Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Refurb in October?

[TheOrangeBird01]

To be fair, rides have to close to get refurbed at one time or another. You have to realize that if it didn't happen during your trip, it would have to happen during someone else's. It might suck right now, and be a small inconvenience for you this upcoming trip, but it might fix a problem that could have affected multiple months of Disney vacations.

At least Disney has given you a two month notice, right? Thats plenty of time to switch fastpasses, or park days so you can do what you want (if what you want to do is open obviously).

 

[DisneyFans4Life]

OP...I feel your pain...but you just have to understand that rides have to go down for maintenance from time to time and everyone is affected by a closed ride at some point; just think of all the people who were planning on riding Soarin when it was down.

Fortunately Disney has so many other great attractions, I'm sure you'll still have a great time

 

[DisneyFans4Life]

Its inexcusable that Disney throws these refurbishments out at the last minute. Of course the same old company defenders have already spouted off their nonsense, as always. Disney wets themselves by forcing Guests to plan months in advance only to ruin those plans at the last minute.

In your opinion, how many months in advance is enough notice?

 

[NowInc]

Oh, I don't know maybe 6 months out. A year? There is no reason other than laziness Disney cannot take the time to create a master list of refurbishments for each year and post them accordingly. Now I'll just go wait for you to spout off some corporate defense.

But I am quite sure its ok with you when other theme parks to the same, right? (which they all do...very frequently)

Maintenance cannot be scheduled that far in advance, as they are typically determined based on the condition of the ride..which is hard to predict. Things break and wear down. Thats why not all attractions go down as often as others. I understand its hard to see logic through your mindset of corporate conspiracy, but hey..if you don't like it..no one forces you to go to theme parks, or post on a forum dedicated to them.

 

[twilight mitsuk]

Remeber the day last year when RNRC was down all day to launch systems problems

 

[DisneyFans4Life]

Oh, I don't know maybe 6 months out. A year? There is no reason other than laziness Disney cannot take the time to create a master list of refurbishments for each year and post them accordingly. Now I'll just go wait for you to spout off some corporate defense.

A year? Really?

So you go to book your vacation 12 months out and realize your favorite attraction is going to be closed for the time you want to travel so you decide to change the dates of your vacation so that you visit when the attraction is going to be open, but a month after you book Disney changes the refurb dates and your favorite ride is going to be closed when you go; is this acceptable?

I get being upset that something won't be open when you visit, but to say you're done with Disney altogether is a silly statement and shows how much you're not a fan of it.

By the way...you should never book a vacation around a specific attraction since it can be down with no notice at any point.

Additionally...say the OP visited and RNRC was down for unexpected maintenance and she had no notice?

It's not corporate defense...it's common sense.

 

[t3techcom18]

This. This is why we can't have rehabs more often, because folks complain when attractions are down when it's THEIR time to be on vacation and decide to launch a barrage of complaint letters. Does it suck? Yes. But you have four parks, two water parks, an entire dining/shopping district, and dozens of resorts. There are much, much worse things in life than having your favorite ride down AND plenty of other things to do.

As NowInc said, there's so many different elements that happen with attractions. Something that is planned to be fixed a year from now could be much more problematic than anticipated, thereby bringing it down sooner. These things happen. The amount of entitlement here from the OP and the second commenter is kind of astounding...nuff said.

 

[prfctlyximprct]

Well guess my Hollywood Studios day will be spent at Universal

 

[peter11435]

Oh, I don't know maybe 6 months out. A year? There is no reason other than laziness Disney cannot take the time to create a master list of refurbishments for each year and post them accordingly. Now I'll just go wait for you to spout off some corporate defense.

Sure we will be labeled as defenders but what you are asking for is not realistic. Sometimes yes. But not always. A refurb like this is to address a specific item or perform specific work somewhere on the attraction. It is not always possible to know when parts, contractors, or vendors will b available months in advance.

 

[peter11435]

Oh, I don't know maybe 6 months out. A year? There is no reason other than laziness Disney cannot take the time to create a master list of refurbishments for each year and post them accordingly. Now I'll just go wait for you to spout off some corporate defense.

Also this is why many refurbs have their dates shifted around. Refurbs will be shifted back or forward due to contractor and material availability.

 

[NowInc]

Considering I have only ever been to Disney parks, your statement contributes nothing to the conversation at hand.
And for the record, none of this really affects me because I live 45 minutes away from the parks. I'm frustrated for the Guests who are continually thrown under the bus. But alas, I'm a conspiracy theorist for wanting 100% excellence. Ah well, such is modern Disney.

