A vent and request for updates for headliners rides reopening this week...

[OnTheRoadAgain]

I just commented in the other thread on the topic:
...I just checked the DL Park Hours refurb calendar. SM is off the list after April 30 and the list goes back to its previously planned refurbs. It goes without saying that it appears that DL priorities are to be safe and up and running soon.

edit: They must be updating the calendar as I typed this note, because it has changed again, and SM is off the refurb list entirely, in fact everything appears to be back to the old, planned refurbs, and maybe a few rotating ones thrown in. Could it be?

 

[Casey's Mommie]

You're right. I was checking my dates (April 28-May 3) and they are back to the regularly scheduled refurbs.

It got my hopes up anyway...

 

[jenergy]

I just commented in the other thread on the topic:
...I just checked the DL Park Hours refurb calendar. SM is off the list after April 30 and the list goes back to its previously planned refurbs. It goes without saying that it appears that DL priorities are to be safe and up and running soon.

edit: They must be updating the calendar as I typed this note, because it has changed again, and SM is off the refurb list entirely, in fact everything appears to be back to the old, planned refurbs, and maybe a few rotating ones thrown in. Could it be?

You are very right. Checked yesterday for the 21st (when we arrive) and both rides were on the refurb list and now they're not. I truly hope that this means they have figured things out, corrected their problems, and will be reopening the rides within the day. I'd hate to think they were jumping the gun on their calendar update.

 

[flightdave82]

^^^^
Hmm just looked also. SM is no longer on the calendar, even today when it is reported closed. Hoping it's true but sadly it could just be that if they just recently updated the calendar to include future dates, shows, etc, that they forgot to put SM on the closed list at the bottom????

Let's hope its not a mistake as we all know what happened a few months ago when BTMR was suddenly off the refurb list by accident and it got everyones hopes up as I did

 

[flightdave82]

oh man, so much for that! Calendar now shows both SM & Soaring as "pending" for refurbishments. Let's hope its only for a few days!

I think we all need to wish for some pixie dust

 

[perlster]

Both are still "Pending" (whatever that means) through April 24 as of this revision.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

Both are "Pending" (whatever that means) through April 24 as of now.

I bet it means, "We're done with the work but we'll wait and see what Cal/OSHA thinks on Monday."

 

[sherilaine]

If anything I hope they have learned from this and do not shy away from making sure all rides are safe for both their riders and their employees.

It does sound promising though, I checked for our dates we are there and it's back to BTMRR. I was more upset about Soarin than Space as my kids are not Coaster fans but now we are taking their grandmother with us and Space is her favorite ride, and she's only done it at WDW - so hopefully I can give her good news.

I must say though, I will remain cautiously optomistic until we get there - never know when something else could come up!

 

[Daydreamer64]

OP here, we are leaving in about an hour to go to the airport.

I did not tell my little man that the rides may be up as it would be entirely better for them to be a surprise, if they start running, for him then to get his hopes up again.

I really appreciate all of the helpful posts and the running comments on what is up and what is not~

I do not have a way to post from the parks as I am not taking my laptop. We do not get home until the 24th.

As soon as I am able I will update everyone with our experience if you all are still interested, and a final decision has not been made clear yet on the ride closings.

Again, thanks for the updates!

 

[summerw]

Went to CAA yesterday and got there for "rope drop" but not ee. It was more crowded at opening than the rest of the day. Golden zephyr and goofy's sky school were both down for at least an hour that I personally saw. It could have been more. TSMM was listed as down when we arrived. We went to ride it around 5 something. They announced they were going to "stop loading" right after we got our glasses. I thought that was unusual phrasing, but it went back up about ten minutes later. Then we got to two people before sorting and the same announcement. The carts kept arriving letting people off through the loading side. After 15 minutes they start again. We ride and on our way out two cm's are guarding a step that's missing the friction strips or whatever you call the black grippy stuff. This is why we were shut down, anti slip coating on one step for at least 20 minutes (and maybe more that morning) in a park whose biggest headliner is twitchy and goes up and down and the other was closed for safety. I know Disney must have its hands full but I think this could have been handed better. Still had an amazing day and didn't wait more than 20 minutes (except TSMM) all day and did almost everything.

