Animatronics in attractions: the technology

Jacca5660 · Post by **Jacca5660** » Apr Wed 18, 2007 2:35 pm

And I really wish they would keep Animatronics, If this new spaceship earth has only movie screens, I WILL FREAK OUT!!!! That is probably one of the best animatronic rides there is (with at least how many animatronics they have)

I believe it will be keeping the animatronics. But they will be updated, what ever that means. Most of the updates are going to be behind the scenes in the programing and the control systems. You have to remember that it's still being controled by DOS and the original Widows.

Post by **spaulo** » Apr Wed 18, 2007 2:44 pm

Jacca5660 wrote:You have to remember that it's still being controled by DOS and the original Widows.

Really? Do you have evidence of that, or is it just an assumption based on when the ride was created?

kgmadorin · Post by **kgmadorin** » Apr Wed 18, 2007 2:55 pm

spaulo wrote:
Jacca5660 wrote:You have to remember that it's still being controled by DOS and the original Widows.
Really? Do you have evidence of that, or is it just an assumption based on when the ride was created?

Carousel of Progress opened at the Magic Kingdom on July 15, 1975, and I'm almost positive it runs on its own dedicated operating system. During my tenure as a MK Tour Guide, I visited the subterranean confines of Engineering Central many times, and never saw evidence of Windows or even DOS as I know it. Although CoP is not controlled from the old DACS, all the original attractions seem to have custom designed software (and hardware), which are housed in six foot high cabinets, placed in rows and running the length of the control room floor.

I'm far from an expert on this, so I could be wrong.

Captain Schnemo · Post by **Captain Schnemo** » Apr Wed 18, 2007 3:20 pm

If you're interested in this topic, this is a really cool article on the original Epcot control systems, and more specifically how the Universe of Energy was created (and re-created).

That site, by the way, has some fantastic information, but is also the most poorly-designed website I've ever seen! If you aren't looking closely, there appears to be almost nothing on the site, but if you stick with the interface and poke around enough, you can find hours of lunchtime reading, including a terrific analysis of the genius behind the original dinosaur sequence and how so many of the amazing technological elements have been watered down or destroyed.

jcodirewolf · Post by **jcodirewolf** » Apr Wed 18, 2007 7:48 pm

I've heard that the globe for Illumnations is controled by DOS via some custom hardware.

The Yeti, at EE appears to be controled by Windows XP (based on the Discovery Networks shows.)

Same Discovery network footage (Travel, Discovery, TLC, and History seem to use the same footage and re-edit for different shows) shows the Haunted Mansion/Pirates controler system, and that appears to be old custom hardware in full racks of equipment.

So my guess is you have a mix of at least 30 years of equipment. I wouldn't be suprised if the newer stuff has quite a bit of embedded Linux/BSD.

I would guess with Steve Jobs current stock position in Disney, we'll see more OS X. There is a lot of CPU power in an AppleTV, so I suspect the next generation of attractions will use embedded OS X.

johno

Post by **spaulo** » Apr Wed 18, 2007 9:17 pm

jcodirewolf wrote:the Haunted Mansion/Pirates controler system, and that appears to be old custom hardware in full racks of equipment.

That would be DACS... the (someone correct me if i'm wrong) Digital Animation Control Systems

jcodirewolf wrote:I would guess with Steve Jobs current stock position in Disney, we'll see more OS X. There is a lot of CPU power in an AppleTV, so I suspect the next generation of attractions will use embedded OS X.

Perhaps, but since OSX is a desktop OS created for consumer use, and it itself is based off of BSD, a flavor of *nix, it'd be more likely that some kind of BSD/Unix/Linux system would be used, if it isn't proprietary.

kgmadorin · Post by **kgmadorin** » Apr Thu 19, 2007 10:20 am

spaulo wrote:
jcodirewolf wrote:the Haunted Mansion/Pirates controler system, and that appears to be old custom hardware in full racks of equipment.
That would be DACS... the (someone correct me if i'm wrong) Digital Animation Control Systems

That's correct! DACS was renamed "Engineering Central" in the year 2000, because the underground control center was being used for so many other functions than simply running attractions.

Captain Schnemo · Post by **Captain Schnemo** » Apr Fri 20, 2007 1:08 am

From the pre-split thread:

subsonic wrote:I remember being very impressed with EPCOTs American Adventure when Jefferson walked up the stairs. I thought how real that looked. (On my recent visit, it didn't seem as real as I remembered)

Just to be pedantic, it was Ben Franklin.

