I mean, he only shows the blocks and other specific details about the Florida one, but yeah he did also explain the layouts somewhat of the other 3 lmao
Literally every disney ride. No one believes you when you tell them Space Mountain goes 30mph and that Slinky Dog is 50% faster. Put one in the dark with flashing lights and space noise, make the other toy themed. Regardless of speed, Disney uses the theming to make the experience what they're going for. I hate drop towers. I can't miss an opportunity to go on Tower of Terror. The theming makes it scarier, but also much more fun and satisfying.
I'll say... It's the perfect blend, slow enough so you can appreciate and immerse in the theming, but fast enough so you can wear a big smile on your face the whole ride. 😁😁😁😁😁 I love it!
Legitimately, the extensive theming on these rides make them feel far faster than they really are (and oddly a lot more memorable than several much larger thrilling coasters); especially that quirky bunny hill with the twist and sudden drop. Thanks for getting all the info on the ride ops. That's just crazy how many cars are on there.
The underwater tunnels in the Paris version feel so much faster than they are. It's pretty cold in them, and that combined with the fact that only the fake bats give off light make it feel so fast.
Yeah I remember Big thunder mountain a lot more than el loco in the adventure dome the only thing I remember about el loco is that turn after the lift Hill while I pretty much remember everything else about Big thunder
It was the ONE RIDE that was closed on Christmas 2015 when I went. Was SOOOOO disappointed (but at least I got to see the original Phantom Manor before they took out the decaying phantom)
@@jaberoni Eh, I would argue space isn't, but the original space mountain with the bullet to the moon theming deafinitely was better, but with its generic theming now, I would argue that California's is the best, its smooth, has lap restraints, has really cool special effects that look really good, and has an AWESOME halloween overlay that is so cool. But thats just an opinion
@@jaberoni I cant have an opinion on if they are better then the other parks as i have only ridden the paris ones. What I do know is that I despise rock n roller coaster. I ode it once and my chest hurt for hours after
@@jaberoni the designer said he was never satisfied with the Rock 'n Rollercoaster in Paris and that he didn't manage to get it to the level of the WDW version. He's saying that he's confident the new coaster will be better, so let's hope for the best
People don't realize just how intricate these rides are, and how many layers upon layers of safety systems they have. You do an excellent job of making this stuff understandable for those who may not be engineers. I've tried to explain these things to people and just gotten blank stares. Now I direct them to your videos and they understand it immidiatiely. A rare skill to have. Very nicely done, excellent content!
You don't really need to be an engineer to understand this stuff. I'll give it to you, yes there are a lot that goes into these rides, but as far as this one goes it's really fairly simple. Not too many intricacies involved.
@@shawnspencer8766 technically you're right... And that may be the case If your friends and family are all reasonably intelligent people... But try explaining this stuff to the average person off the street in this day and age... Their eyes glaze over and they start twitching. Maybe I just live in an area with an inordinate amount of stupid people. Lol
@@blackhawks81H hmmm very true never thought about it like that. I mean, I'm in ride maintenance so i guess working on these rides all the time, I forget most people have probably never seen this kind of stuff before. Good point 👍🏻
@@blackhawks81Hthey are probably not interested, that's all. If I dont care about a topic I wont pay attention, that doesnt make me nor anyone stupid.
well apparently they didn't have enough "layers of safety systems" as there was an accident where someone was killed and tbh they were lucky it was only one person.
One time I was riding this at the Florida version, I was with my dad who is a much larger figure than I, the single lap bar for our row was more spacious for me, so on the first bunny hill I got mad ejector airtime and almost flew out of my seat. Best ride I ever had on it!
This exact thing happened to me with my wife and her thicker thighs! LOL! Every time I would fly out of that first bunny hill and slam against the lap bar and we would both start giggling.
That reminds me of Desperado on State Line (Nevada)...I rode it in 7th grade when I was super short still (I was 5'3 for so long until Junior year when I grew 7-8"). I LITERALLY almost flew out of the seat because I could wiggle my way out of the lap bar easily. It was the scariest ride of my life and that counts everything since...because I literally had to hold onto the lap bar and push my weight down to not literally fall out of the ride. Desperado is one intense roller coaster...it's not the greatest ride ever, but it definitely is better than some. I feel sorry for anyone that has never gotten a chance to ride it, especially now that they rarely run it. I went to Vegas 1-3 times a year growing up until I was 21, then I went every month of the year until I was in my early 30's. Now I only go like 3-4 times a year. It's crazy to me that people "save up" to go places that I go on a regular basis with little effort like Disneyland (well not anymore...since it is terrible), Six Flags, the beaches of Orange County, Las Vegas, Big Bear/Mammoth mountains, etc. Too bad this is a communist state and I'll be leaving soon, but it WAS awesome growing up here my entire life. Unfortunately I will join the many that are leaving because they can't take their ridiculous communist ways anymore. Gavin Newson is such a f'n idiot, he needs to go! If he doesn't get recalled it will only be because the election was rigged...no one wants that moron anymore. He has the most ridiculous ideas for FORCING vaccinations and making the strictest laws about COVID. Please someone point out the people you know that actually got COVID, because in this entire time I've met 3 entire people that had it even and no one I knew or heard of died from it. Stupid f'n lying government and their numbers that no one can disprove.
@@ShockerTopper Man, I _wish_ California were a communist state. Unfortunately, Disney and others are still pretty big on that whole private property thing
In some ways, this is the perfect coaster. Its extensive use of theming and clever design rather than just straight intense forces means that both enthusiasts and people who don't ride coasters that often have an excellent experience.
Another great video. Very informative. All of Disney's rides are designed to penalize slow operations (except in Japan). Nearly every single Disney ride will cascade if there's a sizable pause within the station. In Space Mountain's case at DL, a 50 second pause cascades the ride (that was closer to 30 back before the rebuild). It's one reason DL's Space Mtn crew is so aggressive with speeding people into their seats. It's also why the alternate disabled platform was constructed when the ride was rebuilt in the mid 2000's. Space Mtn at DLR used to do this to "catch up" if there was a gap between load and A lift. As an aside, Space Mtn at DLR pre-rebuild was way crazier than BTM is. I'd love to see an ops video on that thing. As a teenage guest, I could spot the cascade before it happened. On several occasions I backtracked through the station into the middle of the queue to watch lights come on and the rockets slam to a stop on each block brake! Tokyo's and Hong Kong's don't run enough rockets to make this an issue though and DL's issues have largely been addressed now. BTW, Vekoma fabbed DLR's original Thunder Mtn, as they did with Space Mtn at DLR as well. Both were rebuilt by dynamic in the last 20 years. Even before the overhaul, the BTM at Tokyo simply paused on lifts for delays and restarted via ops clearing the blocks without even lockout/tagout. And that was only for trains stopped on C lift. Tokyo has always operated their trim brake as a block brake at the end of the ride, in addition to the ready brake. In reality, they can hold two trains behind the station. They're also trained to "steal" dispatches in Tokyo as they don't want to get into a setup situation even if it means dispatching an empty through the station to catch up. At TDL's Thunder, with 1 train always parked in the station (stealing), they can reliably cycle 4 trains through one side full time so cascades are very rare anyway. If there's an all out breakdown then trains will stop all over the course but the zones beneath the lifts are recoverable. Tokyo doesn't have need for winches at all (not even sure if it was equipped pre-rebuild). In general, Tokyo's rides don't have cascades though. For whatever reason, crews there are drastically slower at getting vehicles out on most of their rides compared to elsewhere. I've been block checked/paused on a ridiculous amount of Tokyo Disney's rides that would cascade/estop on their cousins elsewhere. Even the classic take rides will just stack 10 vehicles behind unload halfway into the ride and you just sit there and proceed from scene to scene and then block/pause until the next dispatch. Over and over. One the classics, I've actually stopped for a combined 5+ minutes between each block due to backups and it's completely normal. They simply don't have the "you'll pay for slowness" for operators in Tokyo. Of course, it means they're constantly displaying bad show in every ride every day with the endless block/pausing. If they can't get that many vehicles cycled through on a consistent basis, it's not aiding capacity by having people sit in scenes waiting for 4 or 5 cars ahead at unload. Just bizarre IMO. I can't even count the number of rides I've had this happen on at both of the Tokyo Parks. Love TDR to death and TDS is my favorite park, but operations are a notch below the other resorts (other than Paris which has it's own operations challenges).
