A Whole Lotta Rehabs Goin' On

[Timon-n-Pumbaa Fan]

Have you guys seen the rehab list? OMG, it's huge. I can't remember the last time that I saw this much stuff being rehabed in such a short period of time.

Jan 04, 2009 - Feb 28, 2009 Studio Backlot Tour will be closed for refurbishment.
Jan 05, 2009 - Mar 15, 2009 Contemporary Resort feature pool closed for refurbishment
Jan 05, 2009 - Mar 22, 2009 Ellen's Energy Adventure closed for refurbishment
Jan 05, 2009 - Apr 15, 2009 Beach Club Stormalong Bay Pool refurbishment
Jan 05, 2009 - Apr 15, 2009 Yacht Club Stormalong Bay Pool refurbishment
Jan 06, 2009 - Jan 24, 2009 Dream Along With Mickey closed for refurbishment.
Jan 12, 2009 - Jan 30, 2009 Sonny Eclipse at Cosmic Ray’s will not be performing
Jan 12, 2009 - Mar 20, 2009 The Fort Wilderness Meadows feature pool closed for refurbishment
Jan 17, 2009 - Feb 20, 2009 Pecos Bill’s Café closed for refurbishment
Jan 18, 2009 - Feb 06, 2009 Mickey’s PhilharMagic closed for refurbishment.
Jan 20, 2009 - Feb 06, 2009 Tricera Top Spin closed for refurbishment
Jan 27, 2009 - Jan 29, 2009 Voyage of the Little Mermaid will be closed for refurbishment.
Feb 02, 2009 - Feb 28, 2009 The Ol’ Man feature pool closed for refurbishment
Feb 09, 2009 - Feb 20, 2009 Trinidad South Pool at Caribbean Beach Resort closed for refurbishment
Feb 19, 2009 - Feb 28, 2009 Liberty Square Riverboat closed for refurbishment
Mar 02, 2009 - Mar 06, 2009 Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin closed for refurbishment
Mar 03, 2009 - Mar 12, 2009 Restaurantosaurus closed for refurbishment
Apr 19, 2009 - Aug 19, 2009 Tomorrowland Transit Authority closed
Apr 19, 2009 - Dec 31, 2009 Space Mountain closed for refurbishment.

 

[melly]

Its a crafty way of saving money

 

[tjkraz]

Of the items on that list, the only ones I would guess COULD be driven by the economy/lack of crowds are the backlot tour and Ellen's Energy Adventure. Although I've heard the entire vehicle track system for Ellen's will be replaced during this refurb.

Half of them are pool closures which are a necessary evil. Also they don't save much money (a handful of lifeguards per day) and they have a serious impact on the guest experience.

Many of the closures are for a couple weeks or less. Just minor work.

The Space Mountain refurb has been coming for years. The TTA closure is necessary since it winds through Space Mtn.

If you think that list is bad you should have seen the Disneyland refurb list in the months leading up to it's 50th anniversary.

 

[KYMickey]

Half of them are pool closures which are a necessary evil. Also they don't save much money (a handful of lifeguards per day) and they have a serious impact on the guest experience.

Actually, the lifeguards are a small part of the operating costs for the pools. The energy costs are astronomical especially in the cooler months when the water has to be heated for visitor comfort. Overall the operating costs for a large pool are probably higher than the operating cost for many of the rides.

 

[rodkenrich]

,

 

[tjkraz]

Actually, the lifeguards are a small part of the operating costs for the pools. The energy costs are astronomical especially in the cooler months when the water has to be heated for visitor comfort. Overall the operating costs for a large pool are probably higher than the operating cost for many of the rides.

Good points. Still, I don't see Disney using pool closures as a way of saving money. That seriously impacts the guest experience--every day you have to tell hundreds of registered guests that their primary resort pool is unavailable. Not good.

If anything, I think Disney may have accellerated some pool maintenance work due to the lagging reservations for early '09. Better to move a rehab up from 2010 (when the resort may be full) to '09 when occupancy is projected lower.

As for the others, again it looks just like normal maintenance work to me. I don't see a 5-day closure of Buzz to be a money-saving move. The same for a 3-day closure of Little Mermaid.

The Space Mtn and "Ellen" refurbs are extensive and have been in planning for some time. TTA is necessitated by the Space Mtn closure.

Backlot tour may be a cost saving move, along with some of the restaurant closures. But even those are short in duration.

 

[rocketriter]

Sorry, I don't think the refurb list is "bad," I think it's good. It suggests that WDW isn't holding back on spending but is using this down time to polish the parks.

 

[Condorman]

Anyone want to try and explain the discrepancy between the TTA closure period and the SM closure period? If the first is closed due to the second, why would it open 4-5 months sooner?

