Splash and BTMR closed again this morning? [Thursday Feb. 22nd]

[knk504]

We were there last Friday, February 16, and Splash was down almost all day, Pirates was down for a while in the morning, BTM was down a large portion of the day, and Space Mt. went down multiple times as well.

 

[Cissigys]

Lol. Nice. We're nearing the end of our trip. I'm at the point where I'm intentionally grabbing any Splash or BTMRR fastpass I can find, under the assumption it will essentially turn into an anytime fastpass. If not, then that's just an added bonus!

Our strategy sort of worked tonight. Had a 6:55 FP for BTMRR which was, of course, still down. Got the email saying we could use it for something else (yay!), went to Haunted Mansion, and the CM warned us the fast pass line was going to take about 30 to 45 minutes (what?!). Gave up and took my little one back to the hotel. Even the line at guest relations was too long to try and sort anything out. Hoping tomorrow goes better for our last day.

 

[LAE7]

BTMR, Space and Splash are all down now - all three mountains!

 

[zillayen]

BTMR, Space and Splash are all down now - all three mountains!

I've just been watching it all day. The Carousel is also down now, which I don't think I've ever seen before!

Also, good thing there's no DAH tonight...

 

[Haley R]

I've just been watching it all day. The Carousel is also down now, which I don't think I've ever seen before!

Also, good thing there's no DAH tonight...

They better figure something out before next Thursday. I didn’t pay over $100 for a 3 hour event to ride dumbo 20 times.

 

[LSUmiss]

Yes, and heaven forbid they shut it down for refurb. Oh, the horrors and injustices!!!

Look, none of us here have any idea why they're down. Could be mechanical, could be moronic guests, could be random luck. But seems we sure want to jump to conclusions and say "See, it's cost cutting". How do you know?? You can say I'm defending, great. I'm simply saying I...or any of us...really have no clue why they're down. There are plenty of possible explanations, of which we don't know that any are right or wrong. We've spent 35+ days in WDW over the past 9 months and have experienced very few ride closures, definitely nothing more than we've seen in years past. The only exception to that seemed to be PeopleMover, which we noticed was down a lot...but then again even that stopped this past Christmas trip as we never saw it down. Is it random luck? Were they not cost cutting on the days we were there? Who knows??

However, if there was a still a down time that’s when a lot of things got refurbished & ppl expected it. But, when wdw themselves have admitted to structuring pricing so as to eliminate a down time then ppl expect rides to be up & working. If that’s not a good strategy for keeping rides refurbished & running, then perhaps wdw should reconsider their pricing & marketing techniques instead of running the parks at capacity on a daily basis, milking the parks for every penny their worth & running the attractions into the ground.

 

[Lost Yeti]

Splash is a mystery to me since it did just go through a refurbishment. I know they did a lot of AA work and touched up the aesthetics. No idea if they worked on any of the mechanical components though I certainly hope so. I blame the addition of the remix of "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah" at the end of the ride

These issues with the newer rides might simply be due to the increased technology/complexity. More parts, especially moving ones, means more that can go wrong. Flight of Passage is the most mechanically complex attraction Disney has ever built with Tower of Terror (WDW version) as the second and it is also frequently down.

WDI creates maintenance manuals (usually one for each system - think mechanical, electrical, etc.) for every new attraction before it is handed over to the parks. I would think that the budget/time constraints placed on those who maintain the rides make it very hard for them to do their jobs properly. There's also basic human nature. I'm sure it's a point of contention with WDI - unfortunate really.

The really interesting thing to me is that Expedition Everest, Yeti aside, keeps chugging along despite never having a major refurbishment since it opened in 2006.

 

[mom2rtk]

However, if there was a still a down time that’s when a lot of things got refurbished & ppl expected it. But, when wdw themselves have admitted to structuring pricing so as to eliminate a down time then ppl expect rides to be up & working. If that’s not a good strategy for keeping rides refurbished & running, then perhaps wdw should reconsider their pricing & marketing techniques instead of running the parks at capacity on a daily basis, milking the parks for every penny their worth & running the attractions into the ground.

Exactly that.