...and what exactly does requesting a 6 month to 1 year advance notice of a refurb to a local (you) contribute? Trying to fan the flames by saying guests are "thrown under the bus" (which is a saying that really doesn't apply here) accomplishes nothing but show you to be an extremist. Nothing wrong with WANTING 100% excellence, but reality dictates that 100% of anything is near impossible.

 

[peter11435]

Then why, if it is a safety spruce up, are they waiting until the end of October? Shouldn't it just be shut down asap or is this where they are at the mercy of vendors/parts/ etc

Many components have scheduled guidelines for replacement. Usually a specific number of cycles or time period. If for example something needs to be raplaced every three years and they have until December to do it, the downtime must be scheduled based on when the required materials and contractors are available.

 

[Kylo Ken]

This thread really proves why Disney can't win at all with some people.

If a ride doesn't go down for refurb, then Disney is putting our safety at risk and is allowing the rides to decay! How dare they!
If a ride goes down for refurb (with notice), then Disney is doing it purposely to ruin people's vacations or they're being irresponsible with their refurbs. If you defend the decision, you're a pixie-duster and if you don't then you're a realist.

I've been disappointed by Disney before when rides that I enjoy have been closed due to refurb. Hey you make the best of it. At least now we get some sort of notice unlike in the past when you'd find out what's down when you showed up. Alas, unfortunately, much like life, you can't please everyone.

 

[peter11435]

That seems a little crazy to me, but I am not an expert in this type of stuff. Anyway, thanks for the explanation.

I'm not really sure why. The availability of resources or the guidelines for replacement?

 

[networkpro]

Two months is plenty of lead time as that's the point where anyone could possibly make concrete plans to be on any attraction (aka Fastpass+ reservations)

 

[Bolt]

Remember, not all safety issues are life of death. It can be for a variety of reasons such as new OSHA rules or something company wide that's being issued. Toy Story's refurb five years ago was to add exit gates near the consoles so guests wouldn't walk onto the track.

Also, I feel I've never heard WDW refer to any refurbishment as a safety refurb.

 

[andysol]

In your opinion, how many months in advance is enough notice?

How about at the very least- 71 days? Thats more than the 60+10 they allow you to book at. If you're that person who wakes up at 7 (or whatever time it is) to be able to book that hard to get FP in advance- and then it gets cancelled 14 days later (like this one did)- and then you're left with TSMM at 4pm even though you planned on leaving the park at 2pm. And that's if you're lucky enough to actually know that you don't have a Tier 1 FP scheduled anymore. God forbid you wait to check your MDE app the week before you go.

So yeah- I can see the frustration. Complaints can be valid. If you are to maximize your time at Post FP+ Disney, for the typical "once in a lifer", you are forced to plan 180+10 out for Restaurants, and then 60+10 out for Attractions. It's not unreasonable to ask that Disney offers the same courtesy.
Had they mentioned this refurb 2 weeks ago- OP wouldn't have had an issue with it most likely.

 

[FullSailDan]

Many components have scheduled guidelines for replacement. Usually a specific number of cycles or time period. If for example something needs to be raplaced every three years and they have until December to do it, the downtime must be scheduled based on when the required materials and contractors are available.

To add on, there are times where during the regular daily inspection of the ride, they notice a part is beginning to wear, and they realize the ride needs love a little sooner than planned. This doesn't mean the ride needs to go down immediately, there are methods used to analyze the capability of a part, and with proper monitoring, things can still run. The scheduling of refurbs is very project dependent. If they schedule the crews out too long and announce it, when a delay hits, everything gets messy. Also of note, many refurbs can be shorter than planned if everything aligns. Largely dependent on getting an inspector out there.

 

[DisneyFans4Life]

Please provide the evidence to where I claimed I was done with Disney?? Oh wait, you can't because it was only in your deluded little mind.


Considering I have only ever been to Disney parks, your statement contributes nothing to the conversation at hand.
And for the record, none of this really affects me because I live 45 minutes away from the parks. I'm frustrated for the Guests who are continually thrown under the bus. But alas, I'm a conspiracy theorist for wanting 100% excellence. Ah well, such is modern Disney.

I wasn't specifically referring to you about being done with Disney by the way...it was a general statement.

 

[networkpro]

The availability of the resources, specifically the parts needed. Isn't there like a warehouse or something they can just grab them from? I'm being serious, no snark (for once ).

There are only 297 Vekoma rollercoasters in operation and 62 of them are LSMs so there's not a homedepot expanse of warehouses full of parts. Its just two weeks and before a holiday peak so its good for the majority of guests that will visit.