Kali River Rapids 2019 refurbishment

[Pardonmypixiedust]

hey all!

got an email from Disney saying

"there has been an unexpected change in the operating schedule of an attraction or show during your upcoming Disney world visit. your fast pass selection for kali river rapids is no longer available."

anyone heard about it being down ?

 

[Hakunamatata]

I thought it was down normally during the winter months.

 

[twilight mitsuk]

kali river refurbishment season

 

[yaksplat]

Are they finally going to add in the rest of the ride so it's no longer 30 seconds long?

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨ ᗩζᗩᗰ]

Meh. It can go "Seasonal" far as I'm concerned.
Then maybe they can build a rapids ride in it's place.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

It's closed normally around that time for refurb..

 

[monothingie]

January 7 through March 22 for refurb.

 

[officialtom]

Two years ago, we had a family reunion at WDW the first week of March. One cool evening at AK, about 20 of walked on to Kali 4 times in a row. There was no line because it seemed the locals thought it was too cold, but for us east coast Canadians, it was balmy. Riding Kali over and over was my young cousin's favourite memory from the trip. We had hoped to do the same thing 78 days from now, but now sadly Kali will be closed. Bummer.....but we'll be at WDW so you know what, I'm already over it.

 

[ppete1975]

They really need to retheme (ok maybe just theme it, the idea behind it is fine.. but it feels like they never added the theming, feels more like six flags) and extend it... but this is just a refurb

 

[rle4lunch]

Are they finally going to add in the rest of the ride so it's no longer 30 seconds long?

this! times 100000000.... waste of a beautiful ride. won't wait longer than 5-10 minutes for it, ever. totally not worth it.

 

[homerdance]

I thought it was down normally during the winter months.

It normally is, but they actually had it showing as open and Fast Passes were available. An email was sent out yesterday stating the ride was not available and your fast pass was switched (most likely) to Dinosaur. More likely it isn't a refurb, it is just down for cost savings.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

Kali could be a true E Ticket if the suits would put some work into it, letting the Imagineers extend the layout and add needed show elements.

 

[Absimilliard]

Kali could be a true E Ticket if the suits would put some work into it, letting the Imagineers extend the layout and add needed show elements.

Extending the layout is not possible with Kali River Rapids for one reason: gravity. There are no motors pushing the water along to propel the boat; instead, its a river rapids where large pumps take water up from a reservoir to the highest point of the ride. From there, it flows downhill to the top of the drop. Same thing happens from the base of the drop to the reservoir next to the lift. To extend it would require a taller lift hill, resculpting the river and recalculating all the rapids. For the post drop section, you'd need to modify the drop.

I don't mind short rides when its a really good trick and that's where Kali fails. Except for the drop, Disney went with flexible rapid generators. In effect, what it does is that yes, you will see a nice water ripple or whitewater generated... but once the boat goes over it, the rubber hoses won't do much to the boat. Compare that to the new Infinity Falls where an equally short ride is possibly the greatest river rapid attraction in the world. Why? The rapids are agressive and the water effects will get you wet. The major difference between the two is the height restriction: 38 inches for Kali, 42 inches for Infinity Falls.

 

[Princess Leia]

Would adding a second lift hill be out of the question? It would extend the ride time, and it would add some more drops.

 

[Absimilliard]

Would adding a second lift hill be out of the question? It would extend the ride time, and it would add some more drops.

For space reasons, a traditional lift hill would not work due to a lack of usable space after the drop. Elevator lift? Reliability and capacity would collapse as Hafema had to install side by side elevator lifts for River Quest (Phantasialand in Germany) and Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure (Universal Studios Singapore) to guarantee decent capacity.

 

[ToTBellHop]

It normally is, but they actually had it showing as open and Fast Passes were available. An email was sent out yesterday stating the ride was not available and your fast pass was switched (most likely) to Dinosaur. More likely it isn't a refurb, it is just down for cost savings.

That’s a stupid hypothesis.

It’s a refurbishment.

 

[GhostHost1000]

bulldoze and replace with a non-water family attraction?

ah well.. one can hope

 

[jaxonp]

Redo this thing. Make it the best water ride in the world. Animal Kingdom has plenty of land. Orlando is hot 10 months of the year. We need water rides worth riding.

 

[Andrew C]

Redo this thing. Make it the best water ride in the world. Animal Kingdom has plenty of land. Orlando is hot 10 months of the year. We need water rides worth riding.

Not in 10 weeks!

 

[rle4lunch]

For space reasons, a traditional lift hill would not work due to a lack of usable space after the drop. Elevator lift? Reliability and capacity would collapse as Hafema had to install side by side elevator lifts for River Quest (Phantasialand in Germany) and Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure (Universal Studios Singapore) to guarantee decent capacity.

Space reasons should've NEVER been a problem in AK. They could've built it right, instead, we get 27 seconds and fire effects that stopped working years ago. Goooo Disney!