Tomb Raider Questions

1. Can the "tomb" be closed off? I've noticed in pictures of TR:TR in the off season that the tomb doesn't look like it is closed.

2. After Tomb Raider was announced there was a large display in front of the fountain when you entered the park "advertising" the ride. In the middle of that display there was a statue of the god similar to the one you meet in the last room before the actual ride. Are the statue in the display and the statue in the ride the same one? ( The one on the ride has a giant green cauldron in it's lap, which may have been added later if they are the same statue. )

3. What props in Tomb Raider: The Ride, are actual props from the movie?

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Intelligence is a God given gift: Know how to use it.
*** This post was edited by CoasterKrazy 2/13/2003 4:48:31 PM ***

1. Not sure what you are asking

2. They are not the same

3. Some of the Monkey Statues are from the movie as well as the afformentioned statue with the green cauldron and the clock of time or whatever its called.

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Da Poodle

Coming in 2003-The Spawn Of Magnum!

Answers:

1. Yes, there is a metal garage door that can be pulled down to close off the cave entrance.

2. Yes, it is the same statue. The cauldron actually sits on a stand in front of the statue rather than on it's lap. The cauldron was not used for the International Street display.

3. The All-Terrain Vehicle out front, the Monkey Statues, the Brahma (sp??) statue and cauldron you mentioned as well as other gargoyles in that room. There are also a few minor props in the ride room that I believe to be from the movie such as the large "triangle" at the base of the front wall.

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Shaggy

R.I.P. Maestro
Phantom Theater 1992-2002
*** This post was edited by Shaggy 2/11/2003 9:24:50 PM ***

1) Yes the tomb can be closed. I remember many times after closing the night out on the beast and walking by and seeing an aluminium garage door type thing down a few feet inside the tomb entrance. Next time you go if you look right as you enter the cave you will see it. I hope im talking about what your asking.

2) I thought a few were because they were gone the next year when the ride was open and a car for a promotion was in its spot. I guess I was wrong.

3) No clue other than I know that the jeep outside the ride is said to be from the film

Ahh I thought you meant this stature in 2002 as opposed to 2001. The statue there in 2001 was the one from the movie.

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Da Poodle

Coming in 2003-The Spawn Of Magnum!

MagnumForce,

The statue used in the promotional display in 2001 was the same one used in the 2nd show room in the attraction. They are one in the same.

The LARGE Shiva statue in the RIDE room was created especially for the attraction and was not used in the International Street display.

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Shaggy

R.I.P. Maestro
Phantom Theater 1992-2002

Shaggy, thats what I meant.

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Da Poodle

Coming in 2003-The Spawn Of Magnum!

Thanks for the help. I've got a few more questions, but I'll ask later after looking at a couple more TR: TR construction/ride photos.

1. If there was to be a power outage while Tomb Raider: The Ride was operating, would the arms and gondola fall to a "default" position, or would they stay in the position that they were in when the power was cut off?

2. How many different programs does TR: TR have, if it has more than one at all? For instance, is there are program that the ride can run where the lava scene is not a part of the ride, or any other scene for that matter?

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Intelligence is a God given gift: Know how to use it.

*** This post was edited by CoasterKrazy 2/13/2003 9:50:54 AM ***

Also, does anyone know if I can download that promo video for Tomb Raider: The Ride, that was used on Media Day? I've heard people talking about that, and Son of Beast's promo, and I would like to watch them if possible.
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Intelligence is a God given gift: Know how to use it.

1) Yes, it would return to default position. There's always the backup power to do so.

2) There are 8 different programs. I've not experienced them all and myself can only say I've accounted for half of them. I also believe that they will be redone over the winter. If I remember correctly is takes 30hrs to write a new program.

Hope that helps!

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You cannot teach a man anything, you can only help him find it within himself.
-Galileo

Is the default position the starting position?

What are the other programs like? Were they ever run during the season?
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Intelligence is a God given gift: Know how to use it.

A standard Huss Top Spin has 10 programs, I believe.

But Tomb Raider does not.

Tomb Raider has operated with the very same program that it ran with since day one. Contrary to popular belief, or legend, or rumor, the gondola movements of TR have never been altered.

The effects (i.e lava pit, steam, sparks etc) can be changed, and there are different "settings" for them.

So to say TR has different programs is incorrect. It has the capability to be re-programmed with different movements, but it operates with only one program.

This season may see a change to that, and in the future the ride may have new "programs" that it will operate with.

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Shaggy

R.I.P. Maestro
Phantom Theater 1992-2002
*** This post was edited by Shaggy 2/13/2003 12:33:12 PM ***

You'd know better than I would then... why did Jeff Siebert say on several occasions that they were "tweaking" the program?

