Test Track refurb

[Limetree]

True, but at least it would be some sort of an announcement of an actual date.

As of right now if some ordinary person was planning their vacation for the middle of April (starting say on Sunday the 15th) using the official Walt Disney World website (i.e. not forums like this etc). They would get to Epcot on their 2nd or 3rd day and find out that Test Track is close with absolutely no pre-warning. I don't see how Disney can think this is at all good for publicity. Add to that, the fact that some people only go to Disney once in their lifetimes, and being given no pre-warning that this major attraction (in addition to BTM) is going to be close, simply is not right.

Disney Company isn't obligated to tell anyone anything about closing their attractions. There are plenty of rides and attractions and I think they do a fine job keeping the balance. Attractions/shows/resorts need to be refurbished at some point in the 365 days per year they are open. I think people are being unreasonable, especially given the vast amount of posts I've seen right here on this site of people complaining about the various rides breaking down, need for cleaning, etc...

Actual Disney ticket verbiage:

"Tickets are nontransferable and must be used by the same person on any and all days. Disney is not responsible for lost or stolen tickets. Parks, attractions or entertainment may change operating hours; close due to refurbishing, capacity, weather or special events; and may otherwise change or be discontinued without notice and without liability to the owners of the Walt Disney World® Resort"

 

[DisneyAbsolutely]

Disney Company isn't obligated to tell anyone anything about closing their attractions. There are plenty of rides and attractions and I think they do a fine job keeping the balance. Attractions/shows/resorts need to be refurbished at some point in the 365 days per year they are open. I think people are being unreasonable, especially given the vast amount of posts I've seen right here on this site of people complaining about the various rides breaking down, need for cleaning, etc...
"

I respectfully disagree. Disney apparently has had some knowledge of this refurbishment since late last year. How can they justify not putting this information on their website? It's a courtesy to visitors that are funneling huge sums of money to their corporation. They didn't have any problem announcing that Thunder Mountain was closed. It's crazy to me that they would post about some closures but not all. It may not be their obligation but they have been in an excellent position to let people know. What aren't they?

 

[budafam]

You can't tell me they don't have someone checking these boards and seeing how flustered some are over this "possibility". By all means Disney doesn't HAVE to tell anyone anything but why do they then? Why announce all of the other refurbs and keep Test Track in the dark? or say they're going to and then pull any info about it from all the websites? This just doesn't make sense.

 

[mbrittb00]

Disney Company isn't obligated to tell anyone anything about closing their attractions. There are plenty of rides and attractions and I think they do a fine job keeping the balance. Attractions/shows/resorts need to be refurbished at some point in the 365 days per year they are open. I think people are being unreasonable, especially given the vast amount of posts I've seen right here on this site of people complaining about the various rides breaking down, need for cleaning, etc...

Actual Disney ticket verbiage:

"Tickets are nontransferable and must be used by the same person on any and all days. Disney is not responsible for lost or stolen tickets. Parks, attractions or entertainment may change operating hours; close due to refurbishing, capacity, weather or special events; and may otherwise change or be discontinued without notice and without liability to the owners of the Walt Disney World® Resort"

Adding to the 2 PPs. Had Disney never officially posted any refurbishment dates, then you might have a valid point. However Disney has taken it upon themselves to commonly (read almost always) post upcoming referb. dates. In doing so they themselves have made the decision to keep their patrons informed as to which rides will be down and when. Heck even the official e-mail tink20 got, indicates that the ride closing dates posted on the Walt Disney calendar are accurate. They could have easily given the response, all be it fairly lame, of I'm sorry but we don't have the information available.

 

[LongLiveDisney1]

Serious Question: I enjoy Test Track, especially the outside loop at night. But would anyone seriously consider postponing or re-scheduling a Disney World vacation because of Test Track? That's a bit silly.

