Splash Mountain closing for annual refurbishment in January 2014

[ToTBellHop]

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.)

What benefits Splash is that it has a yearly need of mechanical work which must be done. Cosmetic refurbishment can then easily be thrown in. Unless a ride has a mechanical problem, it is unlikely to go down with current management philosophy. What we got for Space and Big Thunder is likely it for awhile.

 

[GoofGoof]

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....

How about everything at EPCOT not named Test Track. I really hope that park goes next if there is going to be a new wave of refurbs.

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

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..

Do you think it has any thing to do with the water flume accident that happened over the summer... I think it wa at cedar point?

Regardless, I'm glad things are being taken care of. Splash was a highlight of my trip this year.

 

[JAN J]

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!

I agree with everything you said. I just hope that WDW can eventually go back to its former path, where everything is in pristine condition and yet all rides can be open during more than 95% of the year.

 

[msteel]

The WDWMagic refurb schedule here says Splash is closing Jan 1st. They wouldn't close it that soon, would they? The news article on the front page still says Jan 6th, that seems more likely. Perhaps @wdwmagic can confirm either way?

 

[Prock3]

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!

The crew that performs maintenance is very different from the one that performs refurbs.

 

[Sped2424]

I am curious why they extended the refurb to be much longer, it made sense last year due to them skipping out on maintenance from the year before, but for them to be doing it again. It must mean that there was more work to be done that they decided to put off until the next refurb. Either way all this means an A++ Attraction. At least this time the seven dwarf mine train should be opening to help alleviate the loss of the eticket (Im hoping for a early march opening.)

 

[Sped2424]

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.

Congrats on the post then! You should be more vocal these boards are great discussion place! You are right, thats because they used to take care of the attractions more, however the older the attraction gets (Especially one dealing with water) The harder it gets to maintain and the more attention it requires.

 

[tirian]

The crew that performs maintenance is very different from the one that performs refurbs.

Spotty regular maintenance = longer refurbs.

 

[DManRightHere]

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..

This probably needs to be done. Last time I rode it was a 10 minute line right after the fireworks. I get in line, ride breaks down. I give it five or ten minutes, they get it going. A little later I am next to get on, ride breaks down. Heck no, I ain't getting out of line now. About 12 minutes later I'm on the ride. We got though the entire ride, we are next to get off...guess what? Breaks down again!! Another 10 minutes, finally off the ride. Nearly walk on ride takes nearly an hour.

It seemed to be down a lot during our trip too, every time they had to cut the lights on to fix whatever the problem was.

 

[wdwmagic]

The WDWMagic refurb schedule here says Splash is closing Jan 1st. They wouldn't close it that soon, would they? The news article on the front page still says Jan 6th, that seems more likely. Perhaps @wdwmagic can confirm either way?

Jan 6

 

[msteel]

Jan 6

Thanks.

 

[sittle]

Riding Splash in the winter sucks anyways, it's doing people a favor. Additionally, watch the wait times for Splash every month, in the winter it's essentially walk on.

Speaking as someone who visits only in the "winter"... no it doesn't suck... in fact, I can get in 5 rides, usually in a row and love the beejezus out of it...

Winter in Florida, isn't really Winter when you live in Canada...

What sucks is that the refurb is usually done in the winter.

 

[sittle]

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

No... no it's not..

I do agree if closing Splash for a month every year is what it takes to keep it in tip top shape, I'm all in favour of it... I just need to know if it's always the same month so I can plan accordingly.

 

[Magenta Panther]

So I'm wondering why Splash is getting yet another refurb. My cousin, who was generally happy with the way it looked a few weeks ago, mentioned that the AAs still look pretty antique-ish. And that the Bluebird in the final scene doesn't work. And that also in that scene, Brer Rabbit appears to be leaning back...on air. Not against a door or a tree, but on air. And how lame that looks. And I think I mentioned the black tarp covering something in the ride, wherever that is (my cousin can't remember where exactly that is in the ride, but that it's quite noticeable.)

My cousin did say that the showboat scene was wonderful. The timing of the ride for that was perfect. Yay!

So what can we expect from this new refurb?

 

[Epicpilot]

General maintenance and cosmetic work. It's part of trying to keep it in good shape due to all the parts and how old it is getting.

 

[sloppy.joey]

I think there was a lot of ride maintenance like new chain lifts and stuff mentioned somewhere...

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

@wdw71fan mentioned they were doing some major renovation on the lift hills and replacing a lot of the sensors and water jets. I don't know if any of this will include cosmetic show items or not, wdw71fan may be able to clarify whether they will do any TLC on the animatronics and such while they're at it.

Though it's possible the water jets will include the laughing place jumping fountains, if the water jet replacement includes aspects other than the main flume water. It would be a shame if they wasted that time and didn't address anything cosmetic while they were at it, at least inspecting everything to ensure it wouldn't break soon afterwards.

 

[wdwmagic]

There is some possibility this refurb has been cancelled. Anyone know more?

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

There is some possibility this refurb has been cancelled. Anyone know more?

If True: Yea!
If Not: Boo!