2024 Disney World Refurbishment Calendar
This Walt Disney World ride refurbishment calendar lists the closure schedule for 2024 and 2025 at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios & Animal Kingdom. Attractions close for routine maintenance, safety upgrades, improvements, and reimaginings. (Updated April 26, 2024.)
While no one wants attraction downtime during their trip to Walt Disney World, refurbishments are necessary to keep the rides looking good (and safe!) for future visitors. Usually, there are only a handful of simultaneous closures, plus new attractions being built. Note that the list below includes several refurbishments that have either been scheduled last-minute, extended, or are longer than normal.
If you’re visiting Walt Disney World now, the good news is that there aren’t many refurbishments currently on the schedule. The first bit of bad news is that the few of them that are on the calendar are all major thrill rides, which will be closed for portions of 2024 and 2025. And these aren’t the only attractions likely to go down for long closures in the next year, as other ride reimaginings are likely ahead of Universal’s Epic Universe opening in Summer 2025.
The other bad news is that Walt Disney World has not been doing nearly enough preventative maintenance or ride refurbishments during the off-season over the last few years. As a result, you can expect plenty of unplanned downtime. Since this happens as a result of rides breaking downtime, you can’t really plan for it (hence it being “unplanned”), but we still mention this because you should prepare for rides to go offline during your trip. If anything is a “must-ride” for you, be sure to prioritize it and give yourself a buffer just in case it breaks down during your days at Walt Disney World.
There’s also a lot of construction occurring, albeit not nearly as much as even a few years ago. However, that massively understates the current closures and impact of construction on visitors to Walt Disney World throughout the remainder of the year. Speaking of which, if you’re looking for opening dates rather than closures (and reopenings) to existing attractions, see the Disney Parks Project Timeline for 2024 & Beyond. That covers both the official opening dates, plus our predictions about what’ll likely be delayed.
If you want all of the latest updates on attraction closures and ride refurbishments–subscribe to our free Walt Disney World email newsletter. We also share other news and on-the-ground reports from the parks, when discounts are released, and much more.
Here is the current schedule of Walt Disney World refurbishments to attractions, when the closure starts, and when the refurbishment will conclude, updated as of April 26, 2024:
Animal Kingdom
- DINOSAUR – TBD closure date (likely late 2024 or early 2025)
- It’s Tough to Be a Bug – TBD closure date
All is quiet now, but Animal Kingdom will soon be a park in transformation once again. A Zootopia Tree of Life Show is replacing It’s Tough to Be a Bug at some point in the future–likely sometime in late 2024.
What else is next for Animal Kingdom is unclear. Primeval Whirl permanently closed and the company has confirmed that what’s currently Dino-Rama is the next big expansion site at Walt Disney World. They’ve also officially announced that the replacement will be the Tropical Americas at Animal Kingdom, and backstage work has already started to prepare for this.
Walt Disney World has teased Encanto and Indiana Jones concepts that are supposedly just “under consideration.” It’s our understanding that they’re a done deal, but other recent official projects have been cancelled even after construction started. DINOSAUR being converted to Indiana Jones Adventure is almost a sure thing, and we anticipate it closing either late this year or early in 2025.
Magic Kingdom
- Country Bear Musical Jamboree – Opens in Summer 2024
- Tiana’s Bayou Adventure – Opening in Summer 2024
Currently, the only two attractions closed at Magic Kingdom are reimaginings in Frontierland. Country Bear Jamboree is being transformed into Country Bear Musical Jamboree. An exact reopening date is currently unknown, but the attraction will come back in Summer 2024.
Our expectation is that some of the changes could occur overnight, but the Audio Animatronics also need TLC. Honestly, it could last several months–the longer, the better. The attraction could use a fair amount of love. It’s now our understanding that Country Bear Musical Jamboree will open later than Tiana’s Bayou Adventure–expect mid-July or later.
Also underway is the reimagining of Splash Mountain into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, a new ride based on The Princess and the Frog. Construction walls are still up around the ride and construction workers can be observed on and around the attraction working on the overhaul, but the exterior is mostly finished. The transformation timeline is an aggressive one, and but Tiana’s Bayou Adventure has made significant progress.
