Disneyland's unique speedramps made Tomorrowland seem more futuristic, and, now, the only one left isn't even well-fitting since it exists at The Haunted Mansion in the New Orleans Square area of Frontierland.
While I know that Disney dislikes the maintenance of these devices versus those of a regular ramp or staircase, the speedramp is an important and guest-friendly detail in the show that contributed to the feeling of Tomorrowland as being a world on the move.
I miss the speedramps
Walt's love of Trains!
I miss them too.
You have a great point.
[quote=PragmaticIdealist;1410812]First, What? New Orleans Square AREA of Frontierland? New Orleans Square and Frontierland are TWO DIFFERENT lands or "areas" as you call them. New Orleans Square is not apart of Friontierland.the only one left isn't even well-fitting since it exists at The Haunted Mansion in the New Orleans Square area of Frontierland.
If you want to ride a speed ramp so badly, why don't you visit your local mall where there are not only speedramps (escalators), but there are also elevators. Speedramps are not important and they certainly do not enhance the theme of Tomorrowland because you can find these ramps and any shopping venue. And what's the point of having speedramps when 50-100% of the time, they don't work!While I know that Disney dislikes the maintenance of these devices versus those of a regular ramp or a staircase, the speedramp is an important and guest-friendly detail in the show that contributed to the feeling of Tomorrowland as being a world on the move.
When the Speedramps worked they were great and very much a part of Tomorrowland's charm. But half the time, if not more, they never seemed to work. The best Speedramp I remember was the one that was used to get to Space Mountain...it was right in front of where HISTA is now.
Awwwwwww, the good 'ol days!
But they never worked. They never moved people any faster than the belt itself could go - and with a full load the belt usually moved pretty slow.Originally Posted by PragmaticIdealist
I think the general problem came from the idea that the speedramp was meant to be walked on - to speed up guests who were already using their own power to move. Much like the airport though, people just get lazy and just stand there blocking traffic. On the monorail platform this was a huge problem - since it would take *forever* for a train load of guests to get down the ramp, since everyone would just stop moving as soon as they hit the moving ramp. It created a bottleneck on the platform which, for the sake of efficiency, caused backups with the loading of the attraction.
Because of that problem, they were usually shut off, even when they were working. The same goes with Space Mountain's exit platforms.
Why Haunted Mansion doesn't suffer from that same bottleneck is beyond me - but for some reason it works over there in a way it never worked in Tomorrowland.
#1: Escalators aren't speedramps.
#2: Speedramps are perfectly reliable. The one at The Haunted Mansion is always working. Disney turned the devices off at the monorail. And, at Space Mountain, the machine would turn itself off if guests added too much weight to the belt at the same time. The cast of Space Mountain found it just too inconvenient to reset the ramp there.
There is a large difference between a speed ramp and an escalator my friend, speed ramps have a lot less danger area for catching things.
Is this haunted signatureactuallystretching?
Or is it your imagination, hmm?Rockin' Lady Adelade of Random
also known as...
Dominatrix of Randomness
Speedramp <> escalator
"JESUS!!! That's Cold!" -- Walt Disney's final words.
"You hear people talk about, 'I don't think Walt would like this,' or 'I don't think Walt would like that.' You have no idea what Walt would want! No clue whatsoever! Because the people that worked with him day in and day out didn't know what Walt wanted. Walt didn't know what he wanted 'til he wanted it."
-- Randy Thornton, Walt Disney Records
SM in WDW still has ''em. Mainly because it feels like you gotta walk 2miles to get out of that place.
I don't find them magical at all. I ride them every business trip all over.
They always worked when I was there, until they tore them down of course. And have you ever walked on those airport ones? How sick does that make you? I know it makes me kinda dizzy.
I really miss the one at the entrance to Space. I HATE the walk now. It's so long and that space is there is being totally wasted. They should put something cool up there.
Just a guess... but there may be two reasons why the HM ramp doesn't bottleneck. First off, the crowd is pretty carefully controled, as it is only the people exiting the ride. With that in mind, you can see how there'd never really be a big surge of people at any one time, just continuous quantities of small groups. Secondly, most people stand on it (as opposed to walking on it) to catch a glimpse of the Bride. Hence, order reigns.
The biggest quality I miss about the speedramps was the "foot massager" quality to them when you stood on the edges. That was great!
Does anyone even bother with signatures anymore?
I don't mind using conventional ramps that slope downward. But, guests should not have to walk uphill or walk upstairs in a world of tomorrow.
Disney made a smart choice in installing the stairs, the future is exercise.
I agree with PI on this one. The elimination of the speed ramps, whether a necessary move or no, was a regression. Were the ramps crucial to Tomorrowland? Apparently not, but their removal changed Tomorrowland. People are no longer traveling by being moved (no skyway, peoplemover, speed ramps), they are moving themselves, back to good ol' self-propulsion, which isn't really that "progressive" to me IMHO.
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