WWF

[cadboy]

Yesterday I was at MW. As I came to the viewing area for WWF I noticed that the fountains that spray up when the boat makes the splash were going to early. They were shooting up into the air as the doors opened, not when the boat passed through. How could this effect go out of sync. If you don't know what I mean by the fountains take a look at this: http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid...h&plindex=1

[ThemeParksAustralia]

Hey cadboy. I'm not all too sure whether this was an 'out-of-sync' event that wasn't meant to happen. It may have been purpose. I too, have seen the fountains spray water earlier than they are usually meant to. There are two possible reasons for this; reason number two is probably the one that took place when you were viewing the ride. 1. Quite possibly, and it does happen more often than people realise, it was a genuine out-of-sync mistake that was either manually made or, if the ride is operated via electronics, somewhere down the line of the ride, something has been sped up, slowed down, delayed or started too early...the possibilities are endless. This easily creates a 'way too soon' start for the fountains. 2. This my have been the effect of the ride's cycle - that the fountains spray before the boat hits the bottom so that some water is already falling down when the boat goes under. All too often, when the spray starts at its "normal" time, when the boat hits the area where they are, there is not time left for the water to come back down and serve its purpose - to wet the riders. These are my suggestions; they may be wrong, but they're as good as I can get them.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Or maybe, being off-peak, and entering the colder season, the timing of the jets has been changed to ensure you DON'T get soaked. Snowy's had a similar system, so that the jet's did not soak riders in the winter.

[ThemeParksAustralia]

AlexB, that would be a perfect reason. How obvious is that?! It's members such as yourself who think a little more in-depth that give us the answers that have "oh, how come I didn't think of that?" material. Thanks buddy. Having only worked at Dreamworld, I can't comment on the actual procedures for Movie World's water rides and the weather at that time, but I know that during winter, it was compulsory for the Log Ride at Dreamworld to have 'heated' water (it didn't feel heated, but it was warmer than normal water that would normally be at the bottom of the ride). The reason I didn't immediately jump to that conclusion for Movie World is because Dreamworld's procedure is (or was when I was there, and most likely still is...15 years is a long time. God knows what's changed), only to heat the water when winter hit. The process of heating the water wasn't enforced during Autumn and therefore I didn't immediately think that the climate had anything to do with it. I feel for water parks and water ride ops these days, because now if a patron gets a cold, the park can get in trouble. I'm not sure exactly what law it is but it has something to do with wilfully harming a guest at the park. It must be very difficult to operate a water ride at a theme park nowadays, what with making sure the water's not too cold but not too hot and stressing the importance of wrapping up after the ride in winter. Anyway, that's a completely different argument.

[ads086]

Well, water management is a pretty important part of a ride. I think they would have this sorted when they installed it. To my thinking, they would have the water at the same temperature all year round. In summer, if the sun heats it more once its outside, the thermostat in the heating part wouldn't bother starting the heating process, but in the winter it would automatically kick in. Think of your kettle - it doesn't take as long to boil if you put hot water in compared to putting cold water in. It's also very likely that the jets did become out of sync. If the system relies purely on timings, then an out of sync event is very easy to understand - with each boat being a different weight, the time it takes for the conveyor to move it up is different, and the time of the drop would be different too. If it is based on sensors (which I believe it is - an IR sensor like the conveyor belt things at supermarkets), perhaps something fell into the beam which caused it to believe the boat had passed the sensor and triggered the jets. A splash of water would be enough to interrupt an IR beam.

[jayw]

Hold on a sec.... The last few times I've been to Movie World those fountains haven't been running! It's been a month or two now since I went though but they were out of action for a decent amount of time. Good to seem them running again, it sort of lacks something at the end without them.

[cadboy]

That makes sense. Thanks for your help.

[ThemeParksAustralia]

Since reading your post, ads086, I have been looking into how Movie World operates those water jets. Contrary to your post, Movie World does in fact alter the temperatures of the water to easily relate to the weather at that time. In summer, the water isn't heated at all, however in winter (or going into winter) the water's temperature is risen by about 4 degrees ©. I decided to give Movie World a call and what I got from them about the 'out-of-sync' issue was that it was in fact a genuine issue with timing. The jets do use a sensor (they say it's not an IR sensor but something similar) and the sensor is activated by weight on the bottom of the track. Now they didn't actually say this, but I'm guessing that the cycle was compromised of mostly lighter people, or, on the other extreme, it was heavier people who have forced more water down the drop before them and the sensor has been activated that way. Whether or not I have described that well enough, I would say it's a timing thing. Whether it was timing as in purposeful timing for some reason to get the jets up early, or accidental timing mishaps to cause the jets to release water early, I'm not entirely sure. Going on what Movie World says though, it looks like it was accidental and not something that was meant to be part of the cycle. They did assure me that it happens more than most people realise, so that's probably why to them it wasn't a big deal.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Its odd, though, Movie World especially, but most theme parks, won't generally discuss the inner workings of their attractions, especially if theres a possibility of a fault, and especially since anybody answering the phone at movie world isn't going to have much of an idea when it comes to the technical operation of a flume ride, seems to me that that statement is either complete crap, or an uneducated guess made by a junior guest relations member who doesn't have a clue. Besides this, it would appear to me that a sensor on the bottom of the track, that can be triggered by weight, and the weight of a lot of water running down the chute is enough to trigger it off prematurely sounds very unreliable, and not the kind of thing you expect out of a very expensive attraction. Unpredictability is certainly one thing the designers would have preferred not to include. Who cares how long it takes for the gondola to go up the lift hill? The Turntable at the top is going to wait for the boat to arrive and stage before it revolves - or else you have a safety issue - so the lift hill "delay" is out. The turntable is then going to spin around, at which point a sensor, either by timing with the turntable or otherwise is going to trigger the doors. Now it IS possible that there is a pressure sensor on the turntable - but considering water doesnt make it that far up, theres no possibility that that could be triggered by anything other than a gondola. I can't see the designers of multi million dollar attractions using something like an underwater pressure\weight sensor, that has so many variables, to set off the attraction's finale effect, when the rest of the attraction utilises an infra-red beam sensor to detect the gondolas. It's just not going to happen. Free-motion gondolas (those not "connected" to a track) just can't use PLC's. The effects on Looney Toons River Ride are also triggered by infra-red beams (watch the walls and look just above the water line just before every effect is triggered) The fountains on Snowy were the same - Infrared sensors placed above the water line, whose beam is broken by the side of the gondola triggers the fountains. Winter setting meant they triggered earlier\later to avoid soaking you, Summer meant the timing was spot on to get as much water in the boat as possible. Free Motion Gondolas are not going to be monitored (because remember, not only are these things used to start and stop effects - they also maintain the safety of the ride by keeping safe gaps) by things as unreliable as a pressure sensor that only needs a little extra water to wash over it to fail. More likely, someone is talking out his ass. Next you will be telling me that scooby doo's coaster cars have fire sensors in their eyes, and have their own motors to reverse back down the track in case of emergency. ***Edit*** Oh and another thing I want to add - some people are talking about water being heated. Now the feasibility of this needs to be looked at - Wet N Wild heat most of their attractions in the cooler months as thousands of people a day go swimming in their pools and on their slides. Dreamworld have a rapids and a lake for rocky hollow, Movie World have WWF, and these are apparently heated? we're talking hundreds of thousands of litres of water that nobody will ever SWIM in if they're lucky, all open and uncovered and exposed to the elements. Runoff from rain is going to damage that and for what - so you don't catch a cold? If the weather is that bad you shouldn't be on those sorts of rides anyway - and if you throw a bucket of hot water over someone, 5 minutes later they will still be shivering cold - the heat would only be temporary, and 4 degrees on a body of water that size? it would cost a fortune to keep it heated round the clock, and thats even WITH solar (last time I checked - there aint no solar heating hoses on the roof of the queue lines.) Neither park is going to be bothered heating water when so much heat will be lost through exposure to the elements, especially considering it is unlikely, and not intended that anyone would ever enter that water, and if you DO get wet while on the ride, you'd be just as cold when you got off the ride no matter what the temperature was. Once again - someone is talking out their ass.

Edited April 13, 2008 by AlexB

[nev]

Has anyone thought that as the weather cools down the ride changes operation to suit? Don't they drop the splash track or water level already when its cooler? Isn't the timing of the geyser in the switchback also changed? Perhaps the jets are just whacked on a few seconds earlier on non-ridiculously hot days so that people don't get cold and wet?

[Rollercoaster13]

I went to Movie world today and it was working normally for everyone

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Has anyone thought that as the weather cools down the ride changes operation to suit? Don't they drop the splash track or water level already when its cooler? Isn't the timing of the geyser in the switchback also changed? Perhaps the jets are just whacked on a few seconds earlier on non-ridiculously hot days so that people don't get cold and wet?

Yes, I believe someone did think that....

Or maybe, being off-peak, and entering the colder season, the timing of the jets has been changed to ensure you DON'T get soaked. Snowy's had a similar system, so that the jet's did not soak riders in the winter.

My last post before this one was one of exasperation, as I had given the most simplistic (and most likely correct) answer (Winter setting) and had some dousch claim he called the park where some most likely junior relations cast member told him the innermost workings of a fault in one of their attractions... so I proceeded to pick it to absolute pieces, and am currently awaiting a response. Edited April 13, 2008 by AlexB

[Gazza]

Well, he didn't have anything to say back to the logical points made in the Motocoaster queue thread, so I wouldn't hold your breath for a response.

[cadboy]

It does seem hard to believe they heat all that water.