rocket rod/pm track idea

[Bigbadwolf]

I am kind of getting get of sick of seeing nothing on that track but i dont think the pm is coming back so here's my idea:bank the turns so that the cars can carry speed through the turns(this should be kinda easy). the cars would be themed to the cars of the futre. maybe sponsered by honda?the cars would look like there flying. they would also be outfitted with video screens that would explain where you are in tommorowland. like when you pass or go into(sorry cant remember where it goes) the screen would say "and theres space mountain the largest spaceport in the galaxy"or "there is star command singup now and protect the city from zurg"you get the point. the name of the ride would be highway of the futre and the theme would be exactly what the name describes:zoom around the city of tommorow on the highway of tommorow while keeping your hands arms feet inside the ride.I havent figured out what to do with the tron tunnel thing cuz i dont know where it is. help!!!!! que would be under big round platform.
so what do you think? ideas welcome.

[Datameister]

Re: rocket rod/pm track idea

Ideas like this have been presented for a long time now. Sounds good, as usual, but the devil's in the details.

bank the turns so that the cars can carry speed through the turns(this should be kinda easy).

Not easy at all. I'm no engineer, but I'm almost certain this would require completely ripping out the track and starting over. Not the platforms and supports and pylons, mind you, just the track. This could certainly be done, but it's not as easy or cheap as you seem to think, unfortunately.

the cars would look like there flying.

How? Forgive me for being blunt...but that's not an easy illusion to pull off. Any ideas?

I havent figured out what to do with the tron tunnel thing cuz i dont know where it is. help!!!!!

The former TRON tunnel is located along the eastern edge of the Innoventions building.

que would be under big round platform.

There's no room for a queue down there.

[Bigbadwolf]

Re: rocket rod/pm track idea

Ideas like this have been presented for a long time now. Sounds good, as usual, but the devil's in the details.



Not easy at all. I'm no engineer, but I'm almost certain this would require completely ripping out the track and starting over. Not the platforms and supports and pylons, mind you, just the track. This could certainly be done, but it's not as easy or cheap as you seem to think, unfortunately.

yeah it sounds hard but all you would have to do is build a bank on top of the track.

How? Forgive me for being blunt...but that's not an easy illusion to pull off. Any ideas?

no it isnt but if you were to elevate the car from the wheels on the track just alittle bit and with advanced lighting on the car you could create the illusion that the car is hovering above the ground

The former TRON tunnel is located along the eastern edge of the Innoventions building.

ok now ihave an idea for that:as you get close to innoventions there is a part thatgoes up at this point the computer would say "wow look how far away we are(video screens on the side would give the illusion of bieng far away from the city of tommorow) we need to go up so that we can warp to the city" then your car stops and quivers. the comuter counts down 3..2..1..warppp you fly through the TRON tunnel an when you po out you are magicly there! your cars stops in front sm and then you resume the speed that you were at trough out the rest of the ride. aI also forgot to mention that the cars slow down near some rides but speed up on the section back by autopia utilit gets to the tron tunnel

There's no room for a queue down there.

it would have to be built under ground.

[CaptainTeach]

Re: rocket rod/pm track idea

Those pillars that the track sit upon would have to be totally re-engineered to accomodate the forces dealt on a high-speed bank turn. The placements of them would be totally different, and the mechanics of tilting the track are not simple: in fact, they are very, very complex. Factoring in the cost of re-engineering, including seismic, harmonic, and g-force tests, rebuilding the track, and redesigning the entire ride concept, well they may as well rip it out and start with something new.

Which is what they should do anyway.

I have this idea:

Technology has changed so much from the 60's: what if they built a track for an air-powered/propelled vehicle: kind of a cross between the old flying saucers and the Peoplemover.

Either that or turn the entire track into the land of the living-dead pin traders. Get them up, off the ground where the rest of us dont have to deal with them.

[HDAlien]

Re: rocket rod/pm track idea

I voted "not sure" because I think Mr. Baxter already has some ideas and I'd like to see what he has in mind. Paging, Al Lutz!

[seasnake]

Re: rocket rod/pm track idea

When I was a kid in the 80s, I remember people mover went through all the cool Tommorrowland rides and got you excited for the land and felt futuristic enough to have fun. It was great. And the que was on the second story of the building Buzz is in. Even Better, you took an elevator to the third floor to go one the rockets (yes, at one point they didn't block the walkway and were a lot higher and more fun). Then you had the gondola to Fantasyland, and could see the whole park on a sunny day.
The current incarnation of Tommorrowland needs to be reworked. I'd love to see those things revert back, Circlevision get an update and Autopia turned into something else entirely, maybe even make it part of Fantasyland and add an E-ticket Beauty and the Beast Dark Ride OR an Alladin Coaster (based on Cave of Wonders scenes). Then I'd be very satisfied.

[WSVR]

Re: rocket rod/pm track idea

Good idea big bad wolf.

But I truly believe that the track needs to be removed and the entire 50s international style vision of the future needs to go bye bye. Open the place up. Remove a lot of the concrete. Remove the track from the middle of the walk way. Rework the terrace so it's not a big concrete monstrosity in the middle of the land. Build a new track if that's what they want to do that is more integrated into the buildings like at WDW. Redo all the buildings too.

yeah it sounds hard but all you would have to do is build a bank on top of the track.

