First Time at Disney! Is the amount of rides and shows which are postponed or closed normal?

[Arveena]

Hello WDW magic.com community.

I first want to introduce myself. I am a long year Disney Fan from Germany. One of my dreams was always to visit the Disney world in Orlando and all the amazing parks inside of it. This goes back to the time I was a kid and watched the TV shows and read the books how everything was build and what a magical place it was. Now with 28 years I finally have the resources to make my dream come through and visit Disney World for two full weeks in November together with my girlfriend. When we decided to book this vacation a year ago. We were thrilled. We could ride all the awesome attractions we talked about for years. We could see the amazing nighttime shows and parades and even a new nighttime show was announced, Rivers of light. We were in the Disney bubble one year before the Vacation started. Maybe we had too high hopes but the following year there were only bad news coming out of Disney World. First we did not think much of it. We were aware that parks need to refurbish a ride when you are there we knew that from other theme parks in europe (We never saw in all the years more than one ride or show closed at the same time though). Also when Rivers of light was postponed we did not think much of it as it was still 6 months to go for our vacation and it would be ready when we are there. So half a year before we had the following status:

-Rivers of light was delayed.(We were in good hopes)
-Big thounder mountain railroad was going through a refurbishment(Sad for us but that is how it is. We were also in other parks were one ride was in refurb.)
- DHS was building Star Wars Land and Toy story Land (as major star wars Fans we were ofc hyped for the Fireworks and not mad that DHS is buildung star wars Land)

So still everything was fine and we were still more than happy to go to happiest place on earth. I read all the tips and tricks shown here in the forum and read a lot of threads here in this awesome community.
Now what happend in the next 6 months shocked us a little bit and left a sour taste in our mouth.
Current Status of rides and shows not working, getting refurb, closed with no replacement and not sceduled less than a month before we go:

• Rivers of Light (maybe the biggest disappointment. Not announced yet. We were counting on that a year ago. It was one of the major reasons we set late 2016 as a date. As even if the show had delays we would be easily be able to see it late 2016)
• Big thounder Railroad: nothing to say here was expected while a shame. Fine with it.
• Blizzard Beach closed: Same as above
• Rock n Rollercoaster: This was announced late and also makes me sad because DHS is already pretty empty which I do not mind as they are building new stuff. Still pretty sad.
• Dinosaur: Refurb gets extended TWO times. We were not expecting that to affect our vacation. Third Major ride that is closed during our time.
• The Main street electrical Parade: First Sad thing about it is that this was THE parade you have in mind when you thing about Disney parades in Europe at least for me. So seeing it beeing gone when we arrive was sad. But that there is NO replacement when we arrive is just a major upset.
• The Starwars Fireworks: When we heard the news that this is going to DHS studios we were pumped and it was with rivers of light a main reason to finally put money aside and go to Orlando. Besides the giant price tag.(One day disney costs 4-5 times as much as Europa Park which is awarded best theme Park in the world). Not beeing able to see it is one thing but no communication at all if it is there or not is worse.
• Stichs Great Escape: Again an announcement made after we booked our tickets etc.
• Sum of all thrills: While not mad about this still considering all the other closures this year pretty sad.
• All the closures in DHS: Expected so were are not mad about these.
• Nighttime hours AK: We were loving the idea and were super pumped to experience it.

All in all this is a major letdown for us as we are sitting here and praying everyday for not yet another ride or show to close. Our Planning is completly screwed. In AK for example we had 3 Days planed one day for major shows and a night safari trip for example that is not gonna happen. 3 Days are way to much for AK now.

So why am I writing this? I am not expecting any sort of compensation(I think it would be the right move but I am totally not expecting it). But I just want to let you know that my mood went from great anticipation for years to finally visit Disney World To a fear of what is gonna shutdown next and major disappointment on multiple fronts. While not beeing able to ride major rides when you traveled thousands of miles is one thing and not seeing a show is another. Combined this is just a major disappointment for me. I never visited a Park in my whole life where more than two rides and shows were closed at the same time. In MK we lost one show two rides. In AK we might loose one show one ride and a whole experience with the longer openings and the list goes on. All in all we have recieved eleven negative "suprises" while planning this vacation and none positive. Like a opening of a new show or a shortend refurbishment. Or any kind of new stuff at all really. I apologize for the bad english and I know you are not the people responsible for this. Is it just bad luck on our side or is this normal for Disney. I hope they announce something soon so we get at least a few of our anticipated shows and or replacements. But i highly doubt it as we are in the 30 day window.

