Here now….so many ride closures!!!

[disneycat321]

I’m on day 2 of a 3 day visit and there are SO MANY ride closures. I’m a DLR vet and I’ve never seen anything like this. We’ve had 5 rides we’ve tried to go on go down - Space, Indiana Jones, Mr. Toad, Matterhorn, and Splash. I know Small World and the carousel also went down at some point. Thankfully we have G+ and aren’t losing tons of time for any of this (and it’s luckily been happening before we get in line every time except Mr. Toad), but Splash’s standby was 120 min when it went down a few min ago and they emptied the whole line.

I know people have been talking about these ride closures off and on…..but wow. Is this really a budget cuts/ride maintenance issue? It just seems crazy.

 

[DLgal]

Yeah, welcome to Disneyland 2022. It's the new status quo.

The carousel also went down last Sunday. How does a carousel break? They have got to be cutting corners.

Tell me, have the Silly Swings come back up yet ? They've been down for weeks now.

 

[amyg1975]

Silly Swings is back, but not always open.

 

[DLgal]

Silly Swings is back, but not always open.

It says "closed for refurbishment" just now on the app.

 

[brightlined]

I’m on day 2 of a 3 day visit and there are SO MANY ride closures. I’m a DLR vet and I’ve never seen anything like this. We’ve had 5 rides we’ve tried to go on go down - Space, Indiana Jones, Mr. Toad, Matterhorn, and Splash. I know Small World and the carousel also went down at some point. Thankfully we have G+ and aren’t losing tons of time for any of this (and it’s luckily been happening before we get in line every time except Mr. Toad), but Splash’s standby was 120 min when it went down a few min ago and they emptied the whole line.

I know people have been talking about these ride closures off and on…..but wow. Is this really a budget cuts/ride maintenance issue? It just seems crazy.

I tried to use that to my advantage last week. I was eating dinner in Avengers Campus, saw that Small World was down - booked an LL for 15 minutes out on a gamble - ended up with an ME that got me a bonus ride on Guardians when the line was 75 minutes long.

 

[amyg1975]

It says "closed for refurbishment" just now on the app.

Oh no! I think it was open Sunday, but it did not open until much later in the day. I can’t remember if I saw it running Monday or not.

It seems so strange that they are doing refurbishments during Spring Break time. I noticed that Luigi’s was also closed for refurbishment but we were lucky enough to ride it the day before that closed.

 

[DLgal]

Oh no! I think it was open Sunday, but it did not open until much later in the day. I can’t remember if I saw it running Monday or not.

It seems so strange that they are doing refurbishments during Spring Break time. I noticed that Luigi’s was also closed for refurbishment but we were lucky enough to ride it the day before that closed.

It never opened Sunday. We saw it "testing" several times but it never opened.

 

[disneycat321]

I tried to use that to my advantage last week. I was eating dinner in Avengers Campus, saw that Small World was down - booked an LL for 15 minutes out on a gamble - ended up with an ME that got me a bonus ride on Guardians when the line was 75 minutes long.

I mean, we’ve definitely gotten some nice multiple experience LLs out of this. I guess that’s the positive.

 

[amyg1975]

True about the multi experiences! We got one late Sunday night so we went on Casey Jr. because that line was long and we never get to ride it. The CM did not have a scanner so we got to use the pass a second time! We chose Snow White.

 

[brightlined]

True about the multi experiences! We got one late Sunday night so we went on Casey Jr. because that line was long and we never get to ride it. The CM did not have a scanner so we got to use the pass a second time! We chose Snow White.

I kept meaning to ask someone - on the rides that don't have Lightning Lanes - do you just show the ME to the CM at the exit? I got one off Indy and thought about using it for Alice, since the line for it was so long every day I was there, but wasn't sure what to do with it.

(I ended up using it on Guardians... which I honestly might have done anyway, lol.)

 

[ironband74]

Something serious must have broken on the Swings - it is listed as being under refurbishment as far as the calendar goes (May 26). It was not originally planned to be down next week when we go.

Looks like Luigis should be back up tomorrow though?

 

[DodgerGirl]

I think Disneyland has been short on staff and to me I think they don't have enough crew to maintain the rides and since they reopened in 2021 they haven't been able to rehire the workers they originally had so as I mentioned many times on this subject Disneyland has to train new workers and it'sy a hard task to do. But I think the main reason why there also has so many ride closures lately is that they are probably prepping the rides for next Thursday and they are constantly busy. But I do feel that Disneyland should invent a system for finding out which rides are closed and which rides are not and how it works is "let's say you want to ride Pirates Of The Caribbean" and you go to a kiosk near the ride entrance and the kiosk will have a desk with a computer with a microphone and you ask it "Is Pirates Of The Caribbean open today" and after you ask your question the kiosk computer connects you and if the ride is open a chime will indicate yes and if the ride is closed a buzzer will sound and this system would work miracles for Disneyland

 

[SirDuff]

I think Disneyland has been short on staff and to me I think they don't have enough crew to maintain the rides and since they reopened in 2021 they haven't been able to rehire the workers they originally had so as I mentioned many times on this subject Disneyland has to train new workers and it'sy a hard task to do. But I think the main reason why there also has so many ride closures lately is that they are probably prepping the rides for next Thursday and they are constantly busy. But I do feel that Disneyland should invent a system for finding out which rides are closed and which rides are not and how it works is "let's say you want to ride Pirates Of The Caribbean" and you go to a kiosk near the ride entrance and the kiosk will have a desk with a computer with a microphone and you ask it "Is Pirates Of The Caribbean open today" and after you ask your question the kiosk computer connects you and if the ride is open a chime will indicate yes and if the ride is closed a buzzer will sound and this system would work miracles for Disneyland

Or, you know, you could just look at the app, at the ride board, or ask at one of the guest service umbrellas.