 

[Timon-n-Pumbaa Fan]

My guess is that as long as there is no work going on inside SpMnt that would potentially harm a guest riding TTA, that TTA will function. There is supposed to be new track being put in. I guess it's a matter of demo and reconstruction that will take up the time from April to August. The rest of the time will be setting up the operating system, new ride cars (assumption), and basic "pretty up the scenery" maintence stuff. I am assuming that some of the additional maintence stuff might also require a down day or two for TTA along the way to SpMnt's completion, but only time will tell.

 

[MJMcBride]

Sorry, I don't think the refurb list is "bad," I think it's good. It suggests that WDW isn't holding back on spending but is using this down time to polish the parks.

unless of course its just a way of saving money. Frankly, I'm surprised they don't make the Backlot Tour seasonal at this point

 

[Padrepride]

If there isn't really much work going on during these rehabs, it really is a sneaky way to save money. But, the closure of Space Mountain rehab is likely to cost a good amount of money. I'm not really sure what the plan is for that ride, but if it's anywhere near the renovation they did to the DL Anaheim ride, it would be more cost-efficient to keep SM open. Operating the pools on a seasonal basis, even if not officially, would not be popular among any guests. Closing the restaurants also would not be cost-efficient. And the rest of these rehabs look pretty routine. Most of these rides will be closed for less than a month. To me, it looks like Disney is just catching up on some rehab and maybe looking for a way to remove some jobs before the rides come back on line.

 

[Brian_WDW74]

There actually is some extensive infrastructure work being done on the Backlot Tour. In the Special Effects Tank area they're repairing and/or replacing the catwalk steel, grating and supports, prop scaffolds, and the effect dump tank. In Catastrophe Canyon they're replacing deteriorated and corroded electrical raceways, wiring, junction boxes and supports. They're also repairing framing connections in the attraction's entrance facade.

One other thing that they're rumored to be doing that flat out IS a cost-cutting measure, if true, is that they're installing an automated spiel system in the trams and are eliminating the live tour announcers. Pretty much the same thing they did at Living with the Land.

 

[rutgers1]

When will Space Mountain be back up? We are going in August and will be bummed if we can't ride it.

 

[mwehttam]

When will Space Mountain be back up? We are going in August and will be bummed if we can't ride it.

Not till the end of 09.

We just got back from a weekend in WDW and I spoke to the CM taking the FP inside Space. She said that she heard nothing on new track but knows that they are getting a new queue area as well as new lap bars. I still think they will be doing track though it did take DL 2 years to do this and Space at WDW will only be down 8-9 months.

We also noticed the stage in Tomorrowland has been demolished as well as a new structure going up in the open area by the restrooms that are in the old skyway building.

 

[Joeguitar]

I know that during an economic downturn, it is possible to do construction projects much cheaper (especially during a downturn that involves the construction industry so heavily.)

I wonder how much of it is capitalizing on that fact and the "lower impact" because of the smaller crowds.

 

[Sorahana]

Not till the end of 09.

We just got back from a weekend in WDW and I spoke to the CM taking the FP inside Space. She said that she heard nothing on new track but knows that they are getting a new queue area as well as new lap bars. I still think they will be doing track though it did take DL 2 years to do this and Space at WDW will only be down 8-9 months.

We also noticed the stage in Tomorrowland has been demolished as well as a new structure going up in the open area by the restrooms that are in the old skyway building.

I hope they do new track. That track is really old and looking at it and thinking technical about it scares me (I blame working at Everest for that, I can't look at a rollercoaster without thinking about the technical aspects of it now haha).

 

[tjkraz]

Not till the end of 09.

We just got back from a weekend in WDW and I spoke to the CM taking the FP inside Space. She said that she heard nothing on new track but knows that they are getting a new queue area as well as new lap bars. I still think they will be doing track though it did take DL 2 years to do this and Space at WDW will only be down 8-9 months.

I remember reading that Disney was getting quotes on steel so a track replacement may be part of the job. In DL there were problems with the foundation which made its refurb a much bigger job. Still I agree 8 months isn't a long time. Hoping for the best!

We also noticed the stage in Tomorrowland has been demolished as well as a new structure going up in the open area by the restrooms that are in the old skyway building.

That's a new stage for the Stitch show coming to Tomorrowland. I think the old Galaxy Theater was bulldozed to make way for a CM parking lot. (That stage really was a mess, though.)

 

[NMW]

The rehabs don't seem that excessive to me. Pools always need rehab and they always do it in the colder months-it just makes sense. Space Mt and Ellen were well known for a while and both need it. The rest just seem like normal Jan/Feb rehabs.

 

[Backstage_Gal]

I know for a fact that the Stormalong Bay rehab at YC/BC was planned well over a year ago for resurfacing, before all this economic mess happend. It had not been resufaced in 10 years, gotta be done sometime.