I'm hoping all these problems even since the closures, are a sign Disney is working hard to get up to par, not a sign of their future maintenance norm. I know Disney is usually tight lipped on this kind of thing, but it's not going unnoticed so maybe a statement is in order? Or did I miss one from them?

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

Went to CAA yesterday and got there for "rope drop" but not ee. It was more crowded at opening than the rest of the day. Golden zephyr and goofy's sky school were both down for at least an hour that I personally saw. It could have been more. TSMM was listed as down when we arrived. We went to ride it around 5 something. They announced they were going to "stop loading" right after we got our glasses. I thought that was unusual phrasing, but it went back up about ten minutes later. Then we got to two people before sorting and the same announcement. The carts kept arriving letting people off through the loading side. After 15 minutes they start again. We ride and on our way out two cm's are guarding a step that's missing the friction strips or whatever you call the black grippy stuff. This is why we were shut down, anti slip coating on one step for at least 20 minutes (and maybe more that morning) in a park whose biggest headliner is twitchy and goes up and down and the other was closed for safety. I know Disney must have its hands full but I think this could have been handed better. Still had an amazing day and didn't wait more than 20 minutes (except TSMM) all day and did almost everything.

I'm hoping all these problems even since the closures, are a sign Disney is working hard to get up to par, not a sign of their future maintenance norm. I know Disney is usually tight lipped on this kind of thing, but it's not going unnoticed so maybe a statement is in order? Or did I miss one from them?

I've been thinking, there's another, more positive way to look at this. It took a decade of things falling apart at WDW before Meg Crofton was kicked upstairs and George Kalogridis was sent east to head the east coast resort. That meant WDW went from DLR Imagineers helping out with New Fantasyland coming back to California with maintenance horror stories to Splash Mountain getting what probably is the best refurb it has ever received.

So maybe this is a gift--i.e. the kick in the pants DLR really needed to shock it out of the complacency that set in after the west coast resort healed from the Pressler/Harriss era. No one would argue that things have gotten sloppier at DLR than they were during the mid-2000s. Missing safety strips are nothing--how about all the lights out inside the station and strobe tunnel on Space Mountain, the desperate need for paint on the upper reaches of Sleeping Beauty Castle, failing wooden railings in the Splash Mountain queue, Autopia's everything? Heck, even all those vendor carts in dire need of repainting? (Tomorrowland churro cart, anyone?)

It's more than employee safety. I think in the zeal to redo DCA, DLR management figured Disneyland, itself, would just coast and take care of itself. If nothing else, Cal/OSHA has probably shocked management into being mindful again of the details that need to be taken care of--whether they involve employee safety, visitor safety, or show--in order for the entire west coast resort to work, and shine, as it was originally meant to.

At least that's my hope. Because there isn't any way DLR ended up with these specific violations without becoming very sloppy about such details. And deciding those details were less important than shoving the highest number of people possible through rides at any cost was how WDW started its hopefully now-ended decline in the first place.

 

[perlster]

no change - both Space Mountain and Soarin' over Calfornia have "pending" refurbs scheduled through April 24

 

[jenergy]

I have been very disappointed that it is looking like I won't be able to ride Space or Soarin' while I'm there this weekend. Since this has been reported, I have felt somewhat sympathetic for Disney as I figured it was just OSHA being OSHA and although I hoped that they would be able to do what they needed to do before I got there, I told myself it is what it is. However, as time goes on and there have been no statements from Disneyland officials and the status on the calendar has flip-flopped around, I have grown rather resentful. Not necessarily because this is impacting my vacation but I just can't believe how negligent Disney has been. I know others have already verbalized these sentiments but COME ON! A man was injured in a fall FIVE MONTHS ago and it takes a fine to realize that maybe you should inspect your work areas for safety? If my trip to DLR had been in November and I had heard that a man had fallen and gotten hurt and that they had closed rides to review their safety policies then, I would totally understand. But 5 months later, close 3 attractions without notice leaving 4 of the largest draws to pay exorbitant amounts of money at your park closed and leaving other workers in danger? To me that says that Disney isn't caring much about their employees or their customers.

