Updated list of Refurbs for 2014

[tarheelalum]

Thank you to the op for posting this information. I was planing on taking the family a couple of times in the next few months. But with the closure of Space Mtn, Indy and Soarin I honestly don't know if its worth it. I know they need to do repairs, especially to Indy, but they are taking out away a lot our favorites.

I hope they replace the screen on soaring. Its got spots all over it.

 

[Disdedalus]

We are going the last of March. Losing Alice was sad. Soarin' was an irritation. But adding BOTH Space Mtn, and Indy now flat out stinks. With six kids, we have not been in over fifteen years, and with what this trip is costing, it may be another fifteen years before we can pull it off again. I know it has to be done but three major closures at once, and during spring break, seems a little excessive.

 

[yoyoyo]

We're going the first week of March. I'm a little more then disappointed. We're spending all this money just for Disney to say "Sorry, you can't ride your favorite rides". We're planning on moving in a year or so out of CA, and we need to start saving some money for moving costs, so its not like we can go spur of the moment like we used to.

 

[T0rrent]

Unfortunately refurbs happen. They do their best to give out as much notice as possible and spread them out but sometimes things can't wait.

 

[Here4mydisneyfix]

Unfortunately refurbs happen. They do their best to give out as much notice as possible and spread them out but sometimes things can't wait.

I actually question if they really do their best to give as much notice as possible. People are fooling themselves if they really think Disney actually decides to do a refurb at the last minute. No, these things are budgeted for and planned far in advance, yet they hold off announcing them. If you look at WDW scheduling, you can actually view hours and closures MONTHS in advance. I think that is how it should be at Disneyland too so that people can plan and make an informed decision if it's the best time for their family to be visiting. Disneyland seems to be the only place that it is acceptable for families to plunk down thousands of dollars not knowing what exactly they will receive for their money until right before they leave. It leaves no option for people to change plans and go at a different time because plane tickets had to have been purchased and hotels paid for, etc. People would never willingly pay such large amounts of money for anything else on the planet if they knew that so many big important elements would not be included. Disney should at least be discounting tickets IMO. Yes, I know that they have that disclaimer to cover their butts about how things could close any time, yada, yada, but if you are being real honest and you went when it seemed like everything worth riding was closed, would you still feel you got your money's worth? Is the ambiance and the privilege of just being lucky enough to be there worth 5-10 grand then?? What about to the families who can only scrape up enough to get to go once in a lifetime? I know if that was us and so many things were going to be closed, I would definitely want the option to be able to go at a different time! It almost feels to me sometimes that they deliberately do NOT tell about heavy refurbs in advance just so that they can keep the business that they would otherwise lose during these time periods. They know very well that this close people can't cancel. just my feeling.

 

[sleepymouse]

I actually question if they really do their best to give as much notice as possible. People are fooling themselves if they really think Disney actually decides to do a refurb at the last minute. No, these things are budgeted for and planned far in advance, yet they hold off announcing them. If you look at WDW scheduling, you can actually view hours and closures MONTHS in advance. I think that is how it should be at Disneyland too so that people can plan and make an informed decision if it's the best time for their family to be visiting. Disneyland seems to be the only place that it is acceptable for families to plunk down thousands of dollars not knowing what exactly they will receive for their money until right before they leave. It leaves no option for people to change plans and go at a different time because plane tickets had to have been purchased and hotels paid for, etc. People would never willingly pay such large amounts of money for anything else on the planet if they knew that so many big important elements would not be included. Disney should at least be discounting tickets IMO. Yes, I know that they have that disclaimer to cover their butts about how things could close any time, yada, yada, but if you are being real honest and you went when it seemed like everything worth riding was closed, would you still feel you got your money's worth? Is the ambiance and the privilege of just being lucky enough to be there worth 5-10 grand then?? What about to the families who can only scrape up enough to get to go once in a lifetime? I know if that was us and so many things were going to be closed, I would definitely want the option to be able to go at a different time! It almost feels to me sometimes that they deliberately do NOT tell about heavy refurbs in advance just so that they can keep the business that they would otherwise lose during these time periods. They know very well that this close people can't cancel. just my feeling.

