POTC?

[cjparker0110]

It doesn't affect me any since I wont' be at WDW until 2017, but why is POTC closed for such a long time this summer? It seems like it wasn't that long ago that they closed in order to add movie stuff to the ride (10 years maybe?). Looking at most of the closings for other rides, they last just a few days. This is going to be closed for the whole summer (peak period here...). What is so pressing that they couldn't do it in the fall, or not pressing enough that they chose not to do it during the winter or spring??

 

[dprincessmom]

Reports are the the boats that they recently replaced didn't fit the track properly and there were injury opportunities that needed to be fixed.

 

[Missyrose]

The attraction is down A LOT, even on its "good" days. A nice long refurb was definitely needed to fix the problems the new boats were causing (and the rumored door issue).

 

[dbramer]

In addition to repairs on almost all the animatronics. A lot them reportedly aren't working. Reports have also come in that the fog screen hasn't been working and the cannon shots are mistimed or nonexistent. There is a lot wrong with POTC (and I can relate as it is almost as old as I am and I am breaking down quite often lately). It needs it. I am sorry my daughter will miss it on our trip in August.

 

[puffkin]

We were there 2 weeks ago and it was closed ALOT. I tried 3 separate days to ride it and it was down, all different times of the day. My DH and DS9 got on it the one morning while DS2 was having a major meltdown. They got stuck right before the drop....they turned all the lights on and had to redo the pumps my husband said. They finally got the boats moving again after about 15 minutes. Our last night DH and DS were playing Sorcerors of the Magic Kingdom so I tried to ride is with DS2...yup, it was down. We went and had some citrus swirls and came back and it was reopened. We got on and everything seemed to be working properly with the smoke screen effect and the water cannons. We got past the auction scene and our boat basically stopped. The two boats behind us basically bumped us the entire rest of the way.

I am not an engineer, but I am thinking there are some significant issues with the boats not floating properly through the track depending on the weight distribution. There is definitely some type of design flaw there that needs to be addressed.

 

[lugnut33]

My mother was unable to ride it last time she was there a couple of weeks ago. Got to where they were next in line and down it went. Pretty sure that will be her last opportunity to ever ride it.

 

[lugnut33]

Other thing that not good about it being closed is all the other attractions have to take up the slack for POTC and its ability to be a people eater. POTC has a huge ride capacity per hour, now all those people will be in line at other attractions.

 

[Hopefully]

It doesn't affect me any since I wont' be at WDW until 2017, but why is POTC closed for such a long time this summer? It seems like it wasn't that long ago that they closed in order to add movie stuff to the ride (10 years maybe?). Looking at most of the closings for other rides, they last just a few days. This is going to be closed for the whole summer (peak period here...). What is so pressing that they couldn't do it in the fall, or not pressing enough that they chose not to do it during the winter or spring??

Major rehaps do not take just a few days. Most attractions are down for weeks if not months for periodic major work. Recent ones in memory include Space Mountain and the Liberty Square River boat/Rivers of the Americas. No matter when they choose to do it it will be inconvenient for thousands of visitors.

 

[cjparker0110]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I guess I just figured that summer is about the worst time to do a rehab for a major attraction. I know there is never a good time....but there are better times IMHO. That said, I hope it works in 2 years without a hitch so I can take my wife on it. It was always a favorite when I was younger.

 

[hedberg1661]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I guess I just figured that summer is about the worst time to do a rehab for a major attraction. I know there is never a good time....but there are better times IMHO. That said, I hope it works in 2 years without a hitch so I can take my wife on it. It was always a favorite when I was younger.

However, if there is a true long term safety issue I am sure Disney does not want that to persist regardless of the other rehabs.

 

[troyseyfert]

However, if there is a true long term safety issue I am sure Disney does not want that to persist regardless of the other rehabs.

Anyone know the odds of having a soft opening sometime in early September for the ride? I wasn't around when Big Thunder and Space Mountain had their refurbs....because of how popular this ride is, do you think they might have it opened a little earlier?

Can someone give me a percentage of how likely it will be for us to possibly get on it the week after Labor Day?

 

[hedberg1661]

Anyone know the odds of having a soft opening sometime in early September for the ride? I wasn't around when Big Thunder and Space Mountain had their refurbs....because of how popular this ride is, do you think they might have it opened a little earlier?

Can someone give me a percentage of how likely it will be for us to possibly get on it the week after Labor Day?

Currently I see it listed through 9/25. From the rumblings this is an extensive rehab. I think the biggest issue with this will be the boat tracks. I wouldn't get your hopes up for an early opening.

 

[ttintagel]

I doubt if the malfunctioning boats could have taken the wear and tear of the summer crowds.

 

[Fizban]

It doesn't affect me any since I wont' be at WDW until 2017, but why is POTC closed for such a long time this summer? It seems like it wasn't that long ago that they closed in order to add movie stuff to the ride (10 years maybe?). Looking at most of the closings for other rides, they last just a few days. This is going to be closed for the whole summer (peak period here...). What is so pressing that they couldn't do it in the fall, or not pressing enough that they chose not to do it during the winter or spring??[/Q

.

They have to replace all the Pyrate stuff with Frozen animatronics and that takes a while.

J/k the plastic boats they switched to are causing ride stoppage.

 

[DisneyFive]

Hopefully they will fix the problem with people getting soaked (me included!) on this ride. Was a pretty obvious, and not welcomed , change when they put the new boats in.

Dan

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

I wonder if the old boats when to the scrap heap yet? Seems the easy solution would be to refurb them and reinstall. Time consuming, but cost effective.

 

[CAS239]

It's nothing new like it just popped up. Disney announced this months ago that it would be down. Sucks to be closed for that long, but it has to be done.

I'm glad they chose to close it now as I'd much rather have it up and running around Christmas vs the summer

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

It affects me as I'm going down July 11-19. That being said I fully understand why. I was there in December and went two days. Day one I was stuck on it for 45 minutes and then day two it was down all day. And reading here regularly I have read it has been down a lot. It is in need of a refurb.