 

[jujube]

Serious Question: I enjoy Test Track, especially the outside loop at night. But would anyone seriously consider postponing or re-scheduling a Disney World vacation because of Test Track? That's a bit silly.

As we travel now, I wouldn't BUT we go to WDW at least twice a year. If we only traveled there every few years or if it was a first trip considering TT and BTMRR are down besides all of the Fantasyland construction, then yes, I think I would postpone a trip. The TT closure might be the straw that changed my travel plans.

 

[pigletto]

Adding to the 2 PPs. Had Disney never officially posted any refurbishment dates, then you might have a valid point. However Disney has taken it upon themselves to commonly (read almost always) post upcoming referb. dates. In doing so they themselves have made the decision to keep their patrons informed as to which rides will be down and when. Heck even the official e-mail tink20 got, indicates that the ride closing dates posted on the Walt Disney calendar are accurate. They could have easily given the response, all be it fairly lame, of I'm sorry but we don't have the information available.

And this is exactly why I'm not convinced that it's closing soon. In the past they have always made that info available. It's too up in the air for me to say with certainly that it's closing in 2 weeks. Who knows when that article for the Orlando Sentinel got their "quote". It could have been awhile back, or misinformation. I still have some hope it's going to be open. Everyone still seems to be operating on old info.

If it's closed when I get there.. I'll live. But why list all the other ride rehabs and closures on their site and not this one? It doesn't make sense.

 

[Baron Hardup]

Serious Question: I enjoy Test Track, especially the outside loop at night. But would anyone seriously consider postponing or re-scheduling a Disney World vacation because of Test Track? That's a bit silly.

By itself, no. With BTMRR down too, possibly. For a 7 year old that isn't ready for Tower of Terror, Everest, Rock 'N Roller Coaster, Mission to Mars . . . that is a pretty big blow to the schedule. I also imagine Soarin and Splash are going to be extra busy.

 

[mbrittb00]

And this is exactly why I'm not convinced that it's closing soon. In the past they have always made that info available. It's too up in the air for me to say with certainly that it's closing in 2 weeks. Who knows when that article for the Orlando Sentinel got their "quote". It could have been awhile back, or misinformation. I still have some hope it's going to be open. Everyone still seems to be operating on old info.

If it's closed when I get there.. I'll live. But why list all the other ride rehabs and closures on their site and not this one? It doesn't make sense.

I was talking with my wife, and we seem to recall the exact same thing happen a few years back when they did the Space Mountain refers

As to the would you change your plans question. As you can see from my sig we go to Disney regularly, so no, WE would not change our plans. However consider he person who only goes once in their lifetime (yes those people do exist). What if those people in planning their trip saw the TT attraction info on the website and were really looking forward to that ride, only to get to WDW to find out that it is closed with no pre warning.

Even if today they posted a closing for April 15th, it would be a case of too little to late. Considering requesting vacation time off from work, and reservations, etc, peoples vacation plans for the next few months already have a lot of inertia, and would be hard or impossible to change their plans now.

 

[Robo]

The Orlando Sentinal info (and any recent replies about this from whomever at Disney PR is replying to queries about, well, anything) may very well be based on the same rumor, perpetuated by an "assumption" (or early preliminary plans)
from a Disney "spokesperson" (not a Disney "authority") based the same early-January 2012 informational announcement.

As for me, I always base my refurb info on a very trusted
(and time-proven-accurate) refurb info source.
According to that source, there is as yet no TT refurb start-time scheduled.

That confirms that there has yet to be an announcement from a Disney "authority" at this time.


My disclaimer:
Test Track could close at any time (April 16, or any other date.)

However, it makes little sense that there is no word from a legitimate Disney authority when we are now only about a dozen days out from the "expected" closure date.

If TT does close on April 16, we have to chalk that up to a failure of Disney to
communicate important information to guests via the expected and proper channels.

ETA:
If Disney is closing TT on or about April 16, the advance CM work schedules should reflect that very soon.
We should hear from CM's who are being reassigned from TT to other attractions due to the pending refurb.

