3-D glasses interchangeable?

[cigar95]

My wife was unable to see the 3D effects on Flight of Passage this morning because of the particular shape of the frames. (This wasn't the loose fit problem that many have had, but because she needs to have the 3D glasses right up against her regular glasses in order for the effect to work.)
Wondering if the 3D technology for FoP is the same as for one or more of the other 3D attractions at WDW. We could borrow a pair (and yes, return it when going back to that park) to wear on FoP. Everything else seems to work all right for her, because the frames are rather simple in their shape.

Assuming they all use some form of polarization splitting, but that doesn't mean that they use the *same* polarization. If you use the wrong one, it could just cause a headache.

Thanks for any technical insights here.

 

[dmunsil]

The FOP glasses use Dolby 3D, which is a totally different system from polarization. The 3D movies (Tough To Be a Bug, Muppet Vision) use linear polarized glasses, which will do nothing in FOP and vice-versa. Star Tours does use Dolby 3D as well, but the glasses have the same shape and the same very narrow viewing zone.

If you could get your hands on some Dolby 3D glasses with larger lenses, that would help, I think, but I don’t know where you would find them. And it’s possible that it’s not about the size of the lenses, but rather issues with the filters not working quite right off-axis (i.e. not straight through the center of the lens). I know some folks who might know the answers; I’ll see if I can find anything else out.

You might find that the ride staff would refuse to let you ride with different 3D glasses, for safety reasons. The ones they use are pretty tight so they don’t come off during the ride. The operators might worry that unapproved glasses could slip off or something. Pure speculation, though.

You could also ask the cast members if they have any other glasses for folks that find the standard ones problematic. Maybe they have some different sized ones they can offer or something.

 

[cigar95]

Thanks for the briefing. Interesting that FoP uses the "same" glasses as Star Tours, since she commented on how *well* the 3D worked for her on that one.

I'm not optimistic about there being "alternative glasses" available on FoP, since it's the sort of thing that probably would have been reported here on the DIS, especially in light of all the early reports of glasses being too loose. Our next strategy may be to ride without the prescription lenses altogether, since the key in her case seems to be to get the 3D glasses as close to her eyes as possible.

 

[yulilin3]

The FOP glasses use Dolby 3D, which is a totally different system from polarization. The 3D movies (Tough To Be a Bug, Muppet Vision) use linear polarized glasses, which will do nothing in FOP and vice-versa. Star Tours does use Dolby 3D as well, but the glasses have the same shape and the same very narrow viewing zone.

If you could get your hands on some Dolby 3D glasses with larger lenses, that would help, I think, but I don’t know where you would find them. And it’s possible that it’s not about the size of the lenses, but rather issues with the filters not working quite right off-axis (i.e. not straight through the center of the lens). I know some folks who might know the answers; I’ll see if I can find anything else out.

You might find that the ride staff would refuse to let you ride with different 3D glasses, for safety reasons. The ones they use are pretty tight so they don’t come off during the ride. The operators might worry that unapproved glasses could slip off or something. Pure speculation, though.

You could also ask the cast members if they have any other glasses for folks that find the standard ones problematic. Maybe they have some different sized ones they can offer or something.

I have done FoP many times and those glasses are not tight at all, actually most people have reported back that they have to keep holding on to the glasses so they don't fall off

 

[dmunsil]

I have done FoP many times and those glasses are not tight at all, actually most people have reported back that they have to keep holding on to the glasses so they don't fall off

They seemed tight to me! I guess I just have a big head.

In any case, Dolby does make children-sized glasses as a standard item; maybe they have some of those. The children's glasses might have the lenses positioned better.

The other tip is to move your head around to track objects if the 3D isn't working so well; I find that looking through the center of the glasses works fine, but the edges don't work well at all, so my peripheral vision loses the 3D effect. If you keep your head still and look around with your eyes, the 3D will fail every time you look at something on the edges of the screen, or really, anything outside a circle right in front of you. I find the same thing on Star Tours, but since the screen is smaller and further away, I don't notice it as often.

The problem, I think, is that the lenses on Dolby 3D glasses are super expensive, so they make them as small as they possibly can to conserve material. As it is they're like $12/pair wholesale. Or as I mentioned earlier, it may just be that the dichroic filters they use don't work as well when you're looking diagonally through them, in which case the size and positioning of the lenses isn't the problem.

Oh, I just had a bizarre thought; they do make "2D" glasses for some systems, for people that for one reason or another don't want to see the show in 3D. Those glasses have the same filter (or same polarizer angle) on both sides, so the viewer sees the same image in both eyes. I have no idea if Dolby offers those, but they might, and Disney might keep a few pair around for guests that request them and they could have gotten accidentally mixed into the regular glasses. Or they might have just been a defective pair of glasses.

 

[999_Happy_Haunts]

If you could get your hands on some Dolby 3D glasses with larger lenses, that would help, I think, but I don’t know where you would find them.

EBay has several different kinds of glasses up for sale. Some are Dolby. Some are I-Max. Some are Cinema-3D. No idea which, if any, are interchangeable, or if they are all uniquely proprietary to a specific type of digitization. And none of them appear to have lenses that are appreciably larger than the ones given out at FoP. But I thought I would toss this out just in case anyone is on the hunt.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I have done FoP many times and those glasses are not tight at all, actually most people have reported back that they have to keep holding on to the glasses so they don't fall off

I was one of those not able to ride, but my daughter and her two boys all rode. The yall said the glasses kept falling off.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

The ones they use are pretty tight so they don’t come off during the ride.

Not in my experience. I had to hold my glasses on during the whole ride.

 

[soniam]

I had issues with the 3D effects in the periphery of my vision. I also wear prescription glasses. I think it's partly because they don't fit well over prescription glasses. Also, I have an astigmatism, and my vision is different in different parts of my regular lenses. I haven't had issues with Star Tours, but I think that's because you are looking at a smaller part of your field of vision for the movie. Whereas with FOP, you are "immersed" in it and moving your head around looking at 180 degrees. I still like it, but it does take a little bit away from it. My biggest issue with it was the the first ride where the seat back was crushing me so hard that I couldn't take in a deep breath. Figured out how to deal with that on the 2nd ride.

 

[cigar95]

I can now report back, our second day at AK on this trip.

My wife decided to try going without her regular glasses and use just the 3D. She also took the tip to try to look through the center portion of the lenses. Much better experience, this time the 3D worked, although everything was a bit fuzzy with no prescription lenses.

I also tried myself to tell the difference between looking on- and off-axis. The 3D quality was noticeably better when looking through the center - if I moved my viewing angle, I could watch the quality degrade as I moved.

We were close to the center this time, in seats 7 and 8. Don't know if that had any impact or not.

But wife had a much better experience this time and offers her thanks to those who offered tips, especially @dmunsil

And we also found the handprints from JR, JC, and JL

 

[dmunsil]

wife had a much better experience this time and offers her thanks to those who offered tips, especially @dmunsil

You're very welcome! That issue of the 3D not working as well on the edges is the main reason I'm not as fond of Dolby 3D as of polarized projections. But polarized 3D has its own drawbacks, like severe limitations on screen materials and projection technologies.

 

[Dan Murphy]

You're very welcome! That issue of the 3D not working as well on the edges is the main reason I'm not as fond of Dolby 3D as of polarized projections. But polarized 3D has its own drawbacks, like severe limitations on screen materials and projection technologies.

I've never had good results from any of the 3D attractions at WDW. A little extra depth, that's about it.

 

[LizaBelle00]

Will be there for the first time in 20+ years, before I wore glasses. Will I have better luck wearing contacts instead? (Thanks for the advice!)