By the time you read this, Back to the Future: The Ride will probably be closed for good. Like you folks, I am a huge fan of the movie trilogy.
I first rode BTTF in 1993, and at the that time the lines for it were astronomical (and there was no Express pass yet...). The ride was cutting-edge, the effects amazing. When you blasted through time or entered the coldness of prehistoric Hill Valley, there was an accompanying stream of dry ice smoke that completed the effect. Man, I loved that ride.
When I rode BTTF this past weekend, there was no smoke effect. This may sound like no big deal, but it kills the effect. Also of note was that fact that the lines were miniscule and the available cars were limited to two. Also, the flux capacitor on one of the eight-passenger DeLoreans was upside-down.
Someone once equated what has happened to this ride with what happens to a beloved family dog who has turned twelve years old. You still love the old scamp, but you know that he just isn't as able or as active as he one was. Maybe the time has come to say good bye to your beloved dog.
And now, I suppose, it is time to say goodbye to Back to the Future: The Ride. But don't remember the ride as the creaky, underappreciated, neck-snapping, neglected thing it has become. Remember it as the riders in the 1990's would: a thing of fun for all time.