Disneyland Blacklight LED Fixtures

macsound

Well-Known Member
So just got back from my 1 day at Disneyland for the first time in 2 years.

Very weird experience only doing one day, having there be now shows or live entertainment, and overall just an overwhelming experience being in a crowded place. But of course, its Disneyland and it was great.

What I noticed when riding some of the Darkrides in Fantasyland is that they've upgraded the old blacklight collection to a single fixture.
It appears to be LED and also appears to have "black" glass in the front, making it nearly invisible to the naked eye, unless you're in the center of the beampattern.

This is the only fixture I found that has this "black" glass feature. Wondering if anyone else has any insight either to the Disneyland blacklight fixtures or how these perform in real life.
https://www.elationlighting.com/prisma-par-50
 
So just got back from my 1 day at Disneyland for the first time in 2 years.

Very weird experience only doing one day, having there be now shows or live entertainment, and overall just an overwhelming experience being in a crowded place. But of course, its Disneyland and it was great.

What I noticed when riding some of the Darkrides in Fantasyland is that they've upgraded the old blacklight collection to a single fixture.
It appears to be LED and also appears to have "black" glass in the front, making it nearly invisible to the naked eye, unless you're in the center of the beampattern.

This is the only fixture I found that has this "black" glass feature. Wondering if anyone else has any insight either to the Disneyland blacklight fixtures or how these perform in real life.
https://www.elationlighting.com/prisma-par-50
Mac,
Are you talking about the updated Snow White ride, or somewhere else?
The only entertainment going on right now is at Avengers Campus, but since it's all over the YouTube, it's a better view of the Spider Man show, Warriors of Wakanda and Avengers Assemble. Waiting to see what June 15th brings, if anything.
 
What wakkoroti posted above seems spot on. What a weird company. They make all track lighting and this one non- track black light fixture.

I saw these new fixtures on snow white but also Pinocchio, Pooh, and Mansion.
What was really obvious is you couldn't see the lightleak from the lampbase and because of that black glass front, there was far less purple tinge visible.
Also on Pooh, it's all one blacklight fixure type now. I assume other rides too but Pooh was always obvious because the ceiling was low and some of those huge square blacklights were seemed like monstrous 6 or 10ks.
 
As I understand the discipline, it's much easier to get UV from LEDs that doesn't leak as much visible purple; worst case, you can push down, and put your cutoff filters *on the other side*, where they protect the eyes from the shorter waves, rather than up, and cut off the visible, just because the bandwidth of the UV light itself is narrower.

I think I've got that right. :)
 
Interesting topic of discussion. Although these fixtures and the manufacturer seem odd for this application, they are in fact an excellent fixture for a variety of reasons. The Imagineering lighting designers have a significant amount of experience with UV lighting and where the current state of the art is. As mentioned, there is a degree of visible light leakage from some UV fixtures. The black glass filters serve multiple functions. They limit the "Purple Haze" phenomenon that Disney Lighting Designers and Art Directors dislike. The filters also limit the visual distraction of a bunch of fixture glowing up in the air which is also important. You don't want the rider looking up unless the story directs you too.
LED based UV fixtures also have a lower power demand, longer UV efficacy over the life of the LED's and a much lower thermal signature. Historically, before UV LED's, you had very few UV options other than Fluorescent BLB lamps, Mercury Vapor lamps, Metal Halide lamps and in worst case scenarios, xenon. In order to get any level of UV out of those lamps, they had to be doped with trace amounts of mercury. Super toxic and an environmental headache. A profoundly good reason to get away from those lamps.
A note about thermal (BTU's) output of these fixtures. The older fixtures had ballasts as well as lamps that gave off a lot of heat. Not as much as a conventional theatrical fixture but a lot. Imagine an attraction that has hundreds of older UV lamps and the demand that puts on the HVAC system. The UV LED's just make sense from an energy conservation standpoint.
Finally, UV LED fixtures have very narrow band passes in the UV range. You can select LED based UV fixtures with different ranges of UV. If you don't understand how those different UV wavelengths affect the fluorescent scenic environment, your are going to be in serious trouble creatively. There is a lot of published articles on this. If you are going to ever consider doing a UV lit show, make sure you get the Art Director, LD, and Production and Costume designers on board from the beginning. And do lot's of mock ups and material tests.
 
Finally, UV LED fixtures have very narrow band passes in the UV range. You can select LED based UV fixtures with different ranges of UV. If you don't understand how those different UV wavelengths affect the fluorescent scenic environment, your are going to be in serious trouble creatively. There is a lot of published articles on this. If you are going to ever consider doing a UV lit show, make sure you get the Art Director, LD, and Production and Costume designers on board from the beginning. And do lot's of mock ups and material tests.

Hair and make up, too. "Why darling, that's a lovely palor of death look" isn't something you want to hear at dress rehearsal... or find out the hair spray fluoresces purple under the UV lights du jour.
 
Hair and make up, too. "Why darling, that's a lovely palor of death look" isn't something you want to hear at dress rehearsal... or find out the hair spray fluoresces purple under the UV lights du jour.
👻Tim, since this is Disneyland we're talking about, the preferred nomenclature is "Your cadaverous pallor betrays an aura of foreboding....". 👻
 
You guys crack me up... BTW, there is another UV phenomenon in Dark Rides. If someone is wearing underwear that is white and has optical whiteners in it, they will glow through the outer garment. Looks pretty strange on the surveillance cameras.
 
You guys crack me up... BTW, there is another UV phenomenon in Dark Rides. If someone is wearing underwear that is white and has optical whiteners in it, they will glow through the outer garment. Looks pretty strange on the surveillance cameras.
An old favorite from the 90's was to get your re-entry handstamp at the Disney turnstiles- UV reactive ink!-and smear the back of your hand all over your face immediately and then go get on Peter Pan and look like the green ghosts from Scooby Doo. Or a prototype Insane Clown Posse.
 

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