Big Thunder Mountain Railroad closing for major refurbishment August to November 2016

beachlover4444

beachlover4444

Well-Known Member
lnsemsf said:
These dates come direct from Disney and are subject to change. This is one of many newly published refurbishments and I want to get the information out there for all planning their trips.

This is the first of the major refurbishments posted to the calendar today. Big Thunder is reported to be down from April 4th through July 15th, Reopening on July 16th 2016. (These dates have been removed from the refurbishment list and rumors point to August-November as the rescheduled dates.

Lets hope that with a long closure comes big positive changes! Looks like some money may be actually be spent in Florida for a change! Disneyland style final lift hill scene?
Click to expand...
I'm so upset we are going mid april and will miss this one. We dont stay on property so we can never get fastpass to the dwarf ride. ugh
 
glvsav37

glvsav37

Well-Known Member
Now it's my turn to be sad face

Proposed refurb puts it starting right in the middle of our trip. Grrrr. Arriving on the 3rd but wasn't planing on hitting MK till the 6th. If the refurb goes off as planned I'll be able to get a few rides in before it goes down. Maybe a BTM marathon till they kick me out night. Lol

I have a sneaky thought that they are scrapping this one in the end. The ride functions fine and it just had a big refurb a few years ago. Seems all this refurb was bringing was enhanced scenes which in the end is only cosmetic.
 
SplashThunder

SplashThunder

Member
glvsav37 said:
Now it's my turn to be sad face

Proposed refurb puts it starting right in the middle of our trip. Grrrr. Arriving on the 3rd but wasn't planing on hitting MK till the 6th. If the refurb goes off as planned I'll be able to get a few rides in before it goes down. Maybe a BTM marathon till they kick me out night. Lol

I have a sneaky thought that they are scrapping this one in the end. The ride functions fine and it just had a big refurb a few years ago. Seems all this refurb was bringing was enhanced scenes which in the end is only cosmetic.
Click to expand...
I agree! The ride is in great condition IMO
 
ToTBellHop

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
glvsav37 said:
Now it's my turn to be sad face

Proposed refurb puts it starting right in the middle of our trip. Grrrr. Arriving on the 3rd but wasn't planing on hitting MK till the 6th. If the refurb goes off as planned I'll be able to get a few rides in before it goes down. Maybe a BTM marathon till they kick me out night. Lol

I have a sneaky thought that they are scrapping this one in the end. The ride functions fine and it just had a big refurb a few years ago. Seems all this refurb was bringing was enhanced scenes which in the end is only cosmetic.
Click to expand...
I would hate for them to plus the ride if it might impact HALF of your vacation.

Lord help us.
SplashThunder said:
I agree! The ride is in great condition IMO
Click to expand...
How much mine gas did you breathe?
 
glvsav37

glvsav37

Well-Known Member
MansionButler84 said:
I would hate for them to plus the ride if it might impact HALF of your vacation.

Lord help us.
Click to expand...

lol...unwind the panties. I was being sarcastic. I don't recall anywhere that I said I was stamping my feet, canceling my vacation and checking myself into rehab over this. Heck...I was almost looking forward to a BTM marathon if they did plan on going ahead and closing it.

And i would LOVE for them to enhance this attraction to be similar to DL.... whether they close it while I am there or not....but being you can't seem to comprehend my comment, I'll slow it down for you.

(clears throat)
Based on the timing of the delay of this refurbishment coincidentally at the same time management has stated that there will be park-wide budget cuts leads me to assume that possibly management might consider not refurbishing this attraction. My assumption is based on the understanding that there was already capital invested into this attraction fairly recently and overall the attraction is considered in good operational order, i.e. no major defects that would negatively impact the guest experience. So henceforth, while enhancing the attraction would be magical, management may decide to allocate that capital in other attractions that may needed more immediate maintenance, or choose to absorb those costs into the overall budget thinning—at least until the balance sheet reflects a more positive upward revenue swing and discretionary capital expenditures become more available.

how's that? Did the Lord help it?
 