In fact, Walt Disney World just announced that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will open in Summer 2024. As discussed in that post, our prediction is that it debuts in late June 2024. (Our specific guess is June 20, 2024–but anytime between around then and the Independence Day holiday weekend is possible.)
EPCOT
- CommuniCore Hall & Plaza – Opens on June 10, 2024
- Luminous: The Symphony of Us – Now showing!
- Moana’s Journey of Water – Now open!
- Test Track – Closes on June 17, 2024
- World Celebration – Now open!
The biggest thing on the horizon is Test Track closing for a multi-month reimagining. A reopening date has not yet been announced, but it’s unlikely to return any time this year.
This Test Track reimagining will likely last until at least Spring 2025, with a reasonable probability of it taking until Summer 2025. We expect 9-12 months of downtime, with an outside chance of the closure lasting even longer if Test Track 3.0 really is getting elaborate show scenes like its predecessor, World of Motion.
After 4 long years of construction walls around the center of the park, World Celebration is now open. Along with it, Moana’s Journey of Water has debuted. However, walls are still up around CommuniCore Hall & Plaza, which is slated to open in Summer 2024. Along with the debut of that on June 10, there’s also a new Encanto sing-along, and it’s possible that there will be a summer celebration of some sort.
Back in World Showcase Lagoon, Luminous: The Symphony of Us has now debuted. This is EPCOT’s new permanent nighttime spectacular, replacing the temporary EPCOT Forever and Harmonious before that.
Looking forward, Spaceship Earth is long overdue for track and ride system maintenance, and that would necessitate a multi-month (if not year-plus) closure. Journey into Imagination is also about a decade overdue for a redo, but there’s no word that’s on the horizon, either.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- Jedi Training Academy: Trials of the Temple – Permanently Ended
- Star Wars: Galactic Spectacular – Permanently Ended
- Mickey Shorts Theater – Closed April 29 through May 24, 2024
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster – Closed now through Summer 2024
- Voyage of the Little Mermaid – Reopens in Fall 2024
Two very big additions to this schedule. The first is that Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is Closing for Multi-Month Refurbishment in 2024. That covers everything we know about the likely end date and the scope of the project.
Walt Disney World also has announced that Voyage of the Little Mermaid won’t be returning. At least, not by the same name. A reimagined version of that stage show is coming in Fall 2024 and will be renamed to “The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure.”
Outside Theme Parks
- Blizzard Beach Water Park – Closed for the Season
- Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Resort – Permanently Closed
Blizzard Beach has once again closed, which occurred simultaneous with Typhoon Lagoon reopening. This is a standard seasonal closure, and happens every single year due to a lack of demand during the colder time of year. The big question is whether both will operate simultaneously in Summer 2024. Our guess, unfortunately, is that they will not.
Otherwise, the attraction closures above are pretty straight-forward. To the extent that specific dates are not yet listed, those will be updated once Walt Disney World provides precise start and/or end dates.
In addition to scheduled attraction refurbs, unscheduled downtime can also occur during a visit. This usually only occurs for a few hours at a time, so if you find an attraction is closed during your vacation and it’s not listed below, it’s likely a temporary closure that will last (at most) for a few hours. Check with nearby Cast Members to confirm.
For resort work, please see our 2024 Walt Disney World Hotel Construction & Refurbishments. If you are worried that any of resort hotel renovations will impact your stay, here’s a general rule to keep in mind: room refurbishments rarely impact hotel stays. These occur in specific clusters, and you’ll rarely notice the work being done.
Now, here’s a bit of my philosophy concerning refurbishments…
General Thoughts on Refurbishments
When news comes out about any refurbishment, my immediate reaction is always, “this is great–it means they’re actually doing something to the attraction!” My mind races with the possibilities of how attractions could be improved or plussed by Walt Disney Imagineering. Even though we might miss it on our next Walt Disney World visit, I’m always excited.
