Winter Rehabs - Disneyland Resort

[TP2000]

Come Monday the Christmas crowds will begin to recede (although the second week of January should still see modest crowds, but it won't truly be "dead" until January 13th), and the winter refurbishment schedule will begin in earnest.

For those WDW fans not used to traditional rehab schedules, the Anaheim and Tokyo resorts still stick with traditional Walt-era rehab schedules that see multiple attractions close for weeks or months at a time for maintenance, cleaning, plussing, and general TLC. It doesn't "RUIN VACATIONS!" as some folks claim at the attraction-lite parks of WDW, but in Anaheim and Tokyo that have two parks chock full of legit attractions, it just ensures that the parks sparkle and shine as best they can while the rest of the rides pick up the slack.

And with that, here's the rehab schedule for the two Anaheim parks that get underway in January, as it currently stands...

DISNEYLAND
Fantasmic! - January 6th to February 13th
Sailing Ship Columbia - January 6th to February 14th
Haunted Mansion - January 7th to January 18th (removal of Holiday show)
Big Thunder Ranch Petting Zoo - January 7th to January 18th (removal of Holiday décor)
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - 2013 to Mid February 2014 (re-Imagineering, track rebuild)
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage - January 6th to September 27th (draining lagoon)
Splash Mountain - January 20th to February 28th
It's A Small World - January 21st to January 31st
Pirates of the Caribbean - January 27th to February 6th Pushed back to Spring '14
Alice In Wonderland - February 3rd to Spring '14

DCA
Redwood Creek Challenge Trail - January 6th to March 1st
World of Color - January 7th to January 17th (removal of Holiday show/testing)
Soarin' Over California - February 18th to June '14 (plussing into HD format)

 

[Californian Elitist]

I can hear the complaints now...

 

[DisneyDelirious]

Looks like we will only miss out on a couple attractions in May/ June when we visit. We have experienced Soarin (although a lesser version from a quality standpoint) at WDW, but the submarines sounded like a neat experience. Still looks like there is plenty to keep us busy while we are there and I'm glad they take the time to fix things (as i think of the the Disco Yeti.) Out of curiosity, how much advance notice do they generally provide for refurbs?

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

Looks like we will only miss out on a couple attractions in May/ June when we visit. We have experienced Soarin (although a lesser version from a quality standpoint) at WDW, but the submarines sounded like a neat experience. Still looks like there is plenty to keep us busy while we are there and I'm glad they take the time to fix things (as i think of the the Disco Yeti.) Out of curiosity, how much advance notice do they generally provide for refurbs?

Usually three months or less (usually less).

 

[trs518]

Fantasmic and the Aladdin show are both not listed on the list of daily activities for parts of Jan/Feb.

 

[TP2000]

Fantasmic and the Aladdin show are both not listed on the list of daily activities for parts of Jan/Feb.

As noted in the OP, Fantasmic! will be closed for its annual refurbishment from January 6th to February 13th this year.

I can't find any info currently on Aladdin, but we can update it here when that's available.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

Fantasmic and the Aladdin show are both not listed on the list of daily activities for parts of Jan/Feb.

Fantasmic! will be down, but I think Aladdin will be up. They're just weird about entertainment on the calendar sometimes (especially Aladdin in my experience).

 

[FutureWorld1982]

Sorry to say this, but that's way too many major attractions closed at once. I would never plan a trip to the park all the way from Florida just to find at least four of my favorite attractions closed. If I had a trip planned, I would reschedule it for sure (I am definitely planning a Spring trip this year. Loved the Disneyland Resort).

 

[Travel Junkie]

Mouseplanet is now reporting a couple of big additions to the refurb schedule:

• Disneyland Railroad – closes February 24 through March 7 for refurbishment.

• Indiana Jones Adventure – closes March 2 through April 25 for refurbishment.

• Space Mountain – closes March 3 through May 22 for refurbishment.

That's a big blow to Spring Break crowds missing out on Space and Indy.

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

Mouseplanet is now reporting a couple of big additions to the refurb schedule:

• Disneyland Railroad – closes February 24 through March 7 for refurbishment.

• Indiana Jones Adventure – closes March 2 through April 25 for refurbishment.

