Elevator (new indeed) Easter Egg - Express Elevator

Does anyone know which elevator manufacturers do this? How can I tell if an elevator will do this?

I discovered the Elevator Egg in the Crystal City Marriott near DC after noticing that the elevators were computerized. My previous career was a computer programmer for a paper mill. Being a rather dull job, I'd insert code to check on the username and randomly flash customized messages for some users. I programmed some key combinations to allow the priority of streamed jobs to be raised for faster execution. It stood to reason that some elevator programmers would act similarly. I've found 3 or 4 buildings where it does work (mostly hotels). I look forward to future reports from others.(don't miss my Inside Skywalker Ranch web site: http://george.lucas.net )

Actually thats also an old trick that security gaurds and cleaning ladies use to get to were there going fast... you can also just push and hold down the button of the floor you want and it should bypass all other protocals.

What elevator brands does this work with???

It doesn't work for my building's elevator. Maybe it is only 4 stories high, but does any one know what brand it works with?

I tried this at the Prudential Tower in Boston (50+ stories) and it seemed to work. But it could also have just been a coincidence.

So me and my friends found out in my building that you can prevent the door from opeening in any floor by pressing Emergency button when it is going to stop at a floor then pressing up/ or down for which ever way we want to go. Its totally cool. I will post the manufacture as soon as possible

I am in Australia and most elevators here have either a 'non-stop' button or something similar. However, i pressed and held the non-stop, floor number and floor button and the elevator went at about 2x speed! It was like a ride or something!

Ok its easter bunny; i have finally found out the maufactre it is OTIS. I don't no if it works on all of them but it worked on the one i talked about.

I have known this for years but people don't believe me when I do it. (It does not work on all elevators, though.) There are a couple of other secrets about elevators. There are slots/grooves that allow free access to floors when the building is "closed." This is NOT the card readers that allow access to authorized card holders but a "hidden" concealed slot somewhere in the elevator. These are somewhat rare but are still found. Slipping a business card or other such item either pushes a small switch or blocks a light path and takes the elevator out of secure mode giving you access to the closed floors.

I have tried this egg In the Melbourne casino and it didn't work but we looked for other glitches and we ended up getting to the 28th floor. What we did is close the doors and then push the level you want to go to and hold it until you get there. As I said we made it to level 28 you need a key at level four.

Just a quick question, does the original egg only work over in America, or can us British people do it too?

Well, I really hope that it works. My friend and I love this site, so we saw this and tried it. It is hard to tell if it works or not unless you send some one up onto another floor and have them call the elevator. If it stops, it doesn't work.

I used this all the time at work. Just hold the number button down and bamm! Your flying to the top. BTW i was an Otis...

This works GREAT! I was in a hotel last week and I got into the lift with about 4 floors already selected so I tried this one out and it worked! you should of seen the faces of the other people when the lift went straight to my floor - Priceless!

Responding to Muff's comment -- don't you think that that may be a little dangerous?

OK As An Elevator Expert I Can Tell You This: This Works On Most Otis Elevators(All But The Ones Made In 1992), Dover (Model Numbers: EL546 And ELOD862), And Most Desert Elevators(All, But Model Numbers ELD5433 And ELF3655)

Mike, I believe you were talking to Minnanon on that one, not muff. And yes it is dangerous if you don't know what your doing.

ian 192, you said that you have find only few things like this, but can you tell what are those other things?

in some lifts, don't know what brand(s), if other floors are already selected and you don't want to stop there, you can tap the floor button of that floor quickly 2 or 3 times it gets de-selected and doesn't stop there

Here's one worth trying, and an interesting story of what happened to me while using it. Some elevators use those "static sensitive" buttons. You don't actually press a button. Just a touch will do. I discovered that if you ran your hand down the whole bank, you could light up the whole bank of buttons with one swipe. But in doing that, it "overloaded" or something, and they ALL went out, including the floor I originally pressed. It did this pretty regular. Hit the wrong button. Light 'em all up and they all go out and you can reselect the floor you want. Now then... First day on the brand new job with an international, "big-six" accounting and audit firm. I get on the elevator (we are on the top floor of this bank of elevators). Just as the doors close, the managing partner of audit steps in. Instead of hitting "1", he hits the wrong floor button. I, thinking "here's my chance to be cool in front of the 'main guy'", do my little trick. The whole bank of buttons lights up... and STAYS UP! He looks at me and says "You idiot! What'd you do THAT for?" He then gets off on the next floor and takes another elevator, while I ride down, one floor at a time. But really, most of the time it did work. I don't know what brand or whether it still does that. I haven't been in that building for a while.