In reading feedback from others, I’ve discovered this perspective puts me in the minority. Others online fume about this, and how it would alter or impact their vacation plans. The saying “vacation ruined” has attained near-meme status among some fans, and that felt apt for some of the complaints. I can understand the perspective. Assessing the scope of the refurbishment in advance, scheduling liberal refurbishment dates, and opening early (under-promising and over-delivering) is always preferable to the alternative.
I can also understand that there’s other pent-up frustration at play here, ranging from radio-silence on projects to Walt Disney World’s tardiness in releasing park hours while expecting guests to plan several months in advance. Neither of these moves by Disney, among others, are defensible. At best, this communication is poor guest service. At worst, it’s demonstrative of a contemptible attitude towards guests.
However, I remain of the mindset that this refurbishment extension–and other current refurbishments–is potentially a good thing. Among the most vocal fans upset about the extension are those who are like me: guests who visit Walt Disney World at least every-other year. We are playing the ‘long’ fandom game.
From my perspective, investing in the long-term quality of an attraction is far more important than the temporary satisfaction I’ll get out of riding it on my next visit. I get excited when thinking about ways rides could be plussed, improving the experience for years to come. This is why it always perplexes me when regulars contend that their vacation will be ruined because their favorite attraction will be closed.
If it’s your favorite attraction and you’re active in the Disney fan community, that means you’ve been to Walt Disney World before and probably will visit again. It would thus stand to reason that you would want something you love to get the TLC it deserves, and continue to improve.
DINOSAUR works as a good example here. This attraction used to be called Countdown to Extinction (“CTX”) before an ill-advised movie tie-in was added. During that era, DINOSAUR had a litany of additional effects, many of its AAs had greater functionality, and the attraction was, as a whole, more impressive.
If you are a long-term fan, would you rather experience DINOSAUR every single year with 66% of the effects working, or every single year minus one with 95% of the effects working? For me, the answer to that is easy. I’ll take a superior long term experience every time. (That this is even a legitimate question for long-time fans speaks to the ‘instant gratification’ nature of things today, but that’s well beyond the scope of this post.)
Beyond that, there’s the much more compelling justification for regular refurbishments: they are essential for the safety of attractions. While we think of these attractions as all fun and games that offer a safe sense of exhilaration, that’s when they are properly maintained.
It’s unpleasant to think about, but there have been several preventable deaths in the history of Disney’s parks. During a dark era of Disneyland history, improper maintenance was the cause of death on Big Thunder Mountain (thankfully, Paul Pressler’s reign of terror is over). Years of neglect at Disneyland Paris have led to incidents of injury that could be attributed to a lack of maintenance (again, this has been addressed).
This is not meant to scare anyone or provoke an emotional reaction; the fact is that Disney’s worldwide safety record is sterling as compared to other park operators. It’s still important to remember that these fun, ‘magical’ places also exist in the real world and use a lot of potentially dangerous elements if safety is not viewed as key. (Or, in Disney’s case, one of the “Five Keys.”)
When it comes to maintenance that is not essential to the safe operation of an attraction, we are left to contemplate what amount of show quality should be accepted. If following a strict Nunisian practitioner of the Four Keys, show is another paramount consideration, and it should always be 100%. This is nice corporate propaganda, but I think the practical reality is that 100% is an unworkably high threshold in many circumstances.
I think we have seen this play out with Expedition Everest. Fans joke about the “Disco Yeti” and lament the fact that this jaw-dropping Audio Animatronics figure has not worked in nearly a decade. There are numerous theories as to why the Yeti hasn’t been fixed; what each of these share is that there are large-scale problems and no quick fixes.
Fixing the Yeti will require a closure of at least 6 months, and be quite expensive. The working Yeti is truly a magnificent sight to behold (and one most of you probably haven’t seen in A-mode unless you rode over a decade ago), but the attraction is still impressive with the Disco Yeti. At this point, it’s likely that Disney has determined the closure would take too long, cost too much, and the improvement would not be worth the investment.
There’s also the reality that Animal Kingdom is lacking in rides. Even after the opening of Pandora – World of Avatar, the park still is heavy on shows and animal exhibits and light on rides. Taking one of the park’s flagship rides down for 6 months to a year to fix one Audio Animatronics figure that guests see for 1-2 seconds might not be worth the sacrifice.
