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Disney Goes Boom!
Posted by
michael
on Wed Sep 01, 2004 05:30 PM
from the time-on-target dept.
from the time-on-target dept.
BoomZilla writes "Reading Disney's alliteratively titled Practically
Perfect Pyrotechnics introduces the latest in firework launch technology.
Gone are the 'light blue touch paper and retire a safe distance' days. Shells
are now launched using compressed air. No burning black powder means no smoke
drifting over the residential neighborhoods, plus a safer show. Best of all the
new system is more precise and can launch shells higher than black powder,
enabling spectacular new effects. An additional article:
The future of theme park fireworks
covers some of the pros and cons of compressed air launch systems." We mentioned this earlier.
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Full of hot air (Score:3, Funny)
Looks Great, Less Smogging (Score:5, Insightful)
The air in the Los Angeles/San Bernardino area can be pretty awful, which probably has a lot more to do with their efforts to decrease smoke. I visited the Grand Canyon years ago and heard sometimes the visibility, in the summer is so poor you can't see across the canyon, thanks to smog from San Diego and Los Angeles/San Bernardino, hundreds of miles to the west. (Fortunately I was there in winter, which I highly recommend (South Rim open only), with 200+ miles of visibility.)
A word of advice: Try to avoid a down-wind position for fireworks as sulpherous ash may drift down into your eyes and it burns like H2S.
Re:Looks Great, Less Smogging (Score:2)
INteresting fact (Score:2, Informative)
Re:INteresting fact (Score:4, Interesting)
Supposedly it had smog from campfires when it was inhabited by native Americans.
Parent
Re:Looks Great, Less Smogging (Score:4, Interesting)
Parent
New explosives for Disney (Score:5, Informative)
Some of the new high nitrogen explosives [lanl.gov] are well suited to this application.
It will be difficult to replace all of the colors produced by metals and other compounds used in fireworks- some of which are quite toxic (strontium, cadmium, arsenic, antimony, PVC plastic, etc.). It will also be much more expensive. But high nitrogen explosives and newer organic compounds have a lot to offer the field- including colors you can't get with the old standbys.
Some of the high nitrogen stuff I used to work with was pretty interesting. Lots of newer, potentially safer compounds are in the pipeline- mainly for military applications, but they can be bastardized to, er, recreational purposes.
Parent
Re:LIES, LIES, LIES (Score:4, Interesting)
Parent
Re:LIES, LIES, LIES (Score:3, Insightful)
As long as the boom is still there... (Score:2, Informative)
As long as the big boys still make that oh-so-satisfying "BOOM" when they go off, I'll be thrilled as ever.
Change is Bad! Very Bad! (Score:5, Funny)
But I like watching the billows of smoke drifting across the river! And if the fireworks go any higher, I won't be able to watch them from my computer desk! They'll be blocked by the balcony of the apartment above mine!
Re:Change is Bad! Very Bad! (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:Change is Bad! Very Bad! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Change is Bad! Very Bad! (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:Change is Bad! Very Bad! (Score:5, Informative)
For reference, the largest shell ever fired (the 36" Fat Man) weighed 800 pounds and was lifted 1400 feet in the air by 1/2 pound of black powder.
Parent
Re:Change is Bad! Very Bad! (Score:5, Insightful)
There is a big difference between what's right, and the results of the US legal system.
Example: Small airports were built all over the country. Decades later, the land around them was made into housing developments. Then people sued to have the noisy airports restricted to the point they were no longer viable, or shut down altogether. They consistently win, because there are 100 irate homeowners vs. 30 people who want to preserve the pre-existing airport. Bye-bye airport. The ultimate irony is when the runway becomes the main street through the new subdivision that's built where the airport was, and all the subdivision streets have names like Blue Sky Place and Lindbergh Drive.
It's similar to developers leveling a beautiful stand of trees to pack as many little vinyl houses as possible into a congested suburban hell, and naming the subdivision Aspen Acres. I guess Fugly Houses Estates doesn't sound very good.
Maybe I'm getting even more cynical in my old age, but there seem to be fewer and fewer instances where Right and Reality coincide.
Parent
Too Easy... (Score:5, Funny)
So now when people say Disney sucks, I can say, "Well, I don't know about that..."
"But their fireworks sure blow."
Re:Too Easy... (Score:4, Funny)
Skip the veal. Go for the fish.
Parent
Argh! (Score:5, Funny)
You get my hopes up, then no chapter 11. :-(
Re:Argh! (Score:3, Informative)
Thanks to Michaels Cooking the books and some finagling they had a pretty good looking quarter, last report, mostly due to the theme parks. They've been hemoraging cash on movies though, which should warm your heart.
Re:Argh! (Score:5, Funny)
But now, they save money on the cost of matches!
Parent
Disney is losing. (Score:4, Interesting)
They've been hemoraging cash on movies though
Darn right:
Parent
Wait... (Score:5, Funny)
Or do we like them now? Or do we like thier fireworks - but feel immediately compelled to qualify that statement with BUT DISNEY STILL SUCKS...
I'm so confused.
Re:Wait... (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Wait... (Score:3, Funny)
Slashdot is not a hive-mind (Score:4, Insightful)
One thing we all agree on, though, is that the "Do we hate ________ today?" joke is fucking tired.
