Scooby-Doo needs some love

[Theme Park Girl]

I was on it just after GL had its incident and the biggest disappointment for me was the barely audible music in the coaster portion. They used to blast that great remix of the Scooby theme, but it could only be heard faintly in the background when I was on it. I also miss the red strip lights that used to track down the walls and created an optical illusion that made the coaster feel much higher. I don't think there was any smoke either. And finally, the Scooby animatronic in the last room before the exit played dialogue but there was no mouth movement. Was this fixed too?

Ohhhh yeah, I remember those red strip lights now! I recalled that there was red lighting in there of some sort that was no longer, but thought it was the laser lights. Now that you've mentioned it, I remember they were wall lights. Did they have them in the lift part as well? As I keep thinking that there's something different about the lighting in there now compared to when it opened. I thought it was the addition of the white light under the lift, but could be wrong.

I'm trying to remember if the last Scooby was physically talking today. I'm pretty sure he was? I know the one near the mirror wasn't at one stage but he is fixed now, too. As are the swinging axes and all the other creepy demons and werewolf thingies

And yeah, unfortunately they did have the music turned down a lot compared to when they first opened it. They were, however, blasting the creepy music outside the ride entrance, more so than they did last Saturday when we also visited. Could hear it from all the way near the WWF/western area lol.

I noticed they have all the TVs turned off in the queue lines inside the spooky castle as well, but possibly because it's off-peak period and the end of the line now seems to finish in the hallway bit anyway.

[AllegroCrab]

That trailer that they show on repeat in the queue line is so old that it's sponsored by AOL!

Always a bit of a nostalgia trip going inside that building.

[Theme Park Girl]

Ok, so I remembered wrong. That last Scooby before the end of the ride is still broken and doesn't move/talk ?

[mba2012]

^ The last scooby was working for me this afternoon. 

[pushbutton]

Yesterday afternoon the axes were not swinging, but the last Scooby was talking. I've NEVER seen the last Scooby moving.

[Theme Park Girl]

Ok well that's odd, because I rode it at around 4.30pm yesterday arvo (we dropped into Movieworld for an hour after wet n wild closed) and the axes WERE working but the last Scooby was as still as a statue - I took note to check this time round ? 

Is Movieworld playing games with us??? ???

ETA: wait. When I said he doesn't move/talk, I meant the animatronics that co-ordinate with the voice effects don't work. So you hear him, but his mouth doesn't move lol. Is that what you guys meant, too? 

[pushbutton]

Imeant you can hear the voice but nothing moves. 

As for the axes, I sometimes wonder if staff just forget to switch them on sometimes. They obviously do work!

[Spotty]

There is no "switch" for the staff to hit to turn on and off each effect at the start of the day. The ride is inspected by AV and tech services each morning before being handed over to the operations department at about 9:15am. The supervisor + a staff member do a full track walk of the dark ride section of the ride to make sure all the effects are working and to make sure other things like emergency exits are not obstructed.

They also check the high zone parts of the track where the catwalks are to make sure all mounting points for the staff to be harnessed to in an evacuation are in working order and to turn the smoke machines on. Basically if any effects are not working properly they get written in the maintenance book to be looked at for the next day. Depending on what the effect is it can be fixed whilst the ride is in operation behind the scenes but generally it has to be fixed once the attraction is closed.

Sadly the park isn't going to delay opening of the ride for a simple effect not working (axes etc) unless it's a 2 minute job but most of the time it could delay opening by upwards of a hour depending on the severity. Obviously if any defects are found in anything like the mounting points or an exit is obstructed the ride will not open until that issue is rectified. The turntables and lifts are also inspected in the morning too before actual ride testing begins at around 9:45am where cast members test the lap bar mechanisms, station stops etc before opening at 10am sharp.

Track walk tends to take about 20 - 30 minutes depending on how quickly the staff can be assed walking / jogging  used to be my morning workout!

