Castle Refurbishment January Thru Spring

[Malcon10t]

And only applicable for US/Canadian residents.
There was no discount for our 10 day tickets.

They are offering Aussie's 4 days for the price of 2. But the 10 day tickets is a great value. Most of us here would love 10 days for less than $410 USD. You are getting 10 days for just a few dollars more than our 5 day ticket.

 

[mummabear]

Because it’s peak season then.

Again...so what?

Why are Spring Break crowds any more important, or deserving of having F! ? Why should Feb visitors get neither F! Or WOC so that spring break visitors can have both?
They should be doing them 1 at a time.

 

[jlwhitney]

Again...so what?

Why are Spring Break crowds any more important, or deserving of having F! ? Why should Feb visitors get neither F! Or WOC so that spring break visitors can have both?
They should be doing them 1 at a time.

Then if its that important to you go during spring or summer.

Crowds are much much higher then so it makes more senese to have more people to filter crowds too. And in the end there could be other refurbs during spring break to prep for star wars that aren't announced. There is no ideal time and WOC threw a bit wrench in their plans.

 

[disneyland_is_magic]

I get the roof, a leaking roof is a leaking roof and needs to be fixed.
But Fantasmic I still can’t understand what extensive work it could need after being closed for well over a year. This is crazy, and frankly if it needs to be fixed this extensively and this frequently, they need better long term show offerings that can run for longer stretches. When your rides need less maintenance then your shows, something is out of line.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Again...so what?

Why are Spring Break crowds any more important, or deserving of having F! ? Why should Feb visitors get neither F! Or WOC so that spring break visitors can have both?
They should be doing them 1 at a time.

Given that they just cancelled F! for January 21st (including calling and refunding all dining package holders for that night), there's clearly something going on with F! beyond just a random refurb.

The fact that January/February is "refurbishment season" at DL is pretty well-known and has been true for many years. If you want to have the longest hours, lowest number of refurbishments, and most entertainment offerings, you have to choose to go during a traditionally peak time.

And they do sometimes spread things around. Last year, they did a major scheduled refurb (Matterhorn) during the summer, and people were all shocked and up in arms that they'd purposefully take down an E-ticket during peak season. There's never a time that Disney can take things offline without upsetting someone.

 

[mom2rtk]

They are offering Aussie's 4 days for the price of 2. But the 10 day tickets is a great value. Most of us here would love 10 days for less than $410 USD. You are getting 10 days for just a few dollars more than our 5 day ticket.

So true! A 5 day park hopper is now $370. If I wanted to go for 10 days my only option would be to buy 2 5 day tickets for a total of $740 (or buy an AP).

 

[Jason Ross]

I get the roof, a leaking roof is a leaking roof and needs to be fixed.
But Fantasmic I still can’t understand what extensive work it could need after being closed for well over a year. This is crazy, and frankly if it needs to be fixed this extensively and this frequently, they need better long term show offerings that can run for longer stretches. When your rides need less maintenance then your shows, something is out of line.

Yup totally agree!! Under Bob Chapek's control Disney is becoming cheap and in my opinion purposely closing shows and disguising it as "refurbishment" just to save money. Disney is one of the largest power corporations in the world and you are telling me it takes them a whole YEAR to fix World of Color??!!! I don't care what broke, it surely does not take a year to fix, i mean unless the whole structure was torn apart, but from what i gather it was just the control panel. Chapek does not care about getting things operational quickly as the longer it stays dark the more money Disney saves! Fantasmic! is only going down to save money. There cannot be that much wrong with the components of the show as they had a whole year to fix it!! and if there is issues, like people were pointing out the Dragon has issues still, then what the hell were they doing for the year it was down and NOT fix the damn dragon!!!!!???

 

[dina444444]

Yup totally agree!! Under Bob Chapek's control Disney is becoming cheap and in my opinion purposely closing shows and disguising it as "refurbishment" just to save money. Disney is one of the largest power corporations in the world and you are telling me it takes them a whole YEAR to fix World of Color??!!! I don't care what broke, it surely does not take a year to fix, i mean unless the whole structure was torn apart, but from what i gather it was just the control panel. Chapek does not care about getting things operational quickly as the longer it stays dark the more money Disney saves! Fantasmic! is only going down to save money. There cannot be that much wrong with the components of the show as they had a whole year to fix it!! and if there is issues, like people were pointing out the Dragon has issues still, then what the hell were they doing for the year it was down and NOT fix the damn dragon!!!!!???

