what can you do if half is closed?

[jencor]

My daughter went to Disneyland today with her husband (just married a few months ago and wanted to spend some time together away alone), and so many rides are closed. Up for refurbishment is Nemo, Alice in Wonderland, Indiana Jones (which she wanted most), Pirates of the Caribbean and It's a Small World (at least she will not have to get that song stuck in her head) and she said closed for repairs when they got there were Buzz lightyear, Splash mountain and Matterhorn. So many bigger attractions. From her texts I think she is just so frustrated and has lost a lot of magic. They are just there today and tomorrow and will be in DCA tomorrow, so she misses a lot of rides. Question is if there is something she can do or what would you do? I want to help her make the trip magical.

 

[gboiler1]

Bummer...it is disappointing when there are so many refurbs at once. Best advice is to enjoy what's open and use FP since there are still so many things to do even with all the closures.

 

[Californian Elitist]

That's not half.

The dates for the refurb schedule have been posted for a long time. The only thing she can do is enjoy what's open.

 

[Nicole220]

Buzz, Splash, and Matterhorn are not schedule to be down for refurbishments. Which means they probably had some kind of technical issue at the moment but they'll but up and running as soon as possible. By the looks of the wait time app, they're back up.

If this wind keeps up tomorrow, just know that a lot of the rides (Golden Zephyr, Swings, Fun Wheel, and Goofy's Sky School) in Paradise Pier will be closed while the winds are going strong.

It's a bummer that Indy is closed. I'd be sad too. But there's still enough to enjoy.

 

[BubbaQuest]

Yep, a lot of us are a little confused about the amount of scheduled maintenance right now. With the late spring break this year and the lack of an off-season, I think DL had to cram as much maintenance as possible between the little amount of time they have between Easter and Memorial day.

As others have mentioned, hopefully Matterhorn and Splash will open later in the day.

She can always stop by City Hall to let Disney know she is upset. May not change anything immediately, but it at least can help left off a little steam.

 

[jencor]

it was not just the maintenance, but three other rides down also. as someone mentioned, did not realize that it is windy. She is making do, I told her DCA did not have so many closures, so hopefully she will make the most of it and enjoy tomorrow too. Thanks for the response.

 

[BubbaQuest]

We are having record winds and heat here in SoCal. Might be a good time to go check out some nice air-conditioned locations like Mr Lincoln, the gorgeous lobby of the Grand Californian, or some cool drinks at Trader Sam's

 

[westie]

(sigh) Leaving monday for the kingdom. I was hoping someone wouldn't remind me...lol. Oh well. I've always wanted to eat my way through disney and this just may be the trip. And I'm sure if you complain all they're going to do is give you a button! Trip report to follow.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

Space Mountain and the Matterhorn are going down this month too. It's a terrible time to take those down.

It sure feels like the whole park is construction walls and closed attractions left and right. The loss of classic standby high capacity people-eaters and major E ticket draws seems to have jammed up the walkways even more than usual.

 

[JediMasterMatt]

While yes, it is unfortunate that attractions are closed when you visit any Disney park, they are the most important part of keeping the Disney level of quality high.

A refurb at Disneyland usually means the attraction will come out looking better than ever with improvements in show quality. I wish the same could be said about WDW, where the focus is on keeping the infrastructure operational (sometimes barely so).

Disneyland is being hit especially hard this season by a perfect storm of events:

- Attractions are getting extra attention in advance of the 60th anniversary.
- Refurbs that were planned for late last year/early this year got put on hold due to the cost overuns in Orlando with MM+ putting a freeze on spending. Once Anaheim became exempt for the freeze, this has caused many of the attractions to get quickly put back into the queue for refurb so they can be completed for the peak of summer season.

 

[teacherlady19]

The Art of Animation Building in DCA is also a great place that's air conditioned. With the sofas, too, it's a lovely place to park yourself, watch the animated clips (and play "name that movie" with your companions) while resting your tired feet and body.