I used to say the same thing. But I took a hard look at that track last time I went. Some of those corners as they exist are so tight that moving a vehicle through at speed would put an enormous amount of stress on the support structures. And that would likely be stress that they weren't designed for. Moreover, on those tight corners, the banking required to get a vehicle around them at speed would be so much as to create a bowl effect so severe that a vehicle of much length would bottom out. Not to mention, the G-forces on the passengers would be severe. So it is not a case of simply throwing a bank on the corners. They would have to rework a lot of them or they would have to slow down even for a banked one on the tight ones. And that's the same thing that did in the Rocket Rods. On some of the less tight corners, they'd still have to deal with the stress and rework the supports. The tighter ones are a no go. They'd have to be torn out, reworked, and a solution found to reconstruct them to connect to the rest of the existing layout.

And if that's the case, they may as well demolish and construct from scratch.

[Datameister]

Re: rocket rod/pm track idea

Bottom line, a slow ride could be built on the existing tracks--a PeopleMover 2.0, if you will, regardless of the car design. If WDI wants to do a fast ride, it's highly unlikely that the current tracks will work.

Build a new track if that's what they want to do that is more integrated into the buildings like at WDW. Redo all the buildings too.

Sounds financially feasible to me...

it would have to be built under ground.

...Sounds financially feasible to me. No, but seriously, that would put Tomorrowland's biggest and most crowded walkway partly out of commission for months if not years. The dig would be difficult, since I'm sure there's a lot of infrastructure beneath. Luckily, the underground tunnel to the Tomorrowland Terrace isn't located right there--it's further north--so there wouldn't be an issue with that. But queues take up space, and digging is neither cheap nor easy. Also, where the would the queue start? How would it travel underground and then how would it go up to the platform?

Not trying to shoot your ideas down, guys. Just trying to be realistic here.

[JJ61]

Re: rocket rod/pm track idea

I think they shoud reverse the direction that the cars/trains travel. That way the outside portion of the ride would be first. They could use that time to build a story. (Often, in a Disney ride story, everything starts out fine, then everything goes horribly wrong.) Then, when the cars enter the Carousel building, they could use that enclosed space all the way to Star Tours to tell the story with projection, audio animitronics, special effects, whatever. They could string 4 cars into a mini train and put each one on a rotating pedestal to direct the riders' focus.

Now, as for the story... Incredibles anyone? You are riding the transportation system of the future, then Syndrome and his robots stir up some fun trouble. That way the focus of the ride does not have to be about speed - thus retaining the existing infrastructure - and focus more on telling a semi-futuristic story.

[WSVR]

Re: rocket rod/pm track idea

Sounds financially feasible to me..

Teehee. My eyes are always bigger than the stomach... Or in this case, what the accountants will stomach...

[WSVR]

Re: rocket rod/pm track idea

Now, as for the story... Incredibles anyone? You are riding the transportation system of the future, then SOMETHING GOES TERRIBLY WRONG. Syndrome and his robots stir up some fun trouble. That way the focus of the ride does not have to be about speed - thus retaining the existing infrastructure - and focus more on telling a semi-futuristic story.

I took the liberty of fixing it for you.

[MarenBoBarren]

Re: rocket rod/pm track idea

Regardless of the design the track would have to at least be partially redone for it to be operational....it has to be able to hold enough g-forces and net forces but at the same time carrying the speed.....they would most likely have to rip it out but otherwise it would take a lot of work to change it...

but i thought the basic idea was good

[mac81962]

Re: rocket rod/pm track idea

Technology has changed so much from the 60's: what if they built a track for an air-powered/propelled vehicle: kind of a cross between the old flying saucers and the Peoplemover.

not air powered but some sort of magnetic levitation (maglev) propulson system. They already use some of this technology on California Screaming to get the train up to speed at the beginning of the ride. But unlike how the trains in California Screaming ride on wheels on a track, the new people mover could be suspended on a magnetic cushion created by the force generated when 2 magnetic poles repel each other.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/maglev-train.htm

[Browncoat]

Re: rocket rod/pm track idea

that's a WHOLE lotta magnets..

[Bigbadwolf]

Re: rocket rod/pm track idea

good ideas. new track

[Bigbadwolf]

Re: rocket rod/pm track idea

not air powered but some sort of magnetic levitation (maglev) propulson system. They already use some of this technology on California Screaming to get the train up to speed at the beginning of the ride. But unlike how the trains in California Screaming ride on wheels on a track, the new people mover could be suspended on a magnetic cushion created by the force generated when 2 magnetic poles repel each other.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/maglev-train.htm

the system on screamin is called an lim or linear induction motor launch not maglev. maglev is a type of monorail.an lim kind of uses magnets. id explian it but it would take to long. google it

[Datameister]

Re: rocket rod/pm track idea

Sigh. Unless a radically new technology has developed that I'm not aware of, guys, maglev trains don't look like they're floating. The train's undercarriage wraps around the track. There's no contact between the track and the train, but you couldn't squat down and wave at your mom on the other side, for instance. All of the "floating" is hidden.

the new people mover could be suspended on a magnetic cushion created by the force generated when 2 magnetic poles repel each other

I dare you to grab two magnets, hold one in your hand, and place the other one in the air above it so they repel. Watch what happens and then tell me if you'd like to be a person sitting on top of that magnet.

The other problem with any levitating scheme is that guests at ground level won't always be able to see it unless the vehicles really are a good couple of feet off the track. That's a necessary disadvantage of the elevated track.