That makes sense with TDL! Operations in Japan are pushed less hard due to culture so I see why the rides don’t penalize slow moving crews there! I remember stacking horribly on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and it ruined the ending scene 😂😂
Tokyo Disneyland isn’t actually operated or owned by Disney! The Oriental Land Company owns that park and pays Disney to license the property. This could be why the operations are different as the management could have different priorities when it comes to the rides and operations.
I would love to see a video like this on Space Mountain operations at the Disneyland Resort in CA. They have to dispatch every 22 seconds I believe to avoid a cascade. I've even been on the ride where they have whooshed us through the loading area as the alarms are blaring saying we get to ride again in order to avoid the cascade.
Used to work space mountain. We could run up to 11 rockets at a time and I was told before it was made over in 2003-2005 they could run 12 rockets at a roughly 18 second dispatch interval
Same happened to me, but a kid lost his mind and started crying so they had to send us left after the station instead of right to the first lift hill and evac us with a portable staircase. What was almost a sweet second ride turned into 20 wasted minutes of major annoyance. Darn kids.... Oh well, I did get a pass to re-ride without queueing.
Disney: Let's use LIMs to propel the train forwards and backwards smoothly in the station. Also Disney: Let's build an uphill break run without LIMs....
That's the part I couldn't figure out. LIMs, or even just friction tires, could easily eliminate the need for winches, and save the inconvenience of having to evacuate the riders.
@@andrewrichesson8627 I doubt that it's the ride operators who have to run the winches. On the other hand, dealing with the public while evacuating them would no doubt be brutal.
Disney: We're not gonna put Pirates of the Caribbean in Disney World on opening day, Florida has so much pirate culture already Disney three decades later: Let's put a park based on California right across from our park _in California_
It's a nice way to keep tourists stuck in a ride line! Keeps them from actually traveling around our state! Great way to prevent cursing at the locals for honking at their confused driving! We need more California Adventures!! Californians are always sitting in traffic, so having our visitors wait in line is an accurate representation of life here
Europapark: ey we are in Europe so how about we don't base ourselves on Europe? Oh wait that is just stupid. Efteling: Hah we are as Dutch and european as we can get! Disneyland Paris (in the past at least): Viva la France!!
My friend used to work in Frontierland. It’s crazy how many CM’s it takes to run all five coasters at once. If not, then only one station can run. Even though its not a coaster, you want to talk about coordination, running all the boats they used to on the Rivers of America (steam boat, rafts, canoes, and keel boats) was quite impressive.
@@ChrisGeeReacts let's be realistic chris he forgot the most important thing for operation in this ride.... "Ahem attention on thunder train in motion from spur to 7/8 to 11/12"
I find it hilarious how Disney is like “FIFTY FOOT DROP! WILL YOU SURVIVE!?” While Xcelerator and every other coaster at Knott’s is just chilling down the road.
Disney's plays it way too safe honestly, I can't think of a single coaster that has a drop higher than 100 feet, not even Everest's mountain is 100 feet tall, they didn't want to comply with Florida air traffic regulations with a light on top of the mountain.... Incredicoaster may be the closest to that height i think Meanwhile Seaworld and Busch Gardens have Mako and Iron Gwazi respectively, both are 200 feet tall and can be seen as you drive by the parks. I think even Universal has attractions that're taller, possibly their music coaster and dr doom's freefall.
@@GarryDKing you see my friend, Disney cares less about the thrills, and more about the bills. Children aren't gonna want to ride a coaster like Steel Vengeance or something like it, because they aren't brave adreneline seekers like yourself. Now a heavily themed, and heavily safe runaway mine train coaster? That's what's gonna milk their parents' pockets.
Walt Disney himself wanted a family park. IMO I think it’s great that they have stayed true to this while adding some enjoyable thrills. BTW incredicoaster has a 120 foot drop. If you don’t like the Disney parks don’t go. There’s plenty of other parks near both Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
I've been a regular visitor to Walt Disney World since 1981, right around the time that Big Thunder opened, and it's always been one of my favorite coasters due to the intricate details. This video has increased my appreciation for the attraction even more. Thanks for a thorough, fascinating examination of its history and operation.
As someone who has been on BTMR in Paris, I can tell you it’s a m a z i n g! It’s definitely the best ride in the park tbh, would even say it’s the best family coaster i’ve ever done because of the amazing theming and excitement factor.
that last section in the dark is just incredible, the drop in the dark feels like it will never and and it is legit thrilling for me despite having been on a couple hundred coasters.
Definitely the best Thunder Mountain, I remember going back to Florida after it being so excited for BTM and it didn’t come close. The tunnels to and from the mountain give it a fast start and even more thrilling ending.
I used to work that thing and keeping it running was really intense. We had to make sure trains wouldn’t stack, everyone was seated properly, not to mention weight limits and the rocket that slides over onto the track. There were times that if we were backing up we would pull fully loaded trains into the storage bay and get people out there so the ride wouldn’t break down.
Riddle42 I used to work Space Mountain too back in 2016! So much fun and very fast paced work environment. Loved every second of it. Some old work friends told me they were able to increase the weight limit and the computer system now auto-gaps according to the weight difference so the tower CM doesn’t have to press on the inhibit manually anymore for those specific rockets.
I remember riding this when I was little. my mom is a large person so the lap bar never touched my body at all. throughout the entire ride I'd basically be standing up due to the crazy airtime.
Absolutely, Big Thunder and Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom are both highly underrated in terms of some really solid ejector airtime in the back seat. Also, Ryan, I’ll help if you wanna do a video on Florida’s Space Mountain’s operations!
This is your best problematic coasters video yet. Perfect description of the Weirdest Ride in the Wilderness. I had no idea the maintenance area was so far away from the station. The finale on the Paris version, by the way, is just incredible and incredibly fast. It makes this version seem so much more complete.
Holy smokes, I have a very clear memory from years ago when my dad and I were evaced off thunder mountain in california... Apparently someone on one of the other trains attempted to stand up so they e-stopped the entire ride and we got to walk through the evacuation tunnels. When I became an enthusiast years later I always thought it was strange that they had us evacuate the ride on a normal brake run, but now that totally makes sense! Awesome video!
"It gives riders agreat view a the mountain" It also gives a great view of the fireworks if you're lucky enough to be on it while the show is happening.
I love that the landscape of this ride is inspired heavily by home state of Utah. Seriously, if you want to feel like you're in the old west, go to Arches National Park. It's incredible.
Expedition Theme Park: detailed history and creation of theme park attractions ElToroRyan: detailed technicial analysis and explanation of roller coasters. My dude, these new videos youve made are fantastic. Keep these up 👍
Big Thunder Mountain is perfect for a Disney roller coaster. It’s perfectly themed, has plenty of airtime for those who want it without scary drops, and has an engaging queue line that makes the wait feel way shorter, even with kids. Me and my friends went to Disney last year, and we rode Big Thunder twice- once with Fastpass, and once without, directly afterwards. It was our favorite ride of the day.
This ride will always have a special place in my heart for helping me overcome my fear of roller coasters as a kid. Not the fastest, most threatening, or most hair-raising coaster around, but approachable and still a lot of fun, especially with the theming.
In 2018 I waited in queue for 40 minutes when Big Thunder in Florida was down due to a thunderstorm, I had a wonderful time talking to some Dutch people I met, and a newlywed couple who were on their honeymoon! It was honestly a brilliant time and honestly it's why I'm not too bothered with wait times, as well as the fact I'm British and queuing is practically a sport here lmao Everyone cheered when the ride was opened up again!
Been riding this at Disneyland for 40 years. It’s never stopped. I had no idea it is so complex and I never noticed the block checks! Please do Space Mountain. That one did stop on me once near the bottom/end. A cast member released the break, gave us a little push, and we coasted into the station.
Could be problematic if the train needs to recover itself from the launch zones. When I saw it stop opening year it couldn't recover the full train from the 1st launch, even after several attempts they had to get everyone off.
A really great, well engineered attraction. Even though this coaster has 3 lift hills, they make great use of themeing throughout and a faster than normal speed for the lift to make it all part of the attraction. Truly a work of art as a themed attraction goes. I've ridden WDW and DLRs versions, and prefer the one in CA over the one in FL. I just think it's a smoother coaster.