[mba2012]

Ok well that's odd, because I rode it at around 4.30pm yesterday arvo (we dropped into Movieworld for an hour after wet n wild closed) and the axes WERE working but the last Scooby was as still as a statue - I took note to check this time round ? 

Is Movieworld playing games with us??? ???

ETA: wait. When I said he doesn't move/talk, I meant the animatronics that co-ordinate with the voice effects don't work. So you hear him, but his mouth doesn't move lol. Is that what you guys meant, too? 

​I rode about 4:40 and the mouth was moving

[pushbutton]

There is no "switch" for the staff to hit to turn on and off each effect at the start of the day. The ride is inspected by AV and tech services each morning before being handed over to the operations department at about 9:15am. The supervisor + a staff member do a full track walk of the dark ride section of the ride to make sure all the effects are working and to make sure other things like emergency exits are not obstructed.

They also check the high zone parts of the track where the catwalks are to make sure all mounting points for the staff to be harnessed to in an evacuation are in working order and to turn the smoke machines on. Basically if any effects are not working properly they get written in the maintenance book to be looked at for the next day. Depending on what the effect is it can be fixed whilst the ride is in operation behind the scenes but generally it has to be fixed once the attraction is closed.

Sadly the park isn't going to delay opening of the ride for a simple effect not working (axes etc) unless it's a 2 minute job but most of the time it could delay opening by upwards of a hour depending on the severity. Obviously if any defects are found in anything like the mounting points or an exit is obstructed the ride will not open until that issue is rectified. The turntables and lifts are also inspected in the morning too before actual ride testing begins at around 9:45am where cast members test the lap bar mechanisms, station stops etc before opening at 10am sharp.

Track walk tends to take about 20 - 30 minutes depending on how quickly the staff can be assed walking / jogging  used to be my morning workout!

Thanks for that. Always interesting to get a little inside knowledge. 

 

 

[GoGoBoy]

I'm not sure they'd be able to check the show effects when they do a track walk as I assume for the effects to be triggered the cars would need to be moving. Surely staff are not permitted to walk around the ride with moving cars?

Regarding the final Scooby animatronic -- I was just referring to his mouth not moving. Not sure if any other parts used to move.

[themagician]

Last time I went on it (about a month ago), that scooby wasn't moving his mouth, but his whole body was shaking slightly as the audio played.

[pin142]

I'm not sure they'd be able to check the show effects when they do a track walk as I assume for the effects to be triggered the cars would need to be moving. Surely staff are not permitted to walk around the ride with moving cars?

Regarding the final Scooby animatronic -- I was just referring to his mouth not moving. Not sure if any other parts used to move.

​Sure that walking past the sensors to trigger the effects would be sufficient enough to test if they are working. 

[Spotty]

​Sure that walking past the sensors to trigger the effects would be sufficient enough to test if they are working. 

​The sensors to trigger the effects are a very simple photo eye system. Walking past them does trigger the sensors for the effects. As far as i'm aware the final scooby hasn't had his mouth moving in quite a few years if ever. It never moved from 2011 - 2013 when I worked there.

[GoGoBoy]

Really? That seems very strange. I know the old Looney Tunes River Ride used a system of beams and reflectors that would trigger the scenes when a boat passed through. They were easily spotted on the approach to each scene. But as I understand it, most rides with show elements, particularly if they are track based, would not normally have that same system. They would be more likely to have sensors on the actual track itself. Justice League, for example, I would think has an entire ride control system which knows where the cars are on the track and activates the show elements based on that. Any experts with better knowledge of this care to chip in?

[pushbutton]

There is no "switch" for the staff to hit to turn on and off each effect at the start of the day. The ride is inspected by AV and tech services each morning before being handed over to the operations department at about 9:15am. The supervisor + a staff member do a full track walk of the dark ride section of the ride to make sure all the effects are working and to make sure other things like emergency exits are not obstructed.

