YC/BCV - Stormalong Bay Slide Refurbishment Starting Feb 2021 - UPDATE-Refurb Complete

[Cheburashka]

I'm glad I found out about this. Had a spring break trip planned and was going to stay at the Yacht Club for part of it. Definitely won't given that the flying jib might be closed. Changed the reservation to Grand Floridian.

This kind of thing is another reason to avoid renting DVC points imo. When something unpleasant comes up at your villa, you can't just switch out like you can for a resort stay.

 

[DVCSunDevil]

I'm glad I found out about this. Had a spring break trip planned and was going to stay at the Yacht Club for part of it. Definitely won't given that the flying jib might be closed. Changed the reservation to Grand Floridian.

This kind of thing is another reason to avoid renting DVC points imo. When something unpleasant comes up at your villa, you can't just switch out like you can for a resort stay.

Can’t the DVC owner change the reservation for you?

 

[Cheburashka]

Can’t the DVC owner change the reservation for you?

When you book via a service (Davids, DVC Rental Store, etc.), they don't allow changes, no. You're locked into whatever you booked. It can be different when renting directly with an individual, I'm sure, but then the risk factor goes up in other ways.

 

[DVCSunDevil]

When you book via a service (Davids, DVC Rental Store, etc.), they don't allow changes, no. You're locked into whatever you booked. It can be different when renting directly with an individual, I'm sure, but then the risk factor goes up in other ways.

Got it. I thought you rented directly through an individual. I think after Covid a lot of people are going directly through individuals because there is also risk, which has been realize, going through places like David’s. I am a DVC owner and would be 100% OK with changing a reservation for someone who rented my points.

 

[justhat]

To be fair to Disney, not all these refurbishments can be planned out. For example, what if the maintenance team just recently discovered an issue with the slide? They would want to have that fixed before Easter and definitely before Beach Club opens to the public in May. Sometimes issues that require a refurbishment arise unexpectedly. I am not going to rail against Disney for stuff like this...these things happen.

If that were the case, they would have already closed the slide down. Not planned it for a few weeks out.
I’m going to be super unhappy if it is closed when we check in Friday night. We chose this resort just for the pool. My youngest is not a bug Disney fan so having a fun pool with a slide was critical to our trip.
We move to Pop for some days we added on at the end of the trip and they just announced the main pool there is closed (and we booked a preferred pool room to be close to the pool).

 

[DVCSunDevil]

If that were the case, they would have already closed the slide down. Not planned it for a few weeks out.
I’m going to be super unhappy if it is closed when we check in Friday night. We chose this resort just for the pool. My youngest is not a bug Disney fan so having a fun pool with a slide was critical to our trip.
We move to Pop for some days we added on at the end of the trip and they just announced the main pool there is closed (and we booked a preferred pool room to be close to the pool).

Just because it will need maintenance doesn’t mean it needs to be shut down right away. They can discover something that will need to be fixed imminently or else it will lead to bigger issues over time. If they did find something like that (something on the slide that is deteriorating, for example), they would want to get it fixed before the busy Easter week and definitely before the resort opens to the public. Coordinating the crew to fix it most likely means scheduling it around other projects, which means starting it several weeks down the road from when the problem is discovered.

This is all assumptions, but with resorts these things happen. Especially in highly utilized areas like a pool. From what I’ve read, Disney typically does their pool maintenance during the off-season winter months like we are in now. Booking reservations over that time period runs a higher risk of pools or waterslides being closed.

 

[Olaf Myfrenzargay]

Moved resy over to Dolphin. Sorry, but without the Pirate slide that pool is just meh.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

It’s about time. That slide tore up my back in 2019.

 

[ScubaCat]

When you book via a service (Davids, DVC Rental Store, etc.), they don't allow changes, no. You're locked into whatever you booked. It can be different when renting directly with an individual, I'm sure, but then the risk factor goes up in other ways.

Problem also is that it often takes a significantly different number of points, not to mention there's rarely flexible last minute availability. So even if flexibility is desired all around, it's very difficult to accommodate.