Bruh when I ride this alone ( mind that I’m 13 and only 4’11” and skinny ) I always get a restraint size that is like a buzz bar for me and when these laterals hit, I SOAR from side to side on the train and I am launched outta my seat on those ejector pops
I want to say Disneyland has an extra brake run on a flat right before entering the switch track section just before the station. (this switch track allows trains to reverse into the maintenance area). I would love to see Problematic Roller Coasters - Space Mountain (Disneyland).
haven't checked to see if he did expidition everest yet but that is a coaster that tried to push the envelope and really suffered for it. The switch mechanism is waaay too slow and they didn't engineer enough motion time in for it so there's just a pause while the ride gets around changing the track.
I have a soft-spot for Thunder Mountain, even though I've only been on it once (since I've only been to Magic Kingdom a few times). I love locomotives. I love roller coasters. I love the Southwest theme. There's just so much to love about it!
At space mountain in Florida. We call sandbagging "gapping", and its usually because storage called tower and asked for one to send in a new train from storage or load might request one to give a guest with disabilities some more time to get out when they reach unload. The trains leave the restraint checkpoint and then hang out at "dispatch" which is the final brake before going into the blue tunnel.
I remember when I was a kid and rode this with my dad. we were in the front car and noticed a group of girls 4 or 5 rows back (enough to not see around the corners). Dad said "watch this" and as soon as we went around the first corner, he screamed. All the girls started screaming too and didn't stop the whole ride. I was laughing the whole time :)
Thanks for picking a roller coaster that's super popular despite what enthusiasts think about it. I've lost count of how many times I've ridden the CA version and I still get a kick out of it every time. I'm always really impressed with how Disney handles their operations and I really appreciate your detailing of it! I've seen the transfer track that sends trains to the yard but I had no idea it had to cross Disneyland Railroad to get there. That's insane!
I think you are confused. The trains only go across the tracks of the Walt Disney World Railroad at the Magic Kingdom. Disneyland’s Big Thunder Mountain is shown at 28:08 and is connected via a switch track directly to the spur side of the station.
This ride in Disney Anaheim was my first roller coaster ever, and still remains my favorite coaster to this day. I think my first ride was when I was 6 or 7 years old and I'm 32 now.
I've been to disneyland paris about 8 times in my life since I live about 500km away from it and I have to say: the Big Thunder Mountain in disneyland paris is really cool. coaster wise we're really lucky, the best space mountain AND the best big thunder mountain :o
I'd have to disagree sorta... Btm Paris is cool as a rollercoaster but magic kingdom's dose better in themeing... I vastly perfer the white some of space mountain than the copper looks of the Paris version... Plus it's permanently hyperspace mountain with star wars and not the original... That's a no no in my book..
@@beastisntback9887 Not permanently star wars. I think the plan is to bring back the original paris SM , or maybe the mission 2 retheme they did. They brought in new trains for space mountin a couple years ago and they have no themeing related to Star Wars, leaving the ride open to go back to the old theme :)
As a former WDW BTM Cast Member, I can confirm that adding and removing trains was a nightmare and I did everything I could to avoid it. It was incredibly stressful - especially when you were delaying the dispatch of a railroad trainful of Guests. It still gives me anxiety just thinking about it.
One of my friends that worked the ride told me of something called a “grand slam.” Basically, if a cast member hits a station stop when a train is approaching the station, that train will stop. There is a certain point in the return track where when the station stop is reset the brakes will be released but the train will not engage with the LIMs and creep forward into the station very slowly. The following train will be told the forward train is in motion by the RCS and continue cresting lift C. The train entering the station won’t clear so the other train will engage the safety brakes. This also sends a message to the RCS and all the safety brakes will deploy. So each train has to be evacuated, winched into position, and re-cycled through the track. The whole process can take up to 4 or more hours sometimes.
Worked in attractions at Disney. I never heard this specific name, but it sounds right. Attractions CMs will even fight for the opportunity to evacuate certain stops, and it will often go by seniority to get to evac a "rare" stop. It's considered a badge of honor to get to evac every possible stop.
Tho that is a nice scene, it doesn't just automatically make that version better, I could argue that Magic kingdom's is better because of emersive, and well themed queue....
Great video, however you got one thing wrong about the Anaheim version of the ride. Back In 2013 when Disney replaced all the track they added a chain lift that can be raised and lowered on the final (uphill) safety break, very similar to a Vekoma boomerang second lift. So the ride can rescue itself.
Hey man, I have gone down the rabbit hole of binging your channel. I operated BTMRR @ Disneyland pre 2013 refurb. Everything you have said is pretty spot on. A few things of note though, a lot of the downtime at the DLR version pre 2013 is because we had sit down (I believe they are still there) sensors on every lift hill. Notoriously B - Lift. When a station back up (or a cascade to some of your viewers) begins, assuming 2 trains in the station, train 3 hits BZ4 (Brake Zone 4), the next train to stop was actually B-Lift! It could be different in Florida. This was due to the length in our Blocks, and to ensure we didn't get a train caught in any of our Safety Brakes, but more importantly to preserve operational spacing as best as possible so that the latter couldn't happen in the future. At the time, B-Lift was notorious because once a train stopped, the sit-down sensors would activate. Any motion detected would create an Auto-E Stop. Often times this could be something as silly as a selfie-stick, or a really tall person's hand. Which is why Tower would repeatedly spam PA to stopped trains to keep hands and arms inside. It should also be noted, that any E-Stop meant evacuation whether a safety break was occupied or not in accordance with safety regulations in California. Love your stuff man, learned so much about the the Florida BTMRR in this one!
Thank you for explaining the block zones on this ride. When I was young, we got caught in what I believe was the brake zone for block two. We had to walk down the tracks after we were evacuated from the train cars. Scary as hell, but walking down the stairs through the mountain showed some good behind the scenes views.
It’s crazy how Disney does block zones on roller coasters: Space Mountain, Matterhorn, Big Thunder and the Incredicoaster all have crazy operations and ride per hour numbers. You rarely wait an hour for these, even on a busy day. Also while the front of the trains for each of these provides a fairly tame ride, I’m actually shocked to say that there is ejector airtime and good laterals in the back due to the length of the trains, the lack of restraints/stapling and how they move throughout their layouts.
I never noticed this as much with Big Thunder as I do with Space Mountain just how MANY trains they are running back to back to back to BACK. The amount of visitors they get, they really can’t stop. It’s crazy. These wonky designs definitely work in their favor.
Just a heads up from a DL native: Disneyland's BTMRR received a complete track replacement in 2014 as, along with a revamped C-lift hill show upgrade, the lift hills were upgraded to feature adjustable speed chains. It become very noticeable on lift hill B as the train speeds up suddenly after the chain catches and then slows back down as the train begins to crest.
Omgosh Ryan! THANKS for doing this one as part of your Problematic Series. Since WDWMK has always been a home park for me since the early 70's, I was privileged to not get only grow up in BTMR, but when it debuted. It's always been a wild ride and helped me graduate from kiddie coasters to the big boys! Your Florida Fan, Aszneth ("Asz") Hands UP 😁👐
I never knew how weird the operations were on these rides! Never underestimate Disney though. I've also only ridden the Florida version of the ride and it's definitely one of my favorite rides there. It's fun for the whole family and the theming is so well done.
Hear hear. I had spotted the cross track while riding the disney world railroad and realized it must lead to the BTM storage area. Looked for the switch when I rode BTM and didn't ever spot it. But I realized how unusual it was to have a coaster cross the park railroad nearly at grade! I always Wondered what signalling and propulsion systems t they used into and out of the barn. Thanks!
Fantastic video! Complicated, but very informative, curious how it is, the more you know about a ride the more you appreciate it. Specially Disney rides, where they have to deal not only with the complexities of the ride itself, but with the elaborate theming and blending with surrounding areas. Thanks a lot for sharing your obviously deep knowledge of these rides with the rest of us.
I really like this ride. I have only ridden the one in California but it was a blast. Some decent coaster elements with that amazing disney theming is unforgettable. My theory as to why the safety brakes are sloped upwards is to force cast members to dispatch trains faster by giving them a bigger punishment if they don't.
A lot of CM's really don't mind if the ride goes down for a valleyed train. Facilities has to come winch the train, and only a few CM's are needed to mind the Tower and Entrance and Exit. The rest hide from Guest view and basically get a paid break with a chance to ride the test train before it opens back up.
