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Your basic assumptions are not at all unreasonable. Ideally, the pods in a given centrifuge SHOULD all be doing the same thing. But the subtlety is that there is no physical/mechanical interconnection between the pods to force them to all go through the same motions, and the control loops for those minor axes motions are independent of each other. Therefore, when the ride script calls for the pods to orient to "position X," ten independent control loops have to all execute to move each pod to the commanded orientation (again, this is simplified - there are additional high-level command and safety loops on top of this, but you get the idea). While the top-level script calls for all the pods to do the same thing, each pod has the capability of independent control.
A logical next question would be "why do that and add all that complexity?" While it does appear that each pod is doing the same thing, the independent control allows each pod to dynamically adjust itself based on the loading (ie. number of passengers) so the centrifuge remains balanced. The careful load balancing is one of the reasons that the ride is so smooth, and the riders get a perception of isolated acceleration without any distracting rumbling, vibrations, or "spinning" sensations.
There is one top-level control system, but it is a network of multiple computers and not just one unit. Each centrifuge operates as a discrete unit, and can be dropped out or added to the ride system without affecting the other centrifuges. But they are all controlled by the same system (hint for riders: the "Mission Control Center" next to the gravity wheel that you see while waiting in line is actually the ride control system. The side of the consoles that face away from the riders house the control panels and monitors).
-dave
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