Originally Posted By PeterPan1313 Well, didn't think that the re-imaging of this area of Carsland would happen so fast. Not too many years ago some imagineers were thinking about putting in a "Baby Cars" attraction in most of the parking lot east of Luigi's. The ride would utilizer smaller, hence 'baby', versions of the fuller-size ride vehicles seen in RSR and given scale in street performances in RS street shows. While the attraction would have been LPS controlled, within broad parameters, the baby cars would squeel, "Take the wheel!", intermitently during the twisting course through another area of RS, allowing guests to maneuver the baby cars within the limits of the track (but disallowing reversing directions, banging into other baby cars or props). Well, for this idea to be fully-fleshed out, it would have required the construction of a new attraction, and as Luigi's has legal/guest injury issues (mostly of the twisted ankle type), the attraction has been permanently shuttered and a new surface will be added for the new LPS cars, but no talk of a twisting new themed area behind of Luigi's . . .yet. One of the big positives of the Baby Cars ride was that you'd be able to parallel load a couple dozen guests, have the cars mingle a bit, and the one by one enter the track, increase the hourly capacity significantly, a number which is in essence rate limited by how many guests can be loaded/unloaded.\ So why the scaled down version of Baby Cars? As I hear it, Star Wars Land will have a Jawas/Tatooine Droid ride using LPS vehicles, but which is much more complex in terms of on-vehicle effects and guests ability to choose different 'paths' through the attraction. So . . . Star Wars Land's RSB&TU (build and test unit) is going to have a little bit of fun, and again valuable first hand expereince, with Luigi's much more limited LPS operating environment. One big issue is that this isn't the carefully climate controlled environment of LPS Huny Pots on Pooh, or a more forgiving aquatic attraction where LPS boats can bump into each other, so it will be a new learnig curve. While some might think that JL's/Disney construction of the Flying Tires was waste of money, it is important to realize that Carsland is a big success, and that the blowers from Luigi's might be used in a future expansion of the Baby Cars ride (or whatever it will now be called) to add some atmosphere ride effects to possible show scenes and landscaping should the baby cars ever be allowed to leave what some are calling the 'play-pin'.
Originally Posted By hbquikcomjamesl I really liked LFT. For the nostalgia of a "Flying Saucers" ride that was before my time, for the novelty of guiding a passive, free-ranging vehicle on an air-bearing floor, and for the numerous visual puns in the indoor part of the queue. At the same time, the DLR official site is as vague as it usually is about what's going on there, and I note that so far, it has not shown up on Yesterland. Don't lose heart. They may want to cut it out, and they want to avoid a lengthy search.
Originally Posted By phruby How much nostalgia could the Flying Saucers have for most people. The only ones that would have ridden the thing is in their 70s now. I never see anyone that old riding LFT. For most people there is no nostalgia. How can you be nostalgic for a time before you existed?
Originally Posted By berol Nostalgia's definition isn't so strict but nearly is, "a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations."
Originally Posted By berol I first knew of the saucers long after they were gone. I thought they were cool and wished they were still around when I first went, a happy personal association through photographs and descriptions. I didn't take my chance to hop on a tire.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt And completely ignore the fact that it failed the first time. I was always curious about the saucers. The ride system is unique and fun. The developers should have known though during testing that the Tires that they were going to be another flop.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance I bet they did, but after spending all that money, what are you going to do?
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "I bet they did, but after spending all that money, what are you going to do?" Right. I guess I meant during the period when they do mock up testing of the ride system before the formal installation at the parks. It's possible though that this particular ride didn't go through that kind of testing phase.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>How do you have personal associations for things that you never saw?<< I think that Main Street evokes nostalgia, even though none of us were alive at the turn of the century. Similarly, I think that the front half of Studios in WDW does a great job capturing the nostalgia of "the Hollywood that never was, but always will be". It's not quite the same as evoking memories of events in your past, but that's not to say that there is no personal connection >>It's possible though that this particular ride didn't go through that kind of testing phase.<< They showed a clip of early testing during one of the Blue Sky Cellar updates. It was back when they had a mechanism that would make the tires spin around, and it looked much more successful than the final ride. The vehicle shown had a smaller base than the final ride vehicles (though still large enough for 2 adults) and was made of plywood, which is presumably lighter than what they ended up with. As a proof of concept, I think it worked, but they deviated too far from that during the design, so it was something completely different by the time it actually opened
Originally Posted By hbquikcomjamesl Hmm. Each of the two or three times I rode it, there was a wait of at least two or three ride cycles. Maybe not a hit of the same magnitude as Soarin', Mania, or Roger, but hardly a flop.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt A flop in the sense that it didn't work the way it was planned.
Originally Posted By Bellella My mom (who's passed the 60 mark) rode the Flying Saucers when she was a kid. She told me a lot about them, and I always thought they were the coolest idea. So you can imagine how excited I was when I heard they were bringing them back. I told my mom and she got really excited too. The first time we visited Carsland, the Flying Tires was the first ride we went on. For my mom and me, it was love at first ride. But unfortunately, my mom only got to ride the reincarnation of the Flying Saucers only once, since she hasn't been able to make any more trips up there. And now--- I can still only count my rides on the Tires in single digits. And even though I said goodbye to them in December, I still hoped they'd stay open when I saw the closing date pushed back and back. Now-- they're gone, never to return. An amazing D-land attraction has a good run for several years, and then is taken away. After several decades, it is brought back in a slightly different form, but still highly enjoyable. Then it is closed after an even shorter time than its previous incarnation. Never to come back. Same with Captain EO.
Originally Posted By hbquikcomjamesl It seems to me that DL management has, for close to a decade, been continually going out of its way to give me reasons not to reinstate my pass.
Originally Posted By Bellella It seems to me that I have an ever-increasing list of grievances. Where do I begin?
Originally Posted By LP Watcher "And completely ignore the fact that it failed the first time. I was always curious about the saucers. The ride system is unique and fun. The developers should have known though during testing that the Tires that they were going to be another flop." It didn't fail. Yes, it had problems, but it was a very popular ride and a lot more successful than the flying tires. The fact that the tires system was just a huge air hockey table and there was no efficient load/unload like the saucers had, it had no chance of being a success.
Originally Posted By LP Watcher "Right. I guess I meant during the period when they do mock up testing of the ride system before the formal installation at the parks. It's possible though that this particular ride didn't go through that kind of testing phase." The did test the system. They had a segment of the platform with a huge blower attached on one of their facility lots in Glendale. Kind of like balloon testing for hight issues, they just ignored the results and went ahead with the system. They apparently DID modify the concept that had some sort of vent that was supposed to turn the tire that didn't work.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "It didn't fail." The fact that it has closed less than three years after it opened without any blow back from online fans says fail to me. "Yes, it had problems, but it was a very popular ride..." Was it?