My favorite Problematic Coasters yet! Great to see you go in-depth on such a classic and complicated Disney attraction. I recommend getting to the California version if it isn't already on your list; the Dynamic Attractions re-track in 2014 did wonders for it, and it feels smoother and faster than the Florida version despite being mostly the same layout (Dynamic's 2005 Space Mountain is genuinely incredible and sits in my top 10 coasters, wish they built more).
Yes, no and yes. Yes, BTM is nicer in Paris because it's on an island and it's definitely a reason to visit. No, Space Mountain is not like the Hulk. Ok, it's launched, has a looping and a corkscrew but that's it. Hulk is 1 smooth ride with 7 inversions, Space Mountain in Paris just has 2 inversions and 2 lifthills in the middle of the bumpy ride. Yes, Crush's coaster is nice too. It would be better if the capacity was higher or the ride time was longer because now I mostly don't feel like the long waiting time there is worth the relatively short ride.
When I was a kid the train got stuck with 3/4 stuck out over the line, just before the exit. I was literally waiting to board after a 2 hour line. One of my worst trips to Disneyland. I got evacuated from Indiana Jones in the blowdarts tunnel, I got stuck in Space mountain for 20 minutes until they could restart it, getting to see the inside of space mountain with no lights, which is cool but breaks the experience. And star tours (the old star tours) had a hydraulics failure making us have to climb out at an angle. Went to California Adventure the next day and the launch system for California Screamin was broken. I was 7 and devastated, to the point my mom complained and got 5 day parkhopper tickets to replace our terrible trip. Disney is dedicated to making a good experience after it all. Definitely a sense of pride in showmanship. Went back for just before Christmas with free Tickets and Line hop passes and it was by far one of my best trips to a theme park.
Can you make one for Splash Mountain? I've been evacuated off that ride 3 times and I've always wanted to know what causes it to break down like it does
Yay a rollercoaster I can comment on! I have been on the Paris version of this ride and its AWESOME!! Theming and just a simple ride layout with twists and turns always seem to me, to be the most enjoyable. And despite being a very packed day, we got on the ride very quickly. Thank you for your awesome videos!
its possible, but if you think of the "safety" issues and the reasons. evacuation with a manual reset is needed. otherwise cast members are human, and potental fatal errors in judgement can happen. so this method of manual reset is needed. not used often but needed to compensate for poor judgement on the cast members side. and as we know computers can f---k up as well, sensors wear out. a bad chip or circuit board will do 1+1 = 1 from time to time. its a trade off of expense as well. those systems are not cheep.
Also, on that last helix where the goat with the dynamite is, if you don't take your eye off the goat during the entire turn it SUPER intensifies the drop sensation. For a thrill seeker who also loves Disney, this is a must whenever I go to the park to get a bit of that High Intensity thrill.
The opening year or so of Big Thunder at DL was FULL of downtime. The first time I attempted to ride- we went out of the station and the train went WAAY too quickly and slammed to a stop on the first lift. They were having a lot of problems controlling the LIMs initially. We were evacuated. I think the first two years, I don't recall a visit where we saw it open most of the day.
As a 23 year old adult, I can say Disney world is perfect for all ages. I swear everytime I go back every few years I notice something new and appreciate it that much more.
Is it weird that I really hope your channel blows up and gets more recognition soon? The amount of work that goes into your vids while still having quality is honestly so enjoyable. I’ve already recommended your vids to friends 😂❤️
One of the elements of the ride I still think about is the smell. That heavy grease/tar smell of all the wood made you really feel like you were in an old rail station.
This was my favorite roller coaster at Disney next to Space Mountain. As a kid I was lucky getting to go every summer but now as an adult I understand how good I had it and it pains me how much I miss these places. I love your videos, they remind me of a better time :)
Big Thunder Mountain is the rollercoaster which helped me overcome my fear of coasters!!! I was 10 years old and I will never forget the joy I felt at conquering my fear and having an incredible time doing it!
“I have only been on the Florida version, so I will only be describing that.” Continues to describe all 4 BTM’s in per-metre detail
Yeah, he's young.
I mean, he only shows the blocks and other specific details about the Florida one, but yeah he did also explain the layouts somewhat of the other 3 lmao
Lol
Based Ryan
Same here
This is why theming is very important. This is an example of a mild thrill roller coaster but makes up for theming and immersion.
Literally every disney ride. No one believes you when you tell them Space Mountain goes 30mph and that Slinky Dog is 50% faster. Put one in the dark with flashing lights and space noise, make the other toy themed. Regardless of speed, Disney uses the theming to make the experience what they're going for. I hate drop towers. I can't miss an opportunity to go on Tower of Terror. The theming makes it scarier, but also much more fun and satisfying.
@@blondy2061h Yep, that's disney rides, the theming makes it more fun than otherwise would be.
I'll say... It's the perfect blend, slow enough so you can appreciate and immerse in the theming, but fast enough so you can wear a big smile on your face the whole ride. 😁😁😁😁😁 I love it!
Ride solo with slippery pants then see how much you slide from side to side in the car. It can get pretty thrilling.
Theming>>>>>>>>>>>literally anything else
I wish other parks would learn this
"This ride does not use normal block zones"
Years of academy training wasted
at anaheim it does I fix it
Matt nawwwwwwwww
ok if who say so
sorry if you say so
The pillar of my rollercoaster education crumbling...
Legitimately, the extensive theming on these rides make them feel far faster than they really are (and oddly a lot more memorable than several much larger thrilling coasters); especially that quirky bunny hill with the twist and sudden drop.
Thanks for getting all the info on the ride ops. That's just crazy how many cars are on there.
The underwater tunnels in the Paris version feel so much faster than they are. It's pretty cold in them, and that combined with the fact that only the fake bats give off light make it feel so fast.
Yeah I remember Big thunder mountain a lot more than el loco in the adventure dome the only thing I remember about el loco is that turn after the lift Hill while I pretty much remember everything else about Big thunder
Designers: How many lift hills do you want?
Disney: Yes
Disney's like ALL OF THEM
12?
3 lifts at btmr anaheim
@@DARK_AMBIGUOUS 49
Disney: *I’ll take your entire stock*
The Paris one is INCREDIBLE. It feels like it goes much faster, and it ties beautifully into Phantom Manor. I miss that ride...
All rides at Disneyland Paris are better! Pirates, Big Thunder, Space Mountain, Phantom Manor (Haunted Mansion) and even Rock'n'Roller Coaster (RIP)
It was the ONE RIDE that was closed on Christmas 2015 when I went. Was SOOOOO disappointed (but at least I got to see the original Phantom Manor before they took out the decaying phantom)
@@jaberoni Eh, I would argue space isn't, but the original space mountain with the bullet to the moon theming deafinitely was better, but with its generic theming now, I would argue that California's is the best, its smooth, has lap restraints, has really cool special effects that look really good, and has an AWESOME halloween overlay that is so cool. But thats just an opinion
@@jaberoni I cant have an opinion on if they are better then the other parks as i have only ridden the paris ones. What I do know is that I despise rock n roller coaster. I ode it once and my chest hurt for hours after
@@jaberoni the designer said he was never satisfied with the Rock 'n Rollercoaster in Paris and that he didn't manage to get it to the level of the WDW version. He's saying that he's confident the new coaster will be better, so let's hope for the best
People don't realize just how intricate these rides are, and how many layers upon layers of safety systems they have. You do an excellent job of making this stuff understandable for those who may not be engineers. I've tried to explain these things to people and just gotten blank stares. Now I direct them to your videos and they understand it immidiatiely. A rare skill to have. Very nicely done, excellent content!
You don't really need to be an engineer to understand this stuff.
I'll give it to you, yes there are a lot that goes into these rides, but as far as this one goes it's really fairly simple. Not too many intricacies involved.
@@shawnspencer8766 technically you're right... And that may be the case If your friends and family are all reasonably intelligent people... But try explaining this stuff to the average person off the street in this day and age... Their eyes glaze over and they start twitching. Maybe I just live in an area with an inordinate amount of stupid people. Lol
@@blackhawks81H hmmm very true never thought about it like that. I mean, I'm in ride maintenance so i guess working on these rides all the time, I forget most people have probably never seen this kind of stuff before.