I had 3 students who went up to DL on Tuesday for one's 18th birthday. The birthday boy came back with disappointment about some of the closures, and I felt bad that I knew about them and hadn't mentioned it to him. (I knew they were going up when they told me Monday that they wouldn't be in class the next day.)

Donna (San Diego County)

 

[TP2000]

That's not even close to half. It's actually 18%.

Considering the absolute hell Southern California went through on Tuesday/Wednesday with some of the worst Santa Ana winds in decades, it's amazing how well the Disneyland Resort fared.

There are over 60 rides/attractions at Disneyland and DCA. Currently there are six rides closed for refurbishment, and they've been listed on the refurbishment calendar on the Disneyland.com website for months prior. http://www.disneyland.com In addition to phoning Disneyland information the old fashioned way ahead of your visit at (714) 781-4565. Those refurbishments are also listed on the "Currently Unavailable" signs posted at every single entry lane to the Main Entrance Esplanade that they had to pass before entry to the parks.

If Buzz Lightyear, Splash and Matterhorn were having technical problems at the time your daughter approached those attractions, that is certainly a bummer. But there are phone apps that track wait times and opening/closings that happen routinely throughout a day. Disneyland/DCA also has seven satellite Guest Relations kiosks posted throughout both parks (listed on the park maps), in addition to the two main Guest Relations offices and the two Information Boards that post attraction status (also listed on the park maps), so a guest without a phone app can always go to one of those eleven Guest Relations centers to inquire if a ride has reopened.

Disneyland Resort also offers an amazingly accurate auto phone service that gives you instant info on any ride/show in the park through voice recognition, its' called Ask Otto!, and the service is noted prominently in every park map. (714) 520-7090

The good news is that with modern information technology, and two theme parks that sit literally within 75 yards of each other, a person can hop between each park multiple times per day and cherry pick the best experiences. And as always, if a person has questions, a physical visit to one of the eleven staffed Guest Relations facilities located in each park will offer a world of options, the latest information, and customer service recovery tools for the asking.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

I was just at Disneyland last week and while it is a bummer that so many attractions were closed, we still managed to miss 18 rides and shows at DL and 10 at DCA, between ride closures and attractions we just didn't have time for. We were there for 4 full days and a few hours on our arrival day so I find it very difficult to imagine your daughter wouldn't be able to see quite a few things that are open. The last day we were there, Matterhorn was down most of the morning and Big Thunder was down in the afternoon. I was pretty mad because we hadn't been on Matterhorn yet but what can you do? Things happen and I would rather have the ride go down if there is a problem than for them to continue running it and having something worse happen.

As others have mentioned, rides that are down for refurb have been listed for awhile so there is no reason she couldn't have looked online and found that info. If those rides being down were that much of an issue, she could have chosen to skip going. We debated doing that with the amount of ride closures but I'm glad we didn't. Even though it was ridiculously hot and REALLY windy, we still had a great time and are planning to go back to see everything we missed next year.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

That's not even close to half. It's actually 18%.

Considering the absolute hell Southern California went through on Tuesday/Wednesday with some of the worst Santa Ana winds in decades, it's amazing how well the Disneyland Resort fared.

The winds really were AWFUL on Tuesday and Wednesday!! I got back to the hotel room and had dirt in my ears! There was dust flying everywhere on our walks to the parks. Combined with the heat, that wasn't the first trip to Disneyland weather I was hoping for! lol

 

[TP2000]

The winds really were AWFUL on Tuesday and Wednesday!! I got back to the hotel room and had dirt in my ears! There was dust flying everywhere on our walks to the parks. Combined with the heat, that wasn't the first trip to Disneyland weather I was hoping for! lol

Wasn't it miserable?!?

The famed Santa Ana Winds arrive in Orange County a few times per year, almost always in September and October, but occasionally in winter. This round of winds and hot weather last Tuesday/Wednesday wasn't just unusually strong and wide-ranging, it was extremely weird to have that happen in late April.

If it helps any, it was such a massive high pressure system that it affected the entire western third of the continent. 1,000 miles to the north of Disneyland, normally cool and rainy Seattle had a few days of sunny weather with record-setting highs of 80 degrees, while Portland baked at 83 degrees. Disneyland may have been miserable, but at least the cold and clammy folks in the Pacific Northwest got a bizarre shot of August like heat in April.

Truly a bizarre weather pattern we all had for about 72 hours!

But now we're back to normal. On Monday the forecast for Disneyland is sunny and 71 degrees. As I type this Seattle is back to light rain and 48 degrees.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Last week's Santa Ana's were insane. I'm a Southern girl & it gets hot here but I've never experienced anything like that. It was literally being sandblasted. I'm with @derelicte19, not the ideal weather to have for our first trip out west. Part of me does wish to return but part of me wonders if we'd only land in the same unfortunate circumstances. Do we chance it? At this moment I'm not sure how I feel about that. I'd say I'm 50/50-ish.

 

[TP2000]

Part of me does wish to return but part of me wonders if we'd only land in the same unfortunate circumstances. Do we chance it? At this moment I'm not sure how I feel about that. I'd say I'm 50/50-ish.

Totally understand that. But it's about the same risk you take with booking a trip to WDW and then being kept inside the hotel for two days due to a hurricane. At WDW, hurricanes and tropical weather systems can close the parks for days at a time. At least in that completely bizarre Santa Ana wind condition last week both parks stayed open and operated as close to normal as possible, with a few exceptions like the Golden Zephyr closed for high winds. (Which is ironic that a ride named after a wind can't operate in high winds.)

Orlando and Disney Cruise Lines usually get threatened with a hurricane once or twice per season. Unless you get a weird year like 2004 when three separate hurricanes passed nearby Walt Disney World and shut the parks for days at a time, again and again. Last week's Santa Ana's were like that type of thing; something that happens only once every 20 or 30 years.

Florida Hurricanes Impacting WDW In August/September 2004

 

[TP2000]

I was just at Disneyland last week and while it is a bummer that so many attractions were closed, we still managed to miss 18 rides and shows at DL and 10 at DCA, between ride closures and attractions we just didn't have time for. We were there for 4 full days and a few hours on our arrival day so I find it very difficult to imagine your daughter wouldn't be able to see quite a few things that are open.

Agreed.

But then, there's a part of me that thinks much of our suggestions we offered in this thread aren't radical or unknown.

If I am having difficulty with goods or services I purchased, whether a theme park visit or a piece of clothing or a major appliance, I don't Tweet about it or get a friend to post online about it. I go to the customer service/information desk and politely inquire what help or assistance can be provided to me based on the specific challenges I am having with the goods or services. In this case, it was a bout of very crummy and windy weather that made a hassle of a half dozen refurbishments (admittedly publicized by Disney openly for months in advance, but still I can understand how that's a bummer to not ride Pirates of the Caribbean).

Maybe @jencor daughter has only been to WDW and doesn't realize that unlike the creaky, dusty rides at WDW the Anaheim and Tokyo parks have a routine refurbishment schedule where most every attraction is closed for at least a few weeks every 12 to 18 months? And that the refurbishment schedule is available for the Anaheim and Tokyo parks months in advance on their public websites?

Anytime I've stopped at a Guest Relations facility at a Disney theme park, there's always been a very helpful and polite young person in a plaid uniform who is very willing and quite able to help me, without any manager approval needed or extra hoops to jump through. I smile and politely explain my issue to the CM, and I get smiles back and a happy solution offered to me, and I offer a handshake and genuine thanks back to the person. A shame that option wasn't used in this person's case last week.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

Do we chance it? At this moment I'm not sure how I feel about that. I'd say I'm 50/50-ish.

CHRISTMAS!

 

[jencor]

She ended up having a great trip, just started frustrating. It was understood that rides are closed for refurbishment, this being her first trip to DL and she has only been to DW twice. So many here are saying that refurbishment is needed and definitely agree, but quite a few classics were down for that reason, the problem was on top of that three top rides were closed due to problems with the ride at the time. Twice while in line waiting and another as they just got there. That is what added to the frustration. She went to guest services and was able to get some fast passes. She had a great time at DCA the next day and will be a trip they remember for the good.