• Space Mountain – closes March 3 through May 22 for refurbishment.

That's a big blow to Spring Break crowds missing out on Space and Indy.

Still will have more attractions up at one time than the MK does at full roster. There are going to be a lot of upset spring breakers though.

 

[TP2000]

Soarin' Over California now shows up on the official Disneyland.com website calendar. That moves it from the column of "Miceage Rumor" to "Confirmed Rehab". Although, Disney has yet to mention that Soarin' is closing for four months to install new digital projection equipment, much less the new tech upgrades Miceage has been talking about.

But now Soarin' is officially official, at least for a closure of some kind.

 

[trylon57]

oh by the way, I would like to thank Cosmic Commander ,Raven24,GiveMeTheMusic, and all the other people who took the time to give advice to this Long Island guy making his long awaited west coast trip, after visiting WDW Florida about 15-20 times. We are going the last week of January,and hope to see you at Disneyland! Thanks again!

 

[ddbowdoin]

I'm sad about a few closures, specifically soarin as I wanted to compare it to WDW. We just made it for the DLR Railroad, a huge draw for me. We are headed 2/17 - 2/21

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

I'm sad about a few closures, specifically soarin as I wanted to compare it to WDW. We just made it for the DLR Railroad, a huge draw for me. We are headed 2/17 - 2/21

Don't fret about missing Soarin'. The only difference is the queue, and there is nothing interesting in the queue besides a few labeled photos of early aviators. Otherwise it is identical.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Here is the latest rehab schedule:

• 01/07/13 - 01/31/14 - Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

• 01/06/14 - 02/13/14 - Fantasmic!

• 01/06/14 - 02/13/14 - Sailing Ship Columbia

• 01/06/14 - 09/26/14 - Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage

• 01/07/14 - 01/17/14 - Big Thunder Ranch Petting Farm

• 01/07/14 - 01/17/14 - Haunted Mansion

• 01/13/14 - 01/16/14 - Jungle Cruise

• 01/21/14 - 02/07/14 - It's a Small World

• 01/21/14 - 02/28/14 - Splash Mountain

• 01/22/14 - 01/22/14 - Disneyland Monorail

• 01/27/14 - 02/13/14 - Pirates of the Caribbean

• 02/03/14 - 06/05/14 - Alice in Wonderland

• 02/24/14 - 03/07/14 - Disnyeland Railroad

• 03/03/14 - 04/25/14 - Indiana Jones Adventure

• 03/03/14 - 05/22/14 - Space Mountain

• 01/06/14 - 02/13/14 - Grizzly River Run

• 01/06/14 - 01/16/14 - Buena Vista Street restrooms

• 01/06/14 - 02/27/14 - Redwood Creek Challenge Trail

• 01/07/14 - 01/16/14 - World of Color

• 01/21/14 - 02/20/14 - Aladdin-A Musical Spectacular

• 02/18/14 - 06/05/14 - Soarin' Over California

• 03/03/14 - 03/06/14 - Mickey's Fun Wheel

• 03/03/14 - 03/06/14 - Heimlich's Chew Chew Train

Definitely NOT impressed that Space Mountain, Alice in Wonderland and Nemo Subs will be down while we're there. Also, Soarin will be down at DCA but we've seeen that at Epcot many many times so that's not a huge blow for us. Looks like quite a few of these are happening during prime Spring Break time which puzzles me.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Here is the latest rehab schedule:

• 01/07/13 - 01/31/14 - Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

• 01/06/14 - 02/13/14 - Fantasmic!

