News Big Thunder Mountain to receive full retrack

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The most recent attraction retheme is an odd one to the above statement. High budget, a debatable quality, and a fast pace.

And they’ve been doing a “pay no attention behind the curtain” press push on it…

Which is of course trying to guilt the public and press into not criticizing its shortcomings

Brilliant

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

This was true once upon a time but the delta has reduced significantly.

Mmmmm…that sounds like “nothing is like Disney…”

And the delta on that has significantly reduced too

 

[DonniePeverley]

China built a hospital for covid in 7 days.

Wasn't Diagon alley also built in a couple of years ?

How can just replacing roller coaster tracks for 1 attraction take 1 year ?

The general consensus seems to be budget cutting once again.

 

[TheCoasterNerd]

China built a hospital for covid in 7 days.

Wasn't Diagon alley also built in a couple of years ?

How can just replacing roller coaster tracks for 1 attraction take 1 year ?

The general consensus seems to be budget cutting once again.

No, it's so that when you ride it you don't die. It's a legal thing. I promise you that. Remember, the one at Disneyland all the way back in 2014 took 14 months. The Space Mountain retrack in 2005 took two years. This isn't new or something. This is how roller coasters work.

 

[Delta-7]

I believe it’s been indicated on this thread that this refurb is more than just a track replacement, no?

 

[Coaster Lover]

Thematic elements you need to work around... lots of tight quarters... multiple tunnels which will require a lot of manual effort to carefully remove track pieces and then replace them with new track... a year seems about right.

 

[JoeCamel]

Hulk took a year to reopen and that was done with track out in the open. This is being done with rockwork in the way so a year or even a bit more is acceptable per your Universal standards.

Hulk they rebuilt the footers

 

[lazyboy97o]

Hulk they rebuilt the footers

That’s not really that big of a deal when they are out in the open. They’re concrete foundations.

 

[JoeCamel]

That’s not really that big of a deal when they are out in the open. They’re concrete foundations.

Took lots of time, had to dam the lagoon etc. it was cool to see the process to repair them.

 

[doctornick]

It took Disney 3 years to build Epcot from start to finish.

Why would replacing a track for ONE attraction take 1/3 of the time it took to build an entire park ?

This is one of the stupidest arguments that ever gets brought here. All the things in opening day Epcot were being built in parallel not consecutively. It isn’t like they fully built SSE then started with World of Motion then began Universe of Energy.

Disney can build things in 3 years time without problems today too. If they wanted (i.e. willing to spend the money) they could build 10 or 20 things at once in three years time now too. Nothing about that Epcot build is remarkable in terms onf timeframe.

If you really want to use the argument, the fact that Disneyland was fully built in a year is much more compelling.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

This is one of the stupidest arguments that ever gets brought here. All the things in opening day Epcot were being built in parallel not consecutively. It isn’t like they fully built SSE then started with World of Motion then began Universe of Energy.

Disney can build things in 3 years time without problems today too. If they wanted (i.e. willing to spend the money) they could build 10 or 20 things at once in three years time now too. Nothing about that Epcot build is remarkable in terms onf timeframe.

If you really want to use the argument, the fact that Disneyland was fully built in a year is much more compelling.

It’s not a stupid argument at all when you realize the goal was to get it done by design from the first shovel.

And it cost a ton…which is what you have ti do.

It was the largest private construction project in world history at that time.

Whatever Disney does now…completion is not that high on the priority list. It’s a tangle of conflicting motives and low rent PR.

 

[Kirby86]

A 9 month to 12 month turnaround for a retracking isn't outside the realm of possibility. For all intents and purposes you're building a new rollar coaster. The Coaster manufacturer they are going with has to make the new track, ship it to Florida, Disney has to then tear out the orignal track along with any facade that gets in the way of putting new track in, repair the facade, add any new effects ( if that's what they're doing), then finally testing, testing, and more testing if something doesn't work they fix that and go back to more testing. Then after testing the state safety inspection team will come in and run their tests. Everyone one involved wants to make sure that a train dosen't run off the rails and someone gets hurt or worse.

 

[lazyboy97o]

The Coaster manufacturer they are going with has to make the new track, ship it to Florida

Most steel roller coasters don’t actually come with shipping. The buyer has to arrange pickup and delivery.

 

[bwr827]

Most steel roller coasters don’t actually come with shipping. The buyer has to arrange pickup and delivery.

They keep it quiet because of brand competition, but Disney has Prime for that sweet 2-day shipping.

 

[Delta-7]

They built a tunnel connecting the United Kingdom and France through the trecherous seas in two years.

Why would it take a year to replace the exact same roller coaster track ? You just remove a piece, and add the new smoother one in. Like a jigsaw. Could be done in a few weeks with hundreds of workers in place.

Maybe.

Retracking an entire coaster surrounded by a thematic mountain structure is not as simple as you’re making it out to be. Did you not read what others on here have already said?

A 9 month to 12 month turnaround for a retracking isn't outside the realm of possibility. For all intents and purposes you're building a new rollar coaster. The Coaster manufacturer they are going with has to make the new track, ship it to Florida, Disney has to then tear out the orignal track along with any facade that gets in the way of putting new track in, repair the facade, add any new effects ( if that's what they're doing), then finally testing, testing, and more testing if something doesn't work they fix that and go back to more testing. Then after testing the state safety inspection team will come in and run their tests. Everyone one involved wants to make sure that a train dosen't run off the rails and someone gets hurt or worse.

Hulk took a year to reopen and that was done with track out in the open. This is being done with rockwork in the way so a year or even a bit more is acceptable per your Universal standards.

Thematic elements you need to work around... lots of tight quarters... multiple tunnels which will require a lot of manual effort to carefully remove track pieces and then replace them with new track... a year seems about right.

 

[trainplane3]

Retracking an entire coaster surrounded by a thematic mountain structure is not as simple as you’re making it out to be. Did you not read what others on here have already said?

I'm out on this conversation. Look at their post history and it's them complaining about most things done in the parks, both Universal and Disney. It's not worth it.

 

[Delta-7]

I'm out on this conversation. Look at their post history and it's them complaining about most things done in the parks, both Universal and Disney. It's not worth it.

I really didn’t want to get involved….really.

Edit: anyway, what other “show improvements” could we be seeing come to the ride, other than explosions?

 

[trainplane3]

I really didn’t want to get involved….really.

Wasn't targeted at you. I guess just you bringing up the whole "did you not read what they said" part made me just roll with it.

 

[flynnibus]

Don’t forget… Disneyland’s space mountain took over 2 years to retrack. Some of that was likely the lack of planned lead time on the track itself… but that oroject didn’t require the kind of rockwork and stage access like BTMRR does. I would expect that to be a faster project than BTMRR… so I’m still of the thought a prject kije this is measured in years… not just 8-9 months.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

I don't mind them taking 12 months or whatever to retrack Big Thunder. I trust that it will take that long. It's when they take five years to build something new that I get annoyed. Especially when the stuff they do is not worth the long wait. See Epcot...