SSE closed until Feb 18th!

[RSoxNo1]

There must be a VERY good reason for this. SSE is one of the fastest loading, highest capacity rides at WDW - and correct me if I am wrong, but I believe it's the #1 attended ride at Epcot.

I'm pretty sure that Soarin' has taken over as the single most ridden attraction in WDW.

 

[nibblesandbits]

Well then it's park ops, LOL. Point is, someone at Disney dropped the ball on this one, one way or another. And they are sure going to hear about it, I'm sure. And not just from fans like us that go to sites like this. There are lots of people out there who maybe don't frequent boards like this as we do, but know enough to check online at the Disney calendar for closures and such. Rehabs happen, closures happen, but when you have one planned like this that is all of a sudden doubled in length it's almost worse that it was a "communication error" if that is truly what happened. That means it wasn't unexpected, and they just didn't want people to know the park icon would be down for the busy season.

Since you have to plan everything six months out at this point, there are going to be a lot of people wondering why this has changed at the relatively "last minute" - three weeks before the end of a 4-month rehab. No matter how you slice it, it looks bad for Disney as a whole, no matter who was internally responsible for it. I wouldn't want to be one of the CM's who has to stand in front of SSE during Christmas and tell people it's not open.

AEfx

Then again, Disney has been extremely slow in announcing refurbs dates recently. I can think of the RNRC refurb dates that were only announced a couple of weeks before the scheduled refurbishment.

It is exremely angering when we have to plan our trips out 6 months in advance, at least, to get the ADRs we want, to pick the tours we want to see, etc, only to find out only a couple of weeks ahead of time that a ride will be down?

The question is, why is Disney waiting until the last minute to let people know that an attraction is going down. That gets extremely maddening and whomever is deciding to delay letting the general public know about refurbs that are scheduled (or in this case, an extension of a refurb) needs to get reprimanded or something. That is extremely unacceptable, especially in a case where Disney already knows there's going to be a refurb (or an extension of one.) By handling refurbs this way, it makes Disney look extremely bad.

 

[Scar Junior]

In general if the decision comes from ops it would be because they have a history of this being suitable standard of practice. Operations usually doesn't do anything that's not proven to work effectively in the past. Sure it sucks for some fans that they won't know a ride is down until 3 weeks before their trip, but it's the way they do it.

 

[jmvd20]

Say "thank you" to Park Ops, or whoever it was that put that date out there.

WDI, from what I'm told, never promised anything for November. None of my contacts have mentioned anything going wrong, just that it's taken a long tome to do all that they are doing. Let's face it, they're laying hands on every scene, replacing some, adding some, adding the interactive element....lots of stuff, requiring lots of time.

Still the person responsible for the project should have put the correct time frame on the project. Doesn't matter if every scene was being touched and cleaned up, it is someones job to know how long these things will take and obviously that person was nowhere near correct...

Once again this all goes back to someone somewhere making a major mistake... I have seen people lose their jobs for such things on numerous occassions...

 

[NX2I85]

Noooooooo! I'm going in January -planned the trip in anticipation of seeing the refurbed Spaceship Earth (among other things). I was mildly disappointed Splash would be down, but am more so about SE. :brick: I'm in the "had-I-known-I'd-have-gone-in-March-instead" crowd.


Oookay... Got that little whine out. Now I shall be fine. :wave:

 

[Scar Junior]

Still the person responsible for the project should have put the correct time frame on the project. Doesn't matter if every scene was being touched and cleaned up, it is someones job to know how long these things will take and obviously that person was nowhere near correct...

Once again this all goes back to someone somewhere making a major mistake... I have seen people lose their jobs for such things on numerous occassions...

I think what some of us are saying is that several departments knew about the project. WDI didn't misjudge the timeframe because they don't give us a time frame. If the date came from Ops and it's wrong then that sucks for some guests who were expecting the ride SE, but it won't hurt their business and its not really a big deal to them.

Edit... maybe Lee or someone will be able to shed some light on the situation and how the process works.

