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

[hiroMYhero]

If the ride is down and you have a FP+ for it, that becomes an anytime FP for that ride unless you switch it to something else, correct?

The Anytime FP you receive is a Bonus FP with some restrictions.

You can reschedule the FP of the downed Attraction for another FP for an open ride.

 

[Sleepy425]

September 2016 we did 4 days in the parks.
We were escorted off Toy Story
Philharmagic stopped at the point where the prop stage is supposed to go up (we waited a while, but they ended up having everyone leave)
My husband and sons were next to get on Space Mountain when it went down
On our Hollywood Studios day my husband and son went straight to Rockin Rollercoaster only to find it wasn't operating yet.
These are just the rides we were physically at. And none of these were just short interruptions to the ride. All were complete shutdowns of the ride. In all my Disney trips I had never seen so many things go wrong. I worked in Magic Kingdom, and I know Splash was always an issue back in 2004 - we were always radioing down to our office in the utilidors to find out if it was "101 or 102" when a guest would ask.
If you go to the parks and don't experience rides down, consider yourself lucky. I have a friend who goes to the parks daily. He gets so excited to be evacuated from rides. He will often only go on 1-2 rides a day, but he has managed through the years to rack up quite a list of rides he has been evacuated from.

 

[zillayen]

It is an anytime FP that works for a list of rides. You don't necessarily have to use it on the ride you had an FP for. I've only gotten one in 3 years of being an AP and it was when ToT went down at DHS. It worked for pretty much any ride/show except Toy Story Mania.

I've heard conflicting things over whether it will work on 7DMT. Did anyone that got them this week have luck with that?

 

[Haley R]

My phone says splash and 7dmt are both closed right now...

 

[Lost Yeti]

I've heard conflicting things over whether it will work on 7DMT. Did anyone that got them this week have luck with that?

I would be surprised if it did. They usually don't work for newer, popular attractions. I do not know for sure though.

However, if you had an FP for 7DMT and the ride breaks down then your anytime FP will work for 7DMT.

 

[MainMom]

My phone says splash and 7dmt are both closed right now...

The app is showing splash for me.

 

[Princess_Lisa]

It is an anytime FP that works for a list of rides. You don't necessarily have to use it on the ride you had an FP for. I've only gotten one in 3 years of being an AP and it was when ToT went down at DHS. It worked for pretty much any ride/show except Toy Story Mania.

Usually it is any ride except a few really popular ones. My last ME FP excluded Peter Pan, Avatar, Navi River, and I think Frozen (maybe Toy Story, but can't remember). I was surprised it included 7DMT. Normally they are only good at the same park and same day, but apparently if it is in the last hour the park is open they are good at all 4 parks and through the following day.

 

[whiporee]

I also think any complaint about Disney on these boards tends to be met with a pretty strong "Disney can do no wrong" reaction. Every. Single. Cutback. ends up justified somehow as a consequence of bad guests or other factors completely outside of Disney's control, as though WDW is above making cuts just to improve profits, and Every. Single. Complaint. is met with at least a few posters lecturing about how the complaining guest should have handled things differently or was really at fault for the situation in the first place.

I don't think it's the complaints nearly as much as it is the statements behind the complaints -- ie, WDW is penny pinching and not living up to its own standards, yada yada yada -- when in fact NONE of us here understand why things happen at WDW the way they do. Maybe they can't hire people to work the late-night shift to repair rides, or do housekeeping or be polite to every single guest that walks in the gates. Unemployment is at a relatively low level these days. Or maybe the higher influxes of people wear the rides down faster and because most of the headliners at WDW are 25+years old which makes them even more susceptible to breaking down, and there's no real way to replace them, because they need rebuilds, not repairs, but doing so disappoints and angers people who made their vacation plans two years ago. Maybe all the people in scooters need more time to get in and out of cars. Maybe FP+, while having the advantage of cutting down on individual wait times, has increased wait times across the board because people get ore spread out. You call them "cutbacks" without a single bit of actual evidence that a) budgets have actually been cut and b) those hypothetical cuts are the reason for problems. We don't see WDW's operating budget; we have no idea where this year compares to last years or compares to two or three decades ago. Yet people have absolutely no issue saying as fact WDW is cutting back in order to increase profits.