• 01/06/14 - 02/13/14 - Sailing Ship Columbia

• 01/06/14 - 09/26/14 - Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage

• 01/07/14 - 01/17/14 - Big Thunder Ranch Petting Farm

• 01/07/14 - 01/17/14 - Haunted Mansion

• 01/13/14 - 01/16/14 - Jungle Cruise

• 01/21/14 - 02/07/14 - It's a Small World

• 01/21/14 - 02/28/14 - Splash Mountain

• 01/22/14 - 01/22/14 - Disneyland Monorail

• 01/27/14 - 02/13/14 - Pirates of the Caribbean

• 02/03/14 - 06/05/14 - Alice in Wonderland

• 02/24/14 - 03/07/14 - Disnyeland Railroad

• 03/03/14 - 04/25/14 - Indiana Jones Adventure

• 03/03/14 - 05/22/14 - Space Mountain

• 01/06/14 - 02/13/14 - Grizzly River Run

• 01/06/14 - 01/16/14 - Buena Vista Street restrooms

• 01/06/14 - 02/27/14 - Redwood Creek Challenge Trail

• 01/07/14 - 01/16/14 - World of Color

• 01/21/14 - 02/20/14 - Aladdin-A Musical Spectacular

• 02/18/14 - 06/05/14 - Soarin' Over California

• 03/03/14 - 03/06/14 - Mickey's Fun Wheel

• 03/03/14 - 03/06/14 - Heimlich's Chew Chew Train

Definitely NOT impressed that Space Mountain, Alice in Wonderland and Nemo Subs will be down while we're there. Also, Soarin will be down at DCA but we've seeen that at Epcot many many times so that's not a huge blow for us. Looks like quite a few of these are happening during prime Spring Break time which puzzles me.

I think Space & Alice are kinda out of the norm because their refurbs are due to the OSHA fines from last year. They're having to update certain things for safety reasons.

 

[Figments Friend]

-

If Big Thunder Mountain Railroad actually does open on February 1st ( according to the above latest list..)....that means it will be opening on a very special day for us Tony Baxter fans....



( starts singing a famous, traditional song....)

But the latest word seems to be that March is more likely.
Would have been a cool coincidence, though...

 

[Californian Elitist]

Matterhorn is going down for yet another multi-month refurbishment from May 27th to August 14th, according to the interactive map on the site. Given that all the big rides are going down, over at MiceChat, we're guessing it's happening due to the 60th next year.

 

[rle4lunch]

We went last Monday and Tuesday and Big Thunder was still down hard. Peeking thru the boards, it's still a big mess. Who knows if they'll be done by this month. Other notables, RSR tractor tipping scene was down but the sound effects were still going. Maybe a *disco* tractor will be next? ha. Lastly, we stayed at Paradise Pier this time since we've stayed at the other 2 on property resorts before and wanted to see how it faired against the others. I will say this, Paradise Pier IS NOT worth the money. The rooms are adequate, but the elevator situation is completely UNSATISFACTORY. On average there is about a 30 minute wait to take an elevator downstairs (there are only 3 elevators). We ended up taking the stairs each day because of the wait times (and we were on the 9th floor). Many other people were doing the same thing, which is just plain dumb. And the stairs are not well kept either. Considering that so many people end up using the stairs (that don't have strollers, which is another issue altogether), they should probably dress up the staircases with something so it doesn't feel like you're conducting a fire drill every morning before going into the parks. This issue alone negates any type of justification for the prices they are charging for that place. Awful, awful, awful. Never again.

 

[Furiated]

We went last Monday and Tuesday and Big Thunder was still down hard. Peeking thru the boards, it's still a big mess. Who knows if they'll be done by this month. Other notables, RSR tractor tipping scene was down but the sound effects were still going. Maybe a *disco* tractor will be next? ha. Lastly, we stayed at Paradise Pier this time since we've stayed at the other 2 on property resorts before and wanted to see how it faired against the others. I will say this, Paradise Pier IS NOT worth the money. The rooms are adequate, but the elevator situation is completely UNSATISFACTORY. On average there is about a 30 minute wait to take an elevator downstairs (there are only 3 elevators). We ended up taking the stairs each day because of the wait times (and we were on the 9th floor). Many other people were doing the same thing, which is just plain dumb. And the stairs are not well kept either. Considering that so many people end up using the stairs (that don't have strollers, which is another issue altogether), they should probably dress up the staircases with something so it doesn't feel like you're conducting a fire drill every morning before going into the parks. This issue alone negates any type of justification for the prices they are charging for that place. Awful, awful, awful. Never again.

You had the same experience at PP that I did. We stayed on the 8th floor and had the same exact issue with the elevators. Never again. Thankfully we had a split stay with GCV and only had to endure 2 days at PP.

We got a post stay survey and complained at length about the elevators.