On some elevators with manual doors you can hit the emergency stop button a few centimeters before landing on your floor. The door unlocks and you can open it, but the elevator is "dead" to all calls from other floors and will not come alive again until you press a button inside the elevator... A nice feature when you're going to the X:th floor just to get something and then you're going back to floor Y - you don't want anyone to steal the elevator during the few seconds you're away.

I work at a major elevator company, and I've never heard of this. Are you sure it works? Kirby's story is hilarious. And here's the explanation. Some elevators have an anti-nuisance circuit which actually weighs the passengers in the car. It will only allow so many calls based on weight in the car. In other words, if there is only 200 lbs. in the car, it will only accept one or two calls. (Actually, it will accept all the calls, then extinguish them.) If there is 2000 lbs. in the car, it might accept 15 calls. Kirby probably tried his "trick" when there were several people already in the car. That's a great story! As for Minnanon's comment, accessing the top of car is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. Professional mechanics occasionally get killed doing this. (It happens every year, trust me.) Untrained people should NEVER, EVER try it. Go ride a roller coaster instead!

Having worked for OTIS Elevators, in excess of 15 years, as an installer, repairer, up-grader etc. etc. etc., I can only conclude that elevators are one of the biggest perpetrators of urban myths around. If it was possible to make an elevator run in 'express' mode without the use of some kind of key, how long do you think it would be before every elevator user had knowledge of this? What kind of traffic problems do you think this would create to all users as a result of extended waiting times? The operation of the emergency stop button near a landing is a great cause of call backs to elevators. On most units, pushing the emergency stop button not only causes the elevator to stop but also cuts power to the car doors. The result is that the cam, which is attached to the car door, does not mesh with the door lock rollers, on the hall doors, and you end up with an elevator which won't run. How does a stopped elevator benefit anyone? Yes, there are controls on the top of the elevator car but they are only for use by qualified, trained, elevator personnel. The use of these controls causes the elevator to run at a greatly reduced speed and are used by trained personnel for inspecting components within the elevator shaft. Access to the car top, pit and machine room should only be left to qualified, trained, personnel as there are many documented deaths, every year, arising from unqualified people accessing these areas - actually, some of the deaths arise from trained personnel accessing these areas as well. No, it is not possible to alter the normal running speed of the elevator from within the elevator car. This can only be achieved by accessing the elevator controller which is located within the machine room. Again, for safety reasons, this area is off limits to unqualified people. While you are travelling within an elevator car, without any external visual reference points, how do you know how fast you are travelling anyway?

Hi all, I was staying in the travellodge in Manchester Uk last weekend, 7 floor hotel with an Otis lift and it seemed to work fine! HMV in Birmingham Uk centre has a 2nd partly concealed black unmarked button that you hold down when you press the floor select button that works, I live in a tall building with an express lift and unfortunately it has no door close button! Lucky I managed to get a copy of the override key but its way more hassle than pressing 2 buttons at once! Cheers, Mark

I tried this in a hospital elevator today and IT WORKED! I pressed the floor button and the door close button at the same time, and wham! I swear to god it flew up about 1.5x as fast as it did before Kinda hurt a little when it stopped though Unfortunately the one I went down on didn't have a door close button though...

I tried this at a Westfield shopping centre in NSW, Australia (the lift was an Otis). I got it to work by holding the down button inside the lift along with the level I wanted to go to, and I got there express.

This does work. At the University of Louisville hospital in Kentucky, all you do is hold down the 'Door Close' button after you've selected your floor and you're there. This works on the service (or staff) elevators, I haven't tried it on the public ones.

I knew about the express function for some time as I stated earlier. A couple of weeks ago I was working in a department that is just off the elevators. As I was there, the doors to the elevator opened, but not to the interior of the elevator but the top. There was a repair tech on top and he had just completed repairs and he was stepping off the top of the elevator. I asked him straight out about this feature. He confirmed that ALL modern elevators can do this IF THE FEATURE IS ENABLED! He said most of his work has been done for him as the controller logs all errors and problems. He simply takes his laptop and connects it to the controller on the top of the elevator. The elevator he was working on didn't have this feature enabled. But he told me of several on the campus that did! I asked if this would screw up traffic flow and he said it all depends on if the elevators are operating in independent mode or if they are clustered. Also, the normal "hot key" is hold the door close and the floor you want. But it could be different.

