Why does it take 3 years to build a ride?

TwilightZone

Well-Known Member
Better to take time then to have an awful ride. Just look at what happened to journey into your imagination, it was both rushed and had a budget cut and it ended up being one of the worst rides ever made.
 

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
A variety of reasons.

Not only do you have a laundry list of items that have to be done before the first blade of grass is touched, but you have an equally long list of issues that happen during construction...everything from supply issues, scheduling, labor shortages, etc. Couple that with spreading the construction costs over as many quarters as possible to make the CAPEX numbers look better and you have 3 years to build an attraction.

Building fast also costs more than building at a steady pace. You only do it when you have to.
 
Last edited:

Kristoff

Member
As with any large scale projects, i'm sure there are a number of factors which could include things like:
  • Creating the initial design and blueprints
  • Obtaining permits
  • Gathering materials and scheduling crews
  • Weather, unforeseen issues.
There are however a number of unique challenges for Disney in addition to the usual reasons above like:
  • Dismantling and repair of the existing ride if one is being replaced
  • Construction of brand new building and connections with existing buildings
  • Safety Testing
  • IP management (specifically for GotG there is at least another movie in development so they are probably holding off on that to avoid changes if the script kills off or changes any main plot points)
  • Imagineering fine combing details post construction
  • Dealing with the fallout of closing an attraction that might be high volume or loved for long periods of time
Now the argument could be made that Universal has many of these same challenges but still manages to pump out rides in just a year or two time frame. While Universal manages to accomplish this task, I can't help but feel they may be pumping out items in the short term while not thinking about the long term whereas Disney is doing the opposite. New rides I can see taking a few years to develop but simple refurbishments shouldn't take as long (like the recent pirates changes).
 

Gelatoni

Well-Known Member
I don't think you understand how much more time themeing and the new technologies adds to construction and most regional parks close for winter giving them half a year to build uninterrupted.
 

JusticeDisney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I appreciate all of the opinions set forth in this thread, but the idea that it is reasonable to take 3 years to build a freaking roller coaster is just plain silly, IMHO. And please spare me the planning and designing and theming, etc. arguments - all that has been done and ground has actually been broken, yet we are STILL 3 years away! Ridiculous.
 

Walt Disney1955

Well-Known Member
Just saying, for all you hockey fans out there legendary Maple Leaf Gardens was built in 5 months in 1931 at the height of the depression. A hockey arena that seated 15,000 needed only 6 months and it lasted until 1999.

Other than that, it is funny when you see Walt on the show "What's My Line" in 1956. He talks about all the new plans for Disneyland. He said we are already working on things for "next year". They didn't mess around back then.
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
New building, new ride system, new preshows, and since they're building mostly indoors... no rush. If you take everything that's greenlit for the next four years and then rush to get it all built next year, then what do you do the following year with nothing new opening? Then people will start to complain that Disney is stagnating again. Disney can't win here.

People claim that projects get spread out for accounting/stock reasons. To me, that doesn't make sense for the outdoor projects since you don't want to have your equipment and construction rotting in the elements... that can be a bigger cost than any savings from spreading things out. Also, with so many projects happening continually over the next few years, there already is a built-in spread-out of costs of construction as each project comes due. But, if there ever is a candidate for 'spreading it out', indoor construction is it.

And not every construction project is absurdly long....

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