Disneyland in 3D!

[Mojave]

Originally Posted by Datameister

There we are. The flume passes over the railroad tracks four times and under them twice. Pretty crazy...

Very nice! Exactly what I was looking for.

Splash is probably the most complex attraction at Disneyland, followed closely by (or at least tied with) Pirates and Indy.

[Datameister]

Haha, glad I could please.

Splash is probably the most complex attraction at Disneyland, followed closely by (or at least tied with) Pirates and Indy.

As far as sheer complexity of track layout goes, Splash has to win, yep. Indy comes in second in my book when you consider how the entire facility (queue included) is integrated with the surroundings. Pirates has fewer areas where the flume passes over itself, but it's certainly incredibly complex.

[dland_lover]

Not to nit-pick (okay, well, I am ) but are you sure that's a 47 degree drop? It sure looks a lot steeper to me.

Otherwise, great job!

[Datameister]

Haha, any and all nitpicking is appreciated. The 47-degree statistic is one I'm aware of, as is the supposed 52'6" drop height...though I'm not entirely sure how accurate either is. What I do know for sure is where the drop starts and stops, as seen from above. So I've tried to accommodate both figures to the best of my ability without sacrificing the more certain endpoints. As a result, the average angle is somewhere in the league of 47 or 48 degrees, though there are somewhat steeper and shallower angles at various points. And the height is set to 52'6", as well. Luckily, I do know several key elevations above sea level, and I've got Mojave's construction photos to provide some absolutely essential reference, so I think I've got it worked out pretty close to reality. I've also compared my own virtual on-ride views to those seen in videos and photos, particularly in the big turn before the first drop. It looks like I've got it quite accurate now.

Now, if you want to see steep, check out my old SM model...that thing was just too darn tall.

[dland_lover]

(Oh, I remember the old Splash model! Good stuff!! )


If you say it's all good, then that's good enough for me.

[Mojave]

In the second render on the previous page, the angle looks good. I think the reason the angle of the drop looks excessive on the latest render is due to the "camera" angle and the dark backside of the flume drop.

OK, another request! Can we see the flume in the second show building without the building itself?

[Datameister]

Originally Posted by Mojave

In the second render on the previous page, the angle looks good. I think the reason the angle of the drop looks excessive on the latest render is the "camera" angle and the dark backside of the drop flume.

That's probably it. Looking back at the most recent render I posted, I'm seeing what appears to be a very steep angle on that main drop...but it's actually the exact same angle as in the renders before it, which look much more reasonable.

OK, another request! Can we see the flume in the second show building without the building itself?

Yep! Rendering now. In the mean time, here's a shot of the original model, with the show building area at the bottom right:

[Mojave]

Originally Posted by Datameister

Very cool! Notice how steep the main drop looks in this render? Once again, I think it's the angle of the camera and the dark backside of the flume playing tricks on us.

I kind of feel like they didn't make the best use of the space in the second show building. Something just feels wrong about it. I wonder if they changed the flume layout after having built the structure?

[Datameister]

Originally Posted by Mojave

Very cool! Notice how steep the main drop looks in this render? Once again, I think it's the angle of the camera and the dark backside of the flume playing tricks on us.

Well...the drop really was way too steep in that model. I think it looks exactly as bad as it was.

I kind of feel like they didn't make the best use of the space in the second show building. Something just feels wrong about it. I wonder if they changed the flume layout after having built the structure?

Really? I think they did an amazing job. Almost every bit of that building is used for onstage areas of the attraction, and they're squeezed in really tightly without actually feeling that way to me. The only backstage areas inside the building are all on the bottom floor - a rectangular room at the southeast corner, a maintenance area in the bottom of the southwestern bulge of the building, and a few areas to the left of the hilly drop with the bees. The top floor is totally maxed out, with everything being onstage. Scenes are right next to each other without you even knowing, a la Pirates.

Anyway, that's just me. Do you know what specifically doesn't seem right to you?

[Mojave]

Originally Posted by Datameister

Well...the drop really was way too steep in that model. I think it looks exactly as bad as it was.

Haha, well that explains it then!

Originally Posted by Datameister

Really? I think they did an amazing job. Almost every bit of that building is used for onstage areas of the attraction, and they're squeezed in really tightly without actually feeling that way to me. The only backstage areas inside the building are all on the bottom floor - a rectangular room at the southeast corner, a maintenance area in the bottom of the southwestern bulge of the building, and a few areas to the left of the hilly drop with the bees. The top floor is totally maxed out, with everything being onstage. Scenes are right next to each other without you even knowing, a la Pirates.

Anyway, that's just me. Do you know what specifically doesn't seem right to you?

It was those two areas you mentioned: the SE and SW corners of the bottom floor. But now with a better explanation of why those aren't filled with onstage scenes, I feel much better about the design and layout.

[Datameister]

Originally Posted by Mojave

It was those two areas you mentioned: the SE and SW corners of the bottom floor. But now with a better explanation of why those aren't filled with onstage scenes, I feel much better about the design and layout.

Gotcha. Yep, it'd certainly be cool if those areas were used for onstage, but...well, here's how I see it. The biggest issue for the flume layout inside the back building is the hilly drop. It's a long drop, horizontally speaking, and it of course needs room for the log to slow down before turning. So they maxed out the available space by rotating that drop to a diagonal within the building, pushing out the southwest corner where it starts, and making the end of the drop protrude outside the show building inside a themed bulge in the northeast corner. Then you've got everything else askew as a result, but it works. It would have been a much less impressive drop if they'd kept the show building purely rectangular and/or avoided the diagonal layout.

I also suspect they needed those backstage areas in there for whatever reason, but I'm not entirely sure.

[Mojave]

But then the question becomes: why didn't they just build the show building to be longer and narrower and then realign the top floor flume to fit the different shaped building. It seems a little odd that they put two big holes in the NE corner of the building for the turn and then completely enclosed that with theming instead of just designing the structure to fit the turn inside the walls. Know what I mean?

[Datameister]

Originally Posted by Mojave

But then the question becomes: why didn't they just build the show building to be longer and narrower and then realign the top floor flume to fit the different shaped building. It seems a little odd that they put two big holes in the NE corner of the building for the turn and then completely enclosed that with theming instead of just designing the structure to fit the turn inside the walls. Know what I mean?

True. That's what they did for WDW, I believe. It might have been a space issue here...clearances for the roads and so forth...I don't really know. It's an interesting question, to be sure...

I will say, though, that the resulting bulge in the corner does make the show building feel a little more organic. It already looks squarish enough as it is...if that corner were just totally a right angle, it'd be kinda dumb-looking.

[Datameister]

Here's that render of the flume in the show building, at long last. Sorry the show building is still there...I wanted to show off the steel on the inside. I don't think it interferes with the appearance of the flume, though, and it'd basically look the same as the old renders I did of just the flume. Also, make sure to check my blog - I posted a big dump of new renders from Flickr there.