WDW uses Splash Mountain 'refurb' to save $$$

[JoshuaShaw]

It was working in December.

 

[clsteve]

When I did the Keys to the Kingdom Tour, one of the things they told us was Splash Mountain was considered a pool. Therefore, they were required to drain and clean it annually. Plus it has to be inspected by the county health department before it could reopen. It had to be drained and completely closed for no less than 30 days. People also keep bringing up Kali but Animal Kingdom is in a completely different county and thus subject to different local rules. Splash is in Osceola and Kali in Orange Co.

Splash Mountain's ride area and backup tank hold close to 2 million gallons of water and the ride itself is like 9 acres. A lot to drain and clean. Most of the parts for it to are custom made in Europe so if they encounter something unexpected, a new part could take awhile. From what they told us, a lot goes into getting it refurbished and approved in order to keep it running each year. As much as I would agree Disney tries to save money, I don't think they shut this down every year as a cost cutter. I'm sure more money is put into the ride for refurbishment than it would cost them in labor costs for employees to run it. It's a huge area to clean, repaint etc. They reuse all the water and it is pumped into huge holding tanks behind it when they need to drain it so no money is lost there. I think they simply choose Jan/Feb to refurb because its colder. It's not a money issue, it's county law.

I'm not saying he was lying on purpose, but that's not a requirement for public pools. In fact, it's risky to completely drain a pool- especially yearly: they tend to pop out of the ground or crack if the water table is high or there's a lot of rain while it's empty. As long as the filtering system and pumps are circulating appropriately it's horribly wasteful and unnecessary unless there's a structural issue that needs to be addressed. Counties don't want all of those millions and millions of gallons dumped in the waste treatment systems yearly, and then all of those pools re-filled.

Splash needs to be drained yearly because water's tough on machinery and they can't do maintenance on it without it empty. And, the water itself becomes an issue to the mechanics as it degrades over the year's use (lots of things under the surface...).

Rides like Kali and BRB don't need as much maintenance because there's a much lower amount of in-water mechanics since they use flow to move the rafts and all of the pumps and piping can be serviced separately without shutting things down.

 

[surferdave]

It was stated here a while back that the problem with the Yeti is the foundation or structure rather than the animatronics so WDW can on occasion turn it on, and will when they have reason to show it off. But it's almost certainly not running just for mere mortal guests like us, so most people who report seeing it run are being fooled by the strobe light and wishful thinking.

 

[KatieCharlotte]

That doesn't even come close to passing the sniff test.

And they skipped the "required" refurb two years ago to avoid having two mountains closed at the same time, didn't they?

 

[JanaDee]

And they skipped the "required" refurb two years ago to avoid having two mountains closed at the same time, didn't they?

Yup.

 

[tommylicious]

Folks, Parks & Resorts runs with a 9% operating margin. This means at least 91 cents of every dollar you spend there goes towards expense. Give them a break!

 

[moriaw76]

Oh yeah.. that was me closing my eyes and remembering when it worked in 1999.

 

[DRDISNEYMD]

When I did the Keys to the Kingdom Tour, one of the things they told us was Splash Mountain was considered a pool. Therefore, they were required to drain and clean it annually. Plus it has to be inspected by the county health department before it could reopen. It had to be drained and completely closed for no less than 30 days. People also keep bringing up Kali but Animal Kingdom is in a completely different county and thus subject to different local rules. Splash is in Osceola and Kali in Orange Co.

Splash Mountain's ride area and backup tank hold close to 2 million gallons of water and the ride itself is like 9 acres. A lot to drain and clean. Most of the parts for it to are custom made in Europe so if they encounter something unexpected, a new part could take awhile. From what they told us, a lot goes into getting it refurbished and approved in order to keep it running each year. As much as I would agree Disney tries to save money, I don't think they shut this down every year as a cost cutter. I'm sure more money is put into the ride for refurbishment than it would cost them in labor costs for employees to run it. It's a huge area to clean, repaint etc. They reuse all the water and it is pumped into huge holding tanks behind it when they need to drain it so no money is lost there. I think they simply choose Jan/Feb to refurb because its colder. It's not a money issue, it's county law.

~This is one of the most bizarre explanations I have ever heard -- which is why I believe you were told this and it could be true. I know Splash Mountain is an incredibly difficult ride to maintain, and I don't question that it has to be refurbed more extensively than some of the other rides. But, I still have some doubts, especially when the animatronics and other effects are still broken right after a long refurb.

When we were there in December 2013, we noticed that Splash was in need of some major TLC. It was up, down, up, down all week because of various issues, and when we finally got to ride we (like several other people that week) got stuck at the top of the first hill for twenty minutes. At the very least, they need to replace the leather or whatever it is padding. It was ripped and stinky, so much so that we had to wash our hands up to our elbows when we finally got off the ride to get rid of the funk that it left.

~Ewww, that is so gross. Bad show, Disney! We've never had a trip where Splash wasn't down at least once. We got stuck at the bottom after the drop on Splash Mountain one time and we just sat there for a few minutes until another boat came crashing down and bumped us out! It wasn't too bad, but I have read other nightmare stories of people getting stuck on Splash. I really hope Disney takes care of those icky ripped seats right away.

Folks, Parks & Resorts runs with a 9% operating margin. This means at least 91 cents of every dollar you spend there goes towards expense. Give them a break!

~Thanks for the stats. I knew it was low but not that low. I find this to be both amazing and sad. I wonder what the operating margin was when Walt ran the parks? I'm going to take a wild guess and say 50%!

Oh yeah.. that was me closing my eyes and remembering when it worked in 1999.

~LOL, more like 2006, but it feels like it was 1999!