That would be a great source of reliable info 1-2 weeks in advance.

As always, stay tuned.

 

[Robo]

I am no fan of the "official" Disney website.
But, they usually DO have the refurbs listed
when they are officially announced.

So far, the Test Track Refurb
has not been officially announced.

Period.

--------------------------------------------

Posted below is the information currently found
on the Disney World "Park Hours" page

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/calendars/

for the (arbitrary) date of April 20, 2010-

Note the information about Liberty Square Riverboat with the
significant date of April 16.

Then, note the start-dates of the LMA Refurb and the Buzz Refurb...
both in the near future.

Still no mention of Test Track.

---------------------------------------------

Disney's Hollywood Studios®

Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show - Closed For Refurbishment
[ Sunday, April 29 - Wednesday, May 02 ]


Magic Kingdom® Park

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - Closed For Refurbishment
[ Sunday, April 01 - Sunday, May 27 ]

Liberty Square Riverboat - Closed For Refurbishment
[ Monday, April 16 - Sunday, May 20 ]

Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin - Closed For Refurbishment
[ Wednesday, June 27 - Thursday, June 28 ]


Disney's Animal Kingdom® Park
No "Closed for Refurbishment" listed.

Epcot®
No "Closed for Refurbishment" listed.


-----------------------------------------------------------------

Again, Disney has not posted any
Refurb dates for Test Track on or about April 16.
But they HAVE listed other Refurbs on or after that date.

That seems like something worth noting.
-------------------------------



My disclaimer:
Test Track could close at any time (April 16, or any other date.)

However, it makes little sense that there is no word from a legitimate Disney authority when we are now only about a dozen days out from the "expected" closure date.

If TT does close on April 16, we have to chalk that up to a failure of Disney to
communicate important information to guests via the expected and proper channels.

 

[Love Tink]

I was talking with my wife, and we seem to recall the exact same thing happen a few years back when they did the Space Mountain refers

Not sure what you mean. I remembered it differently and went back and checked - the 2009 Space Mountain refurb was officially announced - with specific dates - in the first week of January, and it closed on April 19.

In fact, all of my powers of Googling have yet to lead to one single case of any major refurb at WDW or DL that wasn't placed on the site's official calendar at least two months in advance.

 

[mbrittb00]

Not sure what you mean. I remembered it differently and went back and checked - the 2009 Space Mountain refurb was officially announced - with specific dates - in the first week of January, and it closed on April 19.

In fact, all of my powers of Googling have yet to lead to one single case of any major refurb at WDW or DL that wasn't placed on the site's official calendar at least two months in advance.

I may be mistakin. Was the major referb (queuing area, etc) in 2009?. I just can't shake the nagging recollection that sometime in the past I thought, "I can't believe that they would close x without an official announcement". For me to think that "x" would have to be a fairly substantial ride.

 

[Pine View]

Serious Question: I enjoy Test Track, especially the outside loop at night. But would anyone seriously consider postponing or re-scheduling a Disney World vacation because of Test Track? That's a bit silly.

Yes! Seriously I would have. I am a GM Retiree and it is the high light for me with the grands. I had the flexibility in booking and had I known TT and BTRR where going to both be down I would NOT have booked in mid-May.

I'm also not lucky enough to be a frequent visitor. This will only be my 4th trip in my life and only once did I get to spend much time in the parks due to illness and other issues. If I hadn't bought air already, I wouldn't be heading down in May.

Also, just a FYI. The Disney TA site which gets updated better/more accurately showed the repurb dates on the hours page. Than last week or the week before they changed the info to TBA. My TA is checking it daily for me.

 

[DisneyAbsolutely]

You can't tell me they don't have someone checking these boards and seeing how flustered some are over this "possibility". By all means Disney doesn't HAVE to tell anyone anything but why do they then? Why announce all of the other refurbs and keep Test Track in the dark? or say they're going to and then pull any info about it from all the websites? This just doesn't make sense.

