So lemme get this straight...

Okay so let me get this straight because I have a hard time believing Disney would be this crazy...

So Cinderella's Castle is under refurb until "Spring 2019". This means that there can't be any fireworks or parades. Also, Fantasmic is going under refurb until "Spring 2019". Also WOC is down until "early 2019".


I don't know what "Spring 2019" means and I think they are being intentionally ambiguous but Spring break for most of the country starts mid march ( March 17th.) This is when naturally, DL will have a huge influx of visitors. It is also when the Food & Wine festival takes place.

Are you telling me that Disneyland will have NO castle, NO nighttime parades, NO Fantastic, and NO WOC during a PEAK SEASON?? AND with a FESTIVAL going on??

There's no way they could have planned all these simultaneous significant closures at their highest profit season. I'm no marketing major but on top of that, Galaxy's edge is probably opening in June or July which means an insane amount of people ON TOP of the normal ultra-packed Summer season. To have walls up around the castle AND have NONE of the popular nighttime events (fireworks, Fantasmic, parades, WOC) during the Spring break will make thousands of people change their vacation plan until the SUMMER (when the next extended school break is) which, combined with the normal summer vacationers crowd AND the Galaxy's Edge crowd will make DL be like Christmas crowd levels on steroids.


I cant believe they would plan this so badly!
PLEASE tell me at least SOME these events will be OPEN in time for Spring break. I've been to DL and WDW many times - I go every year so if it were just me, I wouldn't care so much. Last time I was at DL they were refurbishing main street trolley tracks so no parades but they still had Fireworks and Fantasmic which leveled it out.
But this time I am bringing my mom who hasn't been since the 80's when my parents would take us as kids, and she always has to listen to me bugging her to go back and see how much its changed.
Also I'm bringing my 6 year old nephew who has never been to Disney at all and just listens to the stories his cousin (my 5 year old) tells him from her trips.

I'm taking them during spring break and it absolutely sux if all of those events are down AND they can't even get a picture of the castle -_-.

I've been talking so much to the about how amazing DL is and when I finally get to take them the best parts are going to be down??
Ugh.


If that's the case I could just change the dates to the Summer but, as I said, the crowd levels are going to QUADRUPLE what normal Summer Crowds are because of GE and people who, like me, put off their Spring Break vacation because of all the closures, and that wont be a fun "first experience" for them either...

DL just wants everything fresh for the GE opening day. They are laser focused on GE right now.

Dionnemay said:

Okay so let me get this straight because I have a hard time believing Disney would be this crazy...

So Cinderella's Castle is under refurb until "Spring 2019". This means that there can't be any fireworks or parades. Also, Fantasmic is going under refurb until "Spring 2019". Also WOC is down until "early 2019".


I don't know what "Spring 2019" means and I think they are being intentionally ambiguous but Spring break for most of the country starts mid march ( March 17th.) This is when naturally, DL will have a huge influx of visitors. It is also when the Food & Wine festival takes place.

Are you telling me that Disneyland will have NO castle, NO nighttime parades, NO Fantastic, and NO WOC during a PEAK SEASON?? AND with a FESTIVAL going on??

There's no way they could have planned all these simultaneous significant closures at their highest profit season. I'm no marketing major but on top of that, Galaxy's edge is probably opening in June or July which means an insane amount of people ON TOP of the normal ultra-packed Summer season. To have walls up around the castle AND have NONE of the popular nighttime events (fireworks, Fantasmic, parades, WOC) during the Spring break will make thousands of people change their vacation plan until the SUMMER (when the next extended school break is) which, combined with the normal summer vacationers crowd AND the Galaxy's Edge crowd will make DL be like Christmas crowd levels on steroids.


I cant believe they would plan this so badly!
PLEASE tell me at least SOME these events will be OPEN in time for Spring break. I've been to DL and WDW many times - I go every year so if it were just me, I wouldn't care so much. Last time I was at DL they were refurbishing main street trolley tracks so no parades but they still had Fireworks and Fantasmic which leveled it out.
But this time I am bringing my mom who hasn't been since the 80's when my parents would take us as kids, and she always has to listen to me bugging her to go back and see how much its changed.
Also I'm bringing my 6 year old nephew who has never been to Disney at all and just listens to the stories his cousin (my 5 year old) tells him from her trips.