Sincerely,
TU
Parent
Re:Slashdot is not a hive-mind (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Re:Slashdot is not a hive-mind (Score:4, Funny)
Obligatory response pointing out that Slashdot is comprised of many people, some of which like recursive jokes, some of which don't.
Well that ought to wrap that up. Move along.
Parent
Beer-can mortars anyone? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Beer-can mortars anyone? (Score:5, Funny)
When it goes all the way down the street, and rolls under a neighbors car, still on fire...the decision to go get it or run is a tough one.
(don't ask how I know this)
Parent
Re:Beer-can mortars anyone? (Score:5, Interesting)
Slightly more on-topic though, a friend of mine has a real nice compressed air potato gun that has an electronically triggered poppet valve. Despite the fact that his gun cost much more and is so much more complex, mine shoots more rapidly, farther, and louder. They both get a nice cloud of smoke out the barrel after the shot though. His because of the rapid decompression, and mine because of the burning hairspray. Surprisingly, we have mutual respect for each other's designs and we don't really compete with each other so much as help with design and construction problems.
My next gun will be compressed air, and once I figure it out with PVC, I'm moving on to stainless steel to hopefully get a supersonic potato (or other projectile) gun
Parent
What? They use Bluetooth? (Score:3, Interesting)
odd timing on this... (Score:5, Insightful)
Sure, there are other factors that caused the switch in shows, but the timing was unfortunate. They basically managed to associate environmentally friendly fireworks with totally boring fireworks, which, by an inspection of their description of the new launch technique, really isn't the case at all.
I imagine... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:I imagine... (Score:5, Funny)
Correct. These are the same people you read about in the Darwin Awards.
Parent
Re:I imagine... (Score:3, Funny)
To be followed immediately by the blind and fingerless mans version.
What if.... (Score:3, Funny)
Does Eisner know about this...??? (Score:2, Interesting)
Fireworks... let me think... (Score:4, Funny)
The Smallest Revolution (Score:2)
You go ahead and stand next to the mortar if you want, but there are plenty of other ways for that round to cook off prematurally, not to mention what'll happen if a compressed air hose (enough to send a hefty shell 200+ feet into the air) bursts. Sure, the accident ratio will probably drop dramatically, but I'll keep my distance just the same.
Besides, normal ignition techniques will still be around for some time to come, if only beca
old news twice over (Score:5, Interesting)
Saw it July 4th, first day they revealed it. (Score:3, Insightful)
After seeing the same sort of fireworks for decades, I think it was more interesting than the old fire up and go boom. The most noticeable change is they can do much higher quality synchronized launches. One effect (a little overused) fired off a bunch of streamers in sequence at different angles, and because the flaming bits are not powered after launch, they have a nice regular parabolic trajectory. Nice effect.
However, they have a great Grand Finale either way. It's also nice to know my $150 worth of tickets went to something donated to the public (patents).
Some Clarifications - And More Info (Score:5, Informative)
The WDI spokeswoman says "Disney isn't sure when its Central Florida theme parks could install or start testing the new fireworks launch system."
Actually, the air-launched fireworks are not completely new, but Disneyland is the first time they're using air for the whole (or majority of the) show. The first use was at Epcot down at Walt Disney World for the Illuminations: Reflections of Earth show - where the first "comet" effect that screams over the lagoon is air-launched from on top of one of the pavilion buildings. If you're walking in that area around 15 minutes before the show starts, they rope off the main pathway that passes under the launch area. You do hear a big fwoosh when it goes off. The last time this bit made Slashdot, some comments were debating the gas used - in this case they're compressing plain air.
The new Wishes fireworks show which has been playing since last Fall at the Magic Kingdom at WDW also planned to use the air launch, but the cost of the installation was too much and traditional fireworks have been used. Unlike WDW where there's a sizable land buffer between residences and the parks, Disneyland has large neighborhoods of people surrounding it, and they exert pressure on the local government to make things more difficult (and expensive) for Disneyland. Wishes also introduces the concept of firing shells from within the park off buildings in Fantasyland, which makes for some spectacular effects if you're watching from back in that area.
Also related, Disney is working with a top national lab on fireworks that look just like normal pyro, but burn with much less smoke. While some shows use the smoke the fireworks produce for great effect, eliminating it could be nice for others. Another technology that has been slowly introduced is the use of shells that contain a sacrificial computer chip that syncs its timing upon launch and fires an electronic fuse when up in the air to obtain much more precise ignition timing than could be accomplished conventionally.
Overall, there's some very cool tech going on, but whether Disney chooses to use it all over the place is more of a question of practicality than simply because they have it, so it's good to hear they're donating some of the tech.
adios tink (Score:5, Funny)
There was supposed to be... (Score:3, Funny)
Forget the Fireworks (Score:5, Funny)
"Practically Perfect" (Score:3, Informative)
And no, you can't watch "Hercules" either. Go read a book, for cryin' out loud.
Well (Score:3, Funny)
Re:With high explosives? (Score:2)
Re:Like others... (Score:3, Informative)
Not necessarily so. They open-sourced their Panda3D game engine [cmu.edu], used most notably for their game Toontown Online.
Here's a bit from their FAQ:
Panda3D was originally developed at the Disney VR Studio. Disney VR used a proprietary IRIX-specific system called DWD (Disney's World Designer) to create several DisneyQuest Virtual Reality Attractions, such as "Aladdin's Magi