I would like to add to the remarks made in Kirby's comment, "Some elevators use those "static sensitive" buttons. You don't actually press a button. Just a touch will do. I discovered that if you ran your hand down the whole bank, you could light up the whole bank of buttons with one swipe. But in doing that, it "overloaded" or something, and they ALL went out, including the floor I originally pressed. It did this pretty regular. Hit the wrong button. Light 'em all up and they all go out and you can reselect the floor you want," and Mikey's comment, "Some elevators have an anti-nuisance circuit which actually weighs the passengers in the car. It will only allow so many calls based on weight in the car. In other words, if there is only 200 lbs. in the car, it will only accept one or two calls. (Actually, it will accept all the calls, then extinguish them.) If there is 2000 lbs. in the car, it might accept 15 calls." I used to work as a security guard in a bank. The elevators, made by Otis, had the "static sensitive" buttons and the "anti-nuisance circuit." It one or two people lit up all the floor buttons (I suppose the actual weight in the elevator was above some preset level so the anti-nuisance circuit wouldn't work), you could still get the buttons to reset by having everyone jump UP at the same time. The weight sensing circuit then registers an 'empty' car and the bank of pressed buttons clears.

In the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia, PA, you can access the 5th floor (classrooms) and the Basement (curation) in the Gold elvators (i think it's the gold, but i'd try it with all of them) by holding the one and pressing either the 5 or the B

Does anyone know any other real life eggs like this?

Just a funny little fact, I live in Albany NY and there is an OTIS (the elevator company that makes the elevators that do this) showroom/distributor on Colvin Ave. The thing is this building has only 1 floor...funny huh!

I was recently in Kihei, Maui, Hawaii and in my condo building elevator on a floor besides the top and the bottom, if you pressed both up and down buttons outside the elevator (the waiting area)and pressed any floor the doors would open and on the same floor in five seconds would open again wait five seconds and close and go down to the second floor. It was and Otis brand

Do you hold the floor button and the door close button the whole ride, or do you push it once at the beginning?

this is really cool i tried at metro point and it worked and it went really fast it WAS FUN

In most hospitals there is a hidden button in the floor all the way back in the elevator. It's for emergency or for bed transports. Stepping on it, will override stops on other floors.

I tried this trick on a recent trip to Hawaii. I stayed there for a week, using the elevator quite frequently. This trick worked EVERY SINGLE TIME with no exceptions. I tried it without the trick and the elevator stopped at least 50% of the time. I'm not sure why more people don't know about this... but I'll try it everywhere i go from now on!

I don't know if this works, and I don't care too much, but for the love of God, if it does, and you're in a hospital (like a few of you said you were), please don't try this stuff. Think about the folks that may really be needing such an important feature for a true emergency.

If this egg really works, and I don't know if it does, that would be pretty awesome! I think that people should post more real-life eggs like this.

Easter bunny the brand of the elevator where you press a floor number 2-3 times to cancel it out is FUJITEC

This egg is awesome!!! If anyone has anymore real life eggs please post!!!! :-}

I used to do this all the time in a 12 story building. I worked on the 10th floor and I discovered it one day when I was in a hurry. I just thought what would happen if I kept the door close button and ground floor button pressed all the way to the ground and it worked. The lift was an OTIS.

i tried this at a Imax/Planet Hollywood complex in Auckland NEW ZEALAND.It has a elevator shaped like a rocket- i went to the highest floor (12) and held Door Close and G for the whole trip it felt like some one had cut the wires!seem the lift is a OTIS and the walls are see-through i could see the people waiting for the lift shocked as i went past :) this trick also lets you access restricted floors

I suppose you could look at www.uspto.gov --->the us patent office. That might give you a hint at what the model numbers look like. Otis was the name of the inventor of our favorite vertical convenience

I have known this egg for quite a while. I worked at a moving company and in large buildings, we often got the key from the elevator so we could use one and nobody else could. However, the security guards hated waiting and used this egg so they could travel with our(!) elevator. One of them told it to me and I used it ever since

I was at a convention with 2000 teenagers at the Hyatt in Atlanta. I blurted this out one time when we were on the elevator, and we tried it..went from floor 20 to the lobby without stops. We tried it every time we got on, but it only worked a few times. One kid concluded that you had to hold the door-close button for 3 seconds, then press the floor number and let go of both at the same time. The best time was when we were coming up from a floor under the Lobby and we passed the lobby on the way up. That's pretty cool, because there were always people waiting for the lobby elevator. I wish I would've known the thing about holding the floor button down, because it probably would've worked, too.