Have a nice Day,
Christian

 

[copcarguyp71]

I guess the saying goes "you can't make an omelette without braking a few eggs" and unfortunately it sounds like you got stuck in that recipe. At least Disney is in the process of trying to move forward in those areas that you are currently experiencing disappointment and it really stinks that you crossed the Atlantic only to find this out. Some of the stuff has been in the works for a while but yes, some of it was sprung on the masses at the last minute.

Our family has taken a break from WDW until we see an upturn in the current regimes commitment to the parks. In recent years they have been more interested in profitability than guest experience (yes, yes...I understand they are in business to make money) but I am cautiously optimistic that these steps that you are let down by are in fact some sort of new commitment on Disney's part towards a big bright beautiful tomorrow.

Try to make the best of the trip and enjoy everything there is to see in the parks!

 

[AshaNeOmah]

You've got some legitimate concerns, but a few of them are normal.

• Rivers of Light is a bummer for everyone. I'll be there in November and was hoping to see it. I'm surprised that they stopped Jungle Book so early if RoL wasn't ready.
• BTMRR is scheduled maintenance. It happens.
• Disney usually closes one water park for a lengthy period of time in the Fall and Winter. It can be either BB or TL. You'll only see both open in summer or on peak days.
• RnRC surprised most of us. DHS is so bare as it is, they can't afford any lengthy refurb in that park. This concern is legit.
• Dinosaur is another legit concern. It's in dire need of a long refurb, but it's also a ride that's tough to miss.
• MESP, in all honesty, hasn't aged well these past 10 years. Hopefully you got to see our version at DL Paris before it was lost forever. That one will always hold a special place in my heart. The big surprise is that Paint the Night didn't come to Florida.
• Aren't the Star Wars Fireworks still being shown, just on a reduced schedule? Did they cancel them entirely this winter? If so, that's a terrible decision.
• Good riddance to Stitch. You're missing absolutely nothing of value here.
• You could spend two days in Epcot and never know you missed Sum of All Thrills. It's really a non-starter for most guests.
• Apparently DHS must be reduced to nothing to be reborn even better. It's gonna be a tough couple of years.
• In my humble opinion, Night Safari never really panned out. Maybe they'll figure it out and get better when the hours are extended again. You really need Avatar and RoL to make night AK work.

I get that it's disappointing that you'll miss a few attractions, but there's till more than enough to fill a vacation at WDW. Try to focus on the positives and have a good time! The resort is going to be sporting an entirely different profile come 2020, so maybe it will be time for another trip in 2021 to see a few of the things you missed.

 

[Arveena]

First of all thanks for the kind words.
Maybe I did not put this clear. I am not super mad at Disney or something. I am still pretty sure it is going to be an awesome vacation.

My main problem and concern is the lack of communication when it comes to such things. If we would have known that Rivers of Light and the Starwars Fireworks are not showing when we planned to go 4 months in advance we would have just come back next year.

But announcing something than delaying it without a timeframe or any kind of communication at all is just a bad move it suggests that there are minor problems and not a year long delay. Same goes for the Dinosaur refurb. If i would not read it here on the forum I would not even noticed my fastpass beeing changed. No communication at all. "Is there a possibilty of it opening while we are there on a later day?" "Are the starwars fireworks coming in november?""Is rivers of light debuing?""will there be fastpasses for it?""Is there an replacement for MESP?" Even if all these and many more questions would all be "NO!". I would still prefer it to the current state of hoping to maybe see it and then when you arrive to find out you will see none of it. It just feels like the no communication policy is only in place so that no one cancels his vacation. Because if you do not put a set date everyone keeps hoping it will come out before your vacation starts. Same goes for a lot of other things like no replacements etc.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

Welcome aboard.

 

[GlassHalfFull]

the star wars fireworks are only a couple nights a week, and I just checked again, but the last show time for these is November 5th.. the weekend before we arrive.. definitely something I was looking forward to as well.. if DHS was going to close everything like they have.. why not make it a full park closure and knock it out even faster for all to enjoy? for my trip it looks like it will be lucky to even be a half day park.. I'm with you Christian.. Could still be that Christmas show I was hinted at by a CM a bit ago at DHS.. but I'd expect that announcement soon if that's the case..

