Tired of the broken down attractions

[Brisal73]

Seriously how hard is it to fix an audio animatronic character or show effect?

Splash Mountain has a bunch of problems and it has been like this for almost if not a full year.
Tied up Brer bear does not go up and down.
The geese in the beginning are covered in darkness if they cannot move
The first blue bird is missing, but you can still hear him sing with Brer Rabbit
The Brer Rabbit ore cart does not move back and forth
The showboat finale is a mess
And even more that I rather not post.

On Indiana Jones, the 3 doors do not move and the door remains open
The green eye light is staying on which ruins the first appearance of the Mara and suspension bridge because it lights up that dark room.
The snake barely moves and opens its mouth.

These are just the things that I noticed today. I mean once the maintenance team is aware of the issue it should be fixed within a few day instead of letting it sit broken. They should be able to fix these things easily, heck Imaginnering is down the freeway if you need them.
It's all not being done because Disney is being cheap. They are making a ton of money off of guests, so respect from Disney by maintaining their attractions would go a long way in making a guest experience that much better.

If Disney is reading this.... WE NOTICE EVERYTHING

 

[Disney Dreams]

Seriously how hard is it to fix an audio animatronic character or show effect?

Splash Mountain has a bunch of problems and it has been like this for almost if not a full year.
Tied up Brer bear does not go up and down.
The geese in the beginning are covered in darkness if they cannot move
The first blue bird is missing, but you can still hear him sing with Brer Rabbit
The Brer Rabbit ore cart does not move back and forth
The showboat finale is a mess
And even more that I rather not post.

On Indiana Jones, the 3 doors do not move and the door remains open
The green eye light is staying on which ruins the first appearance of the Mara and suspension bridge because it lights up that dark room.
The snake barely moves and opens its mouth.

These are just the things that I noticed today. I mean once the maintenance team is aware of the issue it should be fixed within a few day instead of letting it sit broken. They should be able to fix these things easily, heck Imaginnering is down the freeway if you need them.
It's all not being done because Disney is being cheap. They are making a ton of money off of guests, so respect from Disney by maintaining their attractions would go a long way in making a guest experience that much better.

If Disney is reading this.... WE NOTICE EVERYTHING

I am responding to the part that I have bolded.

If you believe that everything can be fixed within a few days, as you state, I think that you under-estimate what is involved in some of these elements operating -- and what's required to fix them. Many aspects of attractions are complicated machinery that are timed just right and require more than appears to the eye in order to fix.

Also, if Disney were to take down the attraction for a week to fix things, then they would get complaints about the attraction being closed.

I don't think Disney thinks we are blind, I just think they have to weigh which choice to make: upset people such as yourself or upset people who want the attraction open during their once in a lifetime/year/month visit.

- Dreams

 

[Brisal73]

Why would you need to close an attraction? Most issues like animatronics should be able to be taken out of the attraction fixed and then put back into the show. The biggest thing on Splash is that finale. More than half of the animatronics on that boat are broken. When they are broken take the character out in the back. Get it fixed then put it back.

 

[sonnyjane]

Odd. I was there two weeks ago and most of the things you've just described were working during my visit (Indy doors were moving, snake moved normally, tied up bear going up and down, finale scene seemed intact, etc.)

 

[HydroGuy]

Why would you need to close an attraction? Most issues like animatronics should be able to be taken out of the attraction fixed and then put back into the show. The biggest thing on Splash is that finale. More than half of the animatronics on that boat are broken. When they are broken take the character out in the back. Get it fixed then put it back.

I don't mean to come across as Disney is perfect and can do no wrong, but do you have any idea other than a wild guess as to how long it takes to fix the things you describe? I am a mechanical engineer and my experience it is much harder to make things work than most people think. One little decision has this rippling effect across numerous areas you would never guess as an outsider.

And I agree with DisneyDreams that Disney has to weigh the impact of ride closures to fix things and the complaints that result. Folks complain when rides break down. Then in their next breath they complain when rides are taken down for refurb to fix things.

 

[tdhickey]

Odd. I was there two weeks ago and most of the things you've just described were working during my visit (Indy doors were moving, snake moved normally, tied up bear going up and down, finale scene seemed intact, etc.)

Same here, I just got back and most of that stuff was fine. A little obsessive compulsive here I think!

Also, I'd rather have a few animatronics go down than the whole ride!