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
"The world rotates to The Ultra-Heavy Beat!" - KMFDM

They had a lot of issues with the ride. I think his use of the word "tweaking" is a nice PR way of saying things kept busting so they had to keep fixing them and adjusting them so that they would work consistantly.

The effects did change from time to time. The statues eyes sometimes moved, sometimes did not. The water in the lava was sometimes hitting people, sometimes not. The fog was quite thick at times, quite sparse at others. The rain was heavy at times, light at others. Sometimes the sparks worked, sometimes they did not. Sometimes the Shiva turned angry, sometimes not.

As for the ride unit itself, they "tweaked" it by removing the original item pouches and replacing them with larger, zipper ones. They also "tweaked" the ride by limiting the amount of riders were loaded. I expect it had something to do with the current it was requiring to power it with a full load, or the strain therfore. I personally only rode it only once or twice with all the seats filled. And that was at the very start of the season. Even though lines stayed long, the gondola was rarely more than 2/3 filled as the season progressed.

Those were just a few of the variations I saw to the ride. However, the gondola and actual topspin cycle did not change at all last season.

Shaggy

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Shaggy

R.I.P. Maestro
Phantom Theater 1992-2002

Would it be possible for the program to change every time the ride started? For instance, if Tomb Raider: The Ride had ten different programs, could the rides computer randomly pick a program each time the ride started, so that you would never know what to expect?

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Intelligence is a God given gift: Know how to use it.

Sure. But I doubt it ever will.

TR:TR is unique because the ride motion is timed with the effects and the soundtrack. It was quite the challenge to tie them all together.

Developing 9 other alternate ride programs that all flow with the music and have different visual effects would be cumbersome, time consuming and costly.

I expect the park will "jazz" up the thrill element of the ride. And over time we will probably see changes to the ride program. However I doubt it will stray too much from what it is.

If you have hopes for TR to do consecutive flip after flip after flip.... you're going to be dissapointed. PKI uses the toughest safety standards on their rides. I think it is called something like TUV or such. Those types of safety precautions would never allow PKI to get away with programs on their attractions like "Texas Tornado" at SFWOA.

SF's safety standards are not nearly as stringent as those used by the chain parks like Busch and Paramount. That is why you see more "extreme" programs on their flat rides.

Shaggy

I'd like to go on record about Texas Tornado... *head spinning since October*.. it's the only normal sized Top Spin I've ridden and BOY... it's spinny. LOL.

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I'm not an enthusiast, I just play one on message boards.

Actually, Shaggy, I believe the Top Spin (as with all the Huss rides) is built to comply with TÜV standards regardless of what program it runs. Also, the action of a Top Spin, because it is inertial, will depend on how the seats are loaded. So even if the cycle has not changed, the ride action may vary from cycle to cycle depending on how the gondola is loaded. I know the thing did more flipping when lightly loaded than when fully loaded, and that does actually make sense.

I'm not sure how a Top Spin is geared, so I'm not certain how it reacts to a power outage. I think it can free-wheel to come back down unless it is in the full up position. In a loss of power, presumably the tub brake would fail (this is one case where you want a brake to RELEASE on a power failure!) and the main arms could coast down...but I think that under certain circumstances and loading conditions the counterweights can actually cause the gondola to strand high...it's the only reason I can think of for the basic park model (not sure about the Giant) to have a battery back-up system to bring the motors down.

As for changing programs on a multi-cycle ride...

Kings Island in particular, but really all of the Paramount parks, have adopted the attitude that they are 'show parks', that they are not running rides, they are putting on shows, and as such, the performance should be consistent. In the model of Disney and Universal, each "guest" (I hate that term...) should get to experience the same "show" (I hate that term too...). So consistency becomes important, and it is necessary therefore to give everybody the same ride experience to the extent that it is possible to do so.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.
EDIT: Corrected the spelling of TÜV.
*** This post was edited by RideMan 2/13/2003 6:29:13 PM ***

What are TUV standards? ( And for that matter, what does TUV stand for :) )

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Intelligence is a God given gift: Know how to use it.

TÜV is the Technischer Überwachungs-Verein. It is now an international association, a bit like the Underwriters Laboratories. TÜV began in 1872 as an organization for the inspection and testing of pressure vessels (steam boilers) and evolved to become a standards-setting, inspection and certification body. In general, TÜV is a bit like Underwriter's Laboratories and ASTM. A little bit of ANSI thrown in for good measure, but in reality I think it's something like TÜV:ASTM::DIN:ANSI. :)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.