EDIT: and just after that post was added.. I see this.. http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions...isneys-hollywood-studios-for-the-holidays.htm so there is a show at night as long as you are there after the 14th..

 

[graphite1326]

I am going in two weeks and just got an email that my Dinosaur FP was changed to Primeval Whirl. Big disappointment. Looks like AK will be less than 1/2 day park. Same with HS. I think Disney should give higher discounts with all these attractions that are down.

We have been going since 1996 and have never experienced this. Maybe next year we should try Universal instead.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

I hope you have fun anyway.

 

[21stamps]

First of all thanks for the kind words.
Maybe I did not put this clear. I am not super mad at Disney or something. I am still pretty sure it is going to be an awesome vacation.

My main problem and concern is the lack of communication when it comes to such things. If we would have known that Rivers of Light and the Starwars Fireworks are not showing when we planned to go 4 months in advance we would have just come back next year.

But announcing something than delaying it without a timeframe or any kind of communication at all is just a bad move it suggests that there are minor problems and not a year long delay. Same goes for the Dinosaur refurb. If i would not read it here on the forum I would not even noticed my fastpass beeing changed. No communication at all. "Is there a possibilty of it opening while we are there on a later day?" "Are the starwars fireworks coming in november?""Is rivers of light debuing?""will there be fastpasses for it?""Is there an replacement for MESP?" Even if all these and many more questions would all be "NO!". I would still prefer it to the current state of hoping to maybe see it and then when you arrive to find out you will see none of it. It just feels like the no communication policy is only in place so that no one cancels his vacation. Because if you do not put a set date everyone keeps hoping it will come out before your vacation starts. Same goes for a lot of other things like no replacements etc.

It's frustrating being so close to a trip and not knowing a schedule, I'm with ya there.
A few things to think about though-
Ride closures- will almost always happens on one person's trip.
RoL and Star Wars Fireworks- they had not been announced. We were waiting and hoping- but Disney had not set a date, so technically they didn't take anything away.. and trust me, I'm bummed.
Water Park closures- there is absolutely no need to have 2 water parks open in winter. I can't imagine that even 1 would be crowded.

You will still have an awesome vacation! The holiday show at HS does look neat, so maybe do that instead of Star Wars? Or see Fantasmic? (it's wonderful!)

 

[21stamps]

I am going in two weeks and just got an email that my Dinosaur FP was changed to Primeval Whirl. Big disappointment. Looks like AK will be less than 1/2 day park. Same with HS. I think Disney should give higher discounts with all these attractions that are down.

We have been going since 1996 and have never experienced this. Maybe next year we should try Universal instead.

What discounts?lol

 

[graphite1326]

What discounts?lol

I know but I wanted to vent.

 

[TXDisney]

Sime of what you didn't like I agre with but I'm more on the side of disagreeing with your assessment of your trip. I get that you planned in advance especially living over seas. Bc of that things that haven't opened yet is not WDW fault. More research could've helped you realize a lot of that stuff wouldn't be done by your visit. When you travel makes a difference too. If you travel during a lower crowd time, more rides are likely to be getting refurbished. Once again knowing that you might be going during a slower season would've calmed your expectations on this a bit. No one likes traveling to WDW and have some of their favorites rides down. But at the end of the day there's dozens of rides at WDW so to have a few down will happen. Now my biggest gripe about people who gripe about refurbishments is this... Generakky speaking the same people that will gripe about a ride down or refurbishment are the same people that will gripe if the ride wasn't in great shape and up to "Disney" standards. They do these closings to clean up the ride and make it better for guests. So from the Disney side there's really no pleasing some guests. If the ride is closed or getting refurbished they gripe if the ride isn't up to standards they gripe. So to uphold the "Disney" standard quality is the way to go regardless of people griping.

 

[Arveena]

More research+ could've helped you realize a lot of that stuff wouldn't be done by your visit

Could you explain that statement for me? Trust me I did a lot of reasearch and I will say AGAIN I am not mad at disney for refurbishing rides. I know this happens all the time at theme parks (I have been to a lot and I hate people complaining about refurbishments for their favorite ride when every other ride is working perfectly).
But it was impossible to reasearch ALL the refurbishments and closures. We knew about BTM and Blizzard Beach and we were fine with that. Also seeing the massive refurbishments in Disney Paris we know that sometimes companys have years with massive refurbishments. (At paris with massive price drops to compensate). The difference here is at Paris everything was transparent and you know about it waaay in advance and you got massive discounts while there were many refurbishments. 2015-2017 was announced as major refurbishment years with all the refurbishments listed and massive price drops and Discounts.

