Disaster Transport... Lights On?

A number of trip reports that have been written concerning visits in the last few weeks are saying that Disaster Transport's theme lighting is on, even in the "crashed spaceship" room... Any truth to this? I'm hoping so!

I think the ride would be better with lights on. Truthfully, i wold not mind if they made the ride outdoors again.

^Or into a woodie. ;)

GoodYellowKorn182 said:
A number of trip reports that have been written concerning visits in the last few weeks are saying that Disaster Transport's theme lighting is on, even in the "crashed spaceship" room... Any truth to this? I'm hoping so!

I rode it yesterday, and yes, the all the show scenes were lit. It actually looked great! Also, I think the whole concept presents much better when you enter directly into the repair bay. The worst part of the queue was the non-sensical corrugated steel wall hallways with blacklight paint, and thankfully, those are gone.

I was shocked when I saw everything lit, but I'm guessing they're expecting a bigger crowd in the area since one of the 2 best haunts at Halloweekends is in the same building - Happy Jack's Toy Factory.

I'd like to add, that only 2 things stuck out that bothered me on DT yesterday. The staircase up to the platform is in desperate need of new paint, and the ride NEEDS the sound effects back. The track at the top of the lift would be good, and it would be easy to pump some generic "space" sound effects into the main big room.

I encourage you to get on and see for yourself - the ride looked better than it has in years!

Wait a minute, so are you saying all of the theming is back or they just turned on the lights in the ride?

Well, the physical on ride theming has been there the whole time, they just didn't do a great job of keeping the lights on. The sound effects were lost sometime around '98 (I think). I also remember the asteroid projection which was lost long ago, although the huge screen is still there in the big room.

The biggest loss of themeing actually happened in the first 2 queue rooms. The animatronics were yanked out mid-90's, and when the big queue room was turned into Pharo's Secret (now Happy Jack's), things really fell apart.

Like I said, the ride looks better now than it has in years, and that is a very welcome change.

On a side note, if you go through Happy Jacks, in the 2nd half on the haunt if you look up you can see the 2nd story balcony that used to have some of DT's queue theming on it. I don't remember that being visible in Pharo's Secret.

Does anyone have pics of the original DT queue? I have mental images but I was very young, and I'm not sure if I remember things right.

I just can't wait to see the darn lights on! I have vivid memories of the crashed spaceship scene, really looking like it was suspended in space as you helix around it, even four or five years ago... It was much missed! Here's hoping it's back to stay, at least until I get a ride on it.

I should add, in the vein of missing theming over the years, the big suspended asteroids were also removed. I don't think it was more than a few years after the transformation that they were taken out, after one fell into the trough (didn't cause any trouble).

I don't think that the ride is leaving anytime soon, especially since a solid haunt was just built into part of it. If they could get the sound effects working again, and maybe a decent digital projector for the asteroid sequence, it would be perfect.

The problem with the old asteroid film is that the film burned through and split. With digital technology, this could be replicated quite easily without the worry of film split.

It's amazing how much having the show scenes lit again really adds to the ride.

PREMiERdrum said:
If they could get the sound effects working again, and maybe a decent digital projector for the asteroid sequence, it would be perfect.

The problem with the old asteroid film is that the film burned through and split. With digital technology, this could be replicated quite easily without the worry of film split.

It's amazing how much having the show scenes lit again really adds to the ride.

Tony get on it...Please...

I rode it today around noon and most of the lights were off. I could not see anything most of the ride. I wish they would leave the lights on though.

That's very strange, Mikey, as my ride was just Saturday night. Keep in mind, a lot of the ride is in the dark because of the tunnels. Here's a breakdown of the ride and show scenes.

Pre-lift: still darkness (missing: a laser scans over the train, a warning light on the wall starts flashing "overheating" with sound effects)

Lift hill: turbo red/blue lights chasing up the lift. (missing: sound effect at top and some sort of lighting effect at the top - looks like the hardware is still there for the light, it's just in-op)

Drop from the lift into a dark tunnel that carries you into the "big room." You hit the first block brakes at the start of the room. The first scene from the brakes is the asteroid / broken spaceship scene. Big panels of spaceship fragments are suspended all around, and a large, white projection screen is still suspended here. You then helix around the alien satellite, which is lit very bright in different colors. There is also a helicopter-style light on the satellite. Hit the next block brake and then you go into another dark tunnel that carries you into the "small room." (missing in the big room: asteroid projection on the screen, large asteroids suspended over track, sound effects)

When you enter the room you see the show scene of the mars surface, large rocks are built all around and there's a big backdrop that makes it look like you're just above the surface of another planet. (missing in the little room: rover-like vehicle in the diorama)

Quick turn into another tunnel, and onto the final brakes. The former lightbox graphics on the side walls have been replaced by dayglo graphic panels.