We don't know why bad things happen at WDW -- why rides get taken off line or don't run perfectly -- but the assumption is always because WDW is not doing the best they can to increase guest satisfaction. Just like you say every single complaint is defended, I'd say that every single complaint is taken both as gospel and an example that WDW is only out to steal as much money as it can from its guests. I'd also say that the commentary in a thread like this is aggressive in both its tone and assumptions. Many of the people commenting are not in the park at all -- they're watching the app and making commentary and criticism based on things they are not actually experiencing, and extrapolating into pretty wholesale condemnation.

I'd also add this -- I've been at WDW when rides have been down. it's disappointing. But its not a long-time and reoccurring issue for most of us. A lot of people here have gone to the parks without wholesale outages, and they want to make that point to people reading. Like you said earlier, you're nervous about an upcoming trip, and some people are just trying to point out that maybe, just maybe, those worries might not be as legitimate as these boards sometimes make it seem.

 

[LizzyS]

Disney is a publicly traded company, so their financial statements should be readily available if anyone really wants to go there and back up their claims, tbh.

 

[Kathlita]

I've heard conflicting things over whether it will work on 7DMT. Did anyone that got them this week have luck with that?

I have one for my upcoming trip and 7DMT is listed as a choice on MDE.

 

[LSUmiss]

I don't think it's the complaints nearly as much as it is the statements behind the complaints -- ie, WDW is penny pinching and not living up to its own standards, yada yada yada -- when in fact NONE of us here understand why things happen at WDW the way they do. Maybe they can't hire people to work the late-night shift to repair rides, or do housekeeping or be polite to every single guest that walks in the gates. Unemployment is at a relatively low level these days. Or maybe the higher influxes of people wear the rides down faster and because most of the headliners at WDW are 25+years old which makes them even more susceptible to breaking down, and there's no real way to replace them, because they need rebuilds, not repairs, but doing so disappoints and angers people who made their vacation plans two years ago. Maybe all the people in scooters need more time to get in and out of cars. Maybe FP+, while having the advantage of cutting down on individual wait times, has increased wait times across the board because people get ore spread out. You call them "cutbacks" without a single bit of actual evidence that a) budgets have actually been cut and b) those hypothetical cuts are the reason for problems. We don't see WDW's operating budget; we have no idea where this year compares to last years or compares to two or three decades ago. Yet people have absolutely no issue saying as fact WDW is cutting back in order to increase profits.

We don't know why bad things happen at WDW -- why rides get taken off line or don't run perfectly -- but the assumption is always because WDW is not doing the best they can to increase guest satisfaction. Just like you say every single complaint is defended, I'd say that every single complaint is taken both as gospel and an example that WDW is only out to steal as much money as it can from its guests. I'd also say that the commentary in a thread like this is aggressive in both its tone and assumptions. Many of the people commenting are not in the park at all -- they're watching the app and making commentary and criticism based on things they are not actually experiencing, and extrapolating into pretty wholesale condemnation.

I'd also add this -- I've been at WDW when rides have been down. it's disappointing. But its not a long-time and reoccurring issue for most of us. A lot of people here have gone to the parks without wholesale outages, and they want to make that point to people reading. Like you said earlier, you're nervous about an upcoming trip, and some people are just trying to point out that maybe, just maybe, those worries might not be as legitimate as these boards sometimes make it seem.

We don’t know, of course, but it’s naive to think it’s not $$$$ related. Unfortunately, this is how MANY companies operate these days. Like a pp said, many only worry about short term goals & not how it’ll effect the co long term.

 

[mshanson3121]

Disney is a publicly traded company, so their financial statements should be readily available if anyone really wants to go there and back up their claims, tbh.

Exactly. And I'm pretty sure it's been done several times on here, in other threads over the last couple years.

 

[Lost Yeti]

We don't know why bad things happen at WDW -- why rides get taken off line or don't run perfectly -- but the assumption is always because WDW is not doing the best they can to increase guest satisfaction. Just like you say every single complaint is defended, I'd say that every single complaint is taken both as gospel and an example that WDW is only out to steal as much money as it can from its guests. I'd also say that the commentary in a thread like this is aggressive in both its tone and assumptions. Many of the people commenting are not in the park at all -- they're watching the app and making commentary and criticism based on things they are not actually experiencing, and extrapolating into pretty wholesale condemnation.

