Haystack Dryer

The "room" is indeed up in the ceiling. The flash of light is designed to iris down your eyes so you can't see the transition happening.

Hmmmm... ok, but is the ceiling retractable and does it move in to cover the room once it's up there? Or am I making this too complicated? However it works, I thought it was a great illusion. Thanks.

The illusion was a lot better in the original show. You walked into the larger room and then in the very last second of the show you ended up in the smaller room but the transition was so fast it seemed like something really amazing. At least that's how I remember it, my first visit was quite a few years ago.

Not sure how they accomplish that, but I know by Thanksgiving day the water tunnel was no longer functioning. I really did want to experience it one more time, it was such a fantastic effect - kinda sorry I didn't do it more often when it was operating. "RIP water tunnel - you will be missed".

Wow, that sucks. They just keep 'minusing' this one don't they?

Haven't been to IOA for quite a few years, but did see the original and then the 'newer' version. I remember thinking the original PF was much better.

At this point what's the draw?

When I worked at IOA back in the day, you walked into the large room and were saved by being "magically" transported into the small room again. When they changed it to the way it is now, it sounded like a real bummer. When you have a good magic trick, you only have to show it once to make the effect last.

I always asked people "in the know" how it worked and got the same un-detailed answer myself, that the room comes from the ceiling. I think that it makes more sense if the room comes from in back of the room behind the show control area. Maybe the small room hops over the back control room and over the audiance.

I never quite figured the thing out completely. The lack of a seam on the floor suggests that the room is very heavy, which would require a very powerful, precise, and fast moving device to move it into position.

I also believe that additional parts of the floor are moved into position from underneath.

I love how threads get sidetracked...

Haystack drier...It sounds great. I personally like to walk around a park wet for a few hour and let the sun dry me. It keeps me cool. On a cool day I would use the haystack Drier. With regards to the stupid "blackmail" joke at my expense, three bucks is a reasonable price.

I hate sloshy, soggy shoes and socks, but I usuially wear sandals to prevent that. I keep extra shoes and socks in a locker or in the car for when I know I am finished with the water rides.

It's easy enough to see it happen. If you know when the flash happens, you cover your eyes with your hands, and look as soon as it happens. You can see the walls get hoisted up in front of you.

To get back to the dryer... They had something similar to this at Alton Towers when I visited there in 2006. It didn't work very well, but we had 4 people in it at the same time, which may have contributed to its ineffectiveness. :P

Back off topic, here's a video of the new 'dry' tunnel on Poseidon. Looks to be just some mist now.

(might want to 'save target as' on that video - it's not embedded)

That is a damn shame. What possible reason could they have to ditch it? I can't imagine it'd be cost in light of the crap load they're spending on the Harry Potter stuff.

Original Version, YouTube

Perhaps its temporary due to HP construction?

Neuski said:
Original Version, YouTube

And here's the moment in that video where you see the majesty that was the tunnel. (no looking around the video for the moment since YouTube allows specific time links now :) )

Makes the new mist seem even more ridiculous when you see what it used to be.

The effect would soak guests when it malfunctioned. That is the only reason that I can come up with that it was turned off.

The show used to be almost incredible. Now it is just okay. Maybe it should be replaced.

I never saw the second version of Poseidon, but after seeing the original I never understood why the hell it was altered. As the saying goes, don't F with what ain't broke...or something like that.

And the saying needs to be echoed for the water tunnel...definitely the most mesmerizing part of the attraction. For years I've been wanting to take my wife to IoA, and one of the things I've been eager to show her was Poseidon's Fury. Not so much, anymore.

Thanks for the tip Gonch.

The Haystack Dryer looks interesting, but scary. :) I am used to just changing clothes and avoid log flumes unless I am already in a bathing suit. I hate walking around soaked in regular clothes so I would be willing to try it.

-Tina

Jumping back a bit, I can also confirm that the walls in the little room at the end of Poseidon are merely hoisted into the ceiling. My suspicion is that the walls go all the way up above the visible ceiling tiles, and the ceiling of the little room (remember that?) doesn't go up quite as far and actually is the ceiling you can see up there.

It's done with a high speed flight system, which given the speed and silence of the system I am guessing is probably hydraulic, although it could be done with a pin-rail type system as well. The walls move very fast, and as you would expect from Universal there is a safety system in place to make sure that nothing is in the way when the walls go up and down. That became obvious to me the last time I was in there, when the walls came down at the end of the show and stopped about two feet short. This was obvious not just because the wall didn't quite reach the floor, but also because at the front of the room you could easily see the high water mark on the bottom of the wall.

As for eliminating the tunnel, that just seems silly to me. The only problem I ever had with it is that the humidity is so high there, yet the air temperature is so cool, that about halfway through my glasses would fog up, making it that much more difficult to navigate the left turn and step at the end of the tunnel.

* * *

Do you ever wonder about these massive archaeological structures, where you have to go through room after room, descending through a massive complex of caverns and rooms to get to whatever it is you were after, only to exit through a back door that leads straight to the midway? And it isn't just amusement attractions, either. Go watch "Raiders of the Lost Ark" some time and notice how they go through a bunch of rooms to get into the room where the Ark is sitting, then bust through a wall on the other side that leads basically right out into the middle of town (or something like that). I've often wondered why it is that in attractions like Poseidon, nobody ever remembers to block the massive door open that granted access to the inner chamber. But it also occurs to me that someone really ought to simplify things a bit and just open that back door so that you can get to the inner chamber right from the midway... :)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Funny thing, Dave, but I always wondered that too, particularly after National Treasure. :)

I never saw the original version, but I did enjoy the current version (with the tunnel effect). With no place to sit and walking the entire rest of the attraction, it certainly isn't the most friendly attraction for the older folk, though.

^"...with no place to sit and walking the entire rest of the attraction..." - from what I've been able to gather, that is the reason for the demise of the attraction as a whole. Still doesn't explain the removal of the water tunnel (although I guess getting wet in the "Winter" in Orlando isn't entirely pleasant). Maybe if they had a way to dry off in case the tunnel rotated too slow and got you wet? Perhaps some sort of dryer mechanism... ;)