Crush's Coaster

Crush's Coaster is a spinning roller coaster at Walt Disney Studios Park in Disneyland Paris. The attraction officially opened on June 9, 2007 as part of an expansion project in Toon Studio, an area within Walt Disney Studios Park formerly known as Animation Courtyard. It is themed to the Disney-Pixar film Finding Nemo and named after Crush, a green sea turtle voiced by (Andrew Stanton) from the film. Most of the roller coaster is enclosed and features dark ride special effects.

Crush's Coaster
The Great Barrier Reef scene
Walt Disney Studios Park
LocationWalt Disney Studios Park
Park sectionToon Studio
Coordinates48.8682°N 2.7777°E / 48.8682; 2.7777
StatusOperating
Opening dateJune 9, 2007 (2007-06-09)
General statistics
TypeSteel – Spinning – Enclosed
ManufacturerMaurer AG
DesignerWalt Disney Imagineering
Speed60.7 km/h (37.7 mph)
Inversions0
Duration1:55
Height restriction107 cm (3 ft 6 in)
Trainssingle car trains trains with a single car. Riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows for a total of 4 riders per train.
ThemeFinding Nemo
Audio-animatronics1
RestraintsIndividual lap block
Single rider line available
Must transfer from wheelchair
Crush's Coaster at RCDB
Pictures of Crush's Coaster at RCDB

History

Disneyland Paris – known as Disneyland Resort Paris at the time – began a placemaking project as early as 2006 to improve and expand the Animation Courtyard area within Walt Disney Studios Park.[1] The project was completed in 2007, and the area was renamed Toon Studio. No true official press announcement was given until the launch of the resort's 15th Anniversary Celebration on April 1, 2007.[2][3]

Crush's Coaster is one of the feature attractions in Toon Studio. The ride debuted on June 9, 2007 and is the first and only ride at Disneyland Paris to be themed to Finding Nemo.[4]

Synopsis

Guests enter the Toon Backlot of Toon Studio and stumble upon the beached sound stage and film set of Disney·Pixar's Finding Nemo, themed as Sydney Harbour, where Crush and his sea friends invite guests to climb aboard turtle shells for a ride through memorable scenes from the movie.[5]

The ride starts off with shells "diving" into the ocean. The first part of the attraction is a dark ride taking guests to the Great Barrier Reef, where they meet Nemo and Squirt, then to the darkness of the depths, which the sunlight cannot reach and where they encounter the voracious glowfish, and finally to the Sunken Submarine surrounded by an army of jellyfish where they meet the sharks and their chief, Bruce.

The second part of the ride is a coaster in the dark, representing the spiraling, churning East Australian Current itself. The ride ends up with shells returning to Sydney Harbour, with cheers from Crush and his friends.

Technology

The attraction employs several instances of new technology developed by Walt Disney Imagineering, the key being two large digital video projection effects in the early dark ride scenes[6] of the ride, which place Nemo, the clownfish, and Squirt, Crush's son, seamlessly within the 'underwater' environment. The technology was developed for Crush's Coaster in conjunction with Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage and The Seas with Nemo and Friends. Crush's Coaster marks the only second Disney-themed spinning roller coaster (following Primeval Whirl), and the first ever collaboration between German roller coaster engineers Maurer Söhne and Walt Disney Imagineering.

Fastpass

In a bid to decrease the long queues that frequently plague the ride, Disney conducted preliminary tests during July 2008 at the Crush's Coaster site to investigate the possibility of installing a Fastpass system at the attraction.[7] Fastpass was ultimately not implemented at the ride, though a single riders line subsequently was.

Fastpass was again trialed in January 2018

Re-theming
  • On Halloween Night in 2010, the whole park was turned into a horror-based park, meaning most popular attractions were horror-re-themed. As such, the same happened to Crush's Coaster, which became Crush's Coaster : Avis de Tempête for this night.

References
  1. Sheridan, Anthony (October 5, 2006). "5 Steps to transform a Studio, by WDI". Disneyland Resort Paris. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
  2. Article - Press Release & Concepts: 15th Grows with new attractions, entertainment
  3. Sheridan, Anthony (June 20, 2007). "Toon Studio Press Event: Inauguration Ceremony". Disneyland Resort Paris. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
  4. "Crush's Coaster". DLP.info. Archived from the original on March 29, 2013. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
  5. Attraction Guide - Ride scenes listing
  6. Article - 'Making Of' the dark ride scenes, effects description
  7. Article Detailing the Fastpass Plans
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