Originally the final room of the ride path was supposed to represent Alaska (hence the classic "Welcome to Alaska!" greeting as you pull into unload). I'm not sure if that has ever changed through the years. As far as I know the destination of your Dispatch Master Transport vehicle has always been to "Alaska", although the wacky colors might make it seem like another planet.

That makes perfect sense - but you think they'd make Alaska a little more snowy? As far as I can tell, I haven't heard an Alaska reference in a few years, which is a plus in my book. That aspect of the story never made sense to me. Nothing like welcoming you to Alaska before you walk back outside into the 90 degree heat!

Walking out into the bright sunny midways of "Alaska" has always been one of Disaster Transport's lovable quirks.

The coloring of "Alaska" has always been odd. Sometimes the lighting was particularly dim so it was difficult to tell what was there. I remember not even putting that all together until a few years after the ride opened, that we were landing in Alaska.

Way back (like opening year) I vaguely remember a projection of a landmass (possibly Alaska or North America) on the screen after the last block brake and drop. It happened around "I'm losing control! I'm losing control!"

PREMiERdrum said:

GoodYellowKorn182 said:
A number of trip reports that have been written concerning visits in the last few weeks are saying that Disaster Transport's theme lighting is on, even in the "crashed spaceship" room... Any truth to this? I'm hoping so!

I rode it yesterday, and yes, the all the show scenes were lit. It actually looked great! Also, I think the whole concept presents much better when you enter directly into the repair bay. The worst part of the queue was the non-sensical corrugated steel wall hallways with blacklight paint, and thankfully, those are gone.

I was shocked when I saw everything lit, but I'm guessing they're expecting a bigger crowd in the area since one of the 2 best haunts at Halloweekends is in the same building - Happy Jack's Toy Factory.

I'd like to add, that only 2 things stuck out that bothered me on DT yesterday. The staircase up to the platform is in desperate need of new paint, and the ride NEEDS the sound effects back. The track at the top of the lift would be good, and it would be easy to pump some generic "space" sound effects into the main big room.

I encourage you to get on and see for yourself - the ride looked better than it has in years!

Were the brakes as loud as all get out when you rode? While there in July, me and the nephew rode DT and I swear,I was ready for the brakes to give out completely! Scared me a little bit.

That brings up a good question - how do the brakes on the bobsleds work? It sounds like something skidding along the bottom of the vehicle (yes, they were loud last night), but is it that simple? Do the wheels get guided into a track of sorts before the brakes?

The brakes are just simple friction wheel systems from what I can remember of my time up on brake 1 (though it wasn't the best lighting and I wasn't examining it, I was too interested in the view and the old projector room, which still has the old huge projector sitting in there). There is a kind of "track" that is used in the brakes, and I believe its pretty much the same as the transfer/storage track.

I still can't believe they had all of the proper lights on in there! What about in the one remaining queue room, was everything on in there? I remember the last time I was in there (about a month ago) the theatrical lighting on the ceiling wasn't turned on, at all. Seeing all those wonderful light fixtures going to waste really bummed me.

Nope, the repair bay was lit only by blacklight. I don't mind it, although it is hard to see all those instruments go to waste. I think the blacklight helps hids some of the age of the props in the room. The transition from Repair Bay to Staircase was a bit jarring, because the stairs are lit by blue floods, which show just how dirty that room is.

Seeing all the old props lit again was incredible - I hope it's not temporary. Do you remember a lighting effect at the top of the lift? There's a shelf and some type of instrument up there, but I don't remember what it was.

I wonder what happened to Frank, the robot supervisor of the repair bay. If I remember correctly he would talk about being replaced by a new, less-experienced robot in the control room. Whenever Frank did the roll-call of the repair bay robot arms, the three simple animatronics working on the faux Disaster Transport vehicle, his loud whistling (after shouting "NUMBER 3!!!") would almost always make everyone in the room quiet down. Otherwise it was kind of difficult to hear any of his spiel.

Frank was in the big windo inbetween the conveyor openings, right? As of the OnPoint "Behind the rides" DT entry that is still all boxed in. Think he's still in there?

And am I right in remembering that Dave was in the first big room up on the 2nd level?