I'd also add this -- I've been at WDW when rides have been down. it's disappointing. But its not a long-time and reoccurring issue for most of us. A lot of people here have gone to the parks without wholesale outages, and they want to make that point to people reading. Like you said earlier, you're nervous about an upcoming trip, and some people are just trying to point out that maybe, just maybe, those worries might not be as legitimate as these boards sometimes make it seem.

You're dead on regarding the tone of threads like this. I wouldn't worry about upcoming trips based on the last few days as major simultaneous outages are very rare. It is not in WDW's best financial interest to have repeats of earlier this week and I'm sure they are doing what they can to resolve those issues. Don't let these experiences fill you with anxiety about your upcoming trips. Go in with a plan, but be ready to be flexible as there is only so much you can control. Know that Disney wants you to be happy and they usually do whatever they reasonably can to make sure that happens. So much is about state of mind. I've had many many happy days at WDW and honestly, my worst experience was outside of the park when it took me 3+ hours to renew my AP.

That being said, one can usually get an idea of what the issue is based on how long a ride is down. A ride being offline for multiple hours is likely not guest related (barring something catastrophic) but technical. Technical issues happen - it is just bad luck when you have days like the other day.

My biggest issues are with things like the Yeti in Expedition Everest and the changes to Kali River Rapids. I think it's shameful that nothing has been done or announced re: EE's Yeti. You can't build a ride around an encounter, market that encounter, and through action say "oh well - we can't afford to deal with that now" when it breaks within several months. At least, if you're going to do that, don't put up signs like this in the shadow of EE.

Give super advance notice, shut it down for however long it takes (1-2 years), and get it right.

 

[anniemae]

I also think any complaint about Disney on these boards tends to be met with a pretty strong "Disney can do no wrong" reaction. Every. Single. Cutback. ends up justified somehow as a consequence of bad guests or other factors completely outside of Disney's control, as though WDW is above making cuts just to improve profits, and Every. Single. Complaint. is met with at least a few posters lecturing about how the complaining guest should have handled things differently or was really at fault for the situation in the first place.

Yes, there are posters who will argue that Disney can do no wrong. No matter what horrid situation someone brings up, it's always the guest's fault. And sometimes it is, but often Disney is clearly slacking and certain people will defend them no matter what.

It reminds of something that someone posted that made me laugh. They said, "Disney could implement a policy where they whack every fifth guest in the knee with a lead pipe and certain people on these boards would blame YOU for being the fifth person in line." I LOL when I read that.

 

[DVCcurious]

There have been more and more rides down recently. We went last summer and were surprised at the break downs. It was constant. We rope dropped SM, but got there and it was down for the whole morning.

Please don’t use the 2 letter SM abbreviation because it’s not clear which ride you’re talking about. I recommend a 4 letter (2 per word) abbreviation: Sp Mt. it’s much less confusing.

 

[kstand]

Please don’t use the 2 letter SM abbreviation because it’s not clear which ride you’re talking about. I recommend a 4 letter (2 per word) abbreviation: Sp Mt. it’s much less confusing.

Haha. I still don't know which mt. that Would mean.

 

[anniemae]

Haha. I still don't know which mt. that Would mean.

LOL!

 

[kandb]

EDIT: I'll put my thoughts back in.

There seems to be a lynch mob mentality that WDW is evil, only wants money, etc... I don't buy into it. YMMV, but just like you, I can think what I want. My feelings are:

As others who have gone or go to WDW often have said, this is NOT normal, far from it. So I'm not going to cast this blanket over all WDW all the time. It's simply not how it normally goes.

Nobody here knows why the rides are down. No clue. In this thread and others, there have been CMs or former CMs who say repeatedly that 80% or more of ride closures are guest related. That's consistent with what I've heard from CMs I know. What if a lot of this truly is guest related?? Should WDW come out and publicly blame their guests?