 

[LSUmiss]

I liked the earlier poster pointing out we don’t know why things are down.

When I worked at Space, 8 out of 10 times the ride went down it was because guests weren’t getting out of the rockets fast enough. Causing a backup at unload and the ride to stop.

It sounds like maintenance may be an issue now, and I had some frustrations on my last visit. But there are numerous reasons the rides could be down.

I don’t know if this is possible, but if it’s causing the ride to go down that often then it’s poorly designed if that many ppl are shutting the ride down on a daily basis b/c ppl aren’t unloading fast enough.

 

[LSUmiss]

Same here.
Though I haven't counted the number of days we've been in the parks the past 2 years. With AP's and over 5 trips per year, each year, it's a lot. I don't ever check the app to see if rides are up or down, when I'm not there, which seems to be something lots of folks here do.
But we've had less than 10 FP convert to anytime FP in all our FP on all our park days, even including our extras we've gotten. We just haven't found that many outages.
That doesn't discount that there are a lot of them happening right now. I can see that there are. Only mentioning that it doesn't appear to be wide spread but isolated. Heck, maybe they've had some computer system issues, since their rides run on computers now. I know that is often the cause of the monorail problems.

But yeah, the trendy thing to do on the boards anymore is to trash Disney. If everyone that was negative towards Disney was truly as negative as they come across on the keyboard surely there is no way they'd still be going to Disney. If I felt the way many of these posts read I sure wouldn't spend thousands of dollars with that company. Which is why I think the posts are leaning way more negative than the poster really is. Just my opinion.

But that’s also why it really doesn’t bug you b/c it’s no big deal if you skip something. That’s us too. We have APs & go 4-5 times a yr. But this past trip was a week long family vacation with ppl who will be once in a lifetime guests. Traveling with them made me realize how ridiculous all of these disappointments can be. It’s not that it’s “trendy” to complain. And, frankly, I find that so dismissive of ppl’s opinions esp those who don’t have the luxury to visit often. I think some of the ppl with negative opinions still go b/c they love WDW & hope it’ll get better or tweak their own plans & hope they’ve discovered a strategy to mitigate the issues. I also think it’s b/c there is a constant flow of ppl who don’t know better who may have a bad time & never return, but there is someone else in line to take their place. I’m always amazed of how first time buttons I see every trip.

 

[LSUmiss]

So, I thought I'd check and see if any of those 3 rides had come back online. Not only have the NOT come back up, but Peoplemover is now down, too. OY.

Ppl mover was utterly ridiculous last week. In broke down several times while we were in line every day we tried it. They basically could only let like 10 ppl on it & then it would break & the line would stop moving.

 

[mom2rtk]

But that’s also why it really doesn’t bug you b/c it’s no big deal if you skip something. That’s us too. We have APs & go 4-5 times a yr. But this past trip was a week long family vacation with ppl who will be once in a lifetime guests. Traveling with them made me realize how ridiculous all of these disappointments can be. It’s not that it’s “trendy” to complain. And, frankly, I find that so dismissive of ppl’s opinions esp those who don’t have the luxury to visit often. I think some of the ppl with negative opinions still go b/c they love WDW & hope it’ll get better or tweak their own plans & hope they’ve discovered a strategy to mitigate the issues. I also think it’s b/c there is a constant flow of ppl who don’t know better who may have a bad time & never return, but there is someone else in line to take their place. I’m always amazed of how first time buttons I see every trip.

I totally agree that makes a huge difference. It is very dismissive of someone who goes often to tell those who can't get back again any time soon that they should be willing to pay top dollar then just go with the flow when stuff like this happens.

Ppl mover was utterly ridiculous last week. In broke down several times while we were in line every day we tried it. They basically could only let like 10 ppl on it & then it would break & the line would stop moving.

We might make it to the MK one day this summer. If we do and the People Mover isn't working, it's not going to be pretty! I caused us to miss it on our last visit (waited too late thinking it was open during EMH) so we are WAY overdue for a ride on my daughter's favorite Disney ride!

