How It Works: Disney's Omnimover Ride System
Вставка
- Опубліковано 31 тра 2020
- Consider supporting us: / amusementlabs
The continuously moving dark ride system dubbed 'The Omnimover' has become ubiquitous with high end Disney created dark rides around the world, but how the system works seems to be rather untapped.
Please do leave a like and subscribe cause this video gave my editor heck.
Take a look at the patent :D patents.google.com/patent/US3...
Footage provided by:
JohnYChen: / johnychen
AttractionSpot: / deathbyillusion
Attractions Magazine: / attractionsmagazine
Follow us on Instagram: / coaster.labs
FREE 3D Printed Ride Models!: www.thingiverse.com/TinyRides...
Amusement Labs is a multi topic, informational & educational content outlet creating unique ride technology videos, interactive products and more. Covering unique rides around the globe and spanning multiple platforms, Amusement labs has been inspiring engineering minds young and young at heart for over half a decade.
TAGS: #Disney #HauntedMansion #Ride - Розваги
What's your favorite ride? 🙂
If you enjoyed the video and would like to support the channel and these videos please consider joining my Patreon.
www.patreon.com/amusementlabs
The Haunted Mansion is my favorite omnimover ride at Disney World.
@@manfart2021 perfect, keep an eye out during October. 🙂👻
Can you do a video on how Test Track works? Your channel’s awesome!!!
@@Clint7777 certainly, it's actually on the list for this year.
How do you edit your videos? They are so good! What do you use?
Those guide rail wheels were the source of 90% of the breakdowns (101 code) on the original HM when I was operations foreman. The plastic wheels (like big skateboard wheels) would break into pieces jamming everything up and stopping the ride. They could be fixed fairly quickly (not an all day breakdown) but typically resulted in evacuating the ride ("attraction").
I can imagine them binding a lot. They almost need to be on a bar that can pivot that is then connected to the chassis.
That is cool you were foreman. Were alternative wheels ever designed or tried? Is this not a problem anymore?
Best comment
Also operated an omni mover, noticed near the end people reported vehicles coming in the wrong way, that's called a "Not at Home", this normally happens when the doom-buggy (clamshell in my case), didn't acknowledge that it's time to turn to face the show. It's also pretty easily fixed bug will result in being taken out of service for a few cycle or even the rest of the day if it happens more than once for that particular vehicle.
Playful spooks have interrupted our tour! Please remain seated in your *Doom* Buggy! We will proceed in just a moment
_In the interim please enjoy this video for your ghoulishly mortal delight._
my friends and I scream at each other as loud as we can when this happens. Its fun
I was so fortunate when I was in Disneyland Paris the ride was broken down all day but I had never been to Disney and I wanted to ride this so it finally opened in the evening for an hour and when I got to the ballroom scene the ride broke down for about 10 minutes so I got to sit and watch the ghosts dancing for 10 minutes. I was by myself too because my partner was sleeping at the hotel because he puttered out but I didn’t wanna miss this so I stayed at the park all day. It’s honestly one of my happiest memories.
@@RoboticBoxer152
Probably not that fun for the riders next to you
Bob Gurr, the Imagineer and Disney Legend, gave the ride system the name Omnimover because of his experience as a glider pilot, and the inspiration being the Omni-directional range guidance system used by pilots when flying. Bob pitched the idea of the ride system to Roger Broggie by demonstrating it via an apple on the end of a pencil. Bob told me it's the most dependable ride system in all the Disney parks.
It certainly is now. Though I heard it did have some growing pains in the beginning.
“So how does the ghost host lower your lap bar?
Well obviously he doesn’t”
Me: 😨
Geeze, this is complicated. To think that the Imagineers whipping this up in the 60's didn't have any computers to help them along. But we must commend them for somehow pulling it off, and you're commended as well for doing your best to explain it to us.
Yeah, it certainly is complicated and, as some have relayed to me since I posted this, it wasn't a super reliable system when it first opened. In fact it used little skateboard wheels for the smaller wheels. Not even good ones, the little cheap plastic ones.