When I first read this egg, I was thinking how since the elevator in my apartment building was built in the '40s, it wouldn't have this feature. But, one day I was bored, so I tried it, and it worked! It actually worked on an elevator from the late 1940s! At first I thought it was kind of odd, so the next day I tried it normally, and it did seem slower than with this trick. So the NEXT day I tried it with the trick, and it definitely seemed to go faster! BTW--This is a Westinghouse elevator, built no later than 1948.

Does this really work? Do you press the "Close Door" button with the Floor button, or "Close Door" button for 3 seconds, and then press the floor, or what???????????????

I deliver pizza, and this works great on Otis elevators!

I am going to try this today in Scotland and in other countries if possible. I will tell you the results as soon as possible. If you have any more real life eggs please post them on this site.

Anyone know if this trick works with Schumacher elevators? That's the kind they have at the college I attend, and having the elevator stop at every floor between the one I'm leaving and the one I'm going to gets annoying.

Wow - Hasnt this topic grown! Being a Security Guard (well i watch security cams:P) I know that the lifts can go fast. even though we have a 5 story mall where i work, there is a lift and it can do a lot of tricks to help us! there is no door close button therefore will not do anything to help others. BUT there is a keyhole that says special service! there are about 5 different types of keys for this hole they do the following: KEY1. Firemans key to recall lift KEY2. Double Speed Alarm Key - Travels in double speed in case of emergency KEY3. Stop key - stops ALL lifts to the cloest level - osrt of like firemans key but the doors wont close until reset. KEY4. Unlock floor - unlocks the floor that you press after turning key - also accesable on the ground floor where there is key holes 1-4 KEY5. Reset/Battery Power. This is also accesable out side the lift on levels 1,2,3,4 but not G - with a keyholle with SECURITY around it. it will reset all lifts by turning off their power off and on and in power cut will run battery We do beleive there is another key for OTIS technicians OTIS is the brand of elevator and is in a south auckland mall in new zealand. The so called "OTIS Technician" Doesnt know much because the other day i was showing the lift repair man his comments and he says - "Most of what he is saying is not true - he is only saying this to make sure no one gets hurt or brakes and elevator. It is imposible for a technician to die on top of a elevator, because regulations say there MUST be enough room and the top floor on top of the lift for a technician 2metres tall to stand up in! and all OTIS elevators have saftey barriers, also the roof hatch can only be opened when it is in service mode or when emergency stop or emergency telephone button is pressed" Hope this has help!!!!

I feel some people are getting the wrong end of the proverbial stick on this one - the actual elevator still rises at the same speed, but it doesn't stop on any floor other that the one you require. It mayy appear to go faster since there is only one case of acceleration/deceleration in the whole trip.

I think the point of this Egg is being missed. The elevator car does not go faster as in from 15 MPH to 20 MPH. Its the length of time between floors (or lack of stopping I suppose) that gets shorter, hence your ride is "faster". Not stopping for every called floor cuts your TIME, it does not increase the velocity/speed of the car.

Um, yeah, I stayed at a hotel with an Otis elevator and tried this...it only ended up with the elevator making a loud and unpleasant beeping noise and coming to a sudden stop...it continued on its way after a second though. It also ended up with my friend who was with me in the elevator laughing at the look on my face...

Tried this in the John Hancock Tower in Boston, MA. It doesn't work. Though I suspect it's because this building is 60+ stories and is using a double-decker system. That's right, every elevator is doubled-up. When I tried this, I also heard the elevator above closing its doors, so this is most likely why it won't work in this building. I'm also not sure if this will work if no one is in the above elevator at the time you attemp this. Just an FYI. BTW, this building has one of the fastest elevators in the world. It's smoking. 2000 ft/min.