Good point 👍🏻
@@blackhawks81Hthey are probably not interested, that's all. If I dont care about a topic I wont pay attention, that doesnt make me nor anyone stupid.
well apparently they didn't have enough "layers of safety systems" as there was an accident where someone was killed and tbh they were lucky it was only one person.
One time I was riding this at the Florida version, I was with my dad who is a much larger figure than I, the single lap bar for our row was more spacious for me, so on the first bunny hill I got mad ejector airtime and almost flew out of my seat. Best ride I ever had on it!
This is one of the sentences, you will only hear from rollercoaster enthusiasts.
This exact thing happened to me with my wife and her thicker thighs! LOL! Every time I would fly out of that first bunny hill and slam against the lap bar and we would both start giggling.
same thing happened to me when i sat with my dad one time!! it was so much fun!! i thought i was gonna fall out at points though
That reminds me of Desperado on State Line (Nevada)...I rode it in 7th grade when I was super short still (I was 5'3 for so long until Junior year when I grew 7-8"). I LITERALLY almost flew out of the seat because I could wiggle my way out of the lap bar easily. It was the scariest ride of my life and that counts everything since...because I literally had to hold onto the lap bar and push my weight down to not literally fall out of the ride. Desperado is one intense roller coaster...it's not the greatest ride ever, but it definitely is better than some. I feel sorry for anyone that has never gotten a chance to ride it, especially now that they rarely run it. I went to Vegas 1-3 times a year growing up until I was 21, then I went every month of the year until I was in my early 30's. Now I only go like 3-4 times a year. It's crazy to me that people "save up" to go places that I go on a regular basis with little effort like Disneyland (well not anymore...since it is terrible), Six Flags, the beaches of Orange County, Las Vegas, Big Bear/Mammoth mountains, etc. Too bad this is a communist state and I'll be leaving soon, but it WAS awesome growing up here my entire life. Unfortunately I will join the many that are leaving because they can't take their ridiculous communist ways anymore. Gavin Newson is such a f'n idiot, he needs to go! If he doesn't get recalled it will only be because the election was rigged...no one wants that moron anymore. He has the most ridiculous ideas for FORCING vaccinations and making the strictest laws about COVID. Please someone point out the people you know that actually got COVID, because in this entire time I've met 3 entire people that had it even and no one I knew or heard of died from it. Stupid f'n lying government and their numbers that no one can disprove.
@@ShockerTopper Man, I _wish_ California were a communist state. Unfortunately, Disney and others are still pretty big on that whole private property thing
These videos are the best things to come out of the pandemic.
Completely agree. I could watch videos about block zones and coaster operations all day. Sometimes I do haha
@@masonfeagan8678 same here. I had no idea WTF a block zone was before all of this!
Agreed, this channel came out of no where and I am grateful it exists.
I don't know having people say six feet away from me it's been pretty nice
Uur lui u ook niet
In some ways, this is the perfect coaster. Its extensive use of theming and clever design rather than just straight intense forces means that both enthusiasts and people who don't ride coasters that often have an excellent experience.
Yeah this seems like a roller coaster that I would be comfortable enough riding, maybe even enjoy.
It is also a choo choo train which is bonus points :)
Riding this in Orlando while the Magic Kingdom fireworks went off was an unforgettable experience.
gleggzg2 or splash mountain 🌊
Rode it at night during a lightning storm. A bolt crashed in the distance on the first lift hill. Best experience I've had at the entire resort
7 Dwarfs the best for fireworks
We ride during fireworks one time and it was really amazing. The best part was that we didn't plan it that way. It was pretty magical.
Agreed. We didn’t plan it that way, but it sure was awesome!
Another great video. Very informative. All of Disney's rides are designed to penalize slow operations (except in Japan). Nearly every single Disney ride will cascade if there's a sizable pause within the station. In Space Mountain's case at DL, a 50 second pause cascades the ride (that was closer to 30 back before the rebuild). It's one reason DL's Space Mtn crew is so aggressive with speeding people into their seats. It's also why the alternate disabled platform was constructed when the ride was rebuilt in the mid 2000's. Space Mtn at DLR used to do this to "catch up" if there was a gap between load and A lift. As an aside, Space Mtn at DLR pre-rebuild was way crazier than BTM is. I'd love to see an ops video on that thing. As a teenage guest, I could spot the cascade before it happened. On several occasions I backtracked through the station into the middle of the queue to watch lights come on and the rockets slam to a stop on each block brake! Tokyo's and Hong Kong's don't run enough rockets to make this an issue though and DL's issues have largely been addressed now.
BTW, Vekoma fabbed DLR's original Thunder Mtn, as they did with Space Mtn at DLR as well. Both were rebuilt by dynamic in the last 20 years.
Even before the overhaul, the BTM at Tokyo simply paused on lifts for delays and restarted via ops clearing the blocks without even lockout/tagout. And that was only for trains stopped on C lift. Tokyo has always operated their trim brake as a block brake at the end of the ride, in addition to the ready brake. In reality, they can hold two trains behind the station. They're also trained to "steal" dispatches in Tokyo as they don't want to get into a setup situation even if it means dispatching an empty through the station to catch up. At TDL's Thunder, with 1 train always parked in the station (stealing), they can reliably cycle 4 trains through one side full time so cascades are very rare anyway. If there's an all out breakdown then trains will stop all over the course but the zones beneath the lifts are recoverable. Tokyo doesn't have need for winches at all (not even sure if it was equipped pre-rebuild).
In general, Tokyo's rides don't have cascades though. For whatever reason, crews there are drastically slower at getting vehicles out on most of their rides compared to elsewhere. I've been block checked/paused on a ridiculous amount of Tokyo Disney's rides that would cascade/estop on their cousins elsewhere. Even the classic take rides will just stack 10 vehicles behind unload halfway into the ride and you just sit there and proceed from scene to scene and then block/pause until the next dispatch. Over and over. One the classics, I've actually stopped for a combined 5+ minutes between each block due to backups and it's completely normal. They simply don't have the "you'll pay for slowness" for operators in Tokyo. Of course, it means they're constantly displaying bad show in every ride every day with the endless block/pausing. If they can't get that many vehicles cycled through on a consistent basis, it's not aiding capacity by having people sit in scenes waiting for 4 or 5 cars ahead at unload. Just bizarre IMO. I can't even count the number of rides I've had this happen on at both of the Tokyo Parks. Love TDR to death and TDS is my favorite park, but operations are a notch below the other resorts (other than Paris which has it's own operations challenges).
That makes sense with TDL! Operations in Japan are pushed less hard due to culture so I see why the rides don’t penalize slow moving crews there! I remember stacking horribly on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and it ruined the ending scene 😂😂
Tokyo Disneyland isn’t actually operated or owned by Disney! The Oriental Land Company owns that park and pays Disney to license the property. This could be why the operations are different as the management could have different priorities when it comes to the rides and operations.
@@Oli.V That makes sense. I remember looking up the park ticket prices and they were pretty cheap lmao
I would love to see a video like this on Space Mountain operations at the Disneyland Resort in CA. They have to dispatch every 22 seconds I believe to avoid a cascade. I've even been on the ride where they have whooshed us through the loading area as the alarms are blaring saying we get to ride again in order to avoid the cascade.
Used to work space mountain. We could run up to 11 rockets at a time and I was told before it was made over in 2003-2005 they could run 12 rockets at a roughly 18 second dispatch interval
Same happened to me, but a kid lost his mind and started crying so they had to send us left after the station instead of right to the first lift hill and evac us with a portable staircase. What was almost a sweet second ride turned into 20 wasted minutes of major annoyance. Darn kids.... Oh well, I did get a pass to re-ride without queueing.
That explains why I got to ride three times
@@riddle4284 What's a rocket?
Flattard Killa The coaster trains. We called them rockets for the theming
Disney: Let's use LIMs to propel the train forwards and backwards smoothly in the station.
Also Disney: Let's build an uphill break run without LIMs....
*brake run
@@sharkheadism give me a brake ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
That's the part I couldn't figure out. LIMs, or even just friction tires, could easily eliminate the need for winches, and save the inconvenience of having to evacuate the riders.
Maybe they're supposed to be a punishment to the ride operators whenever they mess up a dispatch.
