Spend Money on Ride Maintenance Please!

[corpcomp]

Had a short 2 1/2 day trip to WDW.
First 1/2 day at EPCOT - Soaring at 8:40pm. Usually the shortest time during the day. Wait was 55 minutes. Seems one of the three rides was down for maintenance. We left.

2nd Day Hollywood Studios - First ride Slinky Dog. Wait 110 minutes. We got on and the ride stopped half way through. OK I can deal with that. Then we got to the end and the coasters were backed up. Ride broke down.
Three coasters lined up with people in them. We had to be physically removed from the ride. Took 20 minutes.

3rd Day Magic Kingdom - First ride Mine Train - 65 minute wait - After 45 minutes the ride broke down. Waited about 15 minutes and left. We had a Genie+ ride to get to. The cast member said "Oh No the ride is not broken, just delayed!" What?? PeopleMover. Long line but stood in line. You guessed it. Ride broke down. 25 minutes. Haunted Mansion - Of course it stopped. - twice.

Yes I know the rides go down. But we seemed to have more than our share. I know. I sounded like a complainer but after all the money on Genie+ it's a bit annoying.

 

[voxparse]

*cries in rise of the resistance*

 

[Shellyred8]

Had a short 2 1/2 day trip to WDW.
First 1/2 day at EPCOT - Soaring at 8:40pm. Usually the shortest time during the day. Wait was 55 minutes. Seems one of the three rides was down for maintenance. We left.

2nd Day Hollywood Studios - First ride Slinky Dog. Wait 110 minutes. We got on and the ride stopped half way through. OK I can deal with that. Then we got to the end and the coasters were backed up. Ride broke down.
Three coasters lined up with people in them. We had to be physically removed from the ride. Took 20 minutes.

3rd Day Magic Kingdom - First ride Mine Train - 65 minute wait - After 45 minutes the ride broke down. Waited about 15 minutes and left. We had a Genie+ ride to get to. The cast member said "Oh No the ride is not broken, just delayed!" What?? PeopleMover. Long line but stood in line. You guessed it. Ride broke down. 25 minutes. Haunted Mansion - Of course it stopped. - twice.

Yes I know the rides go down. But we seemed to have more than our share. I know. I sounded like a complainer but after all the money on Genie+ it's a bit annoying.

Please make sure you send your complaints/concerns to Disney's Guest Service dept. This is a great place to vent, but we can't actually make anything happen. The more complaints Disney gets the more likely they are to do something about it (sometimes).

 

[CarolynFH]

I’ve read elsewhere that the issue isn’t entirely due to the cost of repairs and maintenance, it’s at least partially due to difficulty finding qualified technicians and repair personnel. I agree that what I’m reading about sub-par experiences (RotR is an awesome experience when everything is working) makes me very sad.

 

[wabbott]

I’ve read elsewhere that the issue isn’t entirely due to the cost of repairs and maintenance, it’s at least partially due to difficulty finding qualified technicians and repair personnel. I agree that what I’m reading about sub-par experiences (RotR is an awesome experience when everything is working) makes me very sad.

The problem is management refuses, apparently, to pay maintenance personnel a sufficient scale to attract enough applicants. Meanwhile, it appears the Disney Hollywood folks have money to burn on making movies that no one wants to watch.

 

[bwang123]

The problem is management refuses, apparently, to pay maintenance personnel a sufficient scale to attract enough applicants.

You know this first hand or what is your source?

 

[wabbott]

You know this first hand or what is your source?

Historically, higher pay attracts more job applicants, according to generally accepted economic theory. That ride breakdowns and outages are a significant problem has been documented here:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/disney...-times-grow-as-ticket-prices-rise-11668833084
Disney Parks’ Ride Stoppages and Wait Times Grow as Ticket Prices Rise

 

[bwang123]

Historically, higher pay attracts more job applicants, according to generally accepted economic theory. That ride breakdowns and outages are a significant problem has been documented here:

Based on theory, not with knowledge of what may actually be happening. Thank you.

 

[wabbott]

Based on theory, not with knowledge of what may actually be happening. Thank you.

So what do you think is causing the outage issues? Lack of maintenance personnel? Difficulty in obtaining parts and equipment? Florida heat? Or maybe the guests are at fault for expecting attractions to operate after spending thousands of dollars for tickets and Genie?

I mean, Disney has added a disclaimer to the ticket contract that specifically states that tickets don't guarantee that you will be able to board attractions. The nerve of these customers!! Actually expecting a product perform after paying for it!!

 

[han22735]

I read that the reason could also be the revenue from genie/ILL especially on rides like Rise is in the millions of dollars and to take it down for the required maintenance would hurt the bottom line for theme park mgt bonuses.

It does seem to be getting worse and worse though. HS/Epcot are the worst due to lake of rides if a couple go down.

 

[Jwaire]

They need to adopt a Tokyo Disneyland-like refurbishment schedule and just deal with the guest complaints. And if you are guest who's gonna complain that your favorite attraction is closed for 6 months, get over it. It's the only way to properly maintain these attractions—especially the older ones.

https://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/en/tdl/monthly/stop.html

 

[dizneedoll]

Another problem is the new Reeky Creek building and maintenance codes. If the ride or show building is older and they want to refurbish or update it but the cost to do so is 10% higher than the value of the ride, than the the new codes kick in and that means very expensive updates like fire, ventilation, sprinklers etc. This is why older rides in particular will not be fixed. Also, it’s not Iger that approves WDW budget, it’s the resort president, I can’t remember the guys name.

 

[CanucksRock]

Last weekend we decided to go to Epcot just to ride Cosmic Rewind before heading to the airport. Well after that ride, we were like we still have some time, let’s go on Test Track via single rider. Big Mistake!

We got stuck on Test Track. After more than 30 minutes of being stuck they finally evacuated everyone. Needless to say this ate up any extra time we had so the multiple experience LL provided was useless. We did pop into Guest Services as we exited see if they can transfer the MEP to our December trip. (My friend was very upset as she was stuck at the worst spot on Test Track at a 70 degree angle in the hot sun.

Test Track is definitely one in need of updates with the amount of times it goes down. After experiencing an evacuation with that ride, it does ruin your day. It is very uncomfortable & claustrophobic being stuck. (Trapped by a seatbelt!)

 

[bwang123]

So what do you think is causing the outage issues?

Neither of us know but it's always good to have reliable sources. I usually see theories in the rumors board, not here so I asked.

 

[shh]

Had a short 2 1/2 day trip to WDW.
First 1/2 day at EPCOT - Soaring at 8:40pm. Usually the shortest time during the day. Wait was 55 minutes. Seems one of the three rides was down for maintenance. We left.

2nd Day Hollywood Studios - First ride Slinky Dog. Wait 110 minutes. We got on and the ride stopped half way through. OK I can deal with that. Then we got to the end and the coasters were backed up. Ride broke down.
Three coasters lined up with people in them. We had to be physically removed from the ride. Took 20 minutes.

3rd Day Magic Kingdom - First ride Mine Train - 65 minute wait - After 45 minutes the ride broke down. Waited about 15 minutes and left. We had a Genie+ ride to get to. The cast member said "Oh No the ride is not broken, just delayed!" What?? PeopleMover. Long line but stood in line. You guessed it. Ride broke down. 25 minutes. Haunted Mansion - Of course it stopped. - twice.

Yes I know the rides go down. But we seemed to have more than our share. I know. I sounded like a complainer but after all the money on Genie+ it's a bit annoying.

How frustrating! Unfortunately, WDW will never hear about your experience on the DIS - maybe consider sending a note to guest services? If enough people do, it eventually makes a difference.

 

[Kestryl]

They need to adopt a Tokyo Disneyland-like refurbishment schedule and just deal with the guest complaints. And if you are guest who's gonna complain that your favorite attraction is closed for 6 months, get over it. It's the only way to properly maintain these attractions—especially the older ones.

https://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/en/tdl/monthly/stop.html

It was almost weird riding Splash Mountain and seeing every single animatronic working.

 

[Smugpugmug]

It was almost weird riding Splash Mountain and seeing every single animatronic working.

Indiana Jones too. When I rode that at Disneysea, I thought it was so bizarre to see it functioning perfectly.

It also doesn't help in the case of Splash that I rode it a month before it closed forever and it was in the most embarrassing condition I have ever seen for a Disney attraction. More than 50% of the animatronics and lighting effects were busted.

 

[Jwaire]

Another problem is the new Reeky Creek building and maintenance codes. If the ride or show building is older and they want to refurbish or update it but the cost to do so is 10% higher than the value of the ride, than the the new codes kick in and that means very expensive updates like fire, ventilation, sprinklers etc. This is why older rides in particular will not be fixed. Also, it’s not Iger that approves WDW budget, it’s the resort president, I can’t remember the guys name.

I saw Brayden at Mickey Views said that, but I haven't read anywhere that stated this was actually true. Pre-Desantis, RCID always had stringent codes that went above and beyond normal building codes for the area, likely because of lawsuits and insurance coverage more than anything.

Jeff Vahle is Walt Disney World's president and controls the purse strings. He's a 30 year veteran of the company. He's been very conservative coming out of the pandemic, but that's sort of expected.

Vahle was previously SVP Facilities & Ops and VP of Global Maintenance, so you would think he'd notice if they had a maintenance problem.

Coming out of the pandemic, they were so crowded they couldn't afford to shut anything down long-term because of capacity. They were pushing to get through with the 50th. Hopefully now, they'll return back to a more traditional maintenance schedule and get some of these things fixed.

 

[fatmanatee]

They need to adopt a Tokyo Disneyland-like refurbishment schedule and just deal with the guest complaints. And if you are guest who's gonna complain that your favorite attraction is closed for 6 months, get over it. It's the only way to properly maintain these attractions—especially the older ones.

https://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/en/tdl/monthly/stop.html

I feel as though some of them could use more significant overhauls. They’re VERY old, and say what you want about Splash but I’m not sure a simple refurb could necessarily cut it anymore. People here have pointed at Uni not having as many issues and yeah, that’s what happens when you have only one ride that is over 25 years old.

Anyway, there’s a lot going on here but I’ll just say that unemployment is still very low, a lot of industries have had issues with hiring, and the competition down the street hired a ton of labor to build an entire new theme park. None of this helps.

 

[Jwaire]

People here have pointed at Uni not having as many issues and yeah, that’s what happens when you have only one ride that is over 25 years old.

Right. Look at all the trouble they had with Jaws and Kong for years. I'm convinced the only reason they keep ET is because of Steven Spielberg. Once he's gone, they'll demolish it immediately.

They deferred refurbishment on Splash for years because they knew it was "problematic" and didn't want to spend the money until a new theme was chosen.

There's no excuse with ROR though. They make bank on that ride with individual LL purchases that could easily fund ongoing maintenance. And the ride itself typically opens later, closes on time or early every single night and is rarely open for events.