The electrical room that controls the show was flooded and when that happened a big piece of the fountain contraption collapsed into itself. So it was more than just fixing a control panel. And Murphy doesn’t have its name for no reason.

 

[Jason Ross]

The electrical room that controls the show was flooded and when that happened a big piece of the fountain contraption collapsed into itself. So it was more than just fixing a control panel. And Murphy doesn’t have its name for no reason.

The entire construction of World of Color took 15 Months!! we are now on month 9 since it went down! LOL I mean come on!!

 

[dina444444]

The entire construction of World of Color took 15 Months!! we are now on month 9 since it went down! LOL I mean come on!!

They’ve had to essentially rebuild it.

 

[Jason Ross]

They’ve had to essentially rebuild it.

They should at the very LEAST keep Fantasmic! going until WOC is up and running. Or bring back Paint the Night. SOMETHING!

 

[jlwhitney]

Yup totally agree!! Under Bob Chapek's control Disney is becoming cheap and in my opinion purposely closing shows and disguising it as "refurbishment" just to save money. Disney is one of the largest power corporations in the world and you are telling me it takes them a whole YEAR to fix World of Color??!!! I don't care what broke, it surely does not take a year to fix, i mean unless the whole structure was torn apart, but from what i gather it was just the control panel. Chapek does not care about getting things operational quickly as the longer it stays dark the more money Disney saves! Fantasmic! is only going down to save money. There cannot be that much wrong with the components of the show as they had a whole year to fix it!! and if there is issues, like people were pointing out the Dragon has issues still, then what the hell were they doing for the year it was down and NOT fix the damn dragon!!!!!???

By having woc down they are losing money on the very expensive dessert packages and dining packages.

 

[Christin82]

The entire construction of World of Color took 15 Months!! we are now on month 9 since it went down! LOL I mean come on!!

I love Disney, so I don’t want to think negatively, but I do agree with your reasoning somewhat. I think maybe they could’ve gotten it fixed in 9 months if they really wanted. However, once it was down, people were still coming in droves to the parks in spite of its absence, so Disney might have thought it didn’t make financial sense to make it a major priority to get it fixed quickly. If not having the show didn’t cause any dip in attendance at CA, then they may have decided not to rush to get it going again, considering how expensive it is to run. It was originally offered to draw more crowds to CA, but now that they’re moving toward AP blockout dates that allow pass holders to visit CA only and not DL on certain days, WOC may ultimately prove to be less useful to Disney than it once was.


Good point about the potential money lost in dining packages, but I’ve noticed that Disney seems to be promoting the sale of dining packages less than they used to in the past, probably because the packages require them to have their entertainment calendar finalized in advance. There is no package offering for the Soundsational Parade that starts this month, nor is there anything for Mickey’s Mix Magic, which isn’t even on the entertainment schedule yet, even though we’re just a couple weeks out from the day it’s supposed to debut. If they were worried about losing money on potential WOC/F! packages, they’d have put other packages in its place.

Regardless, I’m totally looking forward to my trip and will try to focus on the positive.

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

So true! A 5 day park hopper is now $370. If I wanted to go for 10 days my only option would be to buy 2 5 day tickets for a total of $740 (or buy an AP).

This! We are staying at DLR for six nights, and would have gladly gotten 6 (maybe even 7) days of tickets, especially given the low price of the promotional tickets they are offering right now. We'll be arriving around 11:00 AM on our arrival Sunday, and won't be hitting the parks because we just don't have enough days of tickets.

 

[Bronxgirl]

We're going for the first time in February. I'm disappointed about the castle and I know my husband will be very disappointed because he loves photography and was looking forward to taking pictures. OTOH, we are both very excited about saving money on our tickets and will still have a great trip (well I hope so, anyway)

 

[Malcon10t]

But Fantasmic I still can’t understand what extensive work it could need after being closed for well over a year..