@@andrewrichesson8627
I doubt that it's the ride operators who have to run the winches. On the other hand, dealing with the public while evacuating them would no doubt be brutal.
Disney: We're not gonna put Pirates of the Caribbean in Disney World on opening day, Florida has so much pirate culture already
Disney three decades later: Let's put a park based on California right across from our park _in California_
It's a nice way to keep tourists stuck in a ride line! Keeps them from actually traveling around our state! Great way to prevent cursing at the locals for honking at their confused driving! We need more California Adventures!! Californians are always sitting in traffic, so having our visitors wait in line is an accurate representation of life here
And let's make sure it's terrible.
Now that's irony. LOL! Good one!
Europapark: ey we are in Europe so how about we don't base ourselves on Europe? Oh wait that is just stupid.
Efteling: Hah we are as Dutch and european as we can get!
Disneyland Paris (in the past at least): Viva la France!!
@@tyrell. we should probably charge 5 times the cost of parks in other states as well to reflect the cost of living difference.
its honestly so cool how complex this ride is. Definitely my favorite one in the series so far!!
As someone who is trained at Thunder over at WDW, you absolutely nailed it!!!! It was very accurate on how we run things, great job
Wait omg Chris I didn’t know you had a UA-cam!
@@debbster1394 Yup, I sure do!!!! haha
My friend used to work in Frontierland. It’s crazy how many CM’s it takes to run all five coasters at once. If not, then only one station can run.
Even though its not a coaster, you want to talk about coordination, running all the boats they used to on the Rivers of America (steam boat, rafts, canoes, and keel boats) was quite impressive.
@@ChrisGeeReacts let's be realistic chris he forgot the most important thing for operation in this ride.... "Ahem attention on thunder train in motion from spur to 7/8 to 11/12"
@@cynicalarcher7075 Or as Bruce would spiel from Mini-Lift. Attention Thunder, Roundhouse. One train Track 3 to 11/12.
I find it hilarious how Disney is like “FIFTY FOOT DROP! WILL YOU SURVIVE!?” While Xcelerator and every other coaster at Knott’s is just chilling down the road.
You have knotts right next door to disneyland
Benjamin Smith yessir
Disney's plays it way too safe honestly, I can't think of a single coaster that has a drop higher than 100 feet, not even Everest's mountain is 100 feet tall, they didn't want to comply with Florida air traffic regulations with a light on top of the mountain.... Incredicoaster may be the closest to that height i think
Meanwhile Seaworld and Busch Gardens have Mako and Iron Gwazi respectively, both are 200 feet tall and can be seen as you drive by the parks. I think even Universal has attractions that're taller, possibly their music coaster and dr doom's freefall.
@@GarryDKing you see my friend, Disney cares less about the thrills, and more about the bills. Children aren't gonna want to ride a coaster like Steel Vengeance or something like it, because they aren't brave adreneline seekers like yourself. Now a heavily themed, and heavily safe runaway mine train coaster? That's what's gonna milk their parents' pockets.
Walt Disney himself wanted a family park. IMO I think it’s great that they have stayed true to this while adding some enjoyable thrills. BTW incredicoaster has a 120 foot drop. If you don’t like the Disney parks don’t go. There’s plenty of other parks near both Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
I've been a regular visitor to Walt Disney World since 1981, right around the time that Big Thunder opened, and it's always been one of my favorite coasters due to the intricate details. This video has increased my appreciation for the attraction even more. Thanks for a thorough, fascinating examination of its history and operation.
As someone who has been on BTMR in Paris, I can tell you it’s a m a z i n g! It’s definitely the best ride in the park tbh, would even say it’s the best family coaster i’ve ever done because of the amazing theming and excitement factor.
that last section in the dark is just incredible, the drop in the dark feels like it will never and and it is legit thrilling for me despite having been on a couple hundred coasters.
Definitely the best Thunder Mountain, I remember going back to Florida after it being so excited for BTM and it didn’t come close. The tunnels to and from the mountain give it a fast start and even more thrilling ending.
Finally a rollercoaster I've ridden
same lol
Same. Well I was on the Disneyland in California one. I hate big roller coasters and other intense rides but this one was doable
what about the operations on california's space mountain? They send out a train like every 20 seconds!
I used to work that thing and keeping it running was really intense. We had to make sure trains wouldn’t stack, everyone was seated properly, not to mention weight limits and the rocket that slides over onto the track. There were times that if we were backing up we would pull fully loaded trains into the storage bay and get people out there so the ride wouldn’t break down.
Disney worlds space mountain sends a train out every 19.5 seconds
Riddle42 I used to work Space Mountain too back in 2016! So much fun and very fast paced work environment. Loved every second of it. Some old work friends told me they were able to increase the weight limit and the computer system now auto-gaps according to the weight difference so the tower CM doesn’t have to press on the inhibit manually anymore for those specific rockets.
Riddle42 Whoa, that explains the pictures of guests in the maintenance bay.
it depends on the interval you set.I work on it
This has ejector airtime in the way back. It’s good fun
I remember riding this when I was little. my mom is a large person so the lap bar never touched my body at all. throughout the entire ride I'd basically be standing up due to the crazy airtime.
Absolutely, Big Thunder and Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom are both highly underrated in terms of some really solid ejector airtime in the back seat.
Also, Ryan, I’ll help if you wanna do a video on Florida’s Space Mountain’s operations!
@@SunnylandProds agreed
Well, that airtime decapitated a dude once.
@@Clay3613 idk if you are joking lol
This was so well researched and explained. I'd love to see more of these types of videos, especially for Disney rides. Super interesting.
A back row ride on these things is insane with the laterals
This is your best problematic coasters video yet. Perfect description of the Weirdest Ride in the Wilderness. I had no idea the maintenance area was so far away from the station. The finale on the Paris version, by the way, is just incredible and incredibly fast. It makes this version seem so much more complete.
operating this ride looks to be a bit stressful, yet satisfying
Not that bad. You have about 30 seconds to load and send the train. Worst case scenario if we are going to back up we can just pull a train off.
@@OBrienMagic gotcha thanks for the insight!
Holy smokes, I have a very clear memory from years ago when my dad and I were evaced off thunder mountain in california... Apparently someone on one of the other trains attempted to stand up so they e-stopped the entire ride and we got to walk through the evacuation tunnels. When I became an enthusiast years later I always thought it was strange that they had us evacuate the ride on a normal brake run, but now that totally makes sense! Awesome video!
“It’s the wildest ride in the wilderness”
The rides at Frontiertown: am I a joke to you
*sad Steel Vengeance chain lift noises*
@@charleyhibschweiler4555 *Sad Maverick launch section noises*
Coaster Fusion I found you but I'm not surprised lol
@@javelinmaster2 *sad Raging Bull un-airtime noises*
@@doritosauce6632 Sad airtime thrills noises
"It gives riders agreat view a the mountain"
It also gives a great view of the fireworks if you're lucky enough to be on it while the show is happening.
I love that the landscape of this ride is inspired heavily by home state of Utah.
Seriously, if you want to feel like you're in the old west, go to Arches National Park. It's incredible.
Expedition Theme Park: detailed history and creation of theme park attractions
ElToroRyan: detailed technicial analysis and explanation of roller coasters.
My dude, these new videos youve made are fantastic. Keep these up 👍
Big Thunder Mountain is perfect for a Disney roller coaster. It’s perfectly themed, has plenty of airtime for those who want it without scary drops, and has an engaging queue line that makes the wait feel way shorter, even with kids. Me and my friends went to Disney last year, and we rode Big Thunder twice- once with Fastpass, and once without, directly afterwards. It was our favorite ride of the day.
I've been on all 4 of these, love the Paris version of BTMR the underwater transfer to the island is a great feature.
This ride will always have a special place in my heart for helping me overcome my fear of roller coasters as a kid. Not the fastest, most threatening, or most hair-raising coaster around, but approachable and still a lot of fun, especially with the theming.
In 2018 I waited in queue for 40 minutes when Big Thunder in Florida was down due to a thunderstorm, I had a wonderful time talking to some Dutch people I met, and a newlywed couple who were on their honeymoon! It was honestly a brilliant time and honestly it's why I'm not too bothered with wait times, as well as the fact I'm British and queuing is practically a sport here lmao
Everyone cheered when the ride was opened up again!