 

[LSUmiss]

I totally agree that makes a huge difference. It is very dismissive of someone who goes often to tell those who can't get back again any time soon that they should be willing to pay top dollar then just go with the flow when stuff like this happens.

We might make it to the MK one day this summer. If we do and the People Mover isn't working, it's not going to be pretty! I caused us to miss it on our last visit (waited too late thinking it was open during EMH) so we are WAY overdue for a ride on my daughter's favorite Disney ride!

Lol! I love it too which is why I waited for the ridiculous break downs. My DH was about to kill me.

 

[kagmypts]

I understand ride closures, but the level and frequency with which it is happening is inexcusable. When people pay admission to a theme park, they expect to be able to ride attractions. That's not an unreasonable expectation. When all of the headliners are closed for hours (and in some cases days in a row), the rest of the rides buckle under the crowds. Disney needs to figure out a way to better maintain their rides.

And for the record I have no issues with scheduled refurbishments or weather taking rides down. Something is going to have to give, or Disney is going to be left holding the bag. In recent months, I have heard more comments on here about people who are no longer getting value from Disney. The economy is roaring right now, but Disney should be on high alert when things begin to slow down. People are not going to spend thousands of dollars to go to a park where they wait in line and may not even be able to get on a ride. IMO, Disney is eyeing short-terms profits at the expense of their long-term desirability.

 

[mom2rtk]

Lol! I love it too which is why I waited for the ridiculous break downs. My DH was about to kill me.

I'll be right there waiting in line as long as it takes if we make it and it breaks down.

 

[mom2rtk]

I understand ride closures, but the level and frequency with which it is happening is inexcusable. When people pay admission to a theme park, they expect to be able to ride attractions. That's not an unreasonable expectation. When all of the headliners are closed for hours (and in some cases days in a row), the rest of the rides buckle under the crowds. Disney needs to figure out a way to better maintain their rides.

And for the record I have no issues with scheduled refurbishments or weather taking rides down. Something is going to have to give, or Disney is going to be left holding the bag. In recent months, I have heard more comments on here about people who are no longer getting value from Disney. The economy is roaring right now, but Disney should be on high alert when things begin to slow down. People are not going to spend thousands of dollars to go to a park where they wait in line and may not even be able to get on a ride. IMO, Disney is eyeing short-terms profits at the expense of their long-term desirability.

Same here! I totally get the scheduled refurbishments. Take them down and maintain them so this stuff doesn't have to happen. But also continue to build up the parks so they can withstand losing a ride here or there for refurbishment. That said, if we do make it to the MK this summer and if the People Mover would happen to close for refurbishment, I reserve the right to throw a childish fit.

 

[anniemae]

Lol! I love it too which is why I waited for the ridiculous break downs. My DH was about to kill me.

I rope dropped it. DH was going to kill me. LOVE people mover.

 

[Mom2Stitch]

I don’t know if this is possible, but if it’s causing the ride to go down that often then it’s poorly designed if that many ppl are shutting the ride down on a daily basis b/c ppl aren’t unloading fast enough.

I love Space, hate the unloading part. I'm not a spring chicken anymore and it does take me a little longer to get out of it. I don't think enough though that would cause it to shut down for hours at time though!

I do think that as paying customers we do have a right to reasonable expectations, especially for the amount of money Disney charges. Yes things happen that are out of their control, but it is how they react to it that matters. Rides are a huge part of the Disney experience, they should be a priority to keep in top shape. I'm sorry, but I just don't think that we should give them a pass when it's a continuous problem just because we love Disney. The rides and attractions do endure a lot of use from the high crowds, but Disney is enjoying the money those crowds bring in.

Hour long FP lines? Rides down not just for hours, but the entire day? Disney is not holding up their end of the expectations.

ETA: In reading other threads and the discontentment of several posters who have just returned stating the "sour taste" that Disney has left them with, I wonder how many of them have let Disney know that with an email or letter. Does Disney have people who read forums like this? Are they paying attention?

 

[Linkura]

Splash is finally back up, Space as well. BTMRR still down. At least Splash wasn't down the ENTIRE day, I guess...?

 

[bjs1228]

We will be there in early March and this makes me so nervous!