Totally agree with this! Why post any refurbishments at all? I understand why they may not give proper notice when a ride malfunctions or something. But they should be posting detailed information when they know in advance that an attraction is shutting down for the summer season! There should be a place to go for this type of information. This isn't some local theme park... it's Disney World! Disney has always been so great at being great! I'm disappointed that we won't have a final word on this until the day comes. That particularly stinks for people going anytime in April. It will be a guessing game for them.

I have been blessed enough to ride Test Track before. I personally could enjoy a trip without it but I rather wish it was open. I know it's hard to imagine but some people only go to Disney once. It's an expensive trip for the average family (especially families with children). It's common courtesy for a major resort to announce all closings with as much notice as possible. They can't please everyone but they are pleasing no one in this scenario. This affects everyone visiting Disney in 2012. If they delay the refurbishment, that will be unfair to people coming in the fall. If they go forward with the refurbishment, that will be unfair to people coming soon. All they had to do was post an announcement on their website in January. Problem solved. But they took it down which allowed many folks to understandably assume it was not happening. I think the best plan is to postpone this indefinitely.

 

[Love Tink]

I may be mistakin. Was the major referb (queuing area, etc) in 2009?. I just can't shake the nagging recollection that sometime in the past I thought, "I can't believe that they would close x without an official announcement". For me to think that "x" would have to be a fairly substantial ride.

You may be thinking of Space Mountain at DL. A major refurb of that ride was being discussed but hadn't been finalized...when the ride had to be shut down quickly and unexpectedly because the track was failing. It was a safety issue (the track had to be completely rebuilt.)

I think we can agree that this isn't what's happening with Test Track.

Every time I look around at sites and read how TT is definitely closing April 16and how it is a "fact"...I come here and Robo makes me feel better.

 

[LongLiveDisney1]

You may be thinking of Space Mountain at DL. A major refurb of that ride was being discussed but hadn't been finalized...when the ride had to be shut down quickly and unexpectedly because the track was failing. It was a safety issue (the track had to be completely rebuilt.)

I think we can agree that this isn't what's happening with Test Track.

Every time I look around at sites and read how TT is definitely closing April 16and how it is a "fact"...I come here and Robo makes me feel better.

I will agree that Test Track isn't failing like the Space ride but there are A LOT of delays (its become unacceptable). It needs to be fixed, ASAP!

 

[DisneyStitch626]

Well I am hoping that Disney comes out and says something about it soon. It would just be nice to know.

I am going to go in there expecting to see it closed with a slight hope that it may be open. It kinda sucks, as it's our first time, and we are from far away, so not sure when we will be back. Sooner than later if it's up to me, but who knows!

 

[mbrittb00]

You may be thinking of Space Mountain at DL. A major refurb of that ride was being discussed but hadn't been finalized...when the ride had to be shut down quickly and unexpectedly because the track was failing. It was a safety issue (the track had to be completely rebuilt.)

I think we can agree that this isn't what's happening with Test Track.

Every time I look around at sites and read how TT is definitely closing April 16and how it is a "fact"...I come here and Robo makes me feel better.

I would definitely agree that a ride closing without notice because it suddenly became a safety hazard would be acceptable. However one would question how / why Disney would have let it get into that condition in the first place. After all they do do regular inspections. But that is a discussion for another time.

To answer your question it could be, but I don't think so. Living in the SE, I have only been to DL once and it was when I was very young. It could be that I'm recalling some prophetic dream I had years ago. Which if that is the case, it is bad news for those of us who are travelling in April/May, because from what I am remembering the ride in question was shut down for referb with very late or no official notice, after months of speculation.

 

[LongLiveDisney1]

Well since I will be traveling in late September, I am selfishly hoping that the refurb goes through as planned!