Too Many Ride Closures in 2016

[DisneyBeth94]

Hey guys,

A few weeks ago I booked our flights and hotel for the magical Disneyland Paris from 12-16th June 2016. However I have a feeling that our trip won't be as magical this year. My last trip in September I saw 3 of my "must do rides" closed for refurb; It's a Small World, Crush's Coaster and Pirates of the Caribbean.

I booked my trip being well aware of Big Thunder Mountain's closure for the next 12 months, my No.1 ride of DL Park. There was huge disappointment there, almost enough to make me postpone our trip until 2017, but we went ahead and booked anyway.

Today I heard the news that my No.1 ride of WD Studios Park will be closed too, Rock n' Rollercoaster! This is enough to make me want to cancel my booking. Closing 2 of Disneyland's most popular rides at the same time, what are they thinking? What makes this worse is the rumour that is circulating is that Rock n' Roller will be no more. Word is that they are remaking it into a Spiderman ride. Don't get me wrong, I love Marvel! But not enough for it to replace the legend ride that is Rn'R!

With all of the other closures happening around the same time including restaurant closures, Disney may lose it's magic for us in 2016!

 

[BadPinkTink]

I am booked for the end of February and one of must do rides Peter Pan is closed. When I was in Disneyland California in June 2015, this ride was also closed

The way I look at it is, Disneyland Parks are my Happy Place, the place I can escape reality and my day to day life. Yes in February another of my do rides, Disneyland Train is closed as well as Peter Pan. Will I miss them , yes BUT it gives me a chance to experience new things.

Disneyland is what you make it. If you go with a negative attitude, oh I wont enjoy it as much this time due to all the closures and scaffolding everywhere, then you WONT enjoy the holiday. You will be thinking about all the things you cant do and focussing on them instead of living in the moment, and seeing all the Disney Magic.

I know that going to Disney Parks is not cheap and people expect value for money. People expect all things to be perfect and have such huge expectations that the reality, no matter how magical , is just not good enough.

You are going to Disneyland, experiencing something that so many people may never get to experience. Just go and enjoy the park, and have a magical time

 

[ThBa]

These are the rides closures when we will go in March:

Peter Pan
Big Thunder Mountain
Star Tours
Rock´N´Roll Coaster
and I guess they will not the only ones

But Disney ist not only rides for me.

I will miss them but I also like the atmosphere, the shops, Buffalo Bills Wild West Show, the restaurants, the hotel....and staying with my Disney mad family in the place we all love. With or without Peter Pan, Big Thunder Mountain.....

 

[dogdangling]

like it or not, the mis management at Paris with the lack of updating the rides has left them in this situation where they need everything sparkling for the 25th.

Ive got to break it to my son that RnR coaster is down, that being said two new shows are being added and stuff is re-opening.

 

[DisneyBeth94]

Yeah, I agree DLP does need some serious updates, a lot of which should have been done in phases after the 20th Anniversary. And you're all right, Disney is not all about the rides, but the rides do add to the magic, especially the favourites. Rn'R has always been a favourite of mine, I could ride it 5 times over and never tire of it, so I really hope that the Spiderman rumours aren't true. But I am excited for Crush's Coaster after it being a big miss during our last visit. I just hope that Disney put some extra effort in this year to make us forget about the closures, a few extra meet and greets maybe and shows.

 

[sunshine1]

I agree.
I wonder if it is because they let the attractions get so run down/outdated as they didnt know if DLP would remain open or be closed down.

Now they are refurbing alot of rides at same time.

 

[DisneyBeth94]

Possibly. Disney do take a lot of time repairing/building/refurbishing rides in comparison to other companies. It seemed like the Ratatouille land took years upon years to build and Big Thunder is scheduled for a 13 month refurb whereas Universal are completely rebuilding the Incredible Hulk coaster at the moment in a time frame of less than 7 months. I took 3 trips during the making of Ratatouille and every visit would look through the opening in Toy Story land to see its progress and rarely saw any builders there during any of my visits. There are reports of the Hulk's rebuilding every other week in Orlando documenting it's progress. In Orlando it seems they can build entire lands from start in a shorter time frame than Paris can get a single ride refurbished.

 

[Carrie_Cat]

I'd rather have them closed for months and get fixed once and for all rather than them breaking down several time a day as is/was the case

 

[DisneyBeth94]

I don't think I've had a DLP trip yet without being stuck in a queue for and extra 30 minutes or being asked to leave and come back later as the ride was experiencing "technical difficulties". What's worse is when you're actually on the ride and its out of your control, wasting precious Disney park time! This has been the case even after an extensive refurb. Nevertheless, I'll never stop visiting DLP, its my home! No matter how many disappointments you face on a visit, no trip with ever run 100% according to plan. That being said, I still believe that Disney could have planned these scheduled refurbs a lot better.

 

[cdsmiler81]

I would say that I think the prices seem lower for 2016, so maybe Disney has done that to take into account he refurbs. There's already lots of official meet and greets that weren't there before (or at least were less formal and unadvertised!) and it's good to see they're making more use of the Chapparal theatre again! Although it's not my thing, Jedi Academy in Videopolis is great too, as that was left unused for years. Yes, the refurbs aren't great, but I do feel that they really are making the most of what else they have there...

 

[gavvy]

Possibly. Disney do take a lot of time repairing/building/refurbishing rides in comparison to other companies. It seemed like the Ratatouille land took years upon years to build and Big Thunder is scheduled for a 13 month refurb whereas Universal are completely rebuilding the Incredible Hulk coaster at the moment in a time frame of less than 7 months. I took 3 trips during the making of Ratatouille and every visit would look through the opening in Toy Story land to see its progress and rarely saw any builders there during any of my visits. There are reports of the Hulk's rebuilding every other week in Orlando documenting it's progress. In Orlando it seems they can build entire lands from start in a shorter time frame than Paris can get a single ride refurbished.

You are comparing Universal to disney- Disney has always been known for doing things at a snails pace, even in Orlando, its not a Paris thing but a Disney thing in general. By spreading things over a few financial years it helps their bottom line.

Universal has always moved at a quicker pace.

 

[dogdangling]

Universal, generally there level of theming is not on par with Disney's. The hulk is a big green track with a Hulk sticker slapped on it. Bar Potter, Disney are far superior to Uni.

 

[McSuze]

I've booked for June, at the time of booking only BTM & Peter Pan were scheduled to be closed, I have to admit, I was VERY disappointed that they would close RnR at the same time too.

We're bringing my parents this time, they've done WDW many many times, but never DLP, this is my chance to show them why I love DLP, despite being brought up with the US parks. Now my DD's favourites are both closed, both of which my dad loves in the US.

I know there are lots of other things to do, I'm booking nice meals & we'll have Frozen Summer, but I totally agree with the OP & am hoping beyond hope that RnR will be finished early for when we go in June.

 

[Sam08]

We are going in March, I am a little disappointed there will be a few rides closed as its my children's first time, but Disney is a lot more than rides.

I think it's going to be brilliant...all I want is for it to be dry

Well you can but hope!!

 

[@MinnieFan2016]

I tend to think more weather than rides..but having said that i've changed ours from jan'17 to March '17 so not as many things are closed.. but its not the end of the world if you cant do everything..can always go again! xx

 

[cherrymarzipan]

I think DLP have pulled out all the stops character-wise to offset the closures. We were there last week and saw Mickey and Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald, Tic & Tac, Abu (a first for us), Aladdin, Jasmine, Jafar, Genie, Captain Hook, Mr Smee, Peter, Wendy, Alice, Mad Hatter, Dum & Dee, Tiana and Prince Naveen (at the river boat landing), Baloo and King Louis. All were in the main park and all were really well organised meet and greets including the last pair which was "pop-up" i.e. not in the programme, near Colonel Haithi's. Even this one had a proper line. Most had a return ticket system for guests with the disability pass. In addition characters were in the hotels and EMH. We didn't see any additional characters in the Studios but didn't spend much time there this trip.

The new Forest of Enchantment lives up to its name (and with five shows a day was a good crowd sucker) and we had Merida on horseback down Main Street several times a day although I'm not sure if that is permanent as it wasn't scheduled in the programme.

Admittedly, the amount of fencing up does detract from the beauty of the park particularly for first time visitors but equally it is an opportunity to stay onsite at a more economic rate. The ride closures tend to be across the range so that there are still plenty for everyone and as these refurbs are necessary it should be worth it for the future. It is perfectly possible to enjoy a great holiday with what is on offer.

 

[sunshine1]

What time were baloo and king louie meeting please?

I think someone said on here that hotel prices are a bit cheaper this year to reflect closures.

To stay at newport bay was just £21 more expensive than Cheyenne for a two night stay. And the difference in quality is big.

Newport is applying for 4 star status. When that happens prices will me more i think.

 

[cherrymarzipan]

Hi, they came out just after 11.30 and were there last week on at least two days although it is not a scheduled meet and greet.

 

[sunshine1]

Hi, they came out just after 11.30 and were there last week on at least two days although it is not a scheduled meet and greet.

Thanks!

 

[Sam08]

I think DLP have pulled out all the stops character-wise to offset the closures. We were there last week and saw Mickey and Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald, Tic & Tac, Abu (a first for us), Aladdin, Jasmine, Jafar, Genie, Captain Hook, Mr Smee, Peter, Wendy, Alice, Mad Hatter, Dum & Dee, Tiana and Prince Naveen (at the river boat landing), Baloo and King Louis. All were in the main park and all were really well organised meet and greets including the last pair which was "pop-up" i.e. not in the programme, near Colonel Haithi's. Even this one had a proper line. Most had a return ticket system for guests with the disability pass. In addition characters were in the hotels and EMH. We didn't see any additional characters in the Studios but didn't spend much time there this trip.

The new Forest of Enchantment lives up to its name (and with five shows a day was a good crowd sucker) and we had Merida on horseback down Main Street several times a day although I'm not sure if that is permanent as it wasn't scheduled in the programme.

Admittedly, the amount of fencing up does detract from the beauty of the park particularly for first time visitors but equally it is an opportunity to stay onsite at a more economic rate. The ride closures tend to be across the range so that there are still plenty for everyone and as these refurbs are necessary it should be worth it for the future. It is perfectly possible to enjoy a great holiday with what is on offer.

That sounds great! We go a week Tuesday and were a bit worried about the closes but it sound like their is little effect! The kids will be made up to see the characters

I will give an update when I get back!!