Space Mountain Six Month Refurb?

[Tom319]

So i'm thinking about going back to Japan this spring and of course I want to go to TDL, so I decided to look up the refurb schedule to see what would be closed. I was a little suprised to see that SM would be closed Octorber 30, 2006 - April 27, 2007.

Whats with the half year closure? Is it getting exciting new stuff like audio? Should I postpone my trip til May? I haven't heard this anywhere before so hopefully some of you Tokyo Disney fanatics can dig up some dirt.

Arigatou

[JoeInJpn]

I believe it is new audio, effects, queue and exterior painting.

[figment1986]

So it's everything but the kitchen sink and new track?? They upgrading it to be like Anaheim / Hong Kong, without the upgraded track....

[Cousin Orville]

the ugrade is like DL but more and a bit different. New probe in the queue, etc.

[tloolgb]

Really...so this second version Space Mtn is now happening? Oooh. A 6 month closure is a pretty good confirmation of a rumor. I mean they only did DLP's in 3 months...so without a track change it seems like there are quite a few new effects.

And hopefully new trains. I hope they don't pull a Disneyland again and just add audio to the existing trains, which they know won't support it.

[MickeyMania]

Sigh, there goes one more silent Space Mountain.

[Hilsbro]

Well After TDL's we may see WDW's go down for the same 6 months as tokyo's

[tloolgb]

God I hope not.

I am way in the minority but I like WDW's as it is. Besides, WDW's track can only hold trains of a certain size...who knows if that means they can take trains with audio. The only way to add audio might be by replacing the whole track...they'll need more than 6 months.

As for in ride effects...yeah cool...but I mean how many more lights do they need flashing in Space? And I don't want to see the view cut from Space's queue or the TTA.

This rehab is supposed to mostly be including track replacement, but just stretches of track, not full track.
Though Audio could mean new trains, and I'm sure after TDL's Space accident a few years ago they equate the current trains with being cursed...even though they found the culprit.

[pancakesaregood]

What happened at TDL's Space Mountain? What kind of accident occured

[Malin]

I think it had something to do with one of the trains de railing!

[tloolgb]

They ordered the wrong part for the train wheel assembly ( I htink it was a bearing) and one night one of them broke loose, de-attaching the wheels from the train, and derailing (at least part of) a train full of people. No one was hurt, the ride was shut, new parts ordered, the men in charge of the issue were severly reprimanded for the shame they caused.

[tloolgb]

CHIBA -- A roller coaster derailed Friday at Tokyo Disneyland's (TDL) "Space Mountain," but no injuries were reported as it luckily occurred as the vehicle was coming to a halt, officials said.

Officials at Oriental Land Co., which operates TDL in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, said that the Space Mountain roller coaster derailed about 10 meters from its final destination shortly after 10 a.m.
As the coaster was running at a slow speed, no major damage was reported.
A rear wheel on the second car of the two-car roller coaster derailed, they explained. Other cars running on the same rail came to a halt automatically following the accident. Passengers riding in the other cars and those waiting for a ride were evacuated from the site, the officials said.
One of the top attractions at TDL, Space Mountain is a roller coaster that runs inside a 60-meter-diameter domed building. It runs at a maximum speed of 50 kilometers per hour. On Friday, about 18,000 people visited TDL, and 2,200 of them took a ride on Space Mountain prior to the accident. (Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, Dec. 5, 2003)"

I can't find the news report about hte accident report from later on though.

[JoeInJpn]

Here is part of the released report that I posted on another Disney discussion board in January 2004.

Oriental Land Company has released a report on the cause of the December 5, 2003 incident on the "Space Mountain" attraction:

*****

January 21, 2004
Oriental Land Co., Ltd.

Cause of the Space Mountain Incident Determined at Tokyo Disneyland Park

Oriental Land Co., Ltd. announces the completion of the investigation into the incident which occurred on December 5, 2003 at the Tokyo Disneyland attraction Space Mountain. The attraction is scheduled to reopen in mid-February upon implementation of the required improvements.

1. Cause of the incident

a. Direct cause of the axle breakage

The incident occurred when the axle of the ride vehicle's rear wheels broke, causing the vehicle to derail during the operation of the attraction. Detailed analysis and investigation were conducted focusing on the cause of the breakage. It was determined that the gap between the axle which broke and its bearing exceeded the design specification. This wider-than-specified gap resulted in excess play between the axle and its bearing and caused more vibration than normal during the operation of the vehicle, placing excessive stress on the installation screw nut at the tip of the axle. This fatigue fracture of the axle was the direct cause of the breakage.

While the design specifies that the gap between axle and its bearing should be about 0.2 mm, the actual gap in this case was over 1 mm.

b. Reason for the gap being wider than designed

The axle that broke was one of 30 axles received in October 2002. All 30 axles were thinner than the design specification, which resulted in the gap between the axles and their bearings to be greater than the specified width. This abnormal situation occurred due the following:

In September 1995, the design specifications for the size of the axle bearing for Space Mountain vehicles was changed from inches to the metric scale. Accordingly, the axle diameter was also changed, in this case from 44.14mm to 45.00mm. However, appropriate action to revise and maintain the design drawings was neglected. Consequently, two different drawings existed within our company after the changes were made and the old drawing showing the 44.14 mm diameter was used to order (in August 2002) the axles that were delivered in October 2002.

It has been confirmed that other axles ordered and delivered between September 1995 and October 2002 were all of the required size (45.00mm).

JoeInJpn
http://www.jtcent.com

[tloolgb]

Thanks. That was the one I was looking for. Didn't have it up any longer in my news though.

[lazyboy97O]

Sigh, there goes one more silent Space Mountain.

Will they really try to add the on board audio to Tokyo's? Has WDI learned nothing? That weight is was caused Anaheim's to eventually need a complete replacement of the track.