Do You Think They Will/Should Close Frozen Until They Can Get it Working Properly?

[scrappinginontario]

In the 4 days since this ride has been 'open' it seems like it's been down almost as much as it has been up.

I can't help but wonder if they need to close it down until it is functioning properly and then reopen it? I have no idea if the same problem keeps happening or if it's a variety of problems but regardless it just doesn't seem ready to meet it's adoring fans yet.

I would feel terrible for those who are there now or going soon who desperately want to ride this but I also can't help but think how much more 'free' people would feel if they just knew the ride wasn't an option right now. I can't imagine how challenging it must be for those there trying to plan their days and how much time they're standing in line only to have it close...again. Or, being in one location, seeing it's open again and heading over only to have it break down again.

I'm not sure Disney has ever done this with a ride, open it and then immediately close it for a refurbishment but when is enough enough and we just give those in the know the time they need to properly fix the problem(s) and open it later with hopefully A LOT more stability?

 

[PantherPete]

I'm having a hard time understanding why they are having issues with it. I saw the video of the entire ride. It looks pretty much the same as Maelstrom, except with Frozen characters instead of vikings and trolls and Maelstrom always seemed to work just fine.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I don't really understand either. Some have said that Maelstrom also broke down on a regular basis but due to the lower demand for the ride it wasn't as obvious. Not really sure but right now it seems to be a huge problem!

 

[Bellestreak]

I don't really know for sure, but I have always thought that testing of a ride, and running it full time/capacity are two different animals. I think the first few days a new ride is open should really be considered it's final test.

 

[mom2rtk]

I don't really know for sure, but I have always thought that testing of a ride, and running it full time/capacity are two different animals. I think the first few days a new ride is open should really be considered it's final test.

.... which is why I thought they should have had some general public soft opening days ahead of the actual opening days. For the life of me, I can't imagine whey they didn't.

 

[Momtomouselover]

.... which is why I thought they should have had some general public soft opening days ahead of the actual opening days. For the life of me, I can't imagine whey they didn't.

I chatted with a concierge CM about this and he said they announced the opening date way before completion and then ran into difficulties. Imagineering barely ok'd it for opening in time but not in time for a soft opening. I imagine after ROL had to delay they didn't want a repeat.

 

[matheke]

You can never really know how something will work until it is in use. When Maelstrom was built it would have been mostly analog technology with digital controls to some extent. Now here it is 30 some odd years later and the complexities of modern technology is a 1000 times what it used to be. I t may takes some time to work out the coding etc., but always remember water rides and electricity do not mix well.

 

[Jennasis]

Will they? No. Should they? Probably.

 

[theone74733]

It's kinda too late for that. If you announce a grand opening, but a week later say we need to close it for a few weeks would be a PR nightmare. They should have just delayed the opening if things weren't ready yet. Now that it has all of this media attention that the ride is open, closing it now would look bad on all accounts.

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

It's doubtful they'll close it down for any reason. It's been too highly anticipated to say, "sorry, you can't ride it now because it doesn't work properly just yet."

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Something is not right at Disney.

First they delay Rivers of Light for "technical" and now this?

Hey Disney take some of those increased ticket costs and spend them on getting things right instead of doing it on the cheap so there's more money for China!

 

[StirlingSilver83]

I think Disney imagineerers are trying to do technical things that they just don't know how to code correctly or don't have the correct knowledge for it yet...it seems like this ride is way more technology advanced than a lot of their other rides and they just haven't gotten all the bugs worked out yet...plus Maelstrom was an old ride that did break down A LOT but no one really noticed bc it didn't have the popularity of this ride, plus it didn't have all the animatronics of this ride either. Disney will work it out, I just think they need to hire some people that know the right codes and can get this ride to do what they want it to do.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Let's just bring Maelstrom back! Just ignore me.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Does anyone know exactly what is breaking? Is it the same thing each time or does it vary?

 

[KateP85]

I think there is a huge lack of communication between the people at the top of the food chain, and those actually working on attractions/shows. Someone at the top picks a date for opening, and people on the ground are afraid to tell them it's not happening. So you either have a scenario like this, where the ride opens anyway and then it's obvious it wasn't ready, or you have a RoL scenario where someone finally says to the people at the top "this will physically not be ready." Maybe if people higher up were in the ground more often, or made themselves more accessible, this wouldn't be happening.

 

[ArwenMarie]

They should. But they won't.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm just floored by all of this. They had how long to get this ride ready? 16 months? 2 years? I lost track. And it was a retheming, not something built from scratch.

I expect new attractions to have down times. But I expected it less on a project like this than something brand new. And I expected them to have enough time to test it properly before the opening date. And honestly, they never should have opened it with every day's fastpasses already distributed. It really hemmed them in. They should have a) had soft open days and b) not offered fastpasses for the first couple weeks so they wouldn't have 2 hour fastpass return lines after closures during the day.

And yes, I know I'm armchair quarterbacking.

 

[ArielSRL]

I think there is a huge lack of communication between the people at the top of the food chain, and those actually working on attractions/shows. Someone at the top picks a date for opening, and people on the ground are afraid to tell them it's not happening. So you either have a scenario like this, where the ride opens anyway and then it's obvious it wasn't ready, or you have a RoL scenario where someone finally says to the people at the top "this will physically not be ready." Maybe if people higher up were in the ground more often, or made themselves more accessible, this wouldn't be happening.

This sounds so much like my field, it's funny. I'm a teacher, btw. The people who make all the decisions should be required to spend time in the field so they would see how unrealistic some of their ideas/expectations are.

 

[Amanda999]

I'm having a hard time understanding why they are having issues with it. I saw the video of the entire ride. It looks pretty much the same as Maelstrom, except with Frozen characters instead of vikings and trolls and Maelstrom always seemed to work just fine.

Exactly what I was thinking.
Went on the Frozen ride 2nd day of operation (45 minute wait with a fastpass!). Anyway, my guess is that they are calling it down if an animatronic or other special effect is down - i.e., they want the entire ride to work. I'm thinking bad PR if videos get out from first days with parts not working? Just a thought.
(And yes it seemed to my non expert eyes to be the same boat ride and "moat" or waterway as maelstrom, with different 'scenery.' It's not merely animatronics like at POTC, though. The faces on the women, for example, are kinda video like, like Lumiere at ETWB.)

 

[mom2rtk]

Exactly what I was thinking.
Went on the Frozen ride 2nd day of operation (45 minute wait with a fastpass!). Anyway, my guess is that they are calling it down if an animatronic or other special effect is down - i.e., they want the entire ride to work. I'm thinking bad PR if videos get out from first days with parts not working? Just a thought.
(And yes it seemed to my non expert eyes to be the same boat ride and "moat" or waterway as maelstrom, with different 'scenery.' It's not merely animatronics like at POTC, though. The faces on the women, for example, are kinda video like, like Lumiere at ETWB.)

I was wondering if that was it as well.