Splash Mountain closing for annual refurbishment in January 2014

[doctornick]

I specifically bumped a (kinda) planned trip in Jan to early December because Splash is my oldest child's favorite ride and I had learned that it gets annual refurbs in Jan-Feb time period. Seems like a good choice on my part with this info.

 

[Prock3]

I would LOVE to see just how busy the parks are after hours...they must have an army.

They do! Unfortunately a lot of nights the army doesn't have too much time to get a large amount of work done!

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

I never want to see Splash Mountain in its pre-2013 condition ever again. If this is what it takes to avoid that horrible fate, I am more than happy with the situation and really don't care if a few selfish whiners feel entitled to have the ride open at all times at the expense of proper show condition for the masses. The state of rides that don't receive such maintenance are disgusting and disgraceful. I grew up during a time when these kinds of annual refurbs happened all the time. I'd say "oh well", but got over it and moved on to the next ride (even if it was a favorite). And as an adult I have now witnessed what happens when rides are not taken down for yearly cleanups and are instead run practically to failure. If a ride gets to a point where it looks anything close to the way Splash did preceding its refurb, it should not be allowed to remain open. While things are still far from perfect or even "acceptable" regarding maintenance at WDW, it has improved in the past year or so and i'd say we have at least reached a better situation than we were a year ago and before. And if such refurbs continue to happen, we may be on a road to partial recovery of what was lost at WDW.

That being said, there's no telling what this refurbishment is going to entail. In 2011 they took the ride down for about a month to add lap bars to all the boats and didn't use that time to fix show elements. Though after a change in leadership and Splash's recent cleanup, i'm at least more inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt in such situations. They also seem to have kept the ride in excellent condition since reopening as well, which surprised me.

They do! Unfortunately a lot of nights the army doesn't have too much time to get a large amount of work done!

They didn't used to have any issue keeping up. Largely because as has been stated here by insiders, a ton of the night crews were apparently laid off in the latter half of Eisner's rule. That plus spare parts and necessary equipment has been removed from their hands, OR they are otherwise ordered by executives NOT to fix things (I hear TDO has even told them to switch OFF otherwise working show elements to save money in the past).

 

[Sped2424]

Has it always closed ever year? I've only been going to WDW for 5 years, so I don't know the history.

It used to always close, then maintenance got cheap and skipped a year, resulting in the terrible condition that it got to before the major refurb, one month won't hurt, sigh You would think everyone here would be rejoicing.

 

[Captain Chaos]

Ok, I'm officially annoyed by this at this point. I know you can't have your cake and eat it too... if you want the rides to be kept in good shape, they have to be refurbed, but I'm sorry, I do see something wrong with a major attraction that needs to be closed for an entire month every year. Can't they figure something else out here?

Attitudes like this is why we can't have nice things in WDW.. BOOO HOOO HOOO MY VACATION IS GOING TO BE RUINED CAUSE A RIDE IS CLOSED...

 

[sloppy.joey]

Just went on Saturday and is in amazing condition! Looks just as good as it did the day after the refurb. If they need to close it to insure it stays that way so be it.

 

[Susan Savia]

Normally when a ride is closed we just move on to something else. No big deal. Whew...it reopens the day we arrive!

 

[Magenta Panther]

'annual refurb' - I didn't know TDO knew what those were!

Yeah for maintenance!!!

To those moaning about refurbs... when you go at the slowest time of year.. that's a compromise you accept.

Count me in as appreciating ride maintenance, even if it means I miss out on a fave during my yearly visit. I just wish TDO would apply the same care to Expedition Everest and FIX THE DAMN YETI ALREADY. Just close the ride down for as long as it takes to fix. I suggested some time back that maybe TDO could use the situation to some advantage if it advertised that EE is closed because the Yeti escaped and is on the loose...signs of the Yeti's rampage could be placed at various locations throughout AK; maybe TDO could make some kind of game out of it. Something like that might make AK interesting to visit again...

 

[wsmith1978]

~shrugs~ Don't go in January if it's that important. Kali will probably be closed, too. Water rides are wrecked by the FL humidity and January makes the most sense to close a wet ride since the parks are dead for much of the month and it is the coldest month of the year.

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

...Probably not necessary.

I guess you never complain about WDW.

Attitudes like this is why we can't have nice things in WDW.. BOOO HOOO HOOO MY VACATION IS GOING TO BE RUINED CAUSE A RIDE IS CLOSED...

Oh, buzz off... Did I say anything about my vacation being ruined as a result of this?? I try to be nice to everyone as much as I can, but man, some of you people on this forum are just plain nasty. Like I said above, I guess you never complain about anything, right?

Dang, I have to avoid half the threads on this forum because they're so full of negativity, and all I do is huff a little about a ride being closed during my trip and everybody calls me a whiny baby. Talk about annoying.

 

[ToTBellHop]

...Probably not necessary.

I guess you never complain about WDW.



Oh, buzz off... Did I say anything about my vacation being ruined as a result of this?? I try to be nice to everyone as much as I can, but man, some of you people on this forum are just plain nasty. Like I said above, I guess you never complain about anything, right?

Dang, I have to avoid half the threads on this forum because they're so full of negativity, and all I do is huff a little about a ride being closed during my trip and everybody calls me a whiny baby. Talk about annoying.

I agree. It is annoying when people huff a little about routine maintenance. I'm sure Disney is also sorry when they paint or replace sidewalks during your vacation.

 

[wsmith1978]

I agree. It is annoying when people huff a little about routine maintenance. I'm sure Disney is also sorry when they paint or replace sidewalks during your vacation.

Again, do you not complain at all?

 

[ToTBellHop]

Again, do you not complain at all?

About rides being closed for routine maintenance? No. About rides being closed to become princess meet and gropes? Yes. Unless it's Meet and Grope+

 

[pumpkin7]

It's annual. Therefore it happens at the same time every year. If it's a problem that it's going to be closed, then don't go at that time in the year. It's annual. It's going to happen, same time, same place... every year...

 

[ToTBellHop]

It's annual. Therefore it happens at the same time every year. If it's a problem that it's going to be closed, then don't go at that time in the year. It's annual. It's going to happen, same time, same place... every year...

That's why I flee America every April 15th.

 

[Figments Friend]

It is the Disneyland original that could really use a refurb right now...
Yikes. Just returned from a visit and rode several times.
The AAs need cleaning and some work badly.
Some lighting issues in many scenes as well.

Good to know the WDW version is getting it*s annual. The recent refurb earlier this year did it wonders.

 

[Seabasealpha1]

Eh,

I've been there in June and August and the lines are freakin' horrible. In fact, I usually skip this ride for that reason...

I also have been there in December...the wait isn't too shabby at all! However...

What I'm getting to here is that they run the living crap outta that thing year round. It's ALWAYS busy...and rightly so! It's a cool ride folks!

So, what I can tell from riding in in December is that yes, by that point in the year some of the AA's look like they've survived a pack of dogs others have gone into vegetable mode and when we were there last December, they had the canopy over the boats because of the falling rock work issue that was fixed last January...

if it needs down time...I say bring it on...because frankly, the ride sucks without some R&R at least once a year!

It's kinda like big feet, big shoes...

High capacity, high maintenance...

 

[wdwmagic]

Splash Mountain refurbishment significantly extended

 

[sshindel]

Wasn't last year's refurb substantial as well?

 

[doctornick]

Splash Mountain refurbishment significantly extended

Huh. That's a pretty long time considering the large closure last year. Are there specific issues that need to be addressed? Or is this a money saving thing by not having to run the ride for so long?

Also, I'm confused: is the ride going to open on March 7? Or March 21? You say the refurb is until March 21 but that it opening on March 7.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Curious, but definitely not unwelcome unless they're just being cheap and want to save on operating costs by keeping it closed for a while. Though if this is legitimately a maintenance related closure, i'm wondering what sort of issues they think need correcting that warrant such an extension. So far the ride still seems to have been kept in pretty good overall condition from what i've seen of videos and read from people here. Unless they're planning on adding some next gen ride and/or queue related elements...

Wasn't last year's refurb substantial as well?

You mean the most recent one that reopened earlier this year? Yes it was.