As a staunch proponent of show quality, I have a difficult time accepting the same argument for any attraction in Magic Kingdom, a park with a veritable “mountain range” and diverse slate of other attractions. In fact, the same goes for every castle park. These parks have enough attractions to pick up the slack if 1-2 attractions have to be taken offline simultaneously without ruining any vacations.
Guests are understandably concerned when it appears an inordinate number of attractions are closing during their vacation. Walt Disney World vacations are not cheap and are often once in a lifetime experiences. First-timers certainly do not want to miss out on experiences about which they’ve read extensive hype.
However, the problem with a “not during my vacation” attitude like this is that it’s always going to be someone’s (or tens of thousands of someones) vacation. If attractions with show quality issues don’t close for refurbishments for fear of some guests during a time-limited window missing out, all guests in perpetuity are going to have a lesser experience.
Running an attraction with broken effects is only going to compound problems, and eventually a single broken effect will turn into myriad broken effects. Imagine this scenario park-wide, played out to its natural consequences. That’s not exactly what I’d call the “Disney Difference.”
Again, DINOSAUR is a good example here. If it’s your first visit and you experience DINOSAUR with 66% of the effects working, you won’t know what you’re missing. Riding it will, no doubt, be superior to not riding it. However, I’m guessing your satisfaction rating of the attraction wouldn’t be nearly as high, and you might question why so many people love the attraction, and why Disney was lazy with so much empty, dark space. (Or, perhaps you won’t: if you only ever eat dog food, you won’t know what you’re missing in a nice steak.)
The thing is, if Disney would not close DINOSAUR during your vacation so you don’t miss out on it, chances are that they would extend the same “courtesy” for other guests, and it would be standard operating procedure to never close anything during anyone’s vacation.
The end result of this would be a park full of “66% attractions” and first-timers would be left wondering why there was so much hype about Walt Disney World, in the first place. If you’re reading this as a lifelong fan, consider the possibility that you wouldn’t have become a lifelong fan if this were actually Disney’s modus operandi. (In fact, I’d argue that Walt Disney World is trending in this direction, dragging its feet on several necessary refurbishments, with the inaction being predicated upon short term guest satisfaction or cost-savings.)
This might sound like we’re applying ‘heavy’ Rawlsian theory to the lighthearted topic of theme parks, but philosophy isn’t worth a damn if it can’t be applied to theme parks. 😉
A lot of this might seem like an effort to absolve Disney of blame when it comes to refurbishments, but this is not the case. Disney has brought a lot of the guest unrest concerning refurbishments upon itself. The first issue is that Disney has numerous parks that have opened in the last two decades with incomplete slates of attractions, making it difficult to justify taking attractions offline for refurbishment. So step one, a wholly impractical step at this point, would be to open theme parks that are complete on day one.
Failing that, Disney could avoid a lot of the guest backlash concerning refurbishments if they would schedule more 3-4 day refurbishments of attractions to proactively address problems with preventative maintenance. Although this would not totally negate the need for extended refurbishments, it would improve show quality across the board and help avoid a lot of situations where attractions have to abruptly close because they are in dire need of maintenance. Moreover, a 3-4 day refurbishment is shorter than the duration of most vacations, allowing tourists to effectively plan around the refurbishment.
In this case, both parties planning ahead would prevent those “vacation ruined!” complaints. Don’t worry, Disney, we fans are resilient: we’ll still find something else to complain about. 😉
Joking aside, I realize that’s a tough line to draw between an excusable refurbishment and a frustratingly irritating one. Even if you subscribe to the some degree of the ‘philosophy’ I’m advancing, there is no bright-line rule. It’s still going to amount to a value judgment about what should ‘trigger’ a need for refurbishment, how many attractions should be down simultaneously across Walt Disney World, and what times of year are ideal for which refurbishments.
