ahh, romance...

[Rob562]

My...brain...hurts...
LOL!
I know of a crappy way of dying. CMs working the gates at Soarin' get locked inside the theater every once in a blue moon and have to lie on the ground to avoid getting hit by carriages. Or so I've heard. Know they have more thorough dispatch procedures to avoid that happening. Now each CM has to be cleared by the next, until Gate C is cleared by the tower and goes out the utility closet. They hit a button that says "Theater Clear" which lets the tower CM know it's ok to dispatch the ride.

Hmmm... While I've only ridden Soarin' about half a dozen times, I would think that just standing against the back wall would be enough to stay out of the way. There's room to walk behind the 3rd row, right? Unless there's some sort of sensor that would trip if it detected something/someone there.

If I were in that situation, I'd think the safest location would be to stand in the areas outlined in yellow between carriage sets where they park wheelchairs. They're in-line with the support columns, and there's no way to get hit by a carriage if you're there, whereas laying flat on the floor you could get kicked by a Guest as it descends. At most, you might get whacked by the arm of a Guest if they're reaching sideways during the carriages' return.

Something I've been meaning to do... You know how they have people leave their loose-fitting shoes on the floor? I've been meaning to set my compact digital camera up so that I can leave it inside my shoe on the floor pointing upward and get an action shot of the carriages in motion. :)
I did that once on the drop tower at a local amusement park. I placed it on the ground in front of my seat inside my baseball cap, pointing up the tower. So it got a shot of the car going up and down the tower from directly under it.


-Rob

[Randy B]

Something I've been meaning to do... You know how they have people leave their loose-fitting shoes on the floor? I've been meaning to set my compact digital camera up so that I can leave it inside my shoe on the floor pointing upward and get an action shot of the carriages in motion. :)
I did that once on the drop tower at a local amusement park. I placed it on the ground in front of my seat inside my baseball cap, pointing up the tower. So it got a shot of the car going up and down the tower from directly under it.


-Rob

Instead of using the shoes as a beanbag pod, which gives the chance that the camera may fall over or tilt a bit while you are away from it, I would use a "tabletop" tripod. Also if the CM on duty is even a little observant, the flashing red light would give away the camera recording. Since this has a movie (copywrited) you aren't supposed to tape in there. Now we all know you are not trying to capture the film but the carriage motion, so I will give a hint, but this is absolutely NOT to be used to sneak video of the film. ;) Put a piece of thick black electricians tape over the flashing record light (and over the eye piece so the glow from the viewfinder isn't noticeable). Try it out at home in a really dark room to find if you need more than one thickness of tape and if there is any other light leak that needs to be sealed. :D:

Remember, never break the rules, but when safety is not a concern, bend them for all they are worth. Of course if a CM "advises" further restrictions, follow them to the letter. :D:

It's amazing how many times I have managed to video places when "no video taping" is temporarily forgotten in the preshow announcements. And if all efforts are taken to avoid disturbing your fellow guests, nobody tends to complain. :D:

Randy (who actually has 2D recordings of Magic Journeys and Capt EO from before they began regularly adding "no video" to the announcement)

[smart1hermione]

Instead of using the shoes as a beanbag pod, which gives the chance that the camera may fall over or tilt a bit while you are away from it, I would use a "tabletop" tripod. Also if the CM on duty is even a little observant, the flashing red light would give away the camera recording. Since this has a movie (copywrited) you aren't supposed to tape in there. Now we all know you are not trying to capture the film but the carriage motion, so I will give a hint, but this is absolutely NOT to be used to sneak video of the film. ;) Put a piece of thick black electricians tape over the flashing record light (and over the eye piece so the glow from the viewfinder isn't noticeable). Try it out at home in a really dark room to find if you need more than one thickness of tape and if there is any other light leak that needs to be sealed. :D:

Remember, never break the rules, but when safety is not a concern, bend them for all they are worth. Of course if a CM "advises" further restrictions, follow them to the letter. :D:

It's amazing how many times I have managed to video places when "no video taping" is temporarily forgotten in the preshow announcements. And if all efforts are taken to avoid disturbing your fellow guests, nobody tends to complain. :D:

Randy (who actually has 2D recordings of Magic Journeys and Capt EO from before they began regularly adding "no video" to the announcement)

Well, hate to burst the copyright bubble of Disney... But youtube has every ride videotaped about 5 times over. http://youtube.com/watch?v=UrFIganJM7U

[CMGUY89]

Hmmm... While I've only ridden Soarin' about half a dozen times, I would think that just standing against the back wall would be enough to stay out of the way. There's room to walk behind the 3rd row, right? Unless there's some sort of sensor that would trip if it detected something/someone there.

If I were in that situation, I'd think the safest location would be to stand in the areas outlined in yellow between carriage sets where they park wheelchairs. They're in-line with the support columns, and there's no way to get hit by a carriage if you're there, whereas laying flat on the floor you could get kicked by a Guest as it descends. At most, you might get whacked by the arm of a Guest if they're reaching sideways during the carriages' return.

Something I've been meaning to do... You know how they have people leave their loose-fitting shoes on the floor? I've been meaning to set my compact digital camera up so that I can leave it inside my shoe on the floor pointing upward and get an action shot of the carriages in motion. :)
I did that once on the drop tower at a local amusement park. I placed it on the ground in front of my seat inside my baseball cap, pointing up the tower. So it got a shot of the car going up and down the tower from directly under it.


-Rob

It's all considered a "motion envelope" and you aren't to be anywhere near it. I'm sure that if they were in danger they were in front of an enabled carriage (a big no no) and probably laid on the ground by the railing. I've only heard stories but I don't know specifics. I have no desire to be THAT close to 500 tons of steel on a mission. The safety of the tower will be just fine thank-you.
One of the things I am most excited about working there is getting to see the carriages in action from the tower console. Also if you want to see the carriages in action on video you can go here.

[Randy B]

Well, hate to burst the copyright bubble of Disney... But youtube has every ride videotaped about 5 times over. http://youtube.com/watch?v=UrFIganJM7U

True, but we all know that none of us here would ever break the rules or the law to record something we are not supposed to. While others are not so careful about the rules and thus have broken copywrite rules in the past. The fact they have done so doesn't mean the rules are no longer in force. ;) :)

Since we are all lawabiding (sp?) citizens we don't break the rules (unless the rules are not verbalized and thus may have changed since we last checked.

(Hey Zazu, I don't see an "innocent" smilie. Something like a smilie with a halo (with or without it being held up by horns). :D:

Randy

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

You might wanna re-think the idea of placing a camera on the ground and pointing it up. Female guests with skirts on might have a problem with that, as would local law enforcement if a complaint was filed.

just an FYI!

[felinefan]

I wonder if any guests with allergies have had any problems with the scents? With so many kinds of allergies out there, I'm thinking someone somewhere might be sensitive to the chemicals used for the scents. Some people are very sensitive--just a barely noticable amount could make them ill.

[GaTechGal]

You might wanna re-think the idea of placing a camera on the ground and pointing it up. Female guests with skirts on might have a problem with that, as would local law enforcement if a complaint was filed.

just an FYI!

That was the first thing I thought about.

[I LUV Chip]

I wonder if any guests with allergies have had any problems with the scents? With so many kinds of allergies out there, I'm thinking someone somewhere might be sensitive to the chemicals used for the scents. Some people are very sensitive--just a barely noticable amount could make them ill.

I have serious allergies and Soarin' is ok for me. A few of the scents bug for a second or so, but nothing serious. Now Test Track makes me seriously ill for HOURS. So I don't ride that thing, not that I think I'm actually missing anything. LOL