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

Agreed that Splash needs work. (It is *amazing* now at Magic Kingdom after the refurb earlier this year.) But two rides--one with systemic issues and one without (Indy's issues are not repetitive and ongoing like Splash's issues)--don't make a trend. Now if you had added in all those darned burned-out lights in the blue tunnel on Space Mountain...

 

[SingWithFlowers]

The only thing that really bothers me is the screen/movie for Soarin', but I hear that might be replaced in 2014.

I'm glad to hear that the SM animatronics are working, I heard a while back that they were in bad shape I never saw for myself though.

 

[tdhickey]

The only thing that really bothers me is the screen/movie for Soarin', but I hear that might be replaced in 2014.

I'm glad to hear that the SM animatronics are working, I heard a while back that they were in bad shape I never saw for myself though.

Yes the smudges did kind of ruin the realism...

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

Yes the smudges did kind of ruin the realism...

Soarin's screen smudges are even worse at Epcot. (Like "Did a family of dust bunnies just run across the screen?" worse.) Disneyland has it pretty good in this regard, actually.

 

[DizMe]

When I was there earlier this month, I was thrilled with how great Indy looked. I think the snake is a lot less scary than it used to be, which is too bad for me but maybe they felt was a necessary change for others.

In general, though, I agree with some of what you're saying. I do see things that seem like they could be fixed pretty easily (like burned out light bulbs!) and I must admit that with the huge increases in ticket costs over the past few years and the amount of money they must be making they could and should take care of things in a timely manner. I can overlook things a lot more readily when I'm not having to make monthly payments so I can go there

I also know that with the increasing popularity of the DLR and the higher crowds there is bound to be an increase in the amount of wear and tear, required maintenance, and likely vandalism/intentional damage. Still, I hope that DLR will figure out how to continue with the level of quality in keeping up the parks that they're famous for.

 

[LisaT91403]

On our last visit a week ago, the two things we noticed were the artifacts on the Soarin' screen (it was annoying!) and that the Davy Jones image was not projected onto the fog in Pirates. I had warned my nephew about the latter before we got on the boat, but then the image never appeared.

 

[twinspirit]

On our last visit a week ago, the two things we noticed were the artifacts on the Soarin' screen (it was annoying!) and that the Davy Jones image was not projected onto the fog in Pirates. I had warned my nephew about the latter before we got on the boat, but then the image never appeared.

We noticed the same thing on Soaring a few days ago. I was a tad surprised. But I imagine its not an easy nor cheap thing to fix.

 

[lego606]

Seriously how hard is it to fix an audio animatronic character or show effect? Splash Mountain has a bunch of problems and it has been like this for almost if not a full year. Tied up Brer bear does not go up and down. The geese in the beginning are covered in darkness if they cannot move The first blue bird is missing, but you can still hear him sing with Brer Rabbit The Brer Rabbit ore cart does not move back and forth The showboat finale is a mess And even more that I rather not post. On Indiana Jones, the 3 doors do not move and the door remains open The green eye light is staying on which ruins the first appearance of the Mara and suspension bridge because it lights up that dark room. The snake barely moves and opens its mouth. These are just the things that I noticed today. I mean once the maintenance team is aware of the issue it should be fixed within a few day instead of letting it sit broken. They should be able to fix these things easily, heck Imaginnering is down the freeway if you need them. It's all not being done because Disney is being cheap. They are making a ton of money off of guests, so respect from Disney by maintaining their attractions would go a long way in making a guest experience that much better. If Disney is reading this.... WE NOTICE EVERYTHING

Just because I know about Indy... The 3 doors do move, but the chamber doors are stuck open (they're being worked on though)

The green eye laser is having on and off issues, there are days it will work fine and other days it won't.

As for the snake, is the audio off? I know that happened a few times but isn't *always* the case. Other than that the snake is working normally

 

[whoever]

On our last visit a week ago that the Davy Jones image was not projected onto the fog in Pirates..

FINALLY.... I've been asking them to turn that junk off for years.

 

[DPickering]

FINALLY.... I've been asking them to turn that junk off for years.

heh Hate to burst your bubble but last Friday it was back on. I thought it was cool. ?

 

[sarahb86]

On my last visit (9/23) Splash closed while we were on it, and was down for hours. When we rode Indy for the first time, the sound in our car didn't work at all (it's a boring ride without the soundtrack!), and I don't remember the Davy Jones projection on Pirates either, now that you mention it.

I can't wait til Soarin' gets a new film. It's my favorite ride in DCA but it needs an update.