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Your Thoughts
Any questions about the current refurbishments at Walt Disney World? What do you think about refurbishments at the Disney Parks? Are you more concerned about an improved long-term experience, or do you think “not during my vacation!”? Where do you draw the line? Any other factors you think are worth considering? As mentioned, we think this is a conversation, so please share your ‘refurbishment philosophy’, or any other thoughts or questions you have, in the comments!
Long time reader, but first time commenter! First off – I love your site, and I check it out as often as I can, normally a few times a week.
My family is going to WDW in January. My wife and I have been there numerous times, together and separately – our parents were friends before we were born, so there is a picture from 1984 of 6 year old me and 3 year old her with Chip and Dale. This will be our first trip with our kids, however, and my 2 1/2 year old LOVES trains, but the Walt Disney World Railroad is down for refurb during our trip. Am I disappointed? Sure! Will my vacation be ruined? Absolutely not. The argument could be made that the WDW Railroad isn’t Everest or DINOSAUR, but to a little boy who loves trains, it’s a big deal. But, I also know that we will be back again, and there are so many other things to do that are going to blow his mind (and his baby sister’s).
I also understand the need for constant maintenance and refurbishment, as I work in facility maintenance at a Major League Baseball facility. While show is important, public safety is the number one concern. While you cannot prevent 100% of accidents, the thought of a person getting injured (or worse) because negligence or cost cutting is unbearable to me.
It’s unfortunate that we won’t be able to ride the WDW Railroad, or that people visiting now can’t ride DINOSAUR, or that someone visiting at (insert time) cannot enjoy (insert attraction). But if it means that the next time I visit, the attraction is safe and looks great, then I am willing to make that sacrifice.
We are actually really bummed out about the railroad being closed during our upcoming trip. We have three boys, and usually ride it at least once every time we are in Magic Kingdom. It has always been one of our family methods of stealing some calm time in the parks. It just so happens that it was down for refurbishment on our last trip as well (during a different time of year). I’m not upset, though, just disappointed.
Any info on exact dates that the DW Railroad will be down? My grandsons are huge train fans and will soon be planing their first trip.
I was kind of disappointed that DINOSAUR was closed for longer than expected. I remember seeing that ride when I was ten and being terrified of it. I didn’t even ride it. So, I was looking forward to riding it. But I understand that something can take longer than expected and things need to be safe. The only thing that I will truly be upset about is if the change it into THE GOOD DINOSAUR and that would be upsetting.
I agree with you completely, Tom. My parents, my wife, and I just spent a week at WDW at the end of September, and while I was bummed that both DINOSAUR (which was also closed during my first visit 2 years ago) and Big Thunder Mountain were closed (which was originally a spring refurb, to be open by the time of our visit), we still had plenty left to do. We ended up riding Seven Dwarves Mine Train over and over, nearly 10 times over the course of the week, and at Animal Kingdom, we got to experience both the Lion King and Finding Nemo shows, get on safaris in the morning and after dark, and ride Expedition Everest 4 times, 3 of which were in the 15 minutes before the park closed. It definitely sucks when refurbs happen during your trip, but I’m hoping those attractions will be even better when we go back in 2-3 years, and we’ll get to make up for not experiencing them this trip!
I think the biggest issue was the abruptness. I’ve been planning our vacation since January. I made our ADRs 180 days out and made our fastpasses as soon as they were available… I did my end of the planning. Then I got a random e-mail from Disney telling me that they cancelled our Dinosaur fastpass and gave us all Expedition Everest Fastpasses much later in the day. There’s something kind of rude about just changing someone’s vacation plans on them and then informing them in an email after the fact.
Additionally, I do not go to Disney World every year. I haven’t been since 2013. Back then, Dinosaur was one of our favorite rides and everyone was looking forward to doing it this trip so, we are sad that it will be closed. Also, Expedition Everest is not “equivalent”. My mom has some back problems and, while she can handle the back and forth shaking of a ride like dinosaur, she can’t do the steep drops of a ride like expedition Everest so, it just removes an attraction from her list without replacing it with anything.
That being said, I was particularly sad that Small World was originally supposed to be closed while we were there and, now Disney expects it to be open. My husband was really looking forward to his first ride on Rock’n Roller Coaster and, it’s closed for the first half of our trip but supposed to open for the second half. If it opens on time, I think we’ll be very happy.