I'm taking them during spring break and it absolutely sux if all of those events are down AND they can't even get a picture of the castle -_-.

I've been talking so much to the about how amazing DL is and when I finally get to take them the best parts are going to be down??
Ugh.


If that's the case I could just change the dates to the Summer but, as I said, the crowd levels are going to QUADRUPLE what normal Summer Crowds are because of GE and people who, like me, put off their Spring Break vacation because of all the closures, and that wont be a fun "first experience" for them either...

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Are they not doing fireworks??? I hadn't heard that.

Brett Wyman said:

DL just wants everything fresh for the GE opening day. They are laser focused on GE right now.

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I understand that but Spring Break crowds will mitigate the massive crowds they will have in Summer when they will definitely be above capacity. It makes no sense to leave the park so dull during a peak season that they LOSE visitors and have most of those visitors spill over into the summer when they will already be beyond capacity. They should have staggered all these refurbishes earlier rather than have them all at once with a peak season right around the corner.

There is a parade. It starts on Friday. Soundsational.

And Mickey's Mix Magic is a new nighttime show (with fireworks on the weekends.)

Not sure where you are getting your information.

Tennor said:

There is a parade. It starts on Friday. Soundsational.

And Mickey's Mix Magic is a new nighttime show (with fireworks on the weekends.)

Not sure where you are getting your information.

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I should have clarified - Nighttime parades.And fireworks - I'm thinking the normal HEE which obviously cant be shown due to the Caste being covered. I learned about MMM which I've seen mixed reviews and seems like a throw-In to replace the Castle Fireworks but at least its something...
I would have been happy with just Fantasmic! even.

You are neither the first person or the last to be upset about refurbishments Disney is doing at this time. The Castle I believe has been planned for some time. The WOC issues are something that was not planned and I am sure Disney would love to have that back up and running as soon as they can but sometimes issues come up.

The fact is they have promotional tickets which are valid until May 23rd - that usually means there is a trade off - cheaper tickets but maybe some stuff isn't up to snuff.

If you want to go to Disneyland and you want it to be in full swing but not crowded then you are never going to be happy. That seems to be the new norm - I am sure the place will be full on over the top open and at full capacity once the promotion timeline ends - but it will also be busy - so it really comes down to picking a door.

We are WDW regulars, and are only going to DL because we happen to be traveling west. We are going for the first time in mid-April in between Palm Sunday and Easter. It will most likely be a one and done trip for us. I doubt that we will be going out west again. It will be a real shame if the castle is being refurbished when we go.

We were there this weekend and fireworks were done and so was fantasmic which i believe was the last few shows. I mean they put their schedule up and let us know what is being refurbished and we can either choose to go or wait for more shows and night time entertainment to come on. Im not much of a parade watcher unless its one i haven't seen and fireworks ill watch if i'm in the park at the time but its no big deal to me since i do go at least once a year. We do have a few favorite must do rides if they are down we move our dates.

I did mention to my husband how i wouldn't want it to be my first trip there and have the castle being refurbished. Is crazy how many people plan a trip and not look at the schedule for closures or hours or other important info.

AprilJ26 said:

Are they not doing fireworks??? I hadn't heard that.

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Mickey's Soundsational Parade and the new Mickey's Mix Magic will be showing just fine even with castle walls up! So there are parades and projection/fireworks shows throughout Spring!

Disneyland is notorious for this every spring. In fact, I didn't take a newbie last February and made her wait until summer because there were SO MANY closures last year! We actually moved our Fall trip to December (my favorite time to go!) because Matterhorn was closed and that's all my son wants to do! LOL

That said, I live right next to WDW and I'm still leaving tomorrow for a five day trip there because there is still do much to do and so much going on! You'll still have a great trip!!

MATTERHORN said:

Mickey's Soundsational Parade and the new Mickey's Mix Magic will be showing just fine even with castle walls up! So there are parades and projection/fireworks shows throughout Spring!

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That’s what I was thinking! Thank you so much!

tink89 said:

We were there this weekend and fireworks were done and so was fantasmic which i believe was the last few shows. I mean they put their schedule up and let us know what is being refurbished and we can either choose to go or wait for more shows and night time entertainment to come on. Im not much of a parade watcher unless its one i haven't seen and fireworks ill watch if i'm in the park at the time but its no big deal to me since i do go at least once a year. We do have a few favorite must do rides if they are down we move our dates.