Huh Dude, we put a man on the moon the same year this ride was invented so...
Same basic system also use on 4D Coaster.
And yes, it's so unnecessary complicated, that thing buried whole infamous company into the ground
The omnimover is a classic Disney attraction type
dijsreiig
@@yellowblue_tt
stroke?
Dhaniel Arya yeah
Easter egg alert!!! 0:53 thats Pat Carroll, the voice of Ursula in the Original Little Mermaid. So jealous of the girl riding with her. She is an absolute HOOT!
I thought that was her!
I knew she looked familiar.
I’ve noticed the fact that audio is triggered by spots in the ride(s). I was on the Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay and the cars were either moving faster than they were supposed to for some reason, or something got out of alignment, because the ends of the poem lines were sometimes cut short in the lead-up to a new ride section.
Thanks for the detailed explanation. This really makes a lot of sense now. Great job!
now i'm super curious as to how Space Ranger Spin works - it's probably the only Omnimover ride that actually gives guests full control over where their vehicle is facing at any given point (including the other Buzz Lightyear rides, of course)
I'd love to know more about the audio system used for the Ghost Host spiel. I know it's triggered by the doombuggies passing through a zone in the ride (like you mentioned in your video), but it's supposed to be very complicated--antennae embedded in the track, groups of 20 cars receiving a portion of the spiel, etc. Can I request a video explaining how it's done? Thanks, and love your videos!
Disney docs website has the electrical specs for Horizons at Epcot showing how the system works and is Omnimover type of ride. I have a copy and is a great read. Continue doing these videos.
One of the best innovations in theme park history, and an AMAZING video to go with it! Your best audio quality, great music, good visuals and speed of cuts, all of it! I love all your videos for the information, but we can all agree it’s nice when cool info is presented in a cool way. I have been impressed with your channel since I first found it and I just keep getting more and more impressed!
This video rocks big time. Omnimover systems are amazing things to ride on when you're a theme park guest at Disneyland.
And the super high capacity really makes it great. I think it's over 3000 people an hour which is nuts.
Ah yea! Perhaps if you could find someone to create a animated version of the work it would be easier to follow
agreed
I found one the channel is called Disney Stalker
that would indeed be much clearer
Agreed. This was little more than a list of part names and vague descriptions. I was left entirely unenlightened. Disappointing.
Early versions of this system were used at the 1964 New York Worlds Fair, in some of the Disney-designed exhibits. One of them was at the AT&T pavilion, which had a ride telling the story of communications throughout the ages (not unlike the one at EPCOT many years later). The AT&T ride cars also had built-in speakers, with the sound track continuously synchronized to each point along the ride.
Nothing says “Disney dark ride” more than the omnimover ride system.
I have been waiting for this for a very long time!
I'd love to see you do a "How it works" style video on B&M Flying coasters. I know a few people have done a video explaining this, but you seem really good at doing diagrams and explaining the mechanism in an easy to understand manor.
Soooo much more than I wanted to know but oddly and completely fascinated throughout the entire video!!
Great video! I've been waiting for this. I've never seen any other video go into this much detail about the specific mechanics of the Omnimover system. The only disappointing things about this video were that no mention was made about Adventure Thru Inner Space, the first attraction to use the Omnimover system, and that you do not bring up the name of Disney legend Bob Gurr who designed the system. But I thank you for breaking it down so thoroughly as to how the system works. (Even Bob never went into that much detail for me. LOL!) Once again, superb video!
He did! Oh my goodness I feel so bad I didn't mention him. 😟
As for Adventures Through Inner Space it was actually in the first edit of this video, but something about the aspect ratio and frame rate was causing issues.
@@AmusementLabs No worries. I understand how that is. Some editing software will choke on certain media. Better to simply omit it like you did.
As for Bob Gurr, I know him pretty well. We've done several convention appearances together. I doubt he'd be miffed by you not mentioning him. He gets enough adulation wherever he goes. LOL! He'd just be flattered that you made this video at all.
