Space Mtn & Soarin' Over CA down for refurb 5/28!

[Travelingdad]

The official word from Disneyland at the moment is that both attractions are closed through May. However, this is subject to change........of course!

Some sources online indicate that both attractions will be closed through July - others indicate that they will reopen as early as next week. I do not believe either is accurate.

For now, Disney is still trying to get its arms around the timeframe it will take to get these rides up to speed to meet OSHA regulatory requirements. Since this is unknown as of today, Disney is lowering expectations by keeping both attractions closed until further notice.

They gotta do what they gotta do but we are keeping fingers crossed all gets reopened in time for our first visit to DL early June.

 

[yoyo93]

THe calendar now says "pending" for both SM & Soaring

This is really odd. So far I'm only seeing it until the 24th of April, but they may be in the process of updating the calendar. Are they putting "pending" because they have no idea when it will open, or what?

 

[carisa81]

Oh gosh, we will be in the parks on April 23, 24, and 25th. I so hope that Soarin is back!! My 4 yr old twins were going to do this for the first time. I'll be sad.

 

[thankudrivethru]

i thought they were closed due to safety issues?

 

[disneychrista]

This is really odd. So far I'm only seeing it until the 24th of April, but they may be in the process of updating the calendar. Are they putting "pending" because they have no idea when it will open, or what?

Exactly. They are no longer in control of when the rides will reopen. They have to have OSHA sign off before they can.

i thought they were closed due to safety issues?

Yes. Employee safety, the rides themselves can run without any issues but the nightly maintenance can not be performed, which would cause the rides to be unsafe.

 

[texasteacher35]

We leave the last weekend in April for our Disneyland trip.
Mostly bummed about Soarin' but you never know. Things change all the time. It could be open by then.

Space Mtn---I skip that anyway

There are what, about a thousand other things you can do at the parks? It's no big deal in the grand scheme of things. For me, it makes no sense to get all worked up about a few rides being down, no matter how "big" they are.
You will have fun anyway.

If you focus on what you're NOT able to do, it will taint your entire experience. Go, enjoy, it's Disneyland, a happy place.

It just stinks to fly all the way to Cali and a bunch of the bigger rides will be out. We live in Chicago and this is our first trip to DL. We are WDW vets and go many times a year to FL. It's not a big deal to people that go there all the time- I was hoping to max out my 7 nights at DL, since there are only 2 parks versus 4 in WDW. That's all.

 

[chocolatetown]

As of Thursday 10:30 AM PST, Soarin and Space Mt. have reopened!

However, I am told that this may be short-lived. Several online sources indicate that there is a meeting with OSHA (hence the "pending" closure status on Disneyland.com website for the next week) at some point early next week which will determine whether these rides remain open or close for a significant amount of time.

Rumors include Space Mt. will be closed through July, to the rides will remain open for the balance of the calendar year.

If space mt. remains open, the real question then shifts to the Matterhorn - and when its planned 2-week refurbishment/testing will resume.

 

[woody74]

I can live without Space, but I'm really hoping that Soarin' will be open on Tuesday, as that's the day we'll be in DCA. My sister has never ridden it, and my son just rode it for the first time in WDW last Sept and loved it.

 

[flightdave82]

What's the deal with the Matterhorn?
When was it originally planned for the 2 week refurb and could it possibly be down the 1st 2weeks of May?

I was orginally upset about the possible SM being closed for our upcoming trip. But now hearing that if SM does re-open that it will cause the matterhorn to close for refurb will be very dissapointing. Our 1st time to DL and we have never ridden the Matterhon. Even though DL SM is diff than WDW's, I would rather to able to experience the matterhorn instead of SM.

Apparently on this DL trip I can't have my cake and eat it too!

 

[chocolatetown]

Inexplicably, Space Mt. and Soarin are closed again today...........after being open at the beginning of the day and experiencing rather mild (even for this time of year) wait times.

I agree with my colleague in this post that the Matterhorn is the real draw at Disney CA - since no other ride like it exists in FL (I don't count Expedition Everest as comparable).

I have spoken to Disney this week and right now the ONLY reason Matterhorn is open (was originally scheduled for maintenance this week and next week - April) is due to the Space Mt. drama with OSHA. There was a few days where Space, Matterhorn, and Big Thunder were ALL closed simultaneously. This was met with some long and loud complaints from visitors who cried out "where's the coasters?" and the like.

Now the word of mouth is that once Space reopens, Matterhorn will close (expected in May) for the best part of 2 weeks to resume its maintenance.