I did mention to my husband how i wouldn't want it to be my first trip there and have the castle being refurbished. Is crazy how many people plan a trip and not look at the schedule for closures or hours or other important info.

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True, but the thing is, refurb lists are only released a few weeks ahead of time. Most people have already booked flights and hotels by then in order to secure the best rates. So I actually have a lot of empathy for those who planned their first trip for this year, only to find out after everything is set that the castle will be under scrim.

Its always this way at the beginning of the year when Disney has some big event coming in the summer. They will have even more winter/spring refurbs before its all done. It will probably get a lot worse before it gets better.

Christin82 said:

True, but the thing is, refurb lists are only released a few weeks ahead of time. Most people have already booked flights and hotels by then in order to secure the best rates. So I actually have a lot of empathy for those who planned their first trip for this year, only to find out after everything is set that the castle will be under scrim.

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yes like I said I would not want that to be my first trip experience and I would totally be bummed.
To me any day at DL is a good day.

I have seen quite a few pictures with the castle in the back that look very nice. Also I would just use this as an excuse to have to comeback.

"Spring Break" is a broad time..... mid-March through mid-April or so. I believe the "peak" Spring Break time is the week before and the week after easter.

Dionnemay said:

Okay so let me get this straight because I have a hard time believing Disney would be this crazy...

So Cinderella's Castle is under refurb until "Spring 2019". This means that there can't be any fireworks or parades. Also, Fantasmic is going under refurb until "Spring 2019". Also WOC is down until "early 2019".


I don't know what "Spring 2019" means and I think they are being intentionally ambiguous but Spring break for most of the country starts mid march ( March 17th.) This is when naturally, DL will have a huge influx of visitors. It is also when the Food & Wine festival takes place.

Are you telling me that Disneyland will have NO castle, NO nighttime parades, NO Fantastic, and NO WOC during a PEAK SEASON?? AND with a FESTIVAL going on??

There's no way they could have planned all these simultaneous significant closures at their highest profit season. I'm no marketing major but on top of that, Galaxy's edge is probably opening in June or July which means an insane amount of people ON TOP of the normal ultra-packed Summer season. To have walls up around the castle AND have NONE of the popular nighttime events (fireworks, Fantasmic, parades, WOC) during the Spring break will make thousands of people change their vacation plan until the SUMMER (when the next extended school break is) which, combined with the normal summer vacationers crowd AND the Galaxy's Edge crowd will make DL be like Christmas crowd levels on steroids.


I cant believe they would plan this so badly!
PLEASE tell me at least SOME these events will be OPEN in time for Spring break. I've been to DL and WDW many times - I go every year so if it were just me, I wouldn't care so much. Last time I was at DL they were refurbishing main street trolley tracks so no parades but they still had Fireworks and Fantasmic which leveled it out.
But this time I am bringing my mom who hasn't been since the 80's when my parents would take us as kids, and she always has to listen to me bugging her to go back and see how much its changed.
Also I'm bringing my 6 year old nephew who has never been to Disney at all and just listens to the stories his cousin (my 5 year old) tells him from her trips.

I'm taking them during spring break and it absolutely sux if all of those events are down AND they can't even get a picture of the castle -_-.

I've been talking so much to the about how amazing DL is and when I finally get to take them the best parts are going to be down??
Ugh.


If that's the case I could just change the dates to the Summer but, as I said, the crowd levels are going to QUADRUPLE what normal Summer Crowds are because of GE and people who, like me, put off their Spring Break vacation because of all the closures, and that wont be a fun "first experience" for them either...

Click to expand...

Yeah... so...

“Spring 2019” is intentionally ambiguous. Imho they don’t know when their refurbs will be done and this gives them leeway. The focus is on SWGE so by keeping re-openings vague they can re-direct resources as needed.

Everyone has already corrected the misconception about parades, and there will be small amounts of fireworks some nights.

The Festival is run during this time BECAUSE a bunch of other stuff is down and Disney is trying to draw crowds to the park. Literally the point of having it when they do.

PEAK SEASON- nope. Spring break is busy but it’s not peak. And it’s definitely not that this year. As busy as spring break feels, even with extended hours, odds are this is going to be the quietest time of this year.