It’s always disappointing when one of your favorite attractions is closed (I have no idea why you would think people were lying about Dinosaur being a favorite, it’s a really great ride), but I think we all want good maintenance and improved effects. Also, we paid less to go in a less crowded season so, we know that we run the risk of attractions being closed. It’s just part of the trade off. I agree that the continued delay and silence about Rivers of Light is feeding the discontentment, but I really think it was the abrupt “we changed your fastpass without talking to you” thing that annoyed a lot of people. If they had maybe opened up some difficult fastpasses and given a selection to people who originally had dinosaur fastpasses, I think that might have smoothed some ruffled feathers much more than “hey, we changed your vacation plans without telling you, you’re welcome.”
Well said! This article should be on some other blog I read about this same subject where anyone who even defended Disney a little or tried to be understanding about it got blasted severely by the commenters. Sure it’s a disappointment that attractions are closed but if we all kept a positive attitude we’d have a good time despite the closures.
This is terrible news. I booked our vacation back in March for 10/29 – 11/5. My son’s favorite rides are Dinosour, Expedetion Everest, Rock n Rollercoaster and Big Mountain Thunder Mountain railroad. Now 3 of the 4 will be closed while we are there. Plus the pool at all star sports will be closed while we are there. We go every 3 years. Do they have any good news for people going at this time? I guess its Universal for now on.
I am going that same week and am also disappointed that those three rides will be closed. I understand the need for refurbishments, but I haven’t been in 8 years and am super bummed that three of my favorite rides (and three of the most popular parks throughout all of WDW) will be down at the same time.
I agree with you that attraction refurbishments have been neglected at WDW for far too long. Look at the state Splash Mountain was in before they finally made its annual refurbishment a worthwhile one that improved the show quality dramatically a few years back. Splash is one of the few attractions I can think of that still HAS a fairly predictable annual refurbishment, and it’s STILL struggled in that area. I was floored to see the TDR refurbishment schedule before I went there and delighted to see that so much was on it! It was staggered pretty well, IMO, and the difference in maintenance compared to WDW was astonishing. Funny what happens when you stay on top of those things… During my last visit to HKDL, Big Grizzly Mountain was down, which was as disappointing to our visiting family who were looking at a potential once-in-a-lifetime trip, but we all had a wonderful time nonetheless. Disappointment is fine, especially when the decisions are made late and affect existing plans, but I really don’t understand the wallowing, vacation-ruined thought process at all. Move that focus to the fun things you’ll do instead!
I (like most) have spent a year planning our vacation. To get news Thursday that Dinosaur would be closed was rough, as my twins are just now tall enough to ride for the first time, and they’re already broken-hearted about BTMRR.
Then, on Saturday, to have to tell my boys that there will be no Star Wars fireworks (I’m excited for the replacement–they’re not sold yet), that I’ll be cancelling our Be Our Guest breakfast because of a park hours change, and that we accidentally picked what will likely be the busiest night of the week at DHS (because I never could have predicted the odd hours changes), was frustrating.
The argument has been made time and again, but I had my plan together in May, because Disney said that’s when I needed a plan if I wanted the best ADRs for a group of 11. Shouldn’t they also have their plan together by May? Or at least by the FP day in September?
You’re totally right–returbs are okay and necessary. Under promise, over deliver! Also, I totally get that these are first world problems and my kids will survive.
I totally understand where you are coming from and this has helped me have a little more perspective for my trip this time next year about booking ‘be our guest’ for early morning. Your last sentence shows you have the right attitude towards the situation. Anyway…rearranging things for a group of 11 will be easy right?!!!
On out last trip to Disneyland we discovered a week before we left that they’d decided to extend refurb on Grizzly River Run. Combining this with a Pirates referb (also scheduled after we planned our trip) AND the myriad of construction associated with Star Wars Land we were a bit frustrated (I have yet to ride Pirates and wonder if I’m cursed…) We only get to go every few years. Still, our vacation was not ruined. We had a fantastic time. I suspect people like being dramatic on Facebook just for the attention…
I get being disappointed, especially when it feels like a gazillion rides are down but we found there was still more than enough to do and see!!
