Refurb Blues.....

[xipotec]

So Dinosaur is now out of our plans....extended the refurn to NOV 20th!!!! (they re assigned out FP to PW). No nighttime Rivers of light in AK. Kali that time of year can be empty due to colder weather....leaves KS and EE......well and Primeval Whirl.....

So if your not a "show" person....not much to ride there....Why extend park hours at all???

ALSO
MK ...BTMRR out of the picture as well.... Splash could be too cold to ride except in the mid day...

• Big Thunder Mountain closed 8/8/2016- 11/18/2016
• Liberty Square Riverboat closed 1/3/2017- 1/12/2017
• Walt Disney World Railroad closed 1/9/2017- 2/16/2017
• Hall of Presidents closed 1/17/2017- 6/29/2017
• Stitch's Great Escape- is now a seasonal attraction 10/2/2016
• Haunted Mansion closed 11/28/2016- 12/1/2016

At HS: No Osbourne lights

• Legend of Jack Sparrow closed
• Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show closed permanently 04/03/16
• Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure closed permanently 04/03/16
• Meet and Greet: Mike and Sulley at Street of America closed permanently 04/03/16

If they cannot get these up by Thanksgiving, the park lines will be crazy!!!!!
Seems like a record number of high profile refurbs in January as well.

In the past , it seemed like refurbs were spread out much better.

Park showing its age?
Bad Management?

In short SUPER bummed out about BTMRR already....now losing Dinosaur?

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

We are without BTMR, RNRC and now Dinosaur.

I'm not amused.

And we're not alone:
http://disboards.com/threads/my-own-personal-mad-as-hell-moment.3554303/page-2#post-56620024

http://disboards.com/threads/with-so-many-closings-what-am-i-paying-for.3554222/

 

[Hopefully]

OP, Most of your MK list is after the first of the year, therefore have nothing to do with Thanksgiving. Your list is very misleading.
I believe these types of refurbs are in the normal course of managing the parks. Everyone should know that refurbs are necessary and are more prevalent in the "slower" seasons. There is always something being worked on.

 

[VACamm]

We just spent a week at WDW in September. During our trip the following were closed for refurbishment:

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
It's A SMALL World
Swiss Family Robinson Tree house
DINOSAUR
A lot of Hollywood Studios is gone / closed for Star wars and Toy Story land construction

Honestly even with all of that closed down, we still had an amazing vacation. We still weren't able to see everything or ride on everything because there is just not enough time in the day and we like to go at a slower pace.

Of course when I heard that BTMR would be closed during our stay I complained and whined about it, but I all reality it wasn't a big deal at all!

 

[Disneylover99]

We just spent a week at WDW in September. During our trip the following were closed for refurbishment:

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
It's A SMALL World
Swiss Family Robinson Tree house
DINOSAUR
A lot of Hollywood Studios is gone / closed for Star wars and Toy Story land construction

Honestly even with all of that closed down, we still had an amazing vacation. We still weren't able to see everything or ride on everything because there is just not enough time in the day and we like to go at a slower pace.

Of course when I heard that BTMR would be closed during our stay I complained and whined about it, but I all reality it wasn't a big deal at all!

I agree. During our Aug./Sept. trip we were without BTMR, IASW, SFRT....3 of our family favourites at the MK plus Dinosaur. When I told my kids, they yelled NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! But when we were there, we had so much fun doing other things, they never mentioned it again. Sure, we missed those rides, but there are other things to do.

If refurbishments really bother people, I recommend getting park hoppers. That way you won't feel gypped at certain parks and you can do what you like and move on.

 

[mom2rtk]

I agree. During our Aug./Sept. trip we were without BTMR, IASW, SFRT....3 of our family favourites at the MK plus Dinosaur. When I told my kids, they yelled NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! But when we were there, we had so much fun doing other things, they never mentioned it again. Sure, we missed those rides, but there are other things to do.

If refurbishments really bother people, I recommend getting park hoppers. That way you won't feel gypped at certain parks and you can do what you like and move on.

It would cost my friend an extra $300 to add the park hopper option for her family. I have no doubt she will refuse to reward Disney with more money in response to the closures. At this point she's talking about spending less time at Disney as her answer. The beach is free.

When she told me that, I figured she would get there and see that she's still having fun and will stay at Disney anyway. But she used to be able to look forward to these trips with such joyful anticipation. I do believe her when she says she probably won't go back again for a very long time. Because even if she has fun when she's there, the whole process has lost too much of the joy she used to get from it. The trip planning used to be an upward curve of positive feelings. Now it starts at a high, then continues to drop in a series of disappointments and frustrations. If it recovers at the end once she arrives at the parks, that's great. But it's still a far less enjoyable process.

FWIW, she was fine with BTMRR (in spite of it being one of their favorite rides). Adding a second coaster to the closed list is where it all started to go downhill.

 

[Disneylover99]

It would cost my friend an extra $300 to add the park hopper option for her family. I have no doubt she will refuse to reward Disney with more money in response to the closures. At this point she's talking about spending less time at Disney as her answer. The beach is free.

Adding the park hopper is certainly not necessary for enjoyment. It's just an idea/suggestion.
The beach sounds like it might be a great choice.

 

[DVCcurious]

Do you want to be like the Griswolds and get to the park and have a giant robot mouse tell you the park is closed to refurb all the rides at once?

Refurbs are fact of life, like people arguing about politics on your Facebook timeline (has anyone EVER changed their political opinion after reading the "other side" insult their beliefs in a Facebook post?)

I don't see this as that big of a deal. Let's use MK as an example:

Top Tier "thrill" Rides (with height restriction):
Space
Splash
Thunder
7DMT

Top Tier "family" rides (no height restriction):
Haunted Mansion
Jungle Cruise
Pirates
Peter Pan

In my opinion, as long as 3 of the 4 are available in each category (only one closed) then that's fine. They have to fix these rides regularly, so if they keep 3 of 4 open then I see no problem.

Epcot: as long as Test Track or Soarin is open then I think that's fine.

Animal Kingdom: Expedition Everest and Safaris are the only top tier rides (in my opinion). I don't see DINOSAUR or Kali measuring up to these other two. But again, as long as 3 of those 4 are open I don't understand the complaints.

HS: Now, we all realize that there is a major change, a metamorphosis if you will, going on inside HS. It's like the mighty caterpillar who has spun a chrysalis, and inside is going through some changes. But if we wait long enough the caterpillar will emerge as a magnificent butterfly! But as long as 3 of the 4 headliners (ToT, RnR, Star Wars and Toy Story Mania) are running there should be enough for everyone to do at Hollywood Studios. So one of those 4 being down for refurb shouldn't be too bad of a deal.

I've been to WDW in January when many rides were closed. I've been in the pouring rain. I've been in massive crowds. Frankly, going in an off week in January with decent weather and short lines made up for the fact that my favorite ride (Splash Mountain) was closed (this was Jan 2014).

 

[SA mom]

My soul wept when I read "No Osbourne Lights." My mind knew last year was the end, but to actually see it writing for the first time hurts.

OP, I hope you have a great trip anyway and try to have fun for those us not going anytime soon.

 

[mom2rtk]

OP, you left off a biggie for a lot of people..... MSEP.

 

[crazylady]

It would cost my friend an extra $300 to add the park hopper option for her family. I have no doubt she will refuse to reward Disney with more money in response to the closures.

This is my thoughts exactly! I think if people are upset about the closures, Disney should be thrown the hopper I. For free for them.

I'm very happy that our October trip was cancelled this year!

 

[Wishingspell]

I went in September and fully expected to have a less than stellar time at hs due to all the closures and construction. I planned to ride ToT and rnrc a few times and leave. It was funny though, I ended up having a great time. I spent most of the day there and saw everything. So, sometimes I think we worry so much about everything that is closed before we get there, and sometimes it's for naught.

I liked the extended hours for animal kingdom (and I like shows but they aren't a must for my vacation). I got to ride expedition Everest for the first time in the dark several times in a row, and it completely blew me away. I hope they keep the park open past dark just for that reason alone, as that and the tee of life are breathtaking at night.

 

[Amelia :)]

With the amount of attractions at WDW it would be impossible to maintain/refurbish them one by one, given that they will all have to be done with a safe amount of time. The only alternative to ride closures is entire seasonal closures like other parks do... And nobody would want that.
(And I am speaking as somebody leaving in 3 weeks so will be affected by the closures)

 

[Harambe]

I try not to get to upset (we are going in January and it looks like most of our favorite rides should be open by then), especially when at least you know before hand.

Seeing that there are times that rides go down for the day due to some technical difficulty or other, we try to be flexible. And the park hopper gives us that flexibility to change our plans for the day, and maybe go back to the park that we missed a ride due to it being down the day we went.

 

[mom2rtk]

I try not to get to upset (we are going in January and it looks like most of our favorite rides should be open by then), especially when at least you know before hand.

Seeing that there are times that rides go down for the day due to some technical difficulty or other, we try to be flexible. And the park hopper gives us that flexibility to change our plans for the day, and maybe go back to the park that we missed a ride due to it being down the day we went.

Rides will still go down for technical difficulties. Only for those heading out soon, it will be on top of the already long list of closed attractions.

 

[disneymom0104]

We were also bummed about BTMRR, IASW, Dinosaur and SFTH closures in Sept. But ESPECIALLY BTMRR. We still had a great time- it would have been nice to have those attractions open (my 2 year old would have loved IASW so much) but there was still plenty to do. We did take advantage of the low crowds at AK at night. It really is a beautiful park at night. The temperatures are wonderful. We only saw the Nemo show one day and found ourselves plenty busy. There is a wrench thrown in if it is too cold for Kali (although my kids would still ride it- we have done Grizzly River Rapids in CA with quite nippy temps)- my kids had so much fun riding that multiple times without getting off. Everest at night is also WELL worth the visit. We found plenty to do, it just wasn't all ride focused (or show focused as we only saw one show in our 2 days we spent there).

Refurbs are no fun. There is always something major down when we visit DL (BTMRR, Pirates, California Screamin). This was our 2nd visit to WDW with IASW down. It happens- they have to fix the rides sometime. The good news is there is so much else to keep you busy you really don't focus on what is closed.

 

[EB Beaumont]

I try not to get to upset (we are going in January and it looks like most of our favorite rides should be open by then), especially when at least you know before hand.

I’m still a Disney newbie for the most part, and I’ve been wondering myself how early they add the ride closures/refreshments to the list(s). We are going the last week of Jan. I know a couple of rides are already listed for that time, like the WDW Railroad. I guess I’m wondering, are they going to add more, or would they already be listed? I honestly figured there would be more closures for that time... but in the back of my mind, I keep thinking I’ll check the closure list again one day, and see a lot more stuff on there... LOL

 

[cartydog]

But if BTMRR is closed now for referb, why would it be closed again for refeb in January?

 

[hiroMYhero]

But if BTMRR is closed now for referb, why would it be closed again for refeb in January?

It's listed as reopening in mid-November. It's not listed as a January refurb.

The OP's list is misleading because his trip is not spanning November 2016 through February 2017.

 

[Harambe]

I’m still a Disney newbie for the most part, and I’ve been wondering myself how early they add the ride closures/refreshments to the list(s). We are going the last week of Jan. I know a couple of rides are already listed for that time, like the WDW Railroad. I guess I’m wondering, are they going to add more, or would they already be listed? I honestly figured there would be more closures for that time... but in the back of my mind, I keep thinking I’ll check the closure list again one day, and see a lot more stuff on there... LOL

I would think the ones they are planning on working on are already listed. What I was talking about are all the times you go to a park and find a ride closed for the day (or morning, or afternoon, etc) because of a technical problem. It happens, and it can be a bummer, especially if you are on a shorter WDW trip and only planned on that park for that day. That is where the park hopper comes in handy because you can change your schedule around more easily, maybe heading back to the park on a different day to ride that ride. But, you are right - you should check the refurb schedule now and then, and certainly right before you go, in case you have to break the news to someone in your group that their favorite ride will be unavailable!