Still don't understand rehabs

[mummabear]

Maybe it's just me but having rehabs in the most busiest time of the year is crazy to me.Case in point the Pirates of the Caribbean. Who made the decision to close one of the most popular attractions in the Magic Kingdom during the summer months.Yes my displeasure has a little more substance since we go every 4th of July and this is year 16 but what where they thinking ?

So you think it is more important for you to get pirates in July then someone else in say October?
People pay the same to get in all year so they need to spread the maintainence out

 

[POOHsie]

So you think it is more important for you to get pirates in July then someone else in say October?
People pay the same to get in all year so they need to spread the maintenance out

That issue will absolutely be solved with proposed new Tiered Ticket pricing. Extra-high ticket cost for popular visitor periods, assortment of lesser-priced tickets for slower periods. To draw in high-priced visitors during the best times, everything would be up and running. OTOH, ALL refurb would be done in the lower-priced seasons. During the lowest level of low-priced tickets, the whole friggin' place would practically be like "the Griswolds at Walley World." But to give guests something for their money, they would set up tents where you would sit and watch videos of your favorite rides. FP+ would be issued for the best seats in the tents, and would be split into 3 tiers, from Space Mountain tier, to Magic Carpets of Aladdin, to Carousel of Progress.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

They were thinking you cannot do all the refurbs in the slow seasons as there is only a few and short slow times now, like parts of the fall and spring. There are so many attractions and the maintenance work needs to be done. Seems very reasonable to me.

AKK

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Imagine if it became a regular habit for WDW to perform all refurbs in, say, September? They can barely get folks to come with free dining. With half the rides down, they would have to close the parks for lack of attendance.

 

[anniemae]

obviously they have to do the maintenance SOME time, but nobody wants it done on their vacation. I think people understand that, they just don't like it. Some folks only can go every 2-5 years, so it is a huge disappointment when a favorite ride is out of commission. Especially given the high admission price. Just part of life, but still a bummer. Kind of like a landfill, or wind farm. Nobody wants it in their back yard, but it has to go somewhere. Just like ride maintenance, everyone wants it done, but not on their time.

 

[Princess Jes]

GRRRRRRRR So irritated that Pirates will be down on our trip too. Pirates really needs a refurb. It has been breaking down a lot, someone got their finger cut off, the new boats jostled folk around and got everyone drenched. I totally understand it needs to be shut down and worked on. What I don't understand is why they waited. Then announced the closure and rehab back in Feb I believe. I don't understand why they didn't close it in march so it would be all done for they busy summer season. It is more than just a "freshening up" It seems like it is more of a safety/mechanical issue that should have been addressed back in March.

I'm just a bit bitter because two of my favorite rides will be down on our next trip, Pirates and Malestrom. Oh well, just an excuse to go back sooner I guess!! I think I read the Frozen ride will open in May of 2016.

They probably gave that much lead time to people COULD try to plan around it.
How would you like it if they announced in feb that POTC would go down for 2 months in only a matter of weeks, and you already had your trip booked?
And someone got their finger cut off because they're an idiot, not because the ride needs a refurb

 

[jlwhitney]

With how long the refurb is it would mess with a busy season no matter when you do it for the most part. From now through New years there is very little slow slow period.

 

[itchin2go]

They probably gave that much lead time to people COULD try to plan around it.
How would you like it if they announced in feb that POTC would go down for 2 months in only a matter of weeks, and you already had your trip booked?
And someone got their finger cut off because they're an idiot, not because the ride needs a refurb

I don't know the circumstances surrounding the injury, but there are numerous accounts on these boards of negative changes in the ride experience after the new boats were introduced ... boats bumping, knees slamming into things, etc. (going strictly off of memory and that's always a dicey proposition). I got the impression that the new problems with the ride were well-known. Whether those played into the loss of the finger, I don't know enough to speculate, but I would think it's possible.

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

Have you ridden pirates since the new boats/last update?
It needs a refurb BADLY. Very badly. That's why it's being closed during a peak time.

 

[JimmyBean42]

Since we attend fairly regularly now, the refurbs haven't bothered me at all. But I could see how it would be tough to swallow for a family who literally will only be making this trip once. But better to have the refurbs then to have safety issues.

 

[Kathryn777]

I agree with the others. We went in Oct and it was down almost the entire trip. we got through the line twice only to get stuck on it. I would rather it be running smoothly!

 

[eeyore45]

what I won't be able to understand - so many posts here say that it needed a refurb desperately - that it went down often

I was curious why tptb would then wait or "put off" the refurb? Is it to accommodate guests, so they know in advance? Or could it be that they ordered new boats, or other items and they just need to wait for it to come in before they close the ride?

 

[BrianL]

Just take solace in the fact that POTC really, REALLY, needs that refurb! They are having a lot of problems that force unscheduled shut-downs, and the ride itself had many issues that impact the experience. If you are a regular visitor, just look forward to next time when you'll (hopefully) be able to experience the fully restored glory of the ride.

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

Maybe it's just me but having rehabs in the most busiest time of the year is crazy to me.Case in point the Pirates of the Caribbean. Who made the decision to close one of the most popular attractions in the Magic Kingdom during the summer months.Yes my displeasure has a little more substance since we go every 4th of July and this is year 16 but what where they thinking ?

Refurbs are done because they are necessary. (I know you understand that already) If it were not absolutely essential, Disney would not do it during such a busy time. In the case of Pirates, the ride has been having issues with the lighting and effects and of course it can still be ridden, but it has also become somewhat dangerous. They are unable to safely fill every row of seats in the boat. This is not about making the ride more enjoyable, but also keeping people safe.

Having said all of that, from a guest perspective, there is a not ever a "good time" to take an attraction down because Disney World is always busy. There is always going to be somebody unhappy about it.

 

[itchin2go]

what I won't be able to understand - so many posts here say that it needed a refurb desperately - that it went down often

I was curious why tptb would then wait or "put off" the refurb? Is it to accommodate guests, so they know in advance? Or could it be that they ordered new boats, or other items and they just need to wait for it to come in before they close the ride?

If I'm brainstorming reasons why, the bolded is one of the first things that comes to mind. Other possibilities are staggering the rehab in relation to other rehabs/closures, time it takes to hire extra workers to accomplish the rehab, and probably loads of things I will never understand because I don't know that much about this kind of thing.

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

what I won't be able to understand - so many posts here say that it needed a refurb desperately - that it went down often

I was curious why tptb would then wait or "put off" the refurb? Is it to accommodate guests, so they know in advance? Or could it be that they ordered new boats, or other items and they just need to wait for it to come in before they close the ride?

Refurbs have to be scheduled with contractors, just like building a house. Each step is planned and scheduled.

 

[BarbieGal457]

I was there on NYE and it was open very sparingly throughout the day. It opened maybe 630p and luckily we caught it - it seemed like an hour later it was back off-line.

I was there from 5/30-6/6 (so last week) and we rode it a ton of times since it had been previously scheduled to be closed for refurb then. On NYE we didn't get very wet, but last week, multiple times our boat had a ton of water sloshing about the floor and we did get pretty wet. It stinks that things go down for refurb at certain times, but anymore I feel like there is no "unpopular" time to visit and sadly someone's trip will be affected by it. I cannot imagine Disney would plan it willy-nilly for the summer and disappoint guests. If it's closing for refurb and for such an extended period, it really is needed.

 

[MKMomma]

Have you ridden pirates since the new boats/last update?
It needs a refurb BADLY. Very badly. That's why it's being closed during a peak time.

Switching out boats doesn't take 3 months.

 

[tink9702]

It was in bad shape in November. We got quite wet, boats bumping each other & we were stuck on the ride for 20 minutes too.

 

[itchin2go]

Switching out boats doesn't take 3 months.

We don't know what all is entailed in this rehab ... at least I don't.

Edited to add: Maybe that was your point? Sorry if I misunderstood.