Maybe I'm being a little dramatic here but that is how I feel. If there were small things to be fixed then they should have done all that they could to either give attendees of the parks notice that the rides were down or done all they could to fix them while having the rides down for as little time as possible. If they were large things then they should have shut the rides down immediately and fixed them.

To be absolutely honest, if I had looked at the calendar and seen that BTMRR, SM, and Soarin were all scheduled to be down during my vacation, there is a good chance that I may have decided that going wasn't worth the money. Just seeing that BTMRR was down, had me questioning whether it was worth it or not because I LOVE that ride but I talked myself into it anyways. Now, like I said, if this had been a result of the man falling then I would understand but it's not, it's a result of a fine and that is just plain disappointing.

/rant

 

[flightdave82]

I have been very disappointed that it is looking like I won't be able to ride Space or Soarin' while I'm there this weekend. Since this has been reported, I have felt somewhat sympathetic for Disney as I figured it was just OSHA being OSHA and although I hoped that they would be able to do what they needed to do before I got there, I told myself it is what it is. However, as time goes on and there have been no statements from Disneyland officials and the status on the calendar has flip-flopped around, I have grown rather resentful. Not necessarily because this is impacting my vacation but I just can't believe how negligent Disney has been. I know others have already verbalized these sentiments but COME ON! A man was injured in a fall FIVE MONTHS ago and it takes a fine to realize that maybe you should inspect your work areas for safety? If my trip to DLR had been in November and I had heard that a man had fallen and gotten hurt and that they had closed rides to review their safety policies then, I would totally understand. But 5 months later, close 3 attractions without notice leaving 4 of the largest draws to pay exorbitant amounts of money at your park closed and leaving other workers in danger? To me that says that Disney isn't caring much about their employees or their customers.

Maybe I'm being a little dramatic here but that is how I feel. If there were small things to be fixed then they should have done all that they could to either give attendees of the parks notice that the rides were down or done all they could to fix them while having the rides down for as little time as possible. If they were large things then they should have shut the rides down immediately and fixed them.

To be absolutely honest, if I had looked at the calendar and seen that BTMRR, SM, and Soarin were all scheduled to be down during my vacation, there is a good chance that I may have decided that going wasn't worth the money. Just seeing that BTMRR was down, had me questioning whether it was worth it or not because I LOVE that ride but I talked myself into it anyways. Now, like I said, if this had been a result of the man falling then I would understand but it's not, it's a result of a fine and that is just plain disappointing.

/rant

Perfectly put! Couldn't have said it any better. I was the same way with you. I was working around the refurb list trying to pick the right time knowing BTMR was down but if I knew this ahead of time I would have definetly postponed the trip!.

To make matters worse, once they eventually get space back up the Matterhorn will be closed for its 2 week refurb. I guess this is going to be a bad month 1/2 for people like us who are going to the parks.

It's a shame how they waited so long to fix these problems.

 

[scarlet_ibis]

Matterhorn is currently loading both sides, fwiw. One waterfall on the castle side is not running.
Haven't been by SM or Soarin' to comment on those.

 

[carisa81]

Perfectly put! Couldn't have said it any better. I was the same way with you. I was working around the refurb list trying to pick the right time knowing BTMR was down but if I knew this ahead of time I would have definetly postponed the trip!.

To make matters worse, once they eventually get space back up the Matterhorn will be closed for its 2 week refurb. I guess this is going to be a bad month 1/2 for people like us who are going to the parks.

It's a shame how they waited so long to fix these problems.

I feel the same way. We are there next week. We will be there the 25th, though. That is our last day in the parks. Hopefully we will have one day, at least, to ride those rides. I'm esp sad about Soarin.

 

[Mama Who]

I feel the same way. We are there next week. We will be there the 25th, though. That is our last day in the parks. Hopefully we will have one day, at least, to ride those rides. I'm esp sad about Soarin.

Hoping the estimates are conservative and pixie dust grants you a flight or two.

 

[marvel]

Agree totally . Would have completely changed our trip knowing 3 headliners were closed. Worst part is no actually formal advice from Disney as to what us happening

 

[scarlet_ibis]

SM is closed with refurb signs up.

 

[perlster]

No change for a couple of days (may be considered good news, as Disney is confident of how long the rides will be down)

Space Mountain and Soarin' Over California listed as "pending" on the refurbishment list through April 24.