Awesome! I'd love to try it out. Too bad I live in a small town...

Evilfredman, the force of you jumping does not equal your weight, actually quite a bit more, but as soon as they're in the air, there is zero weight. I think the person who posted that comment may have been pulling our legs a bit, just to get a whole bunch of people jumping in an elevator somewhere for a few laughs. I think the "anti-nuisance" device may actually be just a "ooops, I accidentally brushed up against it and set all of the buttons on, that was a major bummer, now i have to go to every floor device". By the way, please no jumping in elevators. If you jump just as the elevator begins its downward acceleration, you will have that extra quarter of a second in the air, which (if you know anything about physics) could actually add to your "weight" (which is your mass times acceleration, which on the surface of the earth is 9.8 m/s), because you also have to add in the downward acceleration of the elevator, thus increasing the force of your impact and giving the elevator a headache. I've never tried this, but did it ever occur to you that you have probably been the victim of this nifty little trick one out of every five times you've used an elevator? Don't abuse the trick, let others get on elevators too. I hate it when I hear elevators pass my floor in the direction I want to go, don't you?

This egg sounds dangerous to me. But just out of curiosity, you know those buttons outside the elevator (up/down)... What happens if you press down and then inside press a floor above you, or press up and select a floor beneath you? Also, our town library is two story, and has an otis. One time I kept the door open for about one minute using that safety sensor in the door. It then closed the door, pressing extra hard (well, only slightly harder than normal, the sensor is a button that is hit by an obsticle) opened, and sounded a LOUD buzzer, almost like a fire alarm and then stayed open and buzzing for about ten seconds. It then closed with me in it. It scared the heck out of me. It then operated normally.

When you jump and land, for a moment you push down on the floor much more than your actual weight. Hense why you bend your knees to prevent pain. You would need to do some calculations which would prove landing weight depends on jump height and body weight. To prove this to yourself go jump on a scale and see what happens.

I live in scotland and dont have access to many tall buildings however I know that there are otis elevators in scotland. I tried this trick at Debenhams in edinburgh although its only a 4 floor building. I think it worked because it went straight to my floor even though someone else in the elevator had selected a floor it seemed to be going quite fast as well. If anyone else knows any other place in scotland where this works please say.

I too am one of those people who likes to "hack, mod and play" with everything. This is just a bit of advice bout elevators, be careful. I have found alot of tricks that do nifty things, and i will confirm you can speed up an elevator but the keys are usualy randomly assinged. also if you notice an alpha-numeric display (2 lines or more) i found a programming mode using that by holding the open and close door buttons, and entering the floors 8 to B. It gave options like turn to overide computer control, and express or standard service. It was at an ofice building in the chicago area, i dont remember a brand tho.

If I'm just by myself, the elevator in my office building takes forever before the doors will shut and it starts up. However, I find if I shift my weight and just bounce a little (similar to jumping I guess, but less damaging), the doors shut almost immediately afterward. Is this because of the elevator load sensors?

Some KONE elevators have a system that dials in to report elevator usage and status...they usually dial in to the local service center to do this. You may get into trouble with the company you work for if they find you have been using the express mode too often, as this will show up in the usage log.

HAHA Screw The People At The Soreing Eagle!!! ah-ha zoom right past friends,guest,random people(guest),relitives! ah-ha!

In England we call elevators, lifts.

Jeez, do you people spend all day trying to hack an elevator? Oh well. Next time I'm in an elevator, I'll try some of these. ...Does anybody know if the Empire State Building has an elevator? <_< >_>

Does not work on the Westinghouse elevator in my highrise; built around 1970. Don't know if it is the original elevator or not, most likely.

i was in mexico... i had the foot in between the door, so it wouldn't close ALL the way, but it would still work, so, while it was going down, i put my fingers in the whole, and pushed the little button (the sensor to keep the door open), and then, the elevator completely stopped. It shook so much, then it went to the floor above us, not all the way, but enough to get out, the elevator wasn't leveled either, so most people tripped. It was the scariest thing ever

Ya the empire state building does have an elevator. Otherwise it would take too long to get up the stairs to the top floor.

Somebody made and elevator override app for droid. I have not tested it yet. I am not sure how it would work or if it could even work. Maybe in new elevators there is some sort of infared sensors.