 

[CounselorX]

I think Disneyland has been short on staff and to me I think they don't have enough crew to maintain the rides and since they reopened in 2021 they haven't been able to rehire the workers they originally had so as I mentioned many times on this subject Disneyland has to train new workers and it'sy a hard task to do. But I think the main reason why there also has so many ride closures lately is that they are probably prepping the rides for next Thursday and they are constantly busy. But I do feel that Disneyland should invent a system for finding out which rides are closed and which rides are not and how it works is "let's say you want to ride Pirates Of The Caribbean" and you go to a kiosk near the ride entrance and the kiosk will have a desk with a computer with a microphone and you ask it "Is Pirates Of The Caribbean open today" and after you ask your question the kiosk computer connects you and if the ride is open a chime will indicate yes and if the ride is closed a buzzer will sound and this system would work miracles for Disneyland

So, you walk to the ride, to ask a microphone if the ride is open? lol. Why not just look at the ride? Or, check in the app before walking to the ride.

 

[EmJ]

This is disconcerting to hear, as a family about to take our first-time trip. Though, if I were a betting person, I would guess this is a staffing issue like everything everywhere seems to be. Another possibility is that they are using this time to prepare for an anticipated busy summer, do you think? I know lots of families taking summer trips this year, but only one or two that took a spring break trip. With the new reserved ticket process, DL should have a pretty good idea of when the crowds are coming.

 

[Obi-J Kenobi]

I am always sad when I read about folks vacations being challenged by attractions breaking down. I've been there before too. It's no fun.

Although I am not dismissing the possibility that TWDC is cutting back on maintenance at the parks or doing things on the cheap, I am concerned that many of the beloved attractions have ride systems that are multiple decades old and need to be completely overhauled, which results in a months/year long refurbishment of the attraction. That is seriously expensive too.

Think about SE in EP at WDW, that attraction now has a ride system that is 40 years old! It probably has spent its useful life and very well could be why SE frequently breaks down. Maybe that's why there is some movement by WDW to shut it down for a prolonged period. For certain attractions, like SM, whenever DLR and WDW decide to shut it down for the re-imagining, and close it for 12-24 months, then hopefully TWDC will have the intelligence to install a whole new ride system. But, until DLR and WDW make the brave decision to start shutting down older attractions for 1 year+ for complete overhauls, the breakdowns will likely continue. You can only baby this stuff for so long before a total overhaul is needed.

I'm also amazed at the number of things that DLR and WDW have to keep up with from a maintenance standpoint. Think of all the concrete, blacktop, boats, trains, buses, cars, trams, monorail, gondolas, attraction systems, paint, CM clothing and accessories, wi-fi, speakers, brick and mortar stores, roofing, racks and displays for merch, plumbing, safety equipment, HVAC, fixtures, pyro, lighting, gardens, bins, tables, benches, R2-D2, and much, much more.

 

[disneycat321]

This is disconcerting to hear, as a family about to take our first-time trip. Though, if I were a betting person, I would guess this is a staffing issue like everything everywhere seems to be. Another possibility is that they are using this time to prepare for an anticipated busy summer, do you think? I know lots of families taking summer trips this year, but only one or two that took a spring break trip. With the new reserved ticket process, DL should have a pretty good idea of when the crowds are coming.

I would highly recommend getting G+ for your trip. If you have that, you’ll honestly be fine. I’m not a G+ fan because I far preferred MP (and even FP+ at WDW, which I also didn’t love) but we’ve been able to ride everything we’ve wanted to and have been having a great time despite the closures. I just personally wouldn’t risk long standby with all the ride closures I’ve seen.

I don’t know that they’re preparing for anything since these are unplanned closures throughout the day, often for a few hours. Seems more like they’re trying to keep up with the demand.

 

[DLgal]

This is disconcerting to hear, as a family about to take our first-time trip. Though, if I were a betting person, I would guess this is a staffing issue like everything everywhere seems to be. Another possibility is that they are using this time to prepare for an anticipated busy summer, do you think? I know lots of families taking summer trips this year, but only one or two that took a spring break trip. With the new reserved ticket process, DL should have a pretty good idea of when the crowds are coming.

Spoiler alert: it's not going to be any busier. In fact, I expect attendance to drop off significantly as soon as the Southern CA resident special ticket offer expires at the end of May.

And I fully expect we will see a summer time version of that same offer pop up.

 

[Kennywood]

All of the Disney parks worldwide need a rapid infusion in both money and personnel in regards to maintenance. While closed rides are an enormous inconvenience and annoyance to guests, the safety factor can't be ignored.

If a ride were to have an unexpected and/or catastrophic failure during use and guests are injured or worse, Disney will face a financial and public relations nightmare. These current instances of ride closures due to maintenance will definitely come into play with any lawsuits.

 

[DLgal]

All of the Disney parks worldwide need a rapid infusion in both money and personnel in regards to maintenance. While closed rides are an enormous inconvenience and annoyance to guests, the safety factor can't be ignored.

If a ride were to have an unexpected and/or catastrophic failure during use and guests are injured or worse, Disney will face a financial and public relations nightmare. These current instances of ride closures due to maintenance will definitely come into play with any lawsuits.

Every time we get put in the front car of Big Thunder at Disneyland, I think about that time the train derailed and killed that man and injured 10 others several years ago, which was a situation ultimately blamed on improper maintenance. It seems like Disney has gotten complacent again.