DLR needs to do these refurbs. They straight up broke WOC. Disney blogs don’t even know exactly what they did but it was obviously extremely damaging & not part of the long term refurb plan. Chalk it up under “oops”. The castle desperately needed a full-on refurb. PTN has been run a lot and with the whole Santa falling off the Xmas parade in the middle of Main St incident this last Xmas season you can bet your bottom dollar Disney is going to take extra care to get their biggest parade in tip top condition for when the world’s (literally, SWGE opening will be worldwide news) gaze is on them. Why Fantasmic idk but there are a ton of moving parts to the show so I’m not surprised they’re taking it out of commission to work it through, at the same time as Columbia, before the Big Summer.

Why didn’t they spread them out? My guess is these are the months crowds are the lightest and if you need to take something down for 1-5 months Spring Break is certainly the time I would pick to miss. Disney isn’t happy about all this stuff under refurb either. They make very good money off all those dining packages and they’ll be going months without any dining package income. That will hurt. I bet they’re doing everything they can to get Fantasmic up sooner in Spring rather than later for that exact reason...

“Fun ‘first experience’ “ That’s on each person. Whether it’s first, or last, or whatever time, it is what each person makes it. You could have everything open and low crowds and a crap experience. Wait 2 hours for RSR- then have it go down. Trapped on the wrong side of a parade and missed your FP. Indy breaks while you are on it and you have to wait to be evacuated. I’ve had all that happen. And I saw people who were angry in my group all day about it and there were people who just went with it and made the best of it and had a grand old time.

TBH: I wouldn’t bring fam who only goes once in a while to the parks while it’s in this shape. I’d gear up to deal with the crowds this summer and go when everything is open, planning on MaxPass & park openings, afternoon breaks and coming back for night would be my general game plan.

Dionnemay said:

... It makes no sense to leave the park so dull during a peak season that they LOSE visitors...

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While I realize that the magic is in the eye of the beholder, when has DLR ever been "dull"?? We've been to the parks in all kinds of weather, with all rides up and running, with tons of construction walls and numerous refurbs, with shows and parades, with no shows or parades, with crowds and low crowds, basically... you name it. We've had visits when we did rides all day (thank you, MP!) and when we spent the whole day without riding a single ride. (And there was one visit where I spent the whole day unable to ride anything, sitting on various benches throughout DL watching everyone else's stuff -- and CMs were so sweet and kind!) And I can't think of a single time over however many years when the parks have been "dull"! Like we keep saying around here, if I refuse to see the magic that is all around me, then it's on me if my visit isn't very magical.

sherilaine said:

You are neither the first person or the last to be upset about refurbishments Disney is doing at this time. The Castle I believe has been planned for some time. The WOC issues are something that was not planned and I am sure Disney would love to have that back up and running as soon as they can but sometimes issues come up.

The fact is they have promotional tickets which are valid until May 23rd - that usually means there is a trade off - cheaper tickets but maybe some stuff isn't up to snuff.

If you want to go to Disneyland and you want it to be in full swing but not crowded then you are never going to be happy. That seems to be the new norm - I am sure the place will be full on over the top open and at full capacity once the promotion timeline ends - but it will also be busy - so it really comes down to picking a door.

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Let me guess...you are local, or local enough that you get to go regularly? It makes it a lot easier to brush off as "oh well"

Disney may have been planning on refurbing the castle for some time, but they didnt let anyone know until a few weeks ago.
They may not have planned on WOC to be down, but they are choosing to take down F! before its prepared. They may be selling promotional tickets, but for those visiting early in the promo trips were locked in and tickets bought before that was announced.

I mean the whole "everything has to be perfect for GE" dont buy it, the Starwars fans are coming whether F! is running or not, and they are coming to see SB castle...

tink89 said:

Is crazy how many people plan a trip and not look at the schedule for closures or hours or other important info

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Honestly how can you expect people to work out their trips with that info when Disney doesnt release it until weeks before? A vast majority cant wait to book leave from work, flights, hotels etc with less than 6 weeks notice...

mummabear said:

Let me guess...you are local, or local enough that you get to go regularly? It makes it a lot easier to brush off as "oh well"

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No, I am not local. I actually live in Canada.

I have visited enough times and done enough research though to realize that upset as one might be, Disney doesn’t have to care. They have enough people lining up saying “Take My Money” already and it’s only going to get worse...