They also check the high zone parts of the track where the catwalks are to make sure all mounting points for the staff to be harnessed to in an evacuation are in working order and to turn the smoke machines on. Basically if any effects are not working properly they get written in the maintenance book to be looked at for the next day. Depending on what the effect is it can be fixed whilst the ride is in operation behind the scenes but generally it has to be fixed once the attraction is closed.

Sadly the park isn't going to delay opening of the ride for a simple effect not working (axes etc) unless it's a 2 minute job but most of the time it could delay opening by upwards of a hour depending on the severity. Obviously if any defects are found in anything like the mounting points or an exit is obstructed the ride will not open until that issue is rectified. The turntables and lifts are also inspected in the morning too before actual ride testing begins at around 9:45am where cast members test the lap bar mechanisms, station stops etc before opening at 10am sharp.

Track walk tends to take about 20 - 30 minutes depending on how quickly the staff can be assed walking / jogging  used to be my morning workout!

Thanks for that. Always intinformation.het a little inside information

[pushbutton]

Movement detectors are used on Wild West Falls. I think as a general rule, newer rides are more likely to use an integrated track control system. 

It does depend on the nature of the ride though. For example, on Wild West Falls much of the ride is on water, and there is no track suitable for a track control system. 

Therefore effects need another way to trigger and movement sensors are used. 

Edited May 26, 2015 by pushbutton

[Richard]

Just a hunch, but a system that uses optical sensors completely separate to the ride system would be the way I'd do it for ease of installation, maintenance plus the fact that if they had gotten the ride manufacturer Mack involved it'd surely add much more to the cost and complication than if they went with local theming contractors or even in-house electricians/AV guys to set it up as its own standalone system.

Edited May 26, 2015 by Richard

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Any experts with better knowledge of this care to chip in?

​One already has...

Given Spotty is a former ride operator who has conducted the morning 'track walk' - I'd be comfortable in considering him one of the 'experts' on the subject in this forum.

An integrated track \ effect control system has layers of complexity that clearly aren't needed. When all you need is an 'invisible eye' trigger for each effect, why do to the effort of having computer controlled sensors integrated into the ride control?

Justice League is a different kettle of fish. Clearly - the ride control is integrated - hence why you can get a score, which is also imprinted on your ride photo, plus the triggering of both physical motion effects as well as video screens means a lot more is required than just 'breaking a beam' - however Scooby's effects are far more simplistic, as well as the fact that it is around 10 years older than JL... why complicate things that don't need to be?

[pushbutton]

I've just been on Scooby Doo, and for the first time ever (at least that I've seen) the last Scooby animatronic is fully operational, and so are all the other effects. 

Could just be a coincidence. 

[themagician]

It seems like a good day at MW. As mentioned in the MW 2015 forum, all effects were working on SE and JL

[Theme Park Girl]

It seems like a good day at MW. As mentioned in the MW 2015 forum, all effects were working on SE and JL

​The water effect on the Superman coaster has been working for at least a couple of weeks now - I reported it in another thread at the time, although I can't remember which one It was one where it had been said it hadn't been operating for a long time.

 

ETA: Ah. Found it: http://www.parkz.com.au/forums/topic/6823-movieworld-trip-report/?page=2#comment-108696

Edited May 30, 2015 by OceanGirl

[westical]

Animatronic is a strong name for the twitching Scooby mannequins.

[GoGoBoy]

Animatronic is a strong name for the twitching Scooby mannequins.

​Haha, very true Westical!! What's a better word for a mildly animated prop that isn't quite an animatronic?

Great to hear that so many of the show effects are fully operational across the major attractions. Surely it can't be a coincidence? I get the feeling there has been a concerted effort to fix up all of the little details that have been out of action for a long time. Perhaps the maintenance division was able to set aside some extra time?

Edited May 31, 2015 by GoGoBoy

[westical]

Well the Green Lantern crew haven't had much to do.