Fantasmic! hasn't been down in the last year. It has been up and running since July 2017 when it premiered the new show.

I love Disney, so I don’t want to think negatively, but I do agree with your reasoning somewhat. I think maybe they could’ve gotten it fixed in 9 months if they really wanted.

Knowing enough about it, no. Several pieces were special made and still have not arrived. Computer boards were destroyed. It isn't just a "Fix it" situation, it is a rebuild. And think about it from a building standpoint, it is easier to start fresh than to start with something, and have to take that down, and then put the thing back up. Disney would have LOVED to have had it back for Christmas season, to draw crowds there from DL.

Also 9 mos is a mistaken date. It was due to reopen June 22 and it was close to reopen when the accident happened. (I wouldn't have wanted to be there that Monday morning.......) If they had any idea this was going to be this long, they would not have paid big $$$ to put together the Halloween show for Sept/Oct.... So the repair is now at 6.5 mos.

 

[Malcon10t]

There is no package offering for the Soundsational Parade that starts this month, nor is there anything for Mickey’s Mix Magic, which isn’t even on the entertainment schedule yet, even though we’re just a couple weeks out from the day it’s supposed to debut. If they were worried about losing money on potential WOC/F! packages, they’d have put other packages in its place.

It was my understanding Soundsational did not have the draw. It is an older parade and isn't the draw PTN was. As for MMM, it will probably be a month til viewings are available. But rest assured, they are working on it. BTW - Is there a web cam somewhere for Main St? Last night about 3am there was a light show going on. Also on the 26th just after midnight....

 

[Jason Ross]

Fantasmic! hasn't been down in the last year. It has been up and running since July 2017 when it premiered the new show.

Knowing enough about it, no. Several pieces were special made and still have not arrived. Computer boards were destroyed. It isn't just a "Fix it" situation, it is a rebuild. And think about it from a building standpoint, it is easier to start fresh than to start with something, and have to take that down, and then put the thing back up. Disney would have LOVED to have had it back for Christmas season, to draw crowds there from DL.

Also 9 mos is a mistaken date. It was due to reopen June 22 and it was close to reopen when the accident happened. (I wouldn't have wanted to be there that Monday morning.......) If they had any idea this was going to be this long, they would not have paid big $$$ to put together the Halloween show for Sept/Oct.... So the repair is now at 6.5 mos.

You defend Disney like they are so perfect in everything they do! i mean come on!! Fantasmic! in Disneyworld has been running for how long, without needing a refurbishment after a year of operations from being down a year previously. The entertainment schedule for late Jan- March is lacking, you have to admit this!! Tell me why couldn't they just keep Fantasmic! running until they get a start date for WOC at least?

I feel criticism in this is warranted. Many options could have been played to bring in better nighttime entertainment for visitors but Disney choose to not have anything but a laser light show and only for Disneyland. DCA has nothing!

 

[Cal-Pie]

It was my understanding Soundsational did not have the draw. It is an older parade and isn't the draw PTN was. As for MMM, it will probably be a month til viewings are available. But rest assured, they are working on it. BTW - Is there a web cam somewhere for Main St? Last night about 3am there was a light show going on. Also on the 26th just after midnight....

https://www.disboards.com/threads/mix-magic-testing.3727026/

 

[Malcon10t]

You defend Disney like they are so perfect in everything they do! i mean come on!! Fantasmic! in Disneyworld has been running for how long, without needing a refurbishment after a year of operations from being down a year previously.

First, I don't feel Disney is perfect in every way. Only Mary Poppins is.... But I see too many here who complain "It's down when *I* want to go." It has to go down sometime. I'm sorry it is on your visit. But if it isn't your trip, it is someone else's trip.

I am not familiar with Fantasmic! at WDW. Does it have people playing on it's stage and backstage areas every day for 10 hours? Do they use the Mark Twain and Columbia daily in addition to being in the show? Or do they have the ability to do work to the show during the day?

Disneyland's Fantasmic! has been running 18 mos since it's last refurb.