For argument sake, let's say it is mechanical... Even then we don't know why. If it's mechanical due to simple budget cuts and lack of routine and proper maintenance, then absolutely...shame on them. What if it's unforeseen failure? The Toyota Camry is the most reliable car on the planet. Even well maintained, it can break. It's a machine. WDW rides are pretty complex, very complex. We don't know what the problem is, mechanical, guest, a combination, so I'm not going to jump to conclusions.

If it's a guest issue, obviously WDW isn't going to blame their paying customers publicly. If it's mechanical, again, we don't know for sure what the source of that is. Everyone here, myself included, would simply be guessing. What's the solution? Again, we'd be guessing. Intentionally having a "slow season", shorter hours for more maintenance time, closing rides for long times for full overhauls, etc...all have very clear downsides which are griped about here often. As a poster here said, it's a bit of a Catch 22 for them. I'm confident they have some very smart people working at very high levels, and maybe I'm alone, but I have faith that they aren't sitting in the high corner office with a cigar and laughing evilly like Mr. Burns from The Simpsons as guests get turned away from rides. YMMV.

I don't think most people think it's a "lynch mob mentality", HOWEVER, when Disney is raising their ticket prices a few times a year and charge over $100 for a ONE day ticket, they should do a better job and spend more money keeping their rides up and running. If they put the $$$$$ into maintenance, these issues wouldn't happen all the time. People expect better from Disney, especially when they are paying top dollar!!!

 

[ChristineOH]

Please don’t use the 2 letter SM abbreviation because it’s not clear which ride you’re talking about. I recommend a 4 letter (2 per word) abbreviation: Sp Mt. it’s much less confusing.

You gotta do Splash or Space. No abbreviating there, other than leaving off the mountain. It IS confusing.

 

[Colleen27]

I don't think it's the complaints nearly as much as it is the statements behind the complaints -- ie, WDW is penny pinching and not living up to its own standards, yada yada yada -- when in fact NONE of us here understand why things happen at WDW the way they do. Maybe they can't hire people to work the late-night shift to repair rides, or do housekeeping or be polite to every single guest that walks in the gates. Unemployment is at a relatively low level these days. Or maybe the higher influxes of people wear the rides down faster and because most of the headliners at WDW are 25+years old which makes them even more susceptible to breaking down, and there's no real way to replace them, because they need rebuilds, not repairs, but doing so disappoints and angers people who made their vacation plans two years ago. Maybe all the people in scooters need more time to get in and out of cars. Maybe FP+, while having the advantage of cutting down on individual wait times, has increased wait times across the board because people get ore spread out. You call them "cutbacks" without a single bit of actual evidence that a) budgets have actually been cut and b) those hypothetical cuts are the reason for problems. We don't see WDW's operating budget; we have no idea where this year compares to last years or compares to two or three decades ago. Yet people have absolutely no issue saying as fact WDW is cutting back in order to increase profits.

But these things aren't as unknowable as some like to pretend they are. We do know some things. Some because they're a matter of public record or widely reported as news, some because they're reported in Disney's disclosures as a publicly traded company, some because we hear first-hand reports from cast, some because we see them with our own eyes. You can look at annual earnings reports and see how the parks division has essentially subsidized less/unprofitable segments of the company, keeping the bottom line on target to meet expectations and keep stock prices chugging along despite issues elsewhere in the company. You can read, in the company's own words, that WDW is performing well because of lower costs and higher ticket and room prices. You can read about increased capital spending due to the Shanghai park, partially offset by lower spending on domestic parks. This information is all out there and public for anyone who wants to look (and like a lot of fans, I own a small amount of Disney stock so I tend to bother reading it from time to time).

But even if it wasn't, some of this stuff is just weak excuses. For example - Disney is having such a hard time attracting housekeeping staff that they're offering huge sign-on bonuses... but at the same time, they're withholding their promised (and widely reported for all that good press) tax-cut bonuses to as leverage to try to get the union to concede to keeping hourly wages flat. It is disingenuous to pretend that is out of their control. They are consciously striving to keep wages down, even if it means being chronically understaffed, despite market conditions that demand increases. When unemployment is low, wages are expected to rise; Disney is trying to fight Econ 101 here, either for the sake of short-term profit goals or because they anticipate an impending economic downturn and don't want to be "stuck" paying higher wages that they feel will soon be unnecessary, and in the meantime the guest experience suffers.