Darkbeer1
Well-Known Member
Thank for clarifying, @marni1971.
Can you provide a new target date? Or know when the opening date is going to be annouced? It is looking difficult to book a vacation in advance to ride it.
OK, NOBODY knows when RotR will open, not even Disney. There are techinical difficulties with the attraction, Disney is not disclosing them, and that is typical in the business.
I have been involved with many Theme Park attraction Grand openings. I remember being one of the first to ride Sky Rocket at Kennywood. Prior to the employees, they actually used hay bails as part of the loading area. It was supposed to have opened a couple of weeks earlier, but they promised us rides, and they delivered. And yes, they had some small issues in the late evening...
When Xcelerator opened at Knott's, the Grand Opening date was scheduled and pushed back. On the third try, I was on the loading platform, ready to ride the first public train, sitting next to the General Contractor. At 3 PM, the music started. and the ceremony was going along in the public area. Nobody knew that the State of California had not yet signed off to operate the ride. It was getting to the point do they run the train without riders, or what... At 3:11 the State inspector signed off on a 1 train operation (Not enough safety sensors for a 2 train operation. So we were told to sit down during the National Anthem, and off we rent.
Full Throttle's Grand Opening had only Six Flags Employees on it, as the state had not signed off on the ride. In the middle of the park president's speech, she was interrupted and told the state did sign off, and the press and invited guests could ride. (And that was a rescheduled date).
As much as the Marketing Department wants dates, nobody will give them any until it is KNOWN that the attraction is ready to operate fully. If you could glance at the marketing calendars, you would see multiple dates where they think a press event would work, and not conflict with other events in the area. As the ride progresses, some dates get crossed off as they know it is too early.
RotR has to be totally fixed, then ran on the expected 18 hour a day operation for awhile, the testing with CM's (For legal reasons, they can ride and be covered under the Workers Comp policies, so exempt from some regulations) Once that goes well, they will bring in the state inspectors, who hopefully sign off, and the Disney will look at setting an opening date.
So, while everyone would love to have firm dates for planning, there are none to give out.....
Kinda like the low cost Tesla......