MerlinTheGoat

MerlinTheGoat

Well-Known Member
The ride needs this refurbishment badly. And not just for the Disneyland enhancements. Even the first lift isn't functioning as it's supposed to, the colored lighting effects on the cavern pools are looking quite bad and even some of the simplistic rubber bats weren't moving last time I rode it. The flooded town scene also has some broken animatronics that are supposed to have movement when operated correctly. And of course the third lift speaks for itself, it's an embarrassment in its current form compared to what it used to be (even Paris is down for an extensive overhaul which will include the new DL effects)-


So I really don't care if a few people (including grown up adults) throw temper tantrums over a favorite ride that they have to miss due to a refurbishment, as long as said refurb is actually doing someone to positively impact the guest experience (the ones where Disney just closes a ride to pinch pennies and the ride reopens without any improvements, I understand being irritated). I love BTM, but it has been in horrible shape for years now and should not have been allowed to continue running without addressing the problems. It's more depressing to see its continual decay than to have it closed for a couple of months.

I've experienced numerous missed favorites during visits due to rehabs. Yet even as a child I knew better than to throw a fit about it, because even children can generally grasp what happens when you don't occasionally take the time out to clean and maintain something (as should anyone with a functioning brain and modicum of maturity). Running rides to literal failure like what occurred at Disneyland in the late 90's and early 2000's (compromising both show quality AND guest safety) is a recipe for disaster, and that has unfortunately become the norm for WDW lately. Big Thunder is far from the only ride that suffers from show-compromising maintenance issues in Magic Kingdom alone (Small World, Space Mountain and even ironically Buzz Lightyear all have massive problems, Buzz's recent refurb didn't even address the glaring cleanliness issues that are plaguing the attraction).
 
Mike S

Mike S

Well-Known Member
MerlinTheGoat said:
The ride needs this refurbishment badly. And not just for the Disneyland enhancements. Even the first lift isn't functioning as it's supposed to, the colored lighting effects on the cavern pools are looking quite bad and even some of the simplistic rubber bats weren't moving last time I rode it. The flooded town scene also has some broken animatronics that are supposed to have movement when operated correctly. And of course the third lift speaks for itself, it's an embarrassment in its current form compared to what it used to be (even Paris is down for an extensive overhaul which will include the new DL effects)-


So I really don't care if a few people (including grown up adults) throw temper tantrums over a favorite ride that they have to miss due to a refurbishment, as long as said refurb is actually doing someone to positively impact the guest experience (the ones where Disney just closes a ride to pinch pennies and the ride reopens without any improvements, I understand being irritated). I love BTM, but it has been in horrible shape for years now and should not have been allowed to continue running without addressing the problems. It's more depressing to see its continual decay than to have it closed for a couple of months.

I've experienced numerous missed favorites during visits due to rehabs. Yet even as a child I knew better than to throw a fit about it, because even children can generally grasp what happens when you don't occasionally take the time out to clean and maintain something (as should anyone with a functioning brain and modicum of maturity). Running rides to literal failure like what occurred at Disneyland in the late 90's and early 2000's (compromising both show quality AND guest safety) is a recipe for disaster, and that has unfortunately become the norm for WDW lately. Big Thunder is far from the only ride that suffers from show-compromising maintenance issues in Magic Kingdom alone (Small World, Space Mountain and even ironically Buzz Lightyear all have massive problems, Buzz's recent refurb didn't even address the glaring cleanliness issues that are plaguing the attraction).
Click to expand...

How was that reset every time? o_O
 
WDWFantasmicFan

WDWFantasmicFan

Active Member
Since when did this refurb change date? Really hoping it gets pushed back again - going in late August and love the ride! Anybody know why the original refurb was cancelled?
 
Den Carter

Den Carter

Well-Known Member
Just checking in for confirmation and opinions here, but are the new dates of July - November official? I've checked the Disney World website and can find nothing that confirms or denies the rehab dates. Could someone point me in the right direction? I have a trip coming up in September with a partner who will literally cry uncontrollably and ask if we can change our vacation plans if BTM is closed, so I want to be completely sure before I break the news.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom