Why does it take 3 years to build a ride?

[JusticeDisney]

If you are not willing to accept the answer, why did you bother answering the question?

The number one reason Disney does not build fast because they don't have to and there currently is almost no financial incentive for them to change.

Wait. I presume you meant to say why did I bother “asking” the question. In any event, according to you, a person can ask a question only if he or she is prepared to completely accept the answer that is given? That’s ridiculous. I asked the question. You gave me an answer. And I don’t happen to think your answer contains much merit. There you have it, we can agree to disagree.

 

[danlb_2000]

No my point remains there is a process to ensure the saftey of the riders, this includes various regulartary inspections and also inspections by engineers. I'm not saying disney is rushing, but I am saying there is a lot that goes into building a ride, which includes a safety aspect.

What Martin is saying is that Disney could build these rides faster without sacrificing any safety.

 

[Master Yoda]

Wait. I presume you meant to say why did I bother “asking” the question. In any event, according to you, a person can ask a question only if he or she is prepared to completely accept the answer that is given? That’s ridiculous. I asked the question. You gave me an answer. And I don’t happen to think your answer contains much merit. There you have it, we can agree to disagree.

Yeah...I guess my 23 years in the construction industry means nothing. I guess we will also leave out that I have done projects for Disney and other companies like them as well.

Why Disney takes so long is not a matter of opinion. It is matter of fact; facts you were given by more than one person, many of which have intimate knowledge of how Disney builds and manages construction projects and now you say they are wrong. You essentially asked a group of people with PhDs in mathematics what 2+2 is and when they told you 4, you replied "nuh-uh".

 

[Kristoff]

The Empire State building was built in the middle of a city in 18 months.

I would argue that Skyscrapers at that time were a very common building. Starting in the late 1800's through the 1930's, there were dozens of skyscrapers being built in New York and around the US. During this same time frame, the title of "tallest skyscraper" changed hands 11 times meaning creating buildings of exceptional height wasn't uncommon. I think you also need to look at the crew to see why it got created so fast. In the initial phases, they had 600 men who ran two 12 hour shifts. At it's peak, the crew was somewhere around 3,500 workers. All these factors combined (plus the enormous amount of money to finance it all) is why it got done so fast.

Wait what?? I actually disagree. Universal is planning long term. It started with Harry Potter and they have improved ever since. Disney ia still resting on the heels of name. They have Orlando market period. But they need to be aggressive. The problem regardless of what they do and how long, people like us will still go in massive numbers.

I agree that people like us will always go in massive numbers and Disney is letting Universal play catch up. Let me expand on why I think Universal is not thinking long term.

• They currently have all their equity tied up into Harry Potter. No doubt this has made them an unfathomable amount of money and it really is a engineering marvel but what happens in a year or so once the next fantastic beast movie is done and no new entries are being added. The only planned changes post the next movie are a retooling of the dueling dragons coaster and some Christmas / Light shows on the Hogwarts castle. As the next generation grows up without Harry Potter being as big as it is now, I can see problems. This is where I think building lands around concepts makes much more sense than franchises.
• The current lineup for 2018 is a fast and the furious ride, a Jimmy Fallon attraction, and some new hotels and expansion of Volcano bay. None of these would drive me to say that I absolutely need to go to Universal on my next trip to Florida. The Super Nintendo World for 2020 looks really interesting and will be successful and that's because it relays on a theme as opposed to a specific franchise. This would allow them to create new rides whenever they want and keep it fresh which is what I feel that should be doing for long term success.
• They purchased a huge portion of land (over 400 acres) back in 2015 but so far haven't announced any preliminary plans for it. If you are buying a huge amount of land like that, the natural assumption is another park. The fact that nothing has been done with it so far to me suggests that they might not have a fully fleshed out plan which means it just sitting there not making Universal money

 

[correcaminos]

No my point remains there is a process to ensure the saftey of the riders, this includes various regulartary inspections and also inspections by engineers. I'm not saying disney is rushing, but I am saying there is a lot that goes into building a ride, which includes a safety aspect.

Which had nothing to do with the extra long timeline that Disney uses. I'm not sure why this is even a consideration in this discussion. Your example was an exception to the rule.

Let's look at the margarita stand at Epcot. It took over 2 years to build. Why?

 

[Dead2009]

I appreciate all of the opinions set forth in this thread, but the idea that it is reasonable to take 3 years to build a freaking roller coaster is just plain silly, IMHO. And please spare me the planning and designing and theming, etc. arguments - all that has been done and ground has actually been broken, yet we are STILL 3 years away! Ridiculous.

Uhhh....you do realize this isnt an outdoor attraction, right?

 

[larryz]

Time taken isn’t due to safety. Splash is safe. BTM is safe. SSE is safe. PotC is safe.

And getting "safer" all the time...

 

[drizgirl]

And getting "safer" all the time...

Nicely played.

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

Wait. I presume you meant to say why did I bother “asking” the question. In any event, according to you, a person can ask a question only if he or she is prepared to completely accept the answer that is given? That’s ridiculous. I asked the question. You gave me an answer. And I don’t happen to think your answer contains much merit. There you have it, we can agree to disagree.

You asked a question that has a factual answer. You weren't asking for people's opinions. Several people who know more about it than you (since they didn't need to ask) gave you the same answer, including somebody deeply involved in the construction industry who has even done work for Disney. You told them that they were wrong, because apparently it wasn't the answer you were looking for. The answer to your question is not a matter of opinion, so there is no "agreeing to disagree." You don't get to disagree with facts or decide that they don't have merit. You're not the president.

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

Let's look at the margarita stand at Epcot. It took over 2 years to build. Why?

The answer is obvious. Those margs would have been very unsafe if Disney hadn't taken their time.

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

Time taken isn’t due to safety. Splash is safe. BTM is safe. SSE is safe. PotC is safe.

May wanna take PotC off that list....

 

[marni1971]

May wanna take PotC off that list....

It’s safe if you keep your hands inside the boat.

And the boats aren’t paper thin...

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

It’s safe if you keep your hands inside the boat.

And the boats aren’t paper thin...

I know it was in pretty rough shape a few years back, did they address the crumbling infrastructure when it had its big refurb?

 

[marni1971]

I know it was in pretty rough shape a few years back, did they address the crumbling infrastructure when it had its big refurb?

Time will tell. The belts and their parts have been the main problem over the last few years. I know at least one has been replaced recently-ish.

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

Time will tell. The belts and their parts have been the main problem over the last few years. I know at least one has been replaced recently-ish.

Probably good that you didn't include Space Mountain on your list at all, eh? Although its myriad safety issues have nothing to do with quick builds and everything to do with quick profit.

 

[correcaminos]

The answer is obvious. Those margs would have been very unsafe if Disney hadn't taken their time.

 

[Driver]

I know this doesn't affect all projects so I'll use Pandora as an example. Plants and trees, one of the things they did very early in the project was the planting. It takes time for these things to root and grow no preplaning can hurry that along. I worked industrial construction for 35 yrs. I would tell people it takes a woman 9 mo. To have a baby not 9 woman one mo. Sometimes logistics dictate these things, example stacking trades. You can't bring the rug guy in till the floor gets installed.

 

[TwilightZone]

Wait you think river journey is an amazing ride? It took them forever to get pandora open.

Not amazing, but I think why it took pandora a long time to make is because they spent more time constructing the land itself, and not much with the rides. Lands =/= rides for the most part.

 

[NickMaio]

Dis usually takes longer to build than their counterparts. Not sure why???

 

[Blueliner]

It’s safe if you keep your hands inside the boat.

And the boats aren’t paper thin...

But . . . those POTC boats do "swamp" if the boat is full and the weight isn't evenly distributed. We rode it on Saturday morning, and my youngest son got a shoe full of water, plus wet shorts and a wet right side of his shirt. If I recall correctly, it happened at the bottom of the drop. We were on the back row, and he was on the far right side of the bench. I had to donate my socks to him for the rest of the morning until we went back to the Polynesian to purposely get wet at the Lava Pool.

On the bright side, he was so traumatized by the wet shoes that he didn't get traumatized by what Disney did with the auction scene!