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Everest in the City |
New York City's famed Times Square will be transformed into the legendary Mount Everest on Feb. 15-16 by Walt Disney World Resort. A 57-story spectacular brings the Himalayas to life, with powerful avalanche effects, daytime pyrotechnics and the ferocious roar of the yeti, plus world-renowned aerialist acrobats performing a never-seen-before display of vertical acrobatics.
15 February 2006: Everest in the City photos
Thanks to Brad Kaplan http://bradk.smugmug.com/photography, for this series of photos from day one of Everest in the City.
Above left: Joe Rohde (lead designer of Expedition
Everest)
15 February 2006: Lighting the Yeti Eyes
This information was produced by OSRAM SYLVANIA to describe some of the technical obstacles and their solutions when producing Everest in the City.
THE SITUATION:
When the Walt Disney World Resort previewed its newest attraction, Expedition Everest, in New York, they needed to design a billboard that could stare down even the toughest Manhattanite.
To focus all eyes on the spring 2006 grand opening of the high-speed runaway train adventure at Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park, the company orchestrated a dramatic “Everest in the City” event in Times Square, starring a massive depiction of the legendary guardian of the Nepalese mountain range, the menacing Yeti.
The Walt Disney World Resort turned to signage company Clear Channel Outdoor to develop signage designed to transform the exteriors of a 57-story Times Square hotel, and an adjoining skyscraper on Broadway, into the most famous mountain peak in the world, Mount Everest. Peering over the snowy summit is the region’s most famous resident, the monstrous Yeti, sporting razor sharp teeth and glowing red eyes.
Disney Entertainment had limited room to mount a light source for the monster’s 30-inch diameter eyes, which needed to stand out against the menacing backdrop and ferocious roar of the Yeti. The design goal called for eyes that could dim, flash, and would stand out clearly visible from 300 yards away.
THE SOLUTION:
To meet the challenge, Disney teamed up with OSRAM SYLVANIA, a leader in Light Emitting Diode (LED) systems technology and partner in technological collaboration. The lighting manufacturer turned to its versatile OSRAM DRAGONchain® LED module, introduced just weeks before the Expedition Everest event.
“LEDs are having a huge impact in the lighting world right now, particularly in situations that call for difficult lighting configurations. Their small size and versatility, coupled with extreme durability, have opened up illumination applications that would have been impossible in the past,” Michael Neary, senior applications engineer for LED systems at OSRAM SYLVANIA, said.
The DRAGONchain module consists of a nine-foot chain of 18 metal core circuit boards with wire connects for flexible mounting. Each board features two 6500K OSRAM Opto Semiconductors Golden DRAGONTM LEDs, for a total of 36 LEDs per chain. Conformally coated to protect against moisture and condensation, the system is ideal for an outdoor installation. OSRAM also supplied six 24V power supplies per eye. The dimmable LED lighting is controlled by six OSRAM OPTOTRONIC® OT Dim modules per eye.
"The Sylvania DRAGONtape® LEDs are incredibly bright and were easily mounted in concentric circles in our back lit eye light-boxes. For our application we have added ‘OPTOTRONIC® LED Dimming Modules that have provided us maximum flexibility for programming. This product is brilliant!" said Larry Sonn, Technical Director, Walt Disney Entertainment.
The flexibility of DRAGONchain made the product ideal for this unique installation, which consisted of six modules installed in concentric spirals in the base of the Yeti eye sockets and covered with a 30-inch red plastic lens. The concentrated light point of the Golden DRAGON LEDs, with their high degree of efficiency and compact size, also aided the project. One Golden DRAGON LED generates the lighting intensity of approximately six traditional LEDs.
“The superior intensity of OSRAM Opto Semiconductors’ Golden DRAGON LEDs is derived from our advanced, proprietary thin-film technology, an industry first in providing increased optical output at the surface of the chip and increasing the usable light emitted,” said Ellen Sizemore, director, LED and IR Products Group, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors. “The thin-film technology also allows for better optical coupling, lower forward voltages and improved thermal performance compared with conventional semiconductor chip construction.”
SUMMARY:
PRODUCTS: OSRAM DRAGONchain LED system
OSRAM Opto Semiconductors Golden DRAGON LEDs
LOCATION: Times Square, New York
15 February 2006: Everest in the City video
The official WDW Podcast will have video of the New York City Expedition Everest event taking place today. It will be available on http://www.disneyworld.com/podcast and ITunes http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=124803299
10 February 2006: Everest in the City
COPYRIGHT 2005. THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY
NEW YORK -- New York City's famed Times Square
will be transformed into the legendary Mount Everest on Feb. 15-16 by
Walt Disney World Resort. A 57-story spectacular brings the Himalayas to
life, with powerful avalanche effects, daytime pyrotechnics and the
ferocious roar of the yeti, plus world-renowned aerialist acrobats
performing a never-seen-before display of vertical acrobatics.
The two-day show, "Everest in the City," will take place hundreds of
feet above Times Square to celebrate the launch of the thrilling new
Walt Disney World attraction Expedition Everest, grand opening in April
at Disney's Animal Kingdom.
Project Bandaloop, featuring the world's most creative aerial acrobats,
will fly through the sky as they perform off a pair of towering
billboards spanning two skyscrapers at Broadway and 47th Street. Serving
as the dramatic backdrop, the billboards feature a runaway train racing
through snow-covered mountains, just narrowly escaping the wrath of the
fearsome red-eyed yeti, legendary protector of the Himalayas.
The brave climbers will face the wintry elements as they navigate the
mountain while performing an exhilarating acrobatic ballet accompanied
by an original musical score. New Yorkers and visitors to Times Square
in February will have the chance to view the incredible mountain
billboard.
To broaden "Everest in the City" beyond a traditional billboard, Walt
Disney World Resort partnered with industry leaders including Sylvania,
Hip Cricket and AOL. Sylvania gives the yeti his glowing red eyes using
the new OSRAM LED-powered light technology. Each of the yeti's two
30-inch-diameter eyes will be lit with six OSRAM DRAGONchain® LED
modules, making the fearsome protector's glare visible from hundreds of
yards away.
While Sylvania is responsible for giving the yeti his eyes, Hip Cricket
will control their stare. Thanks to technology provided by Hip Cricket,
visitors to Times Square can use their wireless phones to interact
directly and in real time with the yeti by texting the word DISNEY to
the short code "4YETI", which will make the yeti's eyes flash at a
specific time.
For anyone not able to view the spectacular show in person, AOL will
feature the event. Visitors on AOL also can enter an online contest that
will award 25 lucky visitors to the site a trip for four to Walt Disney
World Resort to experience an exclusive tour of Expedition Everest.