But, yes, that effect has gotten creakier over time. I hate to complain too much about it, since it's one of the few remaining excellent AA attractions and it does seem to get at least adequate maintenance. Depressing to note that things have gotten slightly worse as time has passed (see the analysis of the dinosaur scene tech on that Universe of Energy site for another example). By now, Mark Twain should be able to spin a basketball on his finger and make a 3-pointer every show.

At least his cigar still smokes (last I saw) and Roy Rogers can still work that lasso.

Another cool AA example I'd forgotten about was the Great Movie Ride. Yet another show that has been slowly breaking down in front of our eyes. I read an analysis of the degradation of the effects a while ago...maybe it was a Kevin Yee article?

Anyway, it's certainly ironic that people complain about how shows are "outdated", given that the effects were actually better 25 years ago.

casrin · Post by **casrin** » Apr Fri 20, 2007 6:41 am

That article is pretty interesting - thanks!

Post by **spaulo** » Apr Fri 20, 2007 11:19 am

Captain Schnemo wrote:Another cool AA example I'd forgotten about was the Great Movie Ride. Yet another show that has been slowly breaking down in front of our eyes. I read an analysis of the degradation of the effects a while ago...maybe it was a Kevin Yee article?

That certainly sounds like one article in Yee's series "Declining By Degrees"... Yee, by the way, is an interesting Disney critic in my mind. He'll really get on Disney for some things (the whole DbD series, cleanliness in the parks, etc) and give them a pretty decent pass on others (the new Gran Fiesta Tour, esp. if you miss his stapled-on caveat at the end)... and his hatred of FastPass confounds me some times.

TheGreatGonzo · Post by **TheGreatGonzo** » Apr Fri 20, 2007 1:35 pm

At least his cigar still smokes (last I saw) and Roy Rogers can still work that lasso.

I believe that one is Will Rogers, not Roy. Easy mistake.

Post by **Dr. Ravenscroft** » Apr Fri 20, 2007 2:33 pm

MMMMMM........dry hamburger patties.............lightly toasted buns........and average fries. darn now I have to go out to a Roy Roger's.

I have to say that many of the AA's should be upgraded but the question is which one's first. I do think that COP should get the first upgrade. They should work on the father so he moves more realistically instead of his current motions. The other family members can be left alone for the time being, except in the final scene were all should be upgraded as well as updated.

Post by **subsonic** » Apr Sat 21, 2007 11:36 am

A new type of CoP would be fantastic. The whole concept of the people moving through time was so ingenious. Imagine what CoP could be like with all Jack Sparrow / Time Keeper AA. I'm sure they could do some amazing effects as well as users transition from one time to the next.

But, Disney would bunge it up and just make it all videos.

Captain Schnemo · Post by **Captain Schnemo** » Apr Mon 23, 2007 2:35 am

TheGreatGonzo wrote:I believe that one is Will Rogers, not Roy.

Touché!

Yeah, a new CoP would be great, although they'd need the foresight not to use slices of a circle this time.

Horizons was essentially an extension of the CoP family and we saw what happened to it...

I just brought up the CoP family the other day because people on that Epcot blog spaulo recommended keep insisting that you can't do futuristic things these days because people are too sophisticated and too much of the future is already here. I compared them to the Mom who said that things could hardly be better because it only takes five hours to do a load of wash.

Hooray for low expectations!

Post by **subsonic** » Apr Mon 23, 2007 10:31 am

Captain Schnemo wrote: I just brought up the CoP family the other day because people on that Epcot blog spaulo recommended keep insisting that you can't do futuristic things these days because people are too sophisticated and too much of the future is already here.

How ridiculous is that? Sure in the video age we are in, the technology we have could be slightly futuristic. But it's in the manner Disney chooses to present it, combining all the technology to exceed our expectations. I mean think about it, back when robotics were first coming out, Disney decided to use them in HM and POTC. People thought it was amazing. Heck, it still is. Disney needs to utilize the technology "better", Spider-man is a perfect example. 3-D movies - Been around for decades, Dark Rides - Decades, Moving motion simulators - 15 years, BUT when you combine them all ... Wowie wowie woo woo!