Is Splash Mountain doomed to subpar standards?

[mharrington]

I saw this article on the "In the Parks" blog on MiceChat some time ago, and I saw this in Splash Mountain: http://micechat.com/blogs/in-the-parks/3256-jolly-holiday-disneyland-cars-land-progress-downtown-disney-closures.html (scroll down to the part on Splash Mountain). Then some time later, I saw a similar article on the same ride: micechat.com/blogs/in-the-parks/3322-meet-knotts-new-manager-disneylands-splash-woes-dca-construction-progress-page2.html (again, scroll down).

I fear for the future. I don't see how they are going to be able to fix Splash Mountain before Spring Break or even the summer. It's not listed on the refurbishment schedule any time soon. I would write a letter to them, but I'm not sure if they would accept it or anything.

 

[Disneyfanman]

In one of Kevin Yee's most recent articles he mentioned the biggest issue IMHO. Disney no longer stocks many parts, but instead orders them. That means that many simple immediate fix issues are delayed for shipping. It also means that they won't know about a shortage until they need the part.

On a smaller scale, I have experienced this in my business. What it means realistically is that you see huge delays in critical equipment being repaired, and customers getting bad show. From a business standpoint, costs are booked when they occur, and profit / loss statements are considered more "transparent", which is important to a public company. What you pay for is what you really need.

I now work for a private company that runs its own maint. depart and they stock their own common parts. Down time on equipment is a small fraction of time compared to the other method. It had been so long since I had been around folks that believe "down time is bad" that I had forgotton what a difference it makes.

Disney used to know which parts to stock because they used to replace things at 80% of a normal lifespan of the part, based on a number of calculated factors. They stocked common items that failed most frequently. No more. Complicated attractions, like Splash Mountain with all of its AAs, are most at risk with this current approach. So I think that YES, Splash Mountain in CA will see a much higher frequency of breakdowns.