I'm fairly new to your channel and I'm still working my way through your past videos, but if you haven't done it already I'd enjoy seeing a breakdown of how the Submarine Voyage at Disneyland works or perhaps how the Test Track / Radiator Springs Racers ride mechanism works.
Keep up the great work!
@@AmusementLabs Would definitely like to see how Test Track / Radiator Springs Racers / Journey to the Center of the Earth's ride mechanism works.
@@tallguycameron8979 well you're in luck, the test track video literally comes out Monday. 🙂
Agreed that Bob Gurr and Adventure Thru Inner Space are musts to mention if you’re going to study the Omnimover system. The success of the system in ATIS paved the way for turning the Mansion into a high capacity attraction and a revolutionary one in dark ride history. Bob Gurr’s well-known history of design involvement in classic rides from Autopia to the Matterhorn bobsleds and the Monorail, well before ATIS and the Mansion, would have him showing up in your research on the Omnimover, I’d have thought.
Very in-depth and informative as always
Fantastic work describing the Omni. Congrats.
So it’s x2 but slow and with more articulation?
I never thought of it that way, but kinda tbh. 🤔
The first attraction to use the Omnimover system was Adventure Through Inter Space in 1967. The Haunted Mansion in Disneyland opened in 1969. But I’m sure through each incarnation of the Omnimover system the technology got better and better.
Yes, but both were manufactured at the same time so I think it's the same tech in this case. HM was to originally open in 63' , but with Walt's commitments to the 64' - 65' Worlds Fair and the difference in opinion between Imagineers of what the attraction should be, it was heavily delayed. It wasn't until after Walt's death in 66' that the project started taking on steam again. Typical of Disney, they had new technology they could use in multiple attractions, so they did. The exterior of the HM was completed in 63' and was ready for the omnimover installation right after they were done installing the ATIS omnimover leaving little time for re-engineering.
@@MRTano512 It is my understanding that the Omnimover system was not even considered for the Haunted Mansion until Adventure Through Inter Space was up and running.
Love it !! Well done
ah yes i’ve been anticipating this video 😁
Pretty good design for the day - lots of parts to it
Well done!
I worked at Disneyland in California from 1978 through 1982, and somewhere during that time I learned how the Omnimover works. You did an excellent job explaining it. Probably few people today remember the Adventure Through Inner Space in Tomorrowland, but the Omnimover was used in that attraction as well. I'm not surprised that Disney is still using it; it's a well-conceived, well-engineered and robust system.
Disney's Imagineers deserve considerable credit when you realize that their attraction systems typically operate for 15 hours per day, every day, for decades on end with only yearly maintenance. To attain the reliability record that they have is quite an achievement.
Yes it did! I actually _was_ going to use clips I had of ATIS, but they kept giving my editing software issues. That's why the video was delayed a bit.
Not only was the Omnimover used on Adventure Through Inner Space, WED's Bob Gurr designed it for that attraction first. It was when Disney decided not to have Haunted Mansion be a walk-through that they decided to use Gurr's Omnimover system for it.
There is a constant cycle of overhaul for the vehicles themselves. Take two off replace them with a freshly overhauled set. And you do this over and over and over until every vehicles has been overhauled. Then you start again. It is a never ending cycle.
AWESOME ! Finding this one, I've always wondered how this works ! Awesome Vlog, you just picked up a New Sub ! The Original Haunted Mansion is my favorite Ride.
I love this video! Thank you for making it. I am curious about the assertion that wireless communications are more reliable than mechanical busses though... I mean, there's a finite amount of spectrum and guests are carrying more wifi enabled devices every year. Does Disney use different frequencies than standard consumer gear?
Excellent video! I Love Dis..parks. My 1st visit was to DL in 1973. I was 6 yrs. old. I went in '74 & 76. WDW in 2001 as adult. People do NOT realize how complex this ride is esp. the audio in IT as well as the Dis parades. The sound "follows you" throughout the course. I looked up the patent + many others in the basement of Rice University in Houston. TX. Where i am a native Houstonian. Remember Pirates had audio (in each section), but 2 yrs. later it was "on board audio" Walt was "always" AHEAD of technology.
Very nicely done! Though I still have questions. How do the pitch rails and swivel rails change orientation around the course? I'm picturing just a flat rail, but I cant wrap my head around how the rail changes shape, and how that shape changes the pitch or the swivel, and in addition, how the pitch and swivel reset themselves.
They're laid down different. It's not a straight follow of the ride path so the varying distance creates the torque to move the car.
If you take a look at my 4D coasters video it'll explain the idea a bit better.
@@AmusementLabs oh! Ok that actually answered my questions. Thanks so much dude! I love learning about this stuff.
Great explanation. I have just been to a theme park in Germany, Phantasialand, and they have a dark ride that uses a copy of the Disney Omnimover system (by the way, it's the oldest still standing attraction in the park at about 40 years of operation). I hope to go to America someday to see the original
Another great episode! You should do a video on Test Track or Mission Space at Epcot! I know those attractions have a storied history with lots of technical achievements.
He’s doing one on Test Track but I’d love to see one on mission space
Ooo mission space is a good one too, but there's not a lot of shots of it off ride operating. But I could definitely make a model.
Excellent video, but I would like more detail about how the sound is transported from the source to the cars? Is it carried physically via wires, or wirelessly? And I'd like to hear a little more about the sound synchronization.
Ingenious! I'd like to work there.
Where on earth did you find the blueprints? I’ve always wondered how they made that work and now you’re in your explanation what I suspected was true
Thanks for the informative video! Not a question necessarily about the doombuggy motion, but I'm very interested in how the ghost host audio gets into the speakers in the WDW Haunted Mansion vehicles. I've read from other sources that it's related to shortwave radio transmissions. They try to explain it, but it still seems very complicated to comprehend (at least to me). Would you consider a video in the future about this? Many thanks!
I could mention it, but it's probably a busbar powered system with a wireless audio cue to cut audio should the ride stop and also RFID tags to start the audio when the car reaches certain sections. That seems like it would be the easiest method to maintain, but shortwave radio would be hard cause it would be need to be different for each car and also have some sort of location determination.
Fun fact: the omnimover has a higher passenger capacity than Elon Musk's Loop under Vegas.
I'd love to see a video on how Giant Slides work typically seen at county fairs. 🙏🏽 🤞🏽
Universal is putting Omnimover rides into their park with ‘Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash’ and ‘Yoshi’s Adventure’ but I think, like ‘Spaceship Earth’ at Epcot, they won’t rotate
Why is this so epic
Would Spaceship Earth be considered an omnimover or is it a different system? They rotate at the end, so do they use the same turning mechanics?
It technically could be, but those cars are in a train setup with a motor in the middle. It's essentially a powered 'coaster' if you could even call it that. The term omnimover does refer to that system, but the term is more synonymous with the set up seen in the Haunted Mansion and the like.
I remember first riding the Omnimover (Atomoblie) in Adventure Thru Inner Space at Disneyland during the 70's and 80's before it was replace by Star Tours.
With these systems, I've always wondered how they sorted out the track length vs. number of coaches. It seems like a simple calculation, but the track length can't just be a sum of the length of all the chassis, because they form chords in the curves (and there are horizontal and vertical curves). I've wondered if they have a make-up chassis somewhere (or several) that have some slotted adjustment points where they can stretch or compress the gap a little bit between each car to make up the error.
(Imagine building the thing and assembling the train, and getting to the very end and having half a car's gap - what do you do now?)
There's probably some kind of buffer or car that can be adjusted since the envelope is pretty small.
That was fascinating. Favorite ride...it is a small world 🌎
Great video - do you know if all the Disney omnimovers still use this mechanical actuation? I am surprised that they haven't gone back and put in electrical actuators at some point. Thanks
The little mermaid ones I believe use motors for turning now.
Great video
I know I'm late but could you possible go over how sound its synced with the ride, I know you said there are sensors to trigger it but I think it would be cool to go into further detail
Back in the day is reckon to say it was probably a piece of metal closing a contact which is like pressing a button to cue it up.