We shall see.

 

[jenergy]

Inexplicably, Space Mt. and Soarin are closed again today...........after being open at the beginning of the day and experiencing rather mild (even for this time of year) wait times.

I agree with my colleague in this post that the Matterhorn is the real draw at Disney CA - since no other ride like it exists in FL (I don't count Expedition Everest as comparable).

I have spoken to Disney this week and right now the ONLY reason Matterhorn is open (was originally scheduled for maintenance this week and next week - April) is due to the Space Mt. drama with OSHA. There was a few days where Space, Matterhorn, and Big Thunder were ALL closed simultaneously. This was met with some long and loud complaints from visitors who cried out "where's the coasters?" and the like.

Now the word of mouth is that once Space reopens, Matterhorn will close (expected in May) for the best part of 2 weeks to resume its maintenance.

We shall see.

I don't understand how the rides can be opened then closed. Are the safety requirements met or not? Who is saying, "Let's just open it for a few hours?" If it can be open for a few hours then why not for the whole day? If it can't be open for a whole day then how can it be open for a few hours? Very strange...

 

[flightdave82]

I don't understand how the rides can be opened then closed. Are the safety requirements met or not? Who is saying, "Let's just open it for a few hours?" If it can be open for a few hours then why not for the whole day? If it can't be open for a whole day then how can it be open for a few hours? Very strange...

Are thurs Magic morning hours at DL? Because that would be pretty messed up that they just open it for the morning because the other day was the same thing. It was open for like an hour and then closed.

This really sucks. When I had planned this visit I worked around all the refurbishments (espeically matterhorn) and the way things are looking, it may be refurbed when we are there in May

 

[DisneyPirateGirl925]

I don't understand how the rides can be opened then closed. Are the safety requirements met or not? Who is saying, "Let's just open it for a few hours?" If it can be open for a few hours then why not for the whole day? If it can't be open for a whole day then how can it be open for a few hours? Very strange...

Well to start with, Disney closed the ride of their own accord from all that I've read, so they aren't FORCED to leave them closed. But it is strange that they would open it for a few hours.

Maybe they got so many complaints that they opened so a few people could ride and be happy. Seems like it was open in the morning, which from my experience is when "Newbies" to the park go. A lot of vets I know don't go until a little later in the day. Could be another reason. I don't know. Everything is just theories until Disney makes a statement if they even do.

 

[jenergy]

Are thurs Magic morning hours at DL? Because that would be pretty messed up that they just open it for the morning because the other day was the same thing. It was open for like an hour and then closed.

This really sucks. When I had planned this visit I worked around all the refurbishments (espeically matterhorn) and the way things are looking, it may be refurbed when we are there in May

According to Lines, yes, they had EE today. Maybe it's a coincidence that both times people have said it is open have been on EE days but if not then yes, that is not right.

 

[djk]

As of Thursday 10:30 AM PST, Soarin and Space Mt. have reopened!

Just curious... are you in the parks today?

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

According to Lines, yes, they had EE today. Maybe it's a coincidence that both times people have said it is open have been on EE days but if not then yes, that is not right.

Maybe they're trying to avoid complaints from on-property guests who will likely use EE while also avoiding greater scrutiny by Cal/OSHA, which might occur if they reopen the rides full-time before the state reviews the refurb work?

Though if either of the rides is open during EE, that means nightly maintenance is being done--and that would mean the work the state demanded has already been completed.

 

[flightdave82]

Or it could just be that "Lines" everyday reports SM being open every morning until a staff member reports it closed since there is no definitive date posted. Let's see if tomorrow lines reports it open at park opening

 

[sherilaine]

We can speculate until the cows come home but until Disney gives official word then nothing is for certain. At this point it looks as though both rides should be back up on April 25th according to their official park hours calendar.

I can understand why lines would be short though when they were opened for a short time, since most people would think the rides are closed.

 

[TinkFlies]

I echo a PP who asked what exactly is the closure for if they are opening and closing randomly?

 

[chocolatetown]

Apparently Disney is bracing themselves for another round of OSHA communications. This afternoon, Disney has closed California Screamin' and Goofy's Sky School at the California Adventure Park AND Indiana Jones and the Columbia Ship as well as the Davy Crockett canoes (OSHA may have found a leak in one of them) in the Disneyland Park.

Something strange is happening today indeed. I am hoping these closures are just for a few hours as Disney may just be taking some precautions. Supposedly (alleged but unverified) Disney is meeting with OSHA next week - which will set the timeframe for the number and length of closures going forward.