Totally agree. Refurbs aren't planned and organized overnight. Also, releasing schedule one day at a time only six weeks in advance is asinine. My family loves Disneyland, but I find these aspects lacking.

 

[beamer5]

Unfortunately refurbs happen. They do their best to give out as much notice as possible and spread them out but sometimes things can't wait.

If they really couldn't wait then they would just have to close the ride immediately and fix it.

 

[Astylla]

I totally get the frustration and I am definitely not in the boat of Disney can do no wrong , however the reality is we have a choice in entertainment and what we choose to spend our money on.
Quite frankly the only thing they need to provide is an open park , nothing more or less. It's still a business.

I'm not saying it is the consumer's fault for planning their vacation in advance , of course not. However as discovered last year with the OSHA fiasco *some* refurbs could have no notice , very rare but it showed it could happen.

I suppose it's a risk we take regardless. I guess I think of it this way - Say I had a trip planned to Hawaii for fun in the sun and it rained the whole time.
I can either be miserable or make the most of it. Disappointment is fine and understandable but what we choose to do from there can make or break a vacation.

Yes the list does seem long , however things could change too.

I don't think there is ever a perfect time to go where you can safely say nothing will happen.

I'm of the opinion that I am choosing to give Disney my money as an AP holder or as a guest , with that comes certain risks. But does the good outweigh the potential negative enough for me ?

I am sorry for those that will be impacted and do agree there could be a better system in place to alert of these closures , however until that time the only thing we can control is ourselves and how we choose to spend the money - here or elsewhere.

 

[tajz90]

Boy I'm glad I saw this. Was planning to visit for spring break but not now

 

[All Things Simba]

I will be visiting for my 1st time on March 3rd and 4th.
I am disappointed in the amount of ride closures as I really wanted to experience the DL version of many of the same rides at WDW.
And I wanted to experience all that DL has to offer.
I find the amount of closures to be pretty excessive.
I really hope the list changes. I also find it hard to believe that so many rides will be down during the March time frame.

 

[Here4mydisneyfix]

Say I had a trip planned to Hawaii for fun in the sun and it rained the whole time. I can either be miserable or make the most of it. Disappointment is fine and understandable but what we choose to do from there can make or break a vacation.

This analogy sort of makes sense, however, if it rains in hawaii, you can still choose to go to the beach and swim etc. anyway...if many E tickets and shows are closed at Disneyland, you can't just choose to ride/watch them anyway, as these experiences are actually removed, not just altered as in the example of rain in hawaii.

 

[DisneyBiskit]

Disney will do what Disney wants to do....

If I'm looking at this from a business point of view, I'd rather have the rides down during spring break and then have them open for summer.

This company makes money regardless of what we say...

 

[DisneyBiskit]

This analogy sort of makes sense, however, if it rains in hawaii, you can still choose to go to the beach and swim etc. anyway...if many E tickets and shows are closed at Disneyland, you can't just choose to ride/watch them anyway, as these experiences are actually removed, not just altered as in the example of rain in hawaii.

I think the point she is trying to make is that there is more to DL than just rides. If a ride is down, then go see a show, or go shopping. The same can be said if it rains on a Hawaii trip. There are many things that you can do besides laying on a beach. There is much more to it than that.

 

[T0rrent]

I actually question if they really do their best to give as much notice as possible. People are fooling themselves if they really think Disney actually decides to do a refurb at the last minute. No, these things are budgeted for and planned far in advance, yet they hold off announcing them. If you look at WDW scheduling, you can actually view hours and closures MONTHS in advance. I think that is how it should be at Disneyland too so that people can plan and make an informed decision if it's the best time for their family to be visiting. Disneyland seems to be the only place that it is acceptable for families to plunk down thousands of dollars not knowing what exactly they will receive for their money until right before they leave. It leaves no option for people to change plans and go at a different time because plane tickets had to have been purchased and hotels paid for, etc. People would never willingly pay such large amounts of money for anything else on the planet if they knew that so many big important elements would not be included. Disney should at least be discounting tickets IMO. Yes, I know that they have that disclaimer to cover their butts about how things could close any time, yada, yada, but if you are being real honest and you went when it seemed like everything worth riding was closed, would you still feel you got your money's worth? Is the ambiance and the privilege of just being lucky enough to be there worth 5-10 grand then?? What about to the families who can only scrape up enough to get to go once in a lifetime? I know if that was us and so many things were going to be closed, I would definitely want the option to be able to go at a different time! It almost feels to me sometimes that they deliberately do NOT tell about heavy refurbs in advance just so that they can keep the business that they would otherwise lose during these time periods. They know very well that this close people can't cancel. just my feeling.