I kinda hoped you would also look at mack omnimovers
I'm surprised. I always thought there were cams that were used to angle the buggies
Can you do how dumbo/Aladins carpets work?
One clarification - the T rails for pitch and turning - they change the position of the tilt or turn by moving closer to the edge of the track or center of the track, right?
Left to right for example, if you wanted to turn the cab all the way to the left the T rail would be closest to the center of the track and if you wanted to turn all the way to the right it would be closest to the edge of the track?
I’d assume same for pitch - for example full tilt back to the edge of the track and full tilt forward closest to the center of the track? A top down animation showing the two T rails and their shape as the cab tilts and swivels would really help show just how ingenious this system is. It’s neat you had the diagrams, but it took a bit of imagining in my head to hopefully have sussed out exactly how the system works?
used to work with various amusement companys love your video please try to make one for journey to imgainion
I can try, but I may go insane trying to make it through that song.
@@AmusementLabs Yes i know i think thats one of disney more annoying songs i agree lol maybe put on some slipknot though headphones while putting it together hmmm just an idea in my twisted world i always thought it would be cool to put metilica to peter pans flight enter sandman lol
Can you do how a lift cable works
I have one question: how does maintenance works on such a ride with so many wheels to check and a hidden mechanical system like this ?
There are areas you can unlatch and slide them out.
There is a maintenance bay in the Attic scene and there is a roll up door to the left side. From this bay they can crawl under the track to check everything. From the bottom of the Doom Buggies to the concrete floor is about 6ft so they have room to look at everything. Then for the drive motor located all around the Mansion show building they have to crawl under the track to check them.
Hello! It took me a while to understand it but I got there in the end! I would love a video on an intamim gen2 drop tower! Thank you
Perhaps as a bonus video as more amusement park rides don't seem to pull as well.
Very interesting!!! OMNI1
I’m kinda wondering if the fact that riders are heavier now than when the ride was engineered is causing more stress than anticipated on those keys. Keyed shafts are usually pretty reliable, but if the stresses are exceeding design specs, they may need to go with a splined shaft (which of course is more expensive but damn near bomb proof).
Are you calling me fat 😢
Is it the same for cars racers,? In California adventure at Disneyland CA? I think the only difference would have to be the track and it would be more like a roller coaster track maybe idk?! 🤷♂️
The test track, racers and journey to the center of the earth are vastly different from from the older omni mover system and they're also slightly different from each other.
Crazy I never knew these were so crazy complicated even more impressive how long ago they invented it
Do a how the B&M flyer works and Mach extreme spinner works
I have done the flyer before. It's an older video, but it still holds up a bit. I may not be doing more generic videos on flyers or spinners cause, as you can see from my 4D coasters video, they don't do super well.
My favorite ride was "Great Movie Ride" sadly its gone. Jungle cruise and the universal Kong ride are also good.
All five gears: 2:43 [O]
5:38 [M]
8:16 [N]
9:55 [I]
10:23 [1]
your channel should be a lot bigger!!
Still waiting to see the exposed rails and track below - maybe someday?
There are a few photos of the cars sitting outside waiting for maintenance.
Je n'ai pas trouvé les sous-titres Français...
I'm working on a plan for my basement to make a dark ride. This system is too complicated for that. Do you know of a simple system to move two person cars through the attraction?
New subscriber here great video with a lot of information keep it up
And yeah old design but still reliable
Be Safe and Be Healthy Greetings from the Philippines 👍😁👍🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭
I always wanted to know how the old Cuddle-Ups worked. Could you explain?
So each cup is on a little car that follows a track under the floor around the course. The rotating floors help guide the cars. When it gets to the hand off of a car to another table the track is no longer completely circular and deviates. This creates a sharp transition that the car can't take and so it's forced onto the track of the next table. If you look up hair braiding machines it's pretty much the same thing.
What's the first music used in this video? Btw this video is amazing!
"Saving the world" from the UA-cam audio library. Most of their songs in there are no good, but there are a dlfew jems.
@@AmusementLabs thanks!
Does the Spaceship Earth use this car?