Now how would we able to reasearch Rock and rollercoaster going down? When they announce it two months before we go? Or if Rivers of Light will be shown when they are not able to tell you anything about a timeframe for the opening in 6 months besides soon(all the reasearch you could do was telling you in APRIL it is coming soon even with Disney highly teasing us etc. I mean look at the thread here it sounds like it will open tommorow since april). Soon is not the word you use when you delay it 6 months++. Also the dinosaur refurb goes from not affecting us at all ( we are talking two months! Try getting a Disney Vacation where you always the extend the refurbishment days for two months for the worst case scenario? Good luck with that) to directly affecting us. Same goes for the parade and other stuff. How should i reasearch and plan for that without communication from Disney. THAT is the problem not the closed rides.If they had done the same communication that every other themepark I know does we would just come another year. I am not interested in Discounts or something. I just want the information and judge for myself if I want to see a ride before a refurb or a after or if I go during the refurb. This is not possible at all. Our information when we booked flights tickets and hotel was the normal theme park standard. 1-2 rides closed (for refurb and maybe bad luck at the day with technical diffuclties) and Blizzard Beach closed too. To now 2 shows not showing and 3 major rides unavailable + a few minor ones.

There were only bits of communication and those bits were very misleading: Like their list of refurbishments. When it dropped we were affected by one major closure. Not bad we will come for sure. Then 20 days before we are at three. Same goes for rivers of light. "We’ll share more information about timing on the Disney Parks Blog by mid- to late May". We got a blog post in mid to late may but information on timing was not part of it. If they would have said mid may "No rivers of light in 2016" we would have come 2017.
So to comeback to your point how should i reasearch ride closures and canceling of shows besides following this forum the Disney blog and reddit. That is my point! It is impossible. Also your point with offseason is completly invalid it is the offical begining of the holiday season and the last year that was the time were most refurb were finished. You had almost no ride down. But that is the main point of it all. Because we get no information we speculate. You speculate "this is the time of the year for major refurbishments". I speculate otherwise again the ROL thread is a perfect example for this. Should I belive 90% of the speculation in there saying it is going to open next month since april or the 10% who say "We are lucky if it is ready 2018". No one knows. How are you supposed to plan your trip with that little "real" information provided.

AGAIN: TLDR; I think we will have an awesome vacation. The lack of communication made it impossible to find out if you are in the park when massive refurbishments are made as 3 or 4 months in advance you could not tell about the massive refurbishments and canceled shows. Some of the stuff you can not even tell 20 days in advance (This is a major problem for a company that wants you to plan your trip 60 days in advance to improve their income). That is what bothers me not the closed rides. I am still sure we will have a magical two weeks. But my german self likes to be informed and just hates beeing misdirected. That is just how we are

 

[TXDisney]

Could you explain that statement for me? Trust me I did a lot of reasearch and I will say AGAIN I am not mad at disney for refurbishing rides. I know this happens all the time at theme parks (I have been to a lot and I hate people complaining about refurbishments for their favorite ride when every other ride is working perfectly).
But it was impossible to reasearch ALL the refurbishments and closures. We knew about BTM and Blizzard Beach and we were fine with that. Also seeing the massive refurbishments in Disney Paris we know that sometimes companys have years with massive refurbishments. (At paris with massive price drops to compensate). The difference here is at Paris everything was transparent and you know about it waaay in advance and you got massive discounts while there were many refurbishments. 2015-2017 was announced as major refurbishment years with all the refurbishments listed and massive price drops and Discounts.

Now how would we able to reasearch Rock and rollercoaster going down? When they announce it two months before we go? Or if Rivers of Light will be shown when they are not able to tell you anything about a timeframe for the opening in 6 months besides soon(all the reasearch you could do was telling you in APRIL it is coming soon even with Disney highly teasing us etc. I mean look at the thread here it sounds like it will open tommorow since april). Soon is not the word you use when you delay it 6 months++. Also the dinosaur refurb goes from not affecting us at all ( we are talking two months! Try getting a Disney Vacation where you always the extend the refurbishment days for two months for the worst case scenario? Good luck with that) to directly affecting us. Same goes for the parade and other stuff. How should i reasearch and plan for that without communication from Disney. THAT is the problem not the closed rides.If they had done the same communication that every other themepark I know does we would just come another year. I am not interested in Discounts or something. I just want the information and judge for myself if I want to see a ride before a refurb or a after or if I go during the refurb. This is not possible at all. Our information when we booked flights tickets and hotel was the normal theme park standard. 1-2 rides closed (for refurb and maybe bad luck at the day with technical diffuclties) and Blizzard Beach closed too. To now 2 shows not showing and 3 major rides unavailable + a few minor ones.

