Mar. 2, 2012: Hydrolator Lawsuit?

[Werner Weiss]

With its deep corporate pockets, Disney is a target of lawsuits, including frivolous ones. The story of one particularly silly lawsuit and how it was resolved with irrefutable evidence has been told over and over in different forms. But did it really happen?

Link to Yesterland.com: Hydrolator Lawsuit?

Please discuss it here.

[indianajack]

It beggars belief that this could have gone under-reported if it went to trial. It's too fantastic a story (especially a Disney one) for the press to have missed it. If there is a kernel of truth to it, I'd guess a guy threatened a lawsuit and then was shown the "truth" of the attraction, and he then slinked away. I find it hard to believe it could have gone further than that.

[skoolpsyk]

I myself am considering suing Disney. I still have not recovered from localized shrinkage experienced after riding Adventure Through Inner Space many years ago.

[kindagoofy]

Do the hydrolators move you down not at all? I always figured it was a drop of a few feet. No? I need this info for my lawsuit that I have been irreparably harmed by NOT being vertically conveyed within an elevator. ;->

[StevenW]

There is another myth that The Living Seas is a really good aquarium. I felt it was a big disappointment. Disney could have done a much better job with the sea exhibit and the dumb ride that closed down. Not sure what it is now.

[almandot]

I've never heard a version with the field trip to the park. The version I'd always heard was that Disney's lawyers just showed up with the blueprints and the judge threw it out.

[ralfrick]

I've never heard a version with the field trip to the park.

Actually came up on wdwtoday podcast within the last few weeks.

[Werner Weiss]

Do the hydrolators move you down not at all? I always figured it was a drop of a few feet. No? I need this info for my lawsuit that I have been irreparably harmed by NOT being vertically conveyed within an elevator. ;->

There are numerous references that the hydrolators descended "two inches." I don't buy it. It would not make sense to go to the expense of installing an elevator mechanism to provide a minimal and unnecessary descent. As I recall, and walls did not move at all, but that the floor "moved" in the the form of shaking. This contributed to the feeling of movement, while actually allowing the hydrolator, its "underwater" windows, and the mechanical devices that created the illusion of descending down a rocky, water-filled shaft not to be part of any sort of elevator.

The hydrolators were removed during the transition from The Living Seas to The Seas with Nemo and Friends.

---------- Post added 03-02-2012 at 10:20 PM ----------

There is another myth that The Living Seas is a really good aquarium. I felt it was a big disappointment. Disney could have done a much better job with the sea exhibit and the dumb ride that closed down. Not sure what it is now.

When I first visited The Living Seas in 1986, it was an impressive aquarium with an amazing collection of sea life.

Since then, I've visited a number of the major aquariums that cities all over America built after the aquarium in Baltimore was credited with bringing Baltimore's inner harbor back to life. (Even Albuquerque has a major aquarium!) Suddenly, The Living Seas didn't seem so impressive any more. Also, I get the feeling that The Living Seas now no longer has the amazing population of sea life that it one had.

---------- Post added 03-02-2012 at 10:23 PM ----------

I've never heard a version with the field trip to the park. The version I'd always heard was that Disney's lawyers just showed up with the blueprints and the judge threw it out.

That's why I wrote that there are various versions of the story. It seems that the story was embellished over the years. The original story involved only the threat of a lawsuit, but eventually the story grew to include a jury trial with a field trip to The Living Seas.

[jpg391]

Very interesting story. Weather a lawsuit against Disney is frivolous or not it is the reason why there have been safety changes to attractions that already had a good safety record. I will admit that some of the changes where made because the state safety regulations had changed.

[Werner Weiss]

Very interesting story. Weather a lawsuit against Disney is frivolous or not it is the reason why there have been safety changes to attractions that already had a good safety record. I will admit that some of the changes where made because the state safety regulations had changed.

The hydrolators were essentially fake elevators. (Go in one elevator door; experience a fake elevator ride; go out the other elevator door.) I don't think their removal had anything to do with safety regulations.

For repeat guests, the hydrolators were an annoyance. Instead of being able to walk into Sea Base Alpha from the pre-show, guests had to wait their turn for a hydrolator and spend time in the fake elevator before proceeding. The hydrolators were not sufficiently fun to make it worthwhile. And, to make matters worse, the exit also required a hydrolator "ride."

When The Living Seas transitioned to the Fining Nemo overlay, the hydrolators went away.

[wec]

Do the so called "Hydrolators" still exist? (I've never been to Walt Disney World.) Were they removed when Nemo moved in? The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago has a similar effect in their coal mine elevator. I thought it was a fantastic effect, though I knew that I wasn't going further than the building basement.

[ChrisFL]

Not about the lawsuit, but there's 2 other places that have a similar effect. Journey to the Center of the Earth has a "Descent" and MIB: Alien Attack at Universal Studios Florida also has a somewhat convincing elevator "ride".

Having said that, the Hydrolators I loved because of how well the effect was with the bubbles and the sea walls...although the floor shaking was kinda cheesy.

[jpg391]

The hydrolators were essentially fake elevators. (Go in one elevator door; experience a fake elevator ride; go out the other elevator door.) I don't think their removal had anything to do with safety regulations.

For repeat guests, the hydrolators were an annoyance. Instead of being able to walk into Sea Base Alpha from the pre-show, guests had to wait their turn for a hydrolator and spend time in the fake elevator before proceeding. The hydrolators were not sufficiently fun to make it worthwhile. And, to make matters worse, the exit also required a hydrolator "ride."

When The Living Seas transitioned to the Fining Nemo overlay, the hydrolators went away.

Werner, I was referring to real lawsuits that have forced changes to attractions that have a good safety record at both WDW and Disneyland.

I also admit that any new state safety requirements by California and Florida also made any changes necessary for things that actually move.

I think that if I had seen the The Living Seas, I also would have found the hydrolators boring and unnecessary.

[Twist1234]

Do the so called "Hydrolators" still exist? (I've never been to Walt Disney World.) Were they removed when Nemo moved in? The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago has a similar effect in their coal mine elevator. I thought it was a fantastic effect, though I knew that I wasn't going further than the building basement.

Nope, the effect is completely gone. Now you just walk down a normal queue line, no more pre-show, no more hydrolators. It's a damn shame considering how well themed it was.

[Badgermann]

The hydrolator floor was essentially a shake table. I knew about the effect, so I watched it once. There was a ~1 inch gasket between the sides of the hydrolator and the floor, which allowed the floor to move but not the walls. It was easy to spot if you looked for it, but the imagineers made it look like an inlaid border decoration on the floor. The floor did have some vertical component to give the hydrolator that drop and bump feeling you get in a real elevator when you start or stop movement.

I think the floor plate at the threshold of the hydrolator doors was also one piece, so there was no gap between the car and the building like in real elevators.