 04:33 PM
Saturday evening, while all of you were attending the premiere, I had dinner with a member of Team Disney Anaheim. I can't reveal who he is, but he works with and for, but is not, an imagineer.
He told me that they've been busy with Pirates, and that one of the changes you didn't see is that a large portion of the flume was completely reinstalled and reinforced. He also mentioned the large amount of work on the audio system, which has been noted here.
We also talked about the changes to the Haunted Mansion, and he said that more small changes are coming, probably later this year. He said that a large amount of wiring was done in the attic, which is completely hidden from guests, but that they are very proud of, since it was substantial, and was not done during ride closures, or with any noticeable signs of constructions for guests.
Then he let the big news slip -- he said that one of the more recent projects he was involved in was removing the Fast Pass machines from Star Tours. They put up a temporary cardboard sign, but he said that the permanent sign should be installed on Friday the 30th, and is much, much better.
Most importantly, he said that the project team he manages was specifically told from Team Disney Anaheim management not to remove the wiring for the fastpass machines at Star Tours. He explained that removal of all the wiring is a normal part of fastpass removal. All of it exists under the caps installed, and they told him that it needs to be ready to go once a "green light" is made for a Star Tours refurb.
Except for Lucas' comments, this was the first I had heard that Disney was seriously considering a Star Tours change, which I feel is sorely needed.
All in all, an interesting conversation, and I had a lot of questions answered that I was very curious about.
He told me that they've been busy with Pirates, and that one of the changes you didn't see is that a large portion of the flume was completely reinstalled and reinforced. He also mentioned the large amount of work on the audio system, which has been noted here.
We also talked about the changes to the Haunted Mansion, and he said that more small changes are coming, probably later this year. He said that a large amount of wiring was done in the attic, which is completely hidden from guests, but that they are very proud of, since it was substantial, and was not done during ride closures, or with any noticeable signs of constructions for guests.
Then he let the big news slip -- he said that one of the more recent projects he was involved in was removing the Fast Pass machines from Star Tours. They put up a temporary cardboard sign, but he said that the permanent sign should be installed on Friday the 30th, and is much, much better.
Most importantly, he said that the project team he manages was specifically told from Team Disney Anaheim management not to remove the wiring for the fastpass machines at Star Tours. He explained that removal of all the wiring is a normal part of fastpass removal. All of it exists under the caps installed, and they told him that it needs to be ready to go once a "green light" is made for a Star Tours refurb.
Except for Lucas' comments, this was the first I had heard that Disney was seriously considering a Star Tours change, which I feel is sorely needed.
All in all, an interesting conversation, and I had a lot of questions answered that I was very curious about.