There were only bits of communication and those bits were very misleading: Like their list of refurbishments. When it dropped we were affected by one major closure. Not bad we will come for sure. Then 20 days before we are at three. Same goes for rivers of light. "We’ll share more information about timing on the Disney Parks Blog by mid- to late May". We got a blog post in mid to late may but information on timing was not part of it. If they would have said mid may "No rivers of light in 2016" we would have come 2017.
So to comeback to your point how should i reasearch ride closures and canceling of shows besides following this forum the Disney blog and reddit. That is my point! It is impossible. Also your point with offseason is completly invalid it is the offical begining of the holiday season and the last year that was the time were most refurb were finished. You had almost no ride down. But that is the main point of it all. Because we get no information we speculate. You speculate "this is the time of the year for major refurbishments". I speculate otherwise again the ROL thread is a perfect example for this. Should I belive 90% of the speculation in there saying it is going to open next month since april or the 10% who say "We are lucky if it is ready 2018". No one knows. How are you supposed to plan your trip with that little "real" information provided.

AGAIN: TLDR; I think we will have an awesome vacation. The lack of communication made it impossible to find out if you are in the park when massive refurbishments are made as 3 or 4 months in advance you could not tell about the massive refurbishments and canceled shows. Some of the stuff you can not even tell 20 days in advance (This is a major problem for a company that wants you to plan your trip 60 days in advance to improve their income). That is what bothers me not the closed rides. I am still sure we will have a magical two weeks. But my german self likes to be informed and just hates beeing misdirected. That is just how we are

I understand your frustration bc yes planning a WDW trip does need to be done in advance to macamize your trip. But when it comes to whole lands, shows and rides opening... there's no date in stone for them.

 

[mf1972]

welcome to the forums. i'm here now in WDW, & yes, dinosaur & BTM are down for maintenance. i think blizzard beach is closed, but we weren't going there anyway.
i wasn't aware that aerosmith was also going down as well. we were at HS last night watching the star wars fireworks (awesome if u get the chance to see it).
there's still plenty to see & do here otherwise.
i don't know when you're coming in november, but u can check into the christmas activities that i believe start in november. MK puts on a good show with a special parade & fireworks. that's a separate admission though for the very merry xmas party.
sadly, closures happen. we were bummed out about big thunder. but there are plenty of other things to do here to occupy your time. have a good trip.

 

[Bandini]

I am sorry that you are coming to WDW after dreaming about it for many years, only to discover that some of the things you were most looking forward to, aren't going to be open. Most of the people on this forum visit Disney frequently, so having rides and shows shut down on our visits isn't as big of a deal as it is to someone like you.
Most of us can catch it on our next visit.

The only thing I can say is once you are at WDW, you will be amazed at all of the stuff there is to do. I know you and your friend will have a great time.

 

[KBLovedDisney]

IMHO, Disney is going through many changes at this time. It sucks, but at the same time they will be offering new experiences in the future (Disney quote "Moving Forward"). I believe you will still have a great time this trip and will look forward to returns to Disney World in the future.

 

[DisneyJoe]

Star Wars is showing at least 4-5 times during my week, and I will be there Nov 6-13

 

[Bandini]

IMHO, Disney is going through many changes at this time. It sucks, but at the same time they will be offering new experiences in the future (Disney quote "Moving Forward"). I believe you will still have a great time this trip and will look forward to returns to Disney World in the future.

The problem is that this may in fact be the OP's one and only trip since she's coming from Germany. So I can understand why she would be disappointed. But I agree I'm sure she'll have a great time.

 

[BigRedDad]

WDW is in the middle of a huge catch up cycle. US/IoA is expanding and adding fast and often. Disney did a Fantasyland expansion that equated to about 10% of what US did. Then they realized they had to go big. Thus the addition of Avatar, Star Wars land, and Pixar expansion. Those undertakings take time and are necessary. You are just in the middle of it.