Call me stupid, but how can it possibly take six months to fix this? Worst case scenario would be a complete structural overhaul with part of the mountain being dismantled, followed by rewiring, reprogramming, and testing for safety. Maybe I'm a crazy slave driver, but it seems that getting the parts on site, mocking up a relatively cheap replacement to stand in front of the real yeti to receive the disco lights, and having the work done mostly at night, would lead to an actual shutdown of no more than a month. I assume some type of yeti tarp is possible, or even keeping the real yeti intact from the front viewpoint while work is done from the back end.
Just to clarify, what I am proposing is keeping the ride open with a fake yeti in front until the actual parts are on-site and the repairmen are ready to roll. Then, shut down the ride for a few weeks to get it done. Unless the parts themselves cannot be brought in without tearing apart the mountain, can't these changes be made quickly with a minimal shut down? I can guarantee you that there will be much wasted time during a six-month shut down, the majority of which should be avoidable if the proper planning is done.
I can't help but think that they aren't even trying, and a less than forthright attitude on this from Joe Rhode makes my respect for him drop into the toilet. I'm coming to the World in May, for the first time in a year and a half, and it truly is un-Disney to have this thing still a problem.
Of course, the hypocrisy of making this work while the bigwigs are on site is also disturbing. I wonder how the Harry Potter stuff will look?