 

[AEfx]

In general if the decision comes from ops it would be because they have a history of this being suitable standard of practice. Operations usually doesn't do anything that's not proven to work effectively in the past. Sure it sucks for some fans that they won't know a ride is down until 3 weeks before their trip, but it's the way they do it.

I think you are missing the bigger picture here. The average guests doesn't understand the need for rehabs and such at all. It's actually really common to run into regular folks who just don't get why Disney can't do this kind of work "at night or whatever". Do you and I know the difference? Sure. Joe Blow average guest? Not so much. Worse is the slightly "above average" guest who does look at the WDW calendar (I wouldn't call them "fans") and now sees a dramatic change so quickly.

Look, I'm not saying this is the end of the world. What I am saying is that someone at Disney knew full well this was going to happen if we believe what some people are saying in this thread, and if they didn't know what was going to happen they were just negligent. In either case, they did drop the ball here, and I think it's worth noting. I just can't drink the Kool-Aid this time and put a smiley face on what I think was a poor decision on someone's part.

AEfx

 

[AEfx]

If the date came from Ops and it's wrong then that sucks for some guests who were expecting the ride SE, but it won't hurt their business and its not really a big deal to them.

Hurt business on an immediate basis? No.

Engender ill-will, which can be worthless or priceless, depending? Yes.

AEfx

 

[Monty]

If Disney had the slightest worry that SSE being open or not had any major impact on attendance, I'd be shocked!

Yes it's the park 'Icon', but it's not a popular thrill ride. If it's down the vast majority of guests who don't know before they arrive whether any given attraction or ride will be running or not will be momentarily disappointed at worst and go on with their day at the park. There will likely never be a guest demanding a refund because SSE was the sole reason they came to WDW.

Disney isn't going to fire anybody over something as insignificant as the timing of a rehab... No matter how irate a small group on a fan site might sound as they rant. :shrug:

 

[Scar Junior]

Thanks AEfx, I understand your position better now. I believe this illuminates some problems with their inter-departmental communication. But my position is that it also shows the differences in the way the two operate. WDI who thinks in science and creativity vs. Operations who thinks in dollars and precidence.

I may be wrong in my conjecture, but i would think that Ops would put the smiley face on at first and change the date 'when need be.' Unfortunately for WDI it makes them look bad.

Edit: I also think Ops probably wanted to believe that it would be open sooner than later.

 

[jmvd20]

I think what some of us are saying is that several departments knew about the project. WDI didn't misjudge the timeframe because they don't give us a time frame. If the date came from Ops and it's wrong then that sucks for some guests who were expecting the ride SE, but it won't hurt their business and its not really a big deal to them.

Edit... maybe Lee or someone will be able to shed some light on the situation and how the process works.

I understand that but from my perspective here is how it *should* work...

I am the project manager - I do not care how many departments or people are involved in the process as everything comes down to me. Therefore if department one says that the project will be completed by date X and it is incorrect infornation I immediatley jump on department one and correct the incorrect information.

Even if my superior claims that the project will be completed on date X which is false I correct him... That has happened before and will happen again due to the fact that everything comes down to the PM...

 

[AEfx]

No matter how irate a small group on a fan site might sound as they rant. :shrug:

What thread are you reading?

I don't see anyone irate around here.

I see some people discussing a sudden schedule change and it's potential impact.

AEfx

 

[jmvd20]

Disney isn't going to fire anybody over something as insignificant as the timing of a rehab... No matter how irate a small group on a fan site might sound as they rant. :shrug:

Well I for one can say that in construction accurate timing of projects is everything and is what separates the great ones from the not so greats...

If WDW doesn't care about meeting project deadlines where do I apply? If that were the case I would have no stress and one of the easiest jobs in the world...

As it stands now the thing I am judged on more than anything else is completing jobs on time and within budget...

 

[Figment571]

If we want Siemens to put pressure on Disney to take down the LAL tombs couldn't there be a way we cold get them to do that. Say, if we were to tell them we thought it took away from their pavilion. Hurm.....

 

[Monty]

What thread are you reading?

I don't see anyone irate around here.

I see some people discussing a sudden schedule change and it's potential impact.

