Splash Mountain closing for annual refurbishment in January 2014

[ToTBellHop]

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...


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

Something this long probably means a ride mechanics issue that needs work. There are areas that could use new rock work...

 

[JAN J]

I hardly post (actually never) but I just figured I might add a like something here.

You see I`m from South America and people here (actually the entire southern hemisphere) have their summer vacations in December and January.
Parents will more often than not use this time of the year to take their kids and I feel bad for them that they haven`t been able to ride Splash Mountain since 2006 or 2007, which is when I believe the annual January refurbs started (please let me know if I`m wrong).

I went to WDW in January 2013 and I was bummed that SM was in refurb, but I knew it was long overdue and was glad it was happening. However, it sure wasn`t a slow month. There were queues over 40 minutes in virtually everything. In every park.

Prior to that trip my last time January trip was in 2004. SM was open and, as mentioned here, it was a walk on. Actually, everything other than TT, PPF, and Pooh were walk-ons. And maintenance was fine. So although I am glad that everything is being taken care of, I wonder why all of a sudden there is a need for such long maintenances. A long time ago maintenance and hygiene were far superior than what they are today and it didn`t require closing 20% of the park.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I hardly post (actually never) but I just figured I might add a like something here.

You see I`m from South America and people here (actually the entire southern hemisphere) have their summer vacations in December and January.
Parents will more often than not use this time of the year to take their kids and I feel bad for them that they haven`t been able to ride Splash Mountain since 2006 or 2007, which is when I believe the annual January refurbs started (please let me know if I`m wrong).

I went to WDW in January 2013 and I was bummed that SM was in refurb, but I knew it was long overdue and was glad it was happening. However, it sure wasn`t a slow month. There were queues over 40 minutes in virtually everything. In every park.

Prior to that trip my last time January trip was in 2004. SM was open and, as mentioned here, it was a walk on. Actually, everything other than TT, PPF, and Pooh were walk-ons. And maintenance was fine. So although I am glad that everything is being taken care of, I wonder why all of a sudden there is a need for such long maintenances. A long time ago maintenance and hygiene were far superior than what they are today and it didn`t require closing 20% of the park.

If you think WDW closes too many rides, be happy you don't go to Disneyland.

Your South American friends got to ride a moldy, broken Splash in January 2012.

 

[pmaljr]

It's pretty sad (on Disney's end) that it's come to the point now where people are accusing TDO of keeping the ride closed on purpose just to save a buck ... they really have a huge image problem.

 

[wdw71fan]

Budget for the refurb has more than tripled... They are going to changing all sensor arrays, all propulsion jets (water pumps) and all lift systems.. All boats with have to be refitted (Anti-rollback dogs are different, etc) for the new lifts..

 

[Atomicmickey]

Budget for the refurb has more than tripled... They are going to changing all sensor arrays, all propulsion jets (water pumps) and all lift systems.. All boats with have to be refitted (Anti-rollback dogs are different, etc) for the new lifts..

Thanks for this. Until I read this, I was suspecting cost savings by having it stay closed. That's how pathetic it has become. Really glad to hear it's getting a lot of attention.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Budget for the refurb has more than tripled... They are going to changing all sensor arrays, all propulsion jets (water pumps) and all lift systems.. All boats with have to be refitted (Anti-rollback dogs are different, etc) for the new lifts..

Will they be conducting any show quality maintenance along with the more mechanical aspects? I hear it still looks to be in good condition at the moment but there's not telling whether it will remain that way by January. I would at least hope they take the opportunity during the downtime to inspect all the animatronics and do some touch ups on the paint (even if nothing seems broken at the time) to make sure it doesn't get back into the mess it was in before.

I assume the maintenance you mentioned they're performing is to help the ride run without breaking down as much.

 

[aladdin2007]

Budget for the refurb has more than tripled... They are going to changing all sensor arrays, all propulsion jets (water pumps) and all lift systems.. All boats with have to be refitted (Anti-rollback dogs are different, etc) for the new lifts..

Yeah this go around sounds more mechanical, whereas the last one was very cosmetic. The jumping fountains have been off again so its sounding like that will be genuinely fixed this time.

 

[wdisney9000]

Budget for the refurb has more than tripled... They are going to changing all sensor arrays, all propulsion jets (water pumps) and all lift systems.. All boats with have to be refitted (Anti-rollback dogs are different, etc) for the new lifts..

Smart move on Disneys behalf. We rode two weeks ago and it looked great as far as paint and rock work. I took some random pictures of the rocks and they look great, imo

Fixing any mechanical issues along with a little TLC such as @MerlinTheGoat mentioned should have it in tippy top shape. I think it will be worth the wait.

 

[doctornick]

Budget for the refurb has more than tripled... They are going to changing all sensor arrays, all propulsion jets (water pumps) and all lift systems.. All boats with have to be refitted (Anti-rollback dogs are different, etc) for the new lifts..

Very interesting. It certainly seems (to me) that the attitude towards refurbs/maintenance has changed significantly with George K in charge. Don't know if that is a coincidence or no.

 

[R W B]

With the extension pushing into late March, looks like my trip got affected by it. Oh we'll, maybe next time.

 

[LucyK]

I missed SM on this past trip and it was a major bummer for me. I'm glad I'm now going in November instead of repeating February like we first cogitated.

 

[Figments Friend]

Budget for the refurb has more than tripled... They are going to changing all sensor arrays, all propulsion jets (water pumps) and all lift systems.. All boats with have to be refitted (Anti-rollback dogs are different, etc) for the new lifts..

Awesome to hear this.
Seems that some of the things not covered during the last, recent mega-refurb are being addressed this time around during the extension.

Wow...really nice to see *Splash* getting a lot of love now after what seemed to be several years of neglect.
This is excellent.


Now we just need Disneyland*s version to get the same attention...

 

[Figments Friend]

Very interesting. It certainly seems (to me) that the attitude towards refurbs/maintenance has changed significantly with George K in charge. Don't know if that is a coincidence or no.

Agree...i have noticed the sudden upswing myself. Glad to see i am not the only one thinking this.

This can only be a good thing as far as increasing the quality of these world-famous attractions.

 

[MaryJaneP]

Two quick things.

1. Annual means once per year, not specifically at the same time each year.

2. Any possibility the expanded budget is to replace the incandescents with LEDs?

 

[wdisney9000]

Agree...i have noticed the sudden upswing myself. Glad to see i am not the only one thinking this.

This can only be a good thing as far as increasing the quality of these world-famous attractions.

Lets hope the pendulum stays on the upswing for awhile. By Georgie K's declaration or not, I will take it!

 

[tirian]

I hardly post (actually never) but I just figured I might add a like something here.

You see I`m from South America and people here (actually the entire southern hemisphere) have their summer vacations in December and January.
Parents will more often than not use this time of the year to take their kids and I feel bad for them that they haven`t been able to ride Splash Mountain since 2006 or 2007, which is when I believe the annual January refurbs started (please let me know if I`m wrong).

I went to WDW in January 2013 and I was bummed that SM was in refurb, but I knew it was long overdue and was glad it was happening. However, it sure wasn`t a slow month. There were queues over 40 minutes in virtually everything. In every park.

Prior to that trip my last time January trip was in 2004. SM was open and, as mentioned here, it was a walk on. Actually, everything other than TT, PPF, and Pooh were walk-ons. And maintenance was fine. So although I am glad that everything is being taken care of, I wonder why all of a sudden there is a need for such long maintenances. A long time ago maintenance and hygiene were far superior than what they are today and it didn`t require closing 20% of the park.

Obviously, mechanical refurbishment is necessary. But refurbs take longer for two reasons.

(1) The typical online complaint—Disney has cut down its maintenance staff, spreading them thin throughout the resort.

(2) Older parts—the attractions are older now than they were during WDW's earlier days. In 2004, Splash was only 12 years old. Now it's 21!

 

[Figments Friend]

Yes tis* true -
A big part of a refurb is more then just *refurbishing* what is already present... it is also partly updating the old working parts and tech behind the scenes to bring attractions up to speed with what is currently availible these days as far as replacements go.

I am quite happy to hear *Splash* is getting even more attention.

 

[bethymouse]

Now what are they going to do?

 

[doctornick]

With so much attention being paid to Splash -- which is great, as it's probably my favorite ride in the MK -- is there reason to be hopeful that attention will be paid to broken effects on BTMR or to make the ride smoother on Space? Or updating PPF? Or pick your favorite "ailing" ride....

(Before anyone brings it up, I'm not taking fixing the Yeti, which is a much larger undertaking and has the issue of taking out arguable the biggest draw of that park, which is lacking in rides to begin with. I don't see it being fixed until Avatar is done, myself, because I don't see them taking the ride offline as long as is needed to do it.)