It’s about time. That slide tore up my back in 2019.

It'll definitely be worse after they're done with it this time.

 

[justhat]

Just because it will need maintenance doesn’t mean it needs to be shut down right away. They can discover something that will need to be fixed imminently or else it will lead to bigger issues over time. If they did find something like that (something on the slide that is deteriorating, for example), they would want to get it fixed before the busy Easter week and definitely before the resort opens to the public. Coordinating the crew to fix it most likely means scheduling it around other projects, which means starting it several weeks down the road from when the problem is discovered.

This is all assumptions, but with resorts these things happen. Especially in highly utilized areas like a pool. From what I’ve read, Disney typically does their pool maintenance during the off-season winter months like we are in now. Booking reservations over that time period runs a higher risk of pools or waterslides being closed.

If it is imminent, then it needs to be closed when they find the error. If it isn't, but needs repair so it doesn't lead to larger issues down the line, then it could be planned with time to let people adjust their plans. They haven't even announced a specific date so there isn't even a way to adequately prepare for your trip.

President's Week is hardly a slow period. Now through mid-April is pretty consistently busy with school breaks.

This resort has been open to the public for quite some time (we are staying at BCV) and the whole pool complex didn't even open with the resort so that would have seemed to be the time for maintenance.

 

[Sue M]

I hope they smooth out the slide! Those seams really hurt my back going down!

 

[DVCSunDevil]

If it isn't, but needs repair so it doesn't lead to larger issues down the line, then it could be planned with time to let people adjust their plans. They haven't even announced a specific date so there isn't even a way to adequately prepare for your trip.

President's Week is hardly a slow period. Now through mid-April is pretty consistently busy with school breaks.

I know those who have reservations are upset, but literally any time Disney decides to do it will upset guests. If they recently noticed the issue and it "needs repair so it doesn't lead to larger issues down the line" I would argue that Disney would want to have it done before BCV opens to the public in May. That gives a very limited window of time. Doing the maintenance sometime between President's Day week and the week of Easter would be the ideal time for them to do it, given that limited window. That leaves essentially the time period that Disney announced, which is late February and March.

And they probably don't know the exact date yet because I'm sure there are other projects that the maintenance crews are completing. Let's say the refurbishment will only take a week, but they don't know exactly what week the crew will be able to get to it (but they can estimate it will be done by April). It's better for Disney to let people know the time frame of when it may occur now so that guests can change reservations if they don't want to run the risk of being there when the slide is out of commission.

Again, I am just playing devils advocate on this because I don't have all the details. But I also know how things happen at resorts and I know not all maintenance can be scheduled out far in advance, because sometimes things happen and issues are discovered that need addressing.

 

[lizzyfl]

Any update if the slide/kids play area is open? I was thinking about booking 2 nights next week but I know my boys will want to play in the pirate area.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Any update if the slide/kids play area is open? I was thinking about booking 2 nights next week but I know my boys will want to play in the pirate area.

It was reported on the YC/BC thread that the kids pool are at the bottom of the slide entrance closed last week and the Flying Jib slide closed yesterday.

 

[Olaf Myfrenzargay]

so is the work directly related to the back breaker part of the slide? I remember that from two years ago.

 

[AliceIn]

It was reported on the YC/BC thread that the kids pool are at the bottom of the slide entrance closed last week and the Flying Jib slide closed yesterday.

I hope they can get it fixed soon. We have plans to go for Spring Break. We have one night at the Yacht Club before moving over to the Boardwalk Villas. While I enjoy the slide, my favorite part of Stormalong Bay is the sand bottom and the lazy river. It's so relaxing to hop on a tube and float around. It's one of my favorite things to do after a long park day.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

UPDATE -

It was reported yesterday by a poster on the YC/BC main thread that the Flying Jib slide was open.

Today I noticed the slide refurb note has been removed from Disney’s website.

Whatever they did during those few days it was closed, this seems to have been a very quick project.