What time of year did you visit? I worked on Big Thunder in 2018! :)
"the ride utilized scenes from the living dead and rainbow caverns.."
Wow never heard of this version of the ride, but it sounds awesome!!
Been riding this at Disneyland for 40 years. It’s never stopped. I had no idea it is so complex and I never noticed the block checks! Please do Space Mountain. That one did stop on me once near the bottom/end. A cast member released the break, gave us a little push, and we coasted into the station.
*brake
I'm not sure if this is problematic, but a technical overview of Time Traveler would be pretty cool.
I so hope that's coming in the future
Could be problematic if the train needs to recover itself from the launch zones. When I saw it stop opening year it couldn't recover the full train from the 1st launch, even after several attempts they had to get everyone off.
A really great, well engineered attraction. Even though this coaster has 3 lift hills, they make great use of themeing throughout and a faster than normal speed for the lift to make it all part of the attraction. Truly a work of art as a themed attraction goes. I've ridden WDW and DLRs versions, and prefer the one in CA over the one in FL. I just think it's a smoother coaster.
Bruh when I ride this alone ( mind that I’m 13 and only 4’11” and skinny ) I always get a restraint size that is like a buzz bar for me and when these laterals hit, I SOAR from side to side on the train and I am launched outta my seat on those ejector pops
bruh im the same like 4'11 and 13 lol and feel the same way and i love it
I want to say Disneyland has an extra brake run on a flat right before entering the switch track section just before the station. (this switch track allows trains to reverse into the maintenance area). I would love to see Problematic Roller Coasters - Space Mountain (Disneyland).
you are right zone 4
I LOVE this ride. Can't wait to hear more about WDW Rollercoasters!!!!
haven't checked to see if he did expidition everest yet but that is a coaster that tried to push the envelope and really suffered for it. The switch mechanism is waaay too slow and they didn't engineer enough motion time in for it so there's just a pause while the ride gets around changing the track.
I have a soft-spot for Thunder Mountain, even though I've only been on it once (since I've only been to Magic Kingdom a few times).
I love locomotives. I love roller coasters. I love the Southwest theme. There's just so much to love about it!
At space mountain in Florida. We call sandbagging "gapping", and its usually because storage called tower and asked for one to send in a new train from storage or load might request one to give a guest with disabilities some more time to get out when they reach unload. The trains leave the restraint checkpoint and then hang out at "dispatch" which is the final brake before going into the blue tunnel.
I remember when I was a kid and rode this with my dad. we were in the front car and noticed a group of girls 4 or 5 rows back (enough to not see around the corners). Dad said "watch this" and as soon as we went around the first corner, he screamed. All the girls started screaming too and didn't stop the whole ride. I was laughing the whole time :)
I love this series, really hope space and Rock n Roller are coming soon!
Thanks for picking a roller coaster that's super popular despite what enthusiasts think about it. I've lost count of how many times I've ridden the CA version and I still get a kick out of it every time. I'm always really impressed with how Disney handles their operations and I really appreciate your detailing of it! I've seen the transfer track that sends trains to the yard but I had no idea it had to cross Disneyland Railroad to get there. That's insane!
I think you are confused. The trains only go across the tracks of the Walt Disney World Railroad at the Magic Kingdom. Disneyland’s Big Thunder Mountain is shown at 28:08 and is connected via a switch track directly to the spur side of the station.
This ride in Disney Anaheim was my first roller coaster ever, and still remains my favorite coaster to this day. I think my first ride was when I was 6 or 7 years old and I'm 32 now.
I've been to disneyland paris about 8 times in my life since I live about 500km away from it and I have to say: the Big Thunder Mountain in disneyland paris is really cool. coaster wise we're really lucky, the best space mountain AND the best big thunder mountain :o
I'd have to disagree sorta... Btm Paris is cool as a rollercoaster but magic kingdom's dose better in themeing... I vastly perfer the white some of space mountain than the copper looks of the Paris version... Plus it's permanently hyperspace mountain with star wars and not the original... That's a no no in my book..
@@beastisntback9887 Not permanently star wars. I think the plan is to bring back the original paris SM , or maybe the mission 2 retheme they did. They brought in new trains for space mountin a couple years ago and they have no themeing related to Star Wars, leaving the ride open to go back to the old theme :)
@@beastisntback9887 not permanently but aight
As a former WDW BTM Cast Member, I can confirm that adding and removing trains was a nightmare and I did everything I could to avoid it. It was incredibly stressful - especially when you were delaying the dispatch of a railroad trainful of Guests. It still gives me anxiety just thinking about it.
Imagineer: So, all rides have a lift hill.
Head Imagineer: Well have TWO, NO THREE!
One of my friends that worked the ride told me of something called a “grand slam.” Basically, if a cast member hits a station stop when a train is approaching the station, that train will stop. There is a certain point in the return track where when the station stop is reset the brakes will be released but the train will not engage with the LIMs and creep forward into the station very slowly. The following train will be told the forward train is in motion by the RCS and continue cresting lift C. The train entering the station won’t clear so the other train will engage the safety brakes. This also sends a message to the RCS and all the safety brakes will deploy. So each train has to be evacuated, winched into position, and re-cycled through the track. The whole process can take up to 4 or more hours sometimes.
Worked in attractions at Disney. I never heard this specific name, but it sounds right. Attractions CMs will even fight for the opportunity to evacuate certain stops, and it will often go by seniority to get to evac a "rare" stop. It's considered a badge of honor to get to evac every possible stop.
Yup, currently work at Thunder in WDW. We don't use the term Grand Slam. It's why we went down I think it was Thursday or Friday last week
The reason the DL version is better is the explosion theming on the 3rd lift hill . . .
as someone who used to be a cast member on the WDW Big Thunder Mountain: trust me, we all agree 😂
Just give us a sliver of y’all’s BTM 😭😭
The only reason the 3rd lift is there is due to space constraints and reusing Mine Train Thru Natures Wonderland scenery.
Tho that is a nice scene, it doesn't just automatically make that version better, I could argue that Magic kingdom's is better because of emersive, and well themed queue....
Heather Macdonald totally!
Great video, however you got one thing wrong about the Anaheim version of the ride.
Back In 2013 when Disney replaced all the track they added a chain lift that can be raised and lowered on the final (uphill) safety break, very similar to a Vekoma boomerang second lift. So the ride can rescue itself.
Hey man, I have gone down the rabbit hole of binging your channel. I operated BTMRR @ Disneyland pre 2013 refurb. Everything you have said is pretty spot on. A few things of note though, a lot of the downtime at the DLR version pre 2013 is because we had sit down (I believe they are still there) sensors on every lift hill. Notoriously B - Lift. When a station back up (or a cascade to some of your viewers) begins, assuming 2 trains in the station, train 3 hits BZ4 (Brake Zone 4), the next train to stop was actually B-Lift! It could be different in Florida. This was due to the length in our Blocks, and to ensure we didn't get a train caught in any of our Safety Brakes, but more importantly to preserve operational spacing as best as possible so that the latter couldn't happen in the future. At the time, B-Lift was notorious because once a train stopped, the sit-down sensors would activate. Any motion detected would create an Auto-E Stop. Often times this could be something as silly as a selfie-stick, or a really tall person's hand. Which is why Tower would repeatedly spam PA to stopped trains to keep hands and arms inside. It should also be noted, that any E-Stop meant evacuation whether a safety break was occupied or not in accordance with safety regulations in California.
Love your stuff man, learned so much about the the Florida BTMRR in this one!
I love this series that you’ve made Ryan!
Thank you for explaining the block zones on this ride. When I was young, we got caught in what I believe was the brake zone for block two. We had to walk down the tracks after we were evacuated from the train cars. Scary as hell, but walking down the stairs through the mountain showed some good behind the scenes views.
It’s crazy how Disney does block zones on roller coasters: Space Mountain, Matterhorn, Big Thunder and the Incredicoaster all have crazy operations and ride per hour numbers. You rarely wait an hour for these, even on a busy day. Also while the front of the trains for each of these provides a fairly tame ride, I’m actually shocked to say that there is ejector airtime and good laterals in the back due to the length of the trains, the lack of restraints/stapling and how they move throughout their layouts.
Hardly wait an hour for these? Have you......been to Disney?
@@exe8bit270 They may have gone back when there were actual off-seasons, when most of the parks were empty.