Obviously you missed the OSHA mandated refurbs that knocked out Splash, Space, Matterhorn, Nemo Subs along with Soaring and a couple others this past summer. If you think that was in the works before it happened, I have some ocean front property in Arizona to sell you

Totally agree. Refurbs aren't planned and organized overnight. Also, releasing schedule one day at a time only six weeks in advance is asinine. My family loves Disneyland, but I find these aspects lacking.

No matter when they do it, it's going to impact someone. We partially based our Christmas trip over BTMRR being up, obviously it wasn't and we made the best of it despite the fact SBLCB was down and I was really wanting to see it at night. During that time GRR went down and was kept down till we left due to a part needing to be ordered, Indy was up and down the entire week we were there. The only difference between now and the 80's/90's is due to the internet you get some semblance of a ride closure. Before that you either called the park or you saw the list when you walked up.

 

[Jerry Horne]

We're cutting it close for Indy! We arrive one day after it's scheduled to reopen!

 

[yipee]

Shoot! That's going to make for a big family meeting! Space and Indy are two of our family favourites! I wonder what the odds are that Indy will open earlier? We have to come home on April 23!

 

[Here4mydisneyfix]

Obviously you missed the OSHA mandated refurbs that knocked out Splash, Space, Matterhorn, Nemo Subs along with Soaring and a couple others this past summer. If you think that was in the works before it happened, I have some ocean front property in Arizona to sell you

I didn't miss those closures actually, but those are something that was out of Disney's control, they really did have to close those down with no notice because it was the law, planned refurbs however are not the same situation at all. There should be more notice. Also, I feel that stating that we didn't know before because of lack of internet in the 80's-90's isn't a legit argument because now that there is internet and iphones, etc, we can see that Disney is actively using that technology to their advantage, i.e. advertising, emails for pin codes, magic band technology, texts for when rooms are ready, My disney experience, photopass, etc. With all this amp up by Disney to utilize technology for their advantage, I don't think it's too much of a stretch to ask that they maintain their schedules and info a little better for the sake of the people who spend so much money there. It should be a no-brainer.

All that being said, I am a Disney lifer! lol I've been going for 30 years and will always love it, and to me the ambiance is actually enough most times, but I haven't consumed enough of the "koolaid" yet to know that not everyone thinks the way a lot of us do on here. I feel for those once in a life time families who will never get to come back and people who DO really count on most rides being open to justify their trip. So this has me a bit disappointed with DLR I guess. I feel they are dropping the ball.

 

[sweethannah]

It's odd how some people see some ride closures as being deal breakers and others not so much.

We've been tentatively floating the idea of a late Feb trip to take advantage of Dapper Day rates and looking over the list of closures none of my favourite rides are down... this means for me at least, it's a good time to go!

 

[CarouselOfProgress4]

It's odd how some people see some ride closures as being deal breakers and others not so much.

We've been tentatively floating the idea of a late Feb trip to take advantage of Dapper Day rates and looking over the list of closures none of my favourite rides are down... this means for me at least, it's a good time to go!

Oh I know. I remember a couple trips ago when TestTrack was under refurb. Before we went I was so bummed but after we got to Epcot it didn't even matter. It was even a blip on our radar.

 

[Disdedalus]

A ride down is expected. A couple at once is even understandable. But four or five major rides down for PLANNED, extensive maintenance at the same time smacks of a lack of foresight not usually associated with a forward thinking outfit like Disney. We will still go, and we will still have fun. Discounted rates would go a long way to easing the pain. Otherwise,in the back of my mind, I will continue to think I am paying for the arctic blue sport wagon with rally pack but getting the pea-green family truckster.