Thread: Fake rainy window effect? (Haunted Mansion, Tiki Room)

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Hi everyone,

I am brand spanking new to all this but I've always loved going to Disneyland and trying to figure out how all the special effects on the ride are done. One that never fails to impress me is what I call the fake rainy window. In the haunted mansion there is a window between the stretching room and the doom buggies that shows a never ending storm outside. In the tiki room there is a point in the show where a storm seems to erupt outside and then vanishes.

I have found a lot of tutorials on how to make thunder and lightning but nothing on the rain. If anyone has a link to a good tutorial or some tips they can post I would appreciate it.

I have been involved in construction off and on for a while so I know my way around tools and the Home Depot. If you start talking circuitry though you'll probably lose me.

Thanks a million!

P.S. If anyone has a link to a detailed description of how the moving clouds are done on Pirates of the Caribbean I wouldn't turn it down. Thanks again.

I have often thought of having this same effect. My idea included a sheet of clear PlexiGlass, some drip-system sprinkler heads, a small water pump, & a trough. I would love to have the water running down the actual window, but I can't think of a simple way to ensure 100% of the water ends up in the trough.

Does this help?

That could work. From what I've found online, the big problem people have doing a rain effect using water is getting it to look random enough. The disney effect uses light rather than actual water I think. Thanks for responding.

This might work.

http://www.indymogul.com/episode/bfx_20070806

Very cool video. Thanks buckaneerbabe. That definitely looks like a doable effect and I think I'll have to find an excuse to try it out very soon.

I'd still love to know how the disney version is done just to satisfy my curiousity.

Think disco ball for the disney HM effect. They just run it at a slight angle against a wall a few feet from the window (mech is below the window). This is how they do it for the Haunted Mansion. As for tower of terror, I believe it is the same effect except they also run water down the window pane as well.

The Tiki Room at DL uses thin (3/8" maybe) strips of Mylar secured side-by-side at the top & bottom, then they blow a breeze through it to make the strips wobble & dance and side-light it with soft blue. A good effect from a distance or with a gauze scrim in front, but gives itself away when close-up.

I imagine pallet-wrap plastic or similar material would do; I haven't tried to replicate it myself yet (What? You don't have any Mylar? Jeez!... ).

Personally, I'd try the reflected "disco ball" or rotating gobo (light through drum w/holes) method first 'cause it would be easier to tweak out to find different effects. I've also seen some good work with big screen/flat screen monitors running footage behind hazy scrim, if you just so happen to have a bunch of spare HD TV's lying around (with your rolls of Mylar!).

Originally Posted by AC_in_SD

That could work. From what I've found online, the big problem people have doing a rain effect using water is getting it to look random enough.

Just had an idea... what if you used one of those outdoor misters (y'know, the kind from the garden dept. that people use to cool-off under picnic tents and such) to spray the glass above, and drip down, the visible pane? I think this would give the "random" look since the water would be spread out evenly rather than coming from pre-drilled holes. Or for that matter, maybe a garden soaker-hose (the thick black kind that "sweats") might allow for a more random behavior and you could let it drip beyond the glass as well as on it.

The only complication I can forsee is reclaiming the water -- I wouldn't recommend running your garden hose all night without recycling the water. Evaporative cooler ("swamp cooler") pumps or fountain pumps could do the trick, but you'd have a problem getting pressure to the hose or misters if you used one to feed the system. Elevated storage tank, maybe?

One thing I do know from experience... if you drip water down the actual pane, use some Rain-X or similar treatment. This will cause the water to bead up and slide down the surface randomly instead of sticking and following the same trails.

Hmm. I don't know how involved you want to get. Just some stuff to get your brain goin'!

I once had the HM method described to be as such.

Back wall is painted black with lightning bolts painted on it (probably in a UV glow paint)

In front of the back wall is a black scrim, to hide the details of the back wall and for the rain to be projected on.

in front of that are trees and other shrubs and scenery.

then the rain wheel, a large disk painted black but with short clear radial streaks. and a light that shines through the disk onto the scrim.

when the lightning strikes a light BEHIND the scrim lights up the lightning bolt.


for water windows I might make a thin acrylic box so the opening is aprox 3/16", open on the top. shove a pourus sponge about an inch down and secure it from the sides with screws.

I have attached an autocad drawing illustration this IDEA.

yup everyones right I hear the pirates matterhorn and the haunted mansion storm are the same style and the tiki room is different.

according to my sources the first three where originally made by using metal drums (imagine a coffee can) with tons of tiny holes in it spinning around a light bulb. it's now been upgraded to a projector projecting rain like light falling so depending on when you saw it it was one of those effects. I hear the haunted mansion now uses fog machenes for the storm as well but I'm not sure. The tiki room is an old stage effect described by DoBee lit with a florescent from below and some flashes for lightning the bamboo curtain provides extra cover for the illusion and i beleive that they fan in that light breese that comes with rain. they used to spray real water to fall down the window but I've heard they don't anymore. of course in all cases the sound track and system is really important rain sounds slightly different from inside as opposed to what is recorded on most of the stock "haunted house" type sfx albums.