Didn't 'Adventure Through Inner Space' have this system (or some prototype) back in the 60's?
Yes it did. I didn't include footage of it here cause it was giving me issues.
Awesome video!! Could you do one on Revenge Of The Mummy Orlando or Forbidden Journey or Skull Island Reign of Kong? (Anything Universal Orlando!!) Thanks!
I remember staying in line for six freaky hours before they could find the tech guy to fix it. Mickey should be mad.
So how would any buzz lightyear type omnimovers work since the guests have some control over it and it has a scoring system on top of that.
The cars are powered along the track for the the motor to rotate and the computer to run the game. The lasers are not a solid beam they blink a code faster than we can perceive. The targets pick up on that code and relay back what they got and award the proper points back either through another busbar or over the air.
Thanks!
The rider controls the twist with the joystick which is connected to an electric motor so it doesn’t use a cam rail. It is also flat, no hills up or down. So that simplifies the design.
@@bondoman006 plus they were using an existing show building with not much room or budget.
Seems like there’s hundreds of thousands of
Parts . If something goes wrong . Do they have the technology to pinpoint where the problem occurs or do they literally have to inspect every single buggie till they find the problem
You should definitely do horizons horizons was a omnimover ride that was in epcot back in the 80’s then it was replaced by mission space.
YES! And what’s really cool is that Hoot and Chief got footage of the ride system in “Please Remain Seated” video log of their time inside the attraction!
Found a gear at 2:44 and 9:55
Have you seen the designs of the new Omni-movers? The ones for Little Mermaid. Its built by Sansei and is somewhat different than the mansion mechanism.
I have not, I'll have to look it up.
I will looking forward to it.
Can you make a video on the Revenge of the Mummy (Florida)
Found the gear at 2:43.
I'm ready to rumble!
Thanks for the great video! I would like to request you do one for Indiana Jones/ Dinosaur. Thank you!
It's actually already on the list. It's scheduled for mid July-ish.
@@AmusementLabs fantastic! I look forward to it!!
It's still running till this day while rides at Universal are shut down completely after 10 years or so.
Like which ones?
Radiator springs racers !
Magic. Got it.
Precisely.
I’ve been on only one Omnimover ride, which is Ariel’s Undersea Adventure at Disney’s California Adventure. Maybe the next time I go to Disneyland I should go on The Haunted Mansion…
How can we be standing in a queue line when we are in Quarntine?
Universal is opening soon. 🤷♂️
And he did say virtual
Well big chungus is too fat to remember...
Haha
Is the woman at 0:56 from Freedom Writers?
She's also the voice of Ursula
Why that crescendo gotta be so extra tho?
Can you do revenge of the mummy universal how it works?
Certainly. I'll put it on the list.
@@AmusementLabs Thanks 😉
Me at the start of the video: Huh, I wonder if he'll talk about the time Haunted Mansion broke down.
Me at 8:15 into the video: That's what I was looking for!
Same.
Can you possibly do Frozen at Epcot center it looks kind of fun and interesting I was a little girl so I don't know anything about much about the first ride that was there and I would like to know more about the first ride too before it became Frozen thank you and I am a subscriber
Could you imagine how scary the JAWS ride would be on a Omnimover :) lol
The haunted mansion is the best!
I think you misunderstand the purpose of the little key that connects the follower to the sector-gear. They COULD have constructed the car with the sector-gear rigidly welded to the follower-shaft, but instead chose to attach it with a flimsy pin. This is called a “shear pin”, and it functions exactly the same way as a fuse in an electric circuit. Its purpose is to break, or shear, before anything important breaks, possibly avoiding hurling a passenger out of the car during a malfunction. That way, once the problem is resolved, an inexpensive (couple bucks) shear pin gets replaced instead of the entire gear train. Shear pins are commonly used in mechanical systems.
It’s cheap and flimsy because it’s supposed to be that way.
I guess that does make sense. Perhaps they bought some cheap ones or tried to make their own or vice versa.
Holy crap, the undercarriage and railing are way more complicated than I thought.