“Temporarily Closed”

willsdad01

willsdad01

Member
Original Poster
Ahh…those dreaded two words on the app. I want to thank the CM who credited my credit card for our Genie+ purchase for October 25th, 2023. Nelson was very nice and accommodating. Backstory - long time visitors (since ‘07) who recently moved to Tampa from Indiana. We bought APs in the spring and have been frequently since. Yesterday was quite inconvenient as the more popular rides seem to have issues. Perhaps we’ve become more aware since we now pay (at times) for the Genie+ service, but rides seem to be breaking down more often or are in need of repair/refresh. We were evacuated off Buzz Lightyear in MK yesterday. We hopped to Epcot where LL times had slipped to later in the day…then boom. “Temporarily Closed” haunted Remy. Soarin was 30+ minutes so we did a LL. Upon approachino the building, it showed 15 minutes, but it was too late to cancel as we walked in. We waited longer in the LL than 15 minutes. We did GP for Remy at 7:20 and then poof…gone due to “Temporarily Closed”. We also noticed Seas with Nemo was down. We did see the new Moana experience and it’s nicely done. However, the thin streams of water in the area designed to slide your hand through and make musical sounds already show signs of wear. Some were perfect streams flowing, others were spitting water. Not being critical, but it’s only been open a short time and I watched several videos of opening day and didn’t see the same issue. Back to MK for LL on HM at 9:10p. Ride shows “TA” on app…ugh. By the time we went from the gate to the ride, it was open. Nice size LL. Towards the end, the ride stops. This wasn’t for handicapped boarding. 10 minutes or so later, it’s working. Why not test fate and head back to Buzz? Upon getting there and getting in the LL line, the ride is stopped…and stopped…and stopped. Finally, rolling again. We jokingly asked a CM if we’d get stuck again and she quips, “Who knows! No promises!”. That’s reassuring.

We aren’t ride experts, but we have been enough to see more and more ride issues. Audio issues with HM back in Sept. Space M closing for after hours event and not reopening. Talking with the CM at the Grand Fl as we left, she said it’s been a slow fall and her colleague from the Contemporary says the same. Our former state reported record travel from the airport for fall break. Clearly WDW wasn’t the destination of choice for many. Has WDW reached its ceiling? Is the value gone now? Used to be parades at all parks, Magical Express, affordable accommodations at the moderates. Today, we certainly couldn’t and wouldn’t take week vacations to WDW. We’ll also evaluate our AP’s for renewal. We’ve been loyal fans over the years, but now…ugh.
 
D

DisneyFanatic12

Well-Known Member
From my experience, the rate of rides breaking down now is negligibly different from before. However, some things don’t seem to be maintained as well as I remember. I want to say that it’s different, but watching videos of a while back, nothing was as “great” as I remember it. For me, I get plenty of value out of my AP, but it might be hard to justify one living in Tampa if you do not visit frequently. Many perks have gone, and yet I would not say that the value is gone. For many it is diminished, but in many cases a trip to WDW is still wonderful and an AP carries tremendous value for frequent visitors.
 
Smiley/OCD

Smiley/OCD

Well-Known Member
Our first trip was our honeymoon in 1993…perfect trip? Nope, but things back then seemed much better…CM’s used to make a HABIT of moving heaven and earth to satisfy a guest…now it seems the only thing they move is us, cause the ride is closed and we’re in the way…
 
muddyrivers

muddyrivers

Well-Known Member
DisneyFanatic12 said:
From my experience, the rate of rides breaking down now is negligibly different from before. However, some things don’t seem to be maintained as well as I remember. I want to say that it’s different, but watching videos of a while back, nothing was as “great” as I remember it. For me, I get plenty of value out of my AP, but it might be hard to justify one living in Tampa if you do not visit frequently. Many perks have gone, and yet I would not say that the value is gone. For many it is diminished, but in many cases a trip to WDW is still wonderful and an AP carries tremendous value for frequent visitors.
Click to expand...
I agree the rate is likely not much different than before, but what has changed is the reason for them breaking down, or rather being closed.

In years gone by if the Moana water effect wasn't working exactly as it should have, it would have immediately gone 101 and stayed down until the effect was fixed. Those "little" reasons for shutting a ride down are likely a contributor to why the rate of rides being down in the past is only negligibly different than it is in today's world. Now to be fair to today's Disney, our family recently rode through Pirates and one of the AAs in the jail scene had his arm exposed. We reported it at unload and about 15 minutes later Pirates was "temporarily closed," and the clothing was fixed when we rode that afternoon. Coincidence, I think not and it was something I was appreciative to see.
 
Smiley/OCD

Smiley/OCD

Well-Known Member
DisneyFanatic12 said:
From my experience, the rate of rides breaking down now is negligibly different from before. However, some things don’t seem to be maintained as well as I remember. I want to say that it’s different, but watching videos of a while back, nothing was as “great” as I remember it. For me, I get plenty of value out of my AP, but it might be hard to justify one living in Tampa if you do not visit frequently. Many perks have gone, and yet I would not say that the value is gone. For many it is diminished, but in many cases a trip to WDW is still wonderful and an AP carries tremendous value for frequent visitors.
Click to expand...
The only thing that has changed (and we KNOW this to be true), is that the “third shift”/maintenance crews have been scaled WAY back due to the pandemic, attrition, etc. It’s unfortunate but welcome to the 2023 version of Disney…
 
MickeyLuv'r

MickeyLuv'r

Well-Known Member
Quite a few forum members have expressed the same sentiment. Tomorrowland Terrace is not the only dining location place that has been closed/seasonal/reduced menu from what they once served in MK. I'll grant, some menu changes are welcome updates. Others are not. I will always miss the warm Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies and the equally good chocolate chunk cookies WDW used to serve at Sleepy Hollow. Sleepy Hollow even offered them as a handmade ice cream+ cookie sandwich that was hand scooped to order. It was so good, because the cookies were very fresh/crisp with big chocolate chunks.

A CM once told us, "WDW will never get rid of these, they are too popular."
Sigh.
 
M

Marionnette

Well-Known Member
DisneyFanatic12 said:
From my experience, the rate of rides breaking down now is negligibly different from before. However, some things don’t seem to be maintained as well as I remember. I want to say that it’s different, but watching videos of a while back, nothing was as “great” as I remember it. For me, I get plenty of value out of my AP, but it might be hard to justify one living in Tampa if you do not visit frequently. Many perks have gone, and yet I would not say that the value is gone. For many it is diminished, but in many cases a trip to WDW is still wonderful and an AP carries tremendous value for frequent visitors.
Click to expand...
@lentesta posted charts showing the average daily downtown per attraction in minutes. Overall, EPCOT and AK have improved downtime since 2020 but there are exceptions (see FEA and Dinosaur). TT and Ratatouille still manage 60+ minutes of daily downtime even though that's less than in previous years. EE and Kali clock in at just under 1 hour. HS has an horrendous record, especially given how few rides there are in the park. MK looks particularly bad with every ride except PP and JC showing an increase in the amount of downtime.

IOW, people who say there seems to be an increase in rides being "temporarily unavailable" have empirical data to support their claims.

Is attendance really down at WDW this or…

It doesn’t matter what lentesta says. I’d love for @lentesta to comment because the touringplans crowd levels for October look pretty similar to previous October’s to me.
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