I agree with everything, mostly the communication. Especially when children are involved. It’s hard when you plan the days and get kids excited about what would be their favorite attractions, only to have Disney change the schedule and there’s the feeling of disappointment. Of course, there’s plenty to do and “always next time” but it takes awhile to get over the initial disappointment, especially when it’s so close to the trip. The younger the disappointee, the worse it is.
I didn’t know before arriving on my recent WDW trip that Thunder Mountain was closed. It’s my personal favorite ride. So was I disappointed? Of course! But did I think my vacation was ruined? Of course NOT!
My primary reaction to this post was “People go on the Internet to complain their vacation was ruined by this sort of thing? What are they, five?”
After getting past that, I pretty much agree with your points here.
I always check that Haunted Mansion and Small World aren’t down before I go. They have been my faves for 42 years! But I agree- quality of show and safety are paramount.
Have you been to law school, Tom? If not, you should go. You’re an excellent writer and a balanced voice in the madness of Disney love. Plus you and your wife are adorable!
I think it has been mentioned before on here but his day job is being a lawyer? But of course he doesn’t talk about personal stuff on here, and I don’t blame him.
I head to WDW in a week and a half (October 26-November 1, excited despite the challenges that I have faced planning this trip!), and my one main gripe about the refurbishments/closures has been their seemingly last-minute nature. When I booked the trip back in April, I knew about Big Thunder being closed, because it was on the refurb schedules online. Sure, I was bummed, because I enjoy that ride – but I realize there are so many other rides at Magic Kingdom, and I do definitely recognize Disney’s need for routine maintenance/upgrades for safety and overall attraction quality. I most definitely do not fault them for their refurbs scheduled well in advance, no matter which ride it is that is closed.
But then came the announcement of Main Street Electrical Parade’s permanent departure from the park – I find it VERY difficult to believe that WDW didn’t know about this before it was announced to the public in August. Then, it was a Rock n’ Rollercoaster short refurb during my time there (while Big Thunder is down at Magic Kingdom). Sum of All Thrills is closed for good at Epcot, then I got an email this week (like a previous commenter) that my DINOSAUR FP+ was cancelled, and found out online that its refurb was extended. It’s just kind of been a whole bunch of things building up with dissatisfaction. When guests need to plan ADRs for popular restaurants 180+ days out (leading to planning park days at that point, with possibly inaccurate opening and closing times), FP+ 60 days out, and then pretty major changes happen in those timeframes with little warning – THAT’S what really gets to me.
I completely agree that communication is the key. We are told to make ADR and FP+ light years in advance, but we often aren’t given any park hours or the park hours change very late. You’ve got to think that when it comes to refurbs, Mickey & Co. have some idea of the planned schedule. I’d rather they say definitively the attraction will be down longer and then open early if maintenance is faster than expected rather than close for a short period and then extend it.
As a side note, we went to WDW two years ago (we only go once every 3-4 years), and a FP+ that I had stayed awake until 2am to get was cancelled 5 days before the trip due to a refurb extension. I wrote Guest Services. I was very nice but told them how disappointed I was in the lack of communication (NOT that the attraction was going to be down) and that I expected paramount communication from a company that prides itself on being THE paramount vacation destination. Well, two days later Guest Services called me back and sprinkled us with Pixie Dust: everyone in our party was given an extra three “wild card” FP+ for each day of our stay. So in my post-trip review, Guest Services got an A+, Communication a C-.
I was so disappointed when DLR shut down PTN and Forever Fireworks on September 5. We are going to DLR this upcoming week, and, since we have 13 people and don’t want to shell out the $$$ for the Halloween parties, we have a 4-minute fireworks show to “look forward” to next weekend. My husband, though, always reminds me that there is always something being constructed, developed, refurbished, etc., etc. And that is a good thing (and a way to guarantee guests always want to return…). So, I’ve decided instead to embrace the fact that we can go to bed “early” each night; