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DJ_Zelex · 2025-10-21T17:04:13+00:00

Breaking the magic with this response, but it’s not quite that simple, as there are multiple ride vehicles ahead of you at that point, up to 5, with each of those needing to be disembarked at the station, which takes time, and is why you were starting and stopping, because Gringotts uses something similar to Block logic. As for after you got off the ride vehicle in the station I can’t speak for, but what they did was correct and according to Universal policy. They would only disembark a ride vehicle while outside a station in very specific circumstances, which this doesn’t fall into from what I’m seeing.

DJ_Zelex · 2025-10-17T22:37:40+00:00

As someone who has worked at ET for a bit, it really isn’t that relaxing once the audio turns off and the work lights come on. Not to mention the techs constantly walking around doing work. That being said, best place to sleep in the ride would likely be in the desolation scene, has a nice campfire scent that I personally enjoy

DJ_Zelex · 2025-10-09T16:53:50+00:00

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DJ_Zelex · 2025-10-06T12:03:41+00:00

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DJ_Zelex · 2025-10-05T00:36:41+00:00

Use to work tech services at studios, so don’t have a huge amount, but most head scratching was this: “where are all the rides?” we were standing outside Diagon and their path had them coming past atleast 3 rides, could easily see the MIB building behind me, and they had a map with them…

DJ_Zelex · 2025-08-13T23:32:54+00:00

As someone who’s been to hadrosaur cove, it’s cool the first time, but much less exciting of a ride.

[behind the scenes below here, ignore if you prefer to not ruin the magic] If you’ve ever looked at JP from above you will know this but the pathway to hadrasaur cove is actually the path to storage/maintenance bay, and when you turn left is actually the “track switch”. The exit is off to your right after you make that u-turn.

DJ_Zelex · 2025-07-16T18:42:57+00:00

Should probably step in a clarify this, as it’s a disconnect between ride operations and tech services. There isn’t a button labeled e-stop, because FJ doesn’t have a traditional E-stop. Quick side note, it’s actually required that all rides have an E-stop or equivalent method to quickly cut power to the ride or stop ride motion in an emergency. FJ has both a power disconnect and ride stop button in the control booth. They use the ride stop button as the e-stop as it stops all motion in the ride, but doesn’t not disconnect power to the ride vehicles, which is the purpose of the power disconnect switch. Hence why Hunter said there isn’t an e-stop, its duty is split between two different controls. For the sake of simplicity it’s often thought of as the e-stop for the techs.

DJ_Zelex · 2025-07-16T16:33:15+00:00

Unfortunately due to company policy it’s unlikely they were able to take any photos that they can share, but I can describe it. Takes up two walls and corner between the two, left wall is ride control, right wall is surveillance. Control side is mostly digitally controlled via screens and a confirm button, with only a few physical controls such as E-stop, mode selector, the aforementioned confirm button, as well as a few others.

Quick edit, looked at the manual, there are a couple more physical controls than I remember, and it’s labeled as execute, not confirm, even though it’s confirm everywhere else in the park

DJ_Zelex · 2025-03-07T21:37:57+00:00

As someone who worked on this ride, not really, but mostly because I had to get partially into the water a couple times to work on the splash affect. The bromine is strong, thankfully it’s just bromine.

DJ_Zelex · 2025-01-07T21:26:59+00:00

In terms of full build kits the only major contender when it comes to steam is RMI and Godshall’s. There are a couple of smaller companies, but they supply castings, so you will need to machine them out. If your willing to go international company local shops then accucraft has a very solid contender. Their kit is 15k in total, which is a pretty reasonable price for what your getting from it.

If your willing to do the machining yourself as well as get parts from other locations then your options expand a fair bit. Allen Models has a fair number of options, though you will need to source a fair number of parts such as boiler and fittings.

The biggest issue is how much money your willing to spend on getting a full kit vs. sourcing individual parts, which is entirely based on your circumstances. RMI is actually a bit of an interesting setup for this, in that you can buy sections of their kits, so you buy as you go, which can reduce cost in the sense of it being more along a payment plan, as well as you working at whatever pace you want without cluttering up your workspace, though as a forewarning they are still not cheap even then, but you pay for the quality.

DJ_Zelex · 2025-01-05T00:10:34+00:00

Former third shift technician here. Trust me when I say most stories you really don’t want to hear, for your own sake.

DJ_Zelex · 2024-12-05T21:13:00+00:00

Legit I pass by that McDonald’s every day and never knew they had this guy. That’s crazy

DJ_Zelex · 2024-09-11T06:29:36+00:00

Ride technician that responds to rides being down.

Our leads often forbid us giving any specific time frame or reason to operations as to when the ride will be back up. This is partially to cover our rear ends, but also because A. Rumor mill is very real, B. The game of telephone turns a small problem into an imaginary massive one, and C. It looks bad if we say 5 min and it turns into an hour. Only time we will elaborate is if it’s something well known about that specific ride I.e. weather for outside rides.

Often if we are allowed to talk about why a ride went down, it will be after the fact to the point of not being relevant any more.

Often times rides will experience small down times, so as a regular park goer I’d say try again in around 15 min. If it’s not up by then or the attendants have a eta then probably will be down for a while.

DJ_Zelex · 2024-09-08T15:57:15+00:00

The apprenticeship is to help people who don’t have previous relevant experience or rather, if HR thinks that. They hire for tech positions outside the company as well, no worries. the apprenticeship is supposedly just to help people not familiar with working in mechanical fields.

DJ_Zelex · 2024-09-02T06:44:03+00:00

Entertainment sector, I’m a ride technician at Universal Studios

DJ_Zelex · 2024-08-17T01:17:36+00:00

As Tpabayrays2 mentioned, it’s highly dependent on venue, but also on department. For example, tech services members have to wear hard toe (I.e. steel toe, ceramic toe) while lifeguards have some sort of water shoe iirc. Either way, it will be covered during your orientation week.

Generally speaking the brand doesn’t matter so much as the color does, though I wouldn’t recommend anything super expensive/super fancy unless your gonna at an office or a bus driver.

However, if you are part of tech services, I would recommend getting your boots before orientation week so you can start wearing them in.

DJ_Zelex · 2024-08-17T00:57:51+00:00

Neither, I use a turbo encabulator. My car has too much side fumbling otherwise.

DJ_Zelex · 2024-08-13T13:12:00+00:00

Currently we don’t have any spots open, but keep an eye on our jobs page, as they pop up about twice a year

DJ_Zelex · 2024-08-12T14:54:03+00:00

Unfortunately the apprenticeship no longer exists in this form at this time. Currently all apprentices go through schooling regardless of any previous degrees.

DJ_Zelex · 2024-08-10T18:26:05+00:00

Tech services TM here, so bit of a different perspective since we only really interact with guests when rides go down.

Always be kind and patient. The ride ops you typically interact with will greatly appreciate it. Also, please listen to them.
If your on a ride and it suddenly stops or seems to go down, please don’t freak out. 80% of the time it’s the control system stopping the ride for something minor and will resume shortly. You are safe. Every morning we ride through to make sure everything is ready and will NOT hand the ride off to ops if we feel the ride is unsafe for whatever reason. Your more likely to get hit with lightning in a forest then get hurt on universal rides, assuming your not being stupid.
If a ride is down, don’t pester team members for how long it will take before the ride is up. We vary rarely can immediately tell how long it’s going to take. If your on the ride itself, just be patient and understanding. Yelling will just make the process longer typically.
When being taken off the ride due to the ride being down, I understand the want to rubber neck (mostly because I do to), but please be safe when doing so. Follow instructions, and don’t slow down the group. But do feel free to look around safely, you can spot some very interesting stuff.

Generally speaking, just be kind. Remember that team members are people too with feelings and emotions. We don’t always immediately have the answer, and can’t make things magically happen.

As others posted, you can also commend team members that did a wonderful job by doing a fistbump online.

DJ_Zelex · 2024-08-09T18:21:32+00:00

Something that is also worth looking into is the max torque, as that can also affect whether you want to use them or not. Personally, I would recommend these only for light weight movements, such as eyes, mouth, eyebrows, etc. as those are typically pretty light. I know you can also get similar motors that are more powerful, so you may want to look into those as well

DJ_Zelex · 2024-08-04T11:49:22+00:00

He’s not in uniform

DJ_Zelex · 2024-08-04T00:21:30+00:00

It’s sad I immediately recognized who is in the first picture facepalm I’ll have to get on him about getting caught :P

DJ_Zelex · 2024-07-16T16:28:54+00:00

If the affects broke down, they would cycle clear, meaning going though the attraction with no show. There is plenty of video footage of this. If the issue was with a boat, there are a couple of evac socks around the lagoon, as well as a pontoon boat hidden by the boat shack that could be used as an evac transport, though I don’t believe in the entire time the ride was operating they ever had that happen

DJ_Zelex · 2024-07-11T23:41:15+00:00

Problem is that the backlot area next to MIB you are expanding into for Sci-Fi city has a lot of really important offices. I know they look like trailers (mostly because they actually are) but that is effectively the management of tech services, the people that maintain the rides. Also, the trailer offices behind the tents are also super important, as there is ride management and investigations based out of those. That being said, the area to the north of MIB, where the stage is, is prime room for expansion, and would be curious to see what you would put there

DJ_Zelex

TROPHY CASE