AEfx

The same thread as you. :shrug:

Your definition of irate and mine may differ, but references to people polishing their resumes and being fired are interwoven throughout the 12 pages of thread I've read. Slightly over a hundred individuals have weighed in on the 'catastrophic' bungle that is the delay of re-opening SSE, perhaps half of those are upset at some level that someone or some department has misled or misrepresented to the public.

All I did was interject my opinion that Disney is unlikely to care much, if at all.

 

[Monty]

Well I for one can say that in construction accurate timing of projects is everything and is what separates the great ones from the not so greats...

If WDW doesn't care about meeting project deadlines where do I apply? If that were the case I would have no stress and one of the easiest jobs in the world...

As it stands now the thing I am judged on more than anything else is completing jobs on time and within budget...

I suspect that they do care about meeting deadlines, what they likely don't care about is the public perception of one department saying "It'll be done between November and March" and another announcing to the public that it'll be done in November. From my read of this thread [which is almost exclusively based on conjecture from forum members] there are indications that one department took an early optimistic approach based on another department's forecast window...

That's nowhere near as nefarious as some folks here seem to think. :shrug:

 

[jmvd20]

I suspect that they do care about meeting deadlines, what they likely don't care about is the public perception of one department saying "It'll be done between November and March" and another announcing to the public that it'll be done in November. From my read of this thread [which is almost exclusively based on conjecture from forum members] there are indications that one department took an early optimistic approach based on another department's forecast window...

That's nowhere near as nefarious as some folks here seem to think. :shrug:

Good point, I guess I am just looking at this situation from the construction aspect only - not from the PR department or Media department etc...

Still I would think it would have been in their best interest to correct the information released to the public if it was indeed incorrect from the get go. That is the only part of this entire situation that I have a problem with. As far as the refurb itself goes, heck let them take a year if that is what they need to have the end product be done properly.

As soon as SSE is re-opened all of this will be forgotten anyway so you are correct that in the end this really will not matter. Until that happens though we need to critique every move they make - that is after all what we do best!!

 

[Mr Bill]

It seems like half the guests don't even realize there's a ride in that there big ball anyway!

 

[sillykid]

First, let me say that I am a SSE fan. I am not upset that this is taking longer then expected. I Will not be there in the next 4 months and am not worried. But for people to not think that someone is going to be held responsible for the delay is crazy. This is a public company, a company that is proud to get it right, but most importantly, needs to make a profit. SSE does not effect attendance. What it does do, is make Disney send more money. This is not a $10,000 error. If they truely thought they were going to open soon, and now we are talking Febuary, this is a big cost. Someone will pay the price. Whether it's someone within Disney our an outsourced company that will never work with Disney again.

 

[Monty]

Good point, I guess I am just looking at this situation from the construction aspect only - not from the PR department or Media department etc...

Still I would think it would have been in their best interest to correct the information released to the public if it was indeed incorrect from the get go. That is the only part of this entire situation that I have a problem with. As far as the refurb itself goes, heck let them take a year if that is what they need to have the end product be done properly.

As soon as SSE is re-opened all of this will be forgotten anyway so you are correct that in the end this really will not matter. Until that happens though we need to critique every move they make - that is after all what we do best!!

:lol:

First, let me say that I am a SSE fan. I am not upset that this is taking longer then expected. I Will not be there in the next 4 months and am not worried. But for people to not think that someone is going to be held responsible for the delay is crazy. This is a public company, a company that is proud to get it right, but most importantly, needs to make a profit. SSE does not effect attendance. What it does do, is make Disney send more money. This is not a $10,000 error. If they truely thought they were going to open soon, and now we are talking Febuary, this is a big cost. Someone will pay the price. Whether it's someone within Disney our an outsourced company that will never work with Disney again.

I don't think anyone will be held responsible because the construction people didn't mess up. The PR people took an optimistic approach based on the window provided to them and adjusted their approach when it was clear their optimism was somewhat over-optimistic. They've corrected the website to reflect a date closer to the end of the window they were originally provided. No harm, no foul. There is no surprise added cost or error in the original forecast, all there is is an adjustment to the web page that says it's opening later rather than earlier.

I think you [and this thread] are reading much more into this than there is. :shrug: