Soarin

[Rivergirl2005]

Has this officially been stated???? I'm planning trip mid june and hate to lose soarin and bttmr

 

[Boski]

Has this officially been stated???? I'm planning trip mid june and hate to lose soarin and bttmr

What are the dates again that bttmr is going to be down for refurb?

 

[rteetz]

I can't believe they would be so foolish as to close Soarin' for 4-6 months. With half of HS dark due to future construction, it would be crazy to do the same to Epcot with Innovations West and Soarin' both closed.

It might be a deal breaker for us. Cancelling an April 23-May 1 2016 trip.

One ride makes a trip? I understand there will be a lot of work being done but vacations are about experiences and time spend with friends and family not all about the rides. May 1st you may miss the opening of the frozen attraction in Norway.

 

[rteetz]

What are the dates again that bttmr is going to be down for refurb?

Hasn't been officially released from Disney but January is when it would start.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

The park's gonna tip over to the east if they close Soarin' for 6 months.

 

[JohnDaleswife]

This is the one ride that makes Epcot for us, as far as rides go.

 

[kapstar]

One ride makes a trip? I understand there will be a lot of work being done but vacations are about experiences and time spend with friends and family not all about the rides. May 1st you may miss the opening of the frozen attraction in Norway.

One ride certainly doesn't, but (as I said in the full comment) about 1/2 of HS is shuttered. Test Track is a distant second to Soarin' as the main attraction at Epcot. When you add in a rehashed Captain EO, and Innovations West being shuttered it really impacts Epcot, outside of the World Showcase. And if there are even slight delays with "Frozen Ever After" in Norway, that won't be open either.

For the amount of coin I am putting up for Airlines and a weeks stay at the Poly having AK full up and running, MK short BTMRR, and HS and Epcot limping at half a park....it creates questions about value for $. The experience and time spent with my family is very important to me, which I why I may consider spending my vaca dollars elsewhere.

 

[rteetz]

One ride certainly doesn't, but (as I said in the full comment) about 1/2 of HS is shuttered. Test Track is a distant second to Soarin' as the main attraction at Epcot. When you add in a rehashed Captain EO, and Innovations West being shuttered it really impacts Epcot, outside of the World Showcase. And if there are even slight delays with "Frozen Ever After" in Norway, that won't be open either.

For the amount of coin I am putting up for Airlines and a weeks stay at the Poly having AK full up and running, MK short BTMRR, and HS and Epcot limping at half a park....it creates questions about value for $. The experience and time spent with my family is very important to me, which I why I may consider spending my vaca dollars elsewhere.

It is very very hard to find a time at Disney when everything or almost everything is open. Something is always going to be closed for a reason. Even if Soarin wasn't going down for that refurb whose to say that it couldn't have mechanical issues the day you plan on riding it and it's not open.

Also AK won't be fully up and running until mid to late 2017.

 

[DisneyDreamer ♥]

Orlando Theme Park News reporting Soarin will close in Jan for 4-6 months.

Oooh bummer with planning an April 2016 Disney vacation with my kids, that makes me sad as it was our Epcot fav.

 

[kapstar]

It is very very hard to find a time at Disney when everything or almost everything is open. Something is always going to be closed for a reason. Even if Soarin wasn't going down for that refurb whose to say that it couldn't have mechanical issues the day you plan on riding it and it's not open.

Also AK won't be fully up and running until mid to late 2017.

I don't expect everything to be open. Soarin' is a major part of our Epcot day. The other issues with Epcot and HS are valid concerns too. Why are you trolling me?

 

[rteetz]

I don't expect everything to be open. Soarin' is a major part of our Epcot day. The other issues with Epcot and HS are valid concerns too. Why are you trolling me?

I'm not trying to. I'm just trying to point out that no matter what time of year you go something is bound to be closed or under construction.

 

[kapstar]

I'm not trying to. I'm just trying to point out that no matter what time of year you go something is bound to be closed or under construction.

We reschedule our last trip to make sure that Splash Mountain was reopend from it's annual refurb. We moved from late Feb to late April 2016 in the hopes that we can catch a soft opening of Frozen. I try and plan around the realities as they present themselves. I'm not looking for pie-in-the-sky perfection. I do think it valid to suggest that with attractions being shuttered without any replacement a 2016 trip provides far fewer options than our 2013 a substantially higher cost.

 

[JohnDaleswife]

Can you imagine the demand for Test Track fast passes when Soarin is shut down?

 

[rteetz]

Can you imagine the demand for Test Track fast passes when Soarin is shut down?

Id like to reassure that this refurb is not official yet.

 

[DisneyDreamer ♥]

I don't expect everything to be open. Soarin' is a major part of our Epcot day. The other issues with Epcot and HS are valid concerns too. Why are you trolling me?

Can I ask what else is going on in Epcot and HS?

 

[rteetz]

Can I ask what else is going on in Epcot and HS?

Well not much in Epcot other than innoventions being almost completely closed. DHS come next year is going to be a construction zone.

 

[kapstar]

There have been a lot of closures at HS, with nothing to replace them at this point. Here is a quote from an article speculating about the now announced expansions, "For now the possibilities are endless, but as the bodies of all the closed attractions are quickly stacking up (Backlot Tour, Animation tour, American Idol, Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow, the big Hat, the Premier Theater, etc…) the park is going to have to announce something new before too long." Voyage of the Little Mermaid is going away also and there are rumors of Muppets 3D being closed as well. It's great that they are going to do a major expansion with 2-3 new Star Wars attractions and 2-3 new Pixar attractions, but that is 3-5 years off.

At Epcot, Innoventions West is shuttered except for the Chase Cardholders Meet n Greet. Some of the work is to prep for the Food and Wine Fest, but not all. Here is the link (they throw in at the end that Soarin' may close for 4-6 months, but I don't buy it).

http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/2015/09/epcot-update-living-with-land.html#more

 

[rpb718]

As I understand it, there are currently 2 Soarin' theaters and a 3rd being built which will have the new digital film. The 2 existing theaters will be down at some point for conversions to support the new digital film, and probably some well-needed upgrades. In addition to this, the queue will need to change to allow a 3rd path. Once everything is converted, this will allow more FP+ to be available for Soarin'.

There are a few ways they could handle the conversions for theaters 1 and 2 as well as the queue. Reduce the number of Soarin' FP+ by half and convert both 1 & 2 at the same time while just using the new 3rd theater, leave the number of FP+ the same and close down one of the old theaters at a time and convert, or close all of Soarin' down and do the theater conversions and queue changes all at the same time.

Which one they do may have already been reported - which looks like option 3. I had assumed before they may go for option 2, but in retrospect I think that may it's own set of problems. For example: imagine being in the line and noticing you were being lined up for the "old" theater instead of the "new" theater. I can imagine many folks complaining to the CM that they don't want that old theater/film they want to go to the new one. And I can see folks complaining that they were disappointed to have wasted a FP+ and "forced" to see the old film.

The thing I question is the timing. With the new Frozen ride and A&E meet and greet being located in Epcot possibly by mid-year 2016, that may have been a better time to go with option 1 above which would be to cut the number of Soarin' FP+ in half and just use the new 3rd theater while converting theater's 1 and 2. I base this on the tier system currently in use at Epcot. The new Frozen ride and well as new A&E building will no doubt be tier 1, and since you are restricted in your tier 1 choices there would be a lot fewer Soarin' FP+ required ahead of time. Still not perfect, but at least Soarin' wouldn't be completely shut down.

 

[Josh Hendy]

From what I understand about the mechanism of Soarin', it's hard to see why it would need to be shut down for so long. Could a new theater not be added without disrupting both existing theaters? If a new film or new projector is being swapped in, couldn't it take place first in one existing theater and then the other? I don't think the existing theaters share a projection room, do they?

Maybe there is a structural problem with the moving seats, like Yeti but (of course) with no static, backup mode.

 

[rteetz]

From what I understand about the mechanism of Soarin', it's hard to see why it would need to be shut down for so long. Could a new theater not be added without disrupting both existing theaters? If a new film or new projector is being swapped in, couldn't it take place first in one existing theater and then the other? I don't think the existing theaters share a projection room, do they?

Maybe there is a structural problem with the moving seats, like Yeti but (of course) with no static, backup mode.

Exactly. I don't understand why it would need to go down for six months. I could see a few weeks or a month to rework the queue.