StormRider was a large-scale motion simulator attraction at Tokyo DisneySea in Japan. It opened on September 4, 2001 together with the park. The attraction is similar to Star Tours at the Tokyo Disneyland. In the attraction, guests fly into the center of a storm aboard a StormRider, a flying weather laboratory in order to dissipate it.
History[]
Early concept art for Port Discovery's simulator attraction called for a fanciful submarine race called the "Under the Sea Grand Prix", before the weather theme was selected.
Though the attraction was reasonably popular when it opened, the film aged with time and the OLC desired a simulator attraction with a lower height requirement that could be a stronger family draw. New show concepts included a "Stormrider 2", an Incredibles attraction, or a Nemo attraction, which was selected to keep with the park's oceanographic themes.[1]
On May 19, 2015 it was announced that StormRider would be replaced by a simulator known as Nemo & Friends SeaRider, based on Finding Dory with the attraction's closure taking place on May 16, 2016.[2]
Summary[]
Pre-Ride[]
With its copper roofs and mechanical devices, the attraction building—the "Center for Weather Control"—was themed to a scientific laboratory and perfectly fitted in with the rest of Port Discovery's retrofuturistic architecture. After entering the show building, guests entered a pre-show room where a gigantic radar and a model of a strange device sat. A researcher would then climb on a podium and explain the mission: that there was an enormous storm approaching Port Discovery. You were to deploy a "Fuse" (a storm-dissipating device) into the eye of the storm in a StormRider (a flying laboratory).
Ride[]
After demonstrating the Fuse (the model displayed), you were dispatched into the hangar that houses the StormRider vehicles. Guests boarded one of the two flying labs docked there. When the protective windshield cover was automatically opened, guests could see their StormRider hovering outside the hangar, awaiting clearance to take off. As they waited, guests were treated to a spectacular view of the waters of Port Discovery and the ocean beyond. They could see that the other vehicle was hovering ahead. The base operator gave clearance, and the flight was underway. The sensation of take-off was exciting, accentuated by the view out the windshield as a floating city named Hydra 7 quickly disappeared beneath the vehicle.
Nearing the vast, dark storm, it was clear that this was not just any average weather disturbance. This storm was the storm of the century, the greatest challenge for the StormRider pilots and possibly, the most deadly. Suddenly a lightning strike rendered the other StormRider incapable of completing the mission and returned to base. However, the StormRider with the guests aboard was also ordered to return. Feeling within striking distance of the storm, Captain Davis, the pilot, ignored the order and continued. But, the Fuse didn't operate as expected and punctured the ship's hull. After detonating the storm, the real thrill of StormRider began with a while-knuckle race against time to make it back safely to Port Discovery.
In the end, the Stormrider manages to make a splash landing, but as soon as it stabilizes, the windshield closes, indicating the end of the mission. Then, guests exit the cabin and walk outside, ready to explore the rest of what Port Discovery had to offer.
Gallery[]
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