I never noticed this as much with Big Thunder as I do with Space Mountain just how MANY trains they are running back to back to back to BACK. The amount of visitors they get, they really can’t stop. It’s crazy. These wonky designs definitely work in their favor.
This feels like a Defunctland video! Great job!
Just a heads up from a DL native: Disneyland's BTMRR received a complete track replacement in 2014 as, along with a revamped C-lift hill show upgrade, the lift hills were upgraded to feature adjustable speed chains. It become very noticeable on lift hill B as the train speeds up suddenly after the chain catches and then slows back down as the train begins to crest.
I learned so much about these rides! Amazing analysis!
Omgosh Ryan! THANKS for doing this one as part of your Problematic Series. Since WDWMK has always been a home park for me since the early 70's, I was privileged to not get only grow up in BTMR, but when it debuted. It's always been a wild ride and helped me graduate from kiddie coasters to the big boys!
Your Florida Fan,
Aszneth ("Asz")
Hands UP 😁👐
I never knew how weird the operations were on these rides! Never underestimate Disney though. I've also only ridden the Florida version of the ride and it's definitely one of my favorite rides there. It's fun for the whole family and the theming is so well done.
Hear hear. I had spotted the cross track while riding the disney world railroad and realized it must lead to the BTM storage area. Looked for the switch when I rode BTM and didn't ever spot it. But I realized how unusual it was to have a coaster cross the park railroad nearly at grade! I always Wondered what signalling and propulsion systems t they used into and out of the barn. Thanks!
Fantastic video! Complicated, but very informative, curious how it is, the more you know about a ride the more you appreciate it. Specially Disney rides, where they have to deal not only with the complexities of the ride itself, but with the elaborate theming and blending with surrounding areas. Thanks a lot for sharing your obviously deep knowledge of these rides with the rest of us.
6:39 Ah, yes, the artificial locomotive.
As opposed to the organic natural locomotives that naturally grow on railroad cars
Yea, just need to water your train regularly
Hi, new subscriber here. Only a true Disneyland nerd would sit through such a detailed analysis of ride operations. I absolutely loved it!
I really like this ride. I have only ridden the one in California but it was a blast. Some decent coaster elements with that amazing disney theming is unforgettable. My theory as to why the safety brakes are sloped upwards is to force cast members to dispatch trains faster by giving them a bigger punishment if they don't.
A lot of CM's really don't mind if the ride goes down for a valleyed train. Facilities has to come winch the train, and only a few CM's are needed to mind the Tower and Entrance and Exit. The rest hide from Guest view and basically get a paid break with a chance to ride the test train before it opens back up.
cannot begin to explain how much comfort and love I get from these videos autoplaying in the background as I read romantic isekai mangas thank you
What about incredicoaster? I feel like that ride has the most riders per hour in the world.
That ride does well too would love to see this channel cover it
My favorite Problematic Coasters yet! Great to see you go in-depth on such a classic and complicated Disney attraction. I recommend getting to the California version if it isn't already on your list; the Dynamic Attractions re-track in 2014 did wonders for it, and it feels smoother and faster than the Florida version despite being mostly the same layout (Dynamic's 2005 Space Mountain is genuinely incredible and sits in my top 10 coasters, wish they built more).
Another reason to visit Disneyland Paris - their version of Space Mountain is more like the Hulk at USO. Crush’s coaster is awesome too!
Yes, no and yes.
Yes, BTM is nicer in Paris because it's on an island and it's definitely a reason to visit.
No, Space Mountain is not like the Hulk. Ok, it's launched, has a looping and a corkscrew but that's it. Hulk is 1 smooth ride with 7 inversions, Space Mountain in Paris just has 2 inversions and 2 lifthills in the middle of the bumpy ride.
Yes, Crush's coaster is nice too. It would be better if the capacity was higher or the ride time was longer because now I mostly don't feel like the long waiting time there is worth the relatively short ride.
Very impressive analysis of the multi train operation. There’s a whole lot more going on than I previously realized.
would love to see a technical analysis of space mountain. Great video!
When I was a kid the train got stuck with 3/4 stuck out over the line, just before the exit. I was literally waiting to board after a 2 hour line. One of my worst trips to Disneyland. I got evacuated from Indiana Jones in the blowdarts tunnel, I got stuck in Space mountain for 20 minutes until they could restart it, getting to see the inside of space mountain with no lights, which is cool but breaks the experience. And star tours (the old star tours) had a hydraulics failure making us have to climb out at an angle. Went to California Adventure the next day and the launch system for California Screamin was broken.
I was 7 and devastated, to the point my mom complained and got 5 day parkhopper tickets to replace our terrible trip. Disney is dedicated to making a good experience after it all. Definitely a sense of pride in showmanship. Went back for just before Christmas with free Tickets and Line hop passes and it was by far one of my best trips to a theme park.
Can you make one for Splash Mountain? I've been evacuated off that ride 3 times and I've always wanted to know what causes it to break down like it does
my only complaint about this ride is how loud the anti-rollbacks are. Absolutely deafening
Should stick Disney in the title somewhere so more people can find this brilliant video!
Yay a rollercoaster I can comment on! I have been on the Paris version of this ride and its AWESOME!! Theming and just a simple ride layout with twists and turns always seem to me, to be the most enjoyable. And despite being a very packed day, we got on the ride very quickly.
Thank you for your awesome videos!
I wonder if there’s a way to add LIM to those safety brakes instead of relying on the winch 🤔
its possible, but if you think of the "safety" issues and the reasons. evacuation with a manual reset is needed. otherwise cast members are human, and potental fatal errors in judgement can happen. so this method of manual reset is needed. not used often but needed to compensate for poor judgement on the cast members side. and as we know computers can f---k up as well, sensors wear out. a bad chip or circuit board will do 1+1 = 1 from time to time. its a trade off of expense as well. those systems are not cheep.
Also, on that last helix where the goat with the dynamite is, if you don't take your eye off the goat during the entire turn it SUPER intensifies the drop sensation. For a thrill seeker who also loves Disney, this is a must whenever I go to the park to get a bit of that High Intensity thrill.
Mine Train Coaster 1 looks too intense for me!
I see what you did there...
My absolute favorite roller coaster as a kid, whenever I return to it, it fills me with happy nostalgia
Why dont they just use retractable drive tires on those up hill block sections to push it forward in case of e-stop? No wench needed?
The opening year or so of Big Thunder at DL was FULL of downtime. The first time I attempted to ride- we went out of the station and the train went WAAY too quickly and slammed to a stop on the first lift. They were having a lot of problems controlling the LIMs initially. We were evacuated. I think the first two years, I don't recall a visit where we saw it open most of the day.
Wow that’s wild but as a nerd, also awesome haha
As a 23 year old adult, I can say Disney world is perfect for all ages. I swear everytime I go back every few years I notice something new and appreciate it that much more.
I have always loved this ride. Also great video. I have adhd and this video kept my attention.
No mention of the "goat trick" at Anaheim?
Ryan: "I need a good source"
Steve: "I got you homie"
Is it weird that I really hope your channel blows up and gets more recognition soon? The amount of work that goes into your vids while still having quality is honestly so enjoyable. I’ve already recommended your vids to friends 😂❤️
One of the elements of the ride I still think about is the smell. That heavy grease/tar smell of all the wood made you really feel like you were in an old rail station.
"Wildest in the Wilderness"
Some RMC in the Netherlands got something to say about that
Big Thunder was actually the first roller coaster I have ever ridden, one of the great things growing up in Florida!
0:24 it looks like they forgot to pull down the restraint lol
This was my favorite roller coaster at Disney next to Space Mountain. As a kid I was lucky getting to go every summer but now as an adult I understand how good I had it and it pains me how much I miss these places. I love your videos, they remind me of a better time :)
215 likes and 0 dislikes. Just the way it should be.
That dynamite chewing goat while in the back row of the CA version is a big reason I love coasters so much! 🔥🔥
1. Even Disney has clones!
2. 5 TRAIN OPS!!
Time to build a mine train with seven train ops...
@@alaeriia01 Expedition Everest: allow me to introduce myself
@@doritosauce6632 EE only runs five.
@@alaeriia01 oops
Big Thunder Mountain is the rollercoaster which helped me overcome my fear of coasters!!! I was 10 years old and I will never forget the joy I felt at conquering my fear and having an incredible time doing it!