Spiderman, dying.

Does it seem to anyone else like the most expensive ride ever built, Spiderman is quickly suffering do to age. If you have never been on it before, you wouldn't notice, and would still love it, but I think its not running very well anymore. First of all, a lot of the effect work sometimes, but usually don't anymore. Like being showered in the water, the fireball through the building, the heat, and when our going up, the walls are still moving, but are not going up smootly. They also really need to buy some new glasses. Sometimes now, the movie is not synchronized perfectly, and the car just dosen't move in certain spots. On the dop off the tower, it used to feel like you were reall falling off, because of everything being perfectl timed, but nowit just feels like you are being slightly tipped foward. Don't get me wrong, it is still a great ride for anyone that has not gone on it, or a few times. But if youhave been on it many times, you probably will see this. This is just my opinion, and it is still a great ride.

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I'm sitting shiva for CCI.

*** This post was edited by Stitch on 8/14/2002. ***

It would be a real shame if a 200,000,000 dollar (I think?) attraction went down the pooper! When I visited IOA I was absolutely amazed with that ride - this was in my blissful pre-enthusiast days when I had no hype to be disappointed by. The first time I rode it I was not assigned to the front row. Although the ride was spectacular the front row is definitely better!

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The Other Siebert

200 mil? are you kidding.

He is not kidding, it cost I think a little above 200 mil.

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I'm sitting shiva for CCI.

*** This post was edited by Stitch on 8/14/2002. ***

Holy Crap. That's all I gotta say about that.......

Countdown to Extinction and Indiana Jones were also toned down in their wild rides a little after opening. Indiana Jones cost 200 million also, but was waaay over budget.

Thats crazy. You could get 20 good coasters for that much.

Yeah, but you can't get a temple, mile long queue, a 6 minute ride, top notch theming, a unique ride experience each time (no 2 rides are ever the same), and an attraction that will attract tens of millions with a coaster, and RnRC and CA Screamin' were both probably more than 50 million.

The effects on Spidey have always been hit or miss. I don't think that has changed much. Actually, the Statue of Liberty effect now moves (it did for the first few weeks, proved to be too volatile so they took it out because it would block the path of the vehicle's clearance, and then was reset so it's fine for clearance even at its low point). The one thing that has definitely improved is the decrease in downtime.

There are way too many effects going on to nail it every time. The same goes for Jurassic Park River Adventure. It's rare that all of the gizmos are working right for an entire ride.

Stitch: Is it really suffering "do" to age? Due you think they should taer it doun?

On topic, I would believe that Spiderman cost that much and it is worth every dime. It consistently ranks at the top of polls because it is the best. (IMO)

*** This post was edited by bigboy on 8/14/2002. ***

Paris the Statue of Liberty effect has always worked on my rides minus a few that envolved glitches. And believe me, I've been on the ride a pretty dang good amount, enough to memorize all the lines. But you are right about the hit and miss aspect. I've rode the thing with only audio and no movies.

Stitch do you remember what time of day it was you rode it? The effects tend to be tuned down during closing time or just when it's open. I'm assuming thats done to save money since there aren't as many guests on the ride. During midday usually everything is on. Although I don't doubt that the effects may be starting to show age. It's been there for nearly three and a half years without a major rehab. I'm thinking part of the plan of HHN moving to IOA is to give Spidey a month or maybe less off so it can finally have a major rehab. HHN would give guests something to fall back on after hearing the bad news that Spidey is closed.

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"This time I think ... I think it's ... it's going to work!" - Dr.Bruce Banner

It often blows cues--as do many of the IOA rides--when running at peak capacity.

-'Playa

(who saw the same problems on Jurassic Park, Cat in the Hat and several other rides)

Or maybe you have just ridden it so much you're starting to notice every little thing about it that isn't dead on. Perhaps you should leave Spidey alone for a while, and come back in 2 months.

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-Kyle Brylczyk
KoRn - Untouchables, June 11th, 2002

The same exact thing is happening on Indy at DL, the other 200 million dollar ride is hacing a TON of these problems, but much more due to the fact the technology is about a little more than 10 years old and the ride has been around for 8 years, also with no major re hab. It's too bad these 200 million dollar masterpieces can't be perfect ;)

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See THE ULTIMATE in Orlando TR'S! Right now in the TR fourm!

I thought it was a great ride! I was there just a few weeks ago and all the effects you listed where working fine.

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“If you give a enthusiast a footer.......He’ll want a coaster!!!"

It all seemed fine to me when I got to ride it in November. Loved it so much I did it twice.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"Let's stop saying 'don't quote me,' because if no one quotes you, you probably haven't said a thing worth saying." - Dogma, KMFDM

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bigboy said:

Stitch: Is it really suffering "do" to age? Due you think they should taer it doun?

*** This post was edited by bigboy on 8/14/2002. ***

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No, I don't think they should tear it down, it is still possibly the best non-coaster ride IMO, maybe even better than any coaster. I'm just saying that it has been slowing down lately, and hey should maybe close it down for a litle while to refurbish it.

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I'm sitting shiva for CCI.

Although not recently, I have been on Spiderman at least a hundred times in '00 and '01. I also had the honer of working at this attraction as well. I would like to point out that I have noticed sometimes a few of the effect will not be working. With that much stuff going on over and over for each RV, things are going to break or start not working properly.

Just imagine how much money it takes for the park to fix just one of these effects. Add to that the amount of effects and you are spending big bucks to keep the ride running properly. I have not rode Spiderman recently and it could very well be run down. I hope they fix the problems though becase it is the greatest dark ride I know of.

You may find this other info interesting.

Did you know that each film on the ride are in a protective room free of dust and projected through a glass window? This protects aginst film deteriation. And when you look at one screen you are seeing two films on top of each other.

Each ride vehicle is worth about 1 million dollars. They each have the motion programmed into them. If I remember correctly, they usuially run between12 and 15 RVs at a time at normal cap. The "program" has changed a few times to allow for higher capacity, sometimes more intese and sometimes less.

The scenery you see on the non projected walls durring your ride is not painted but rather printed from a very HUGE and expensive printer. The scenery was taken directly from the movie so it can seemlessly blend in with what is being projected.

Those 3-d glasses, like other rides, are washed after every use to insure that there are no fingerprints or smudges. There is a whole crew placeing and removeing them into a "3-D glasses washing maching".

I could tell you more but then I would have to kill you:)

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Okay, I new all of those things except for the glasses.

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I'm sitting shiva for CCI.

You make some good points, Dexter, but why build a ride like that if you know upkeep is going to be too costly? Sure it costs big $$$ to keep everything running fine and dandy, but this should have been planned for.

I've been on Spidey more times than I can count (ok, actually probably around 25 times) and never had a "bad" ride - I do have to admit I don't think I've ever seen evrything work (or work correctly) on a single ride but over the course of all the rides have seen everything.

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www.coasterimage.com
Dorney Park visits in 2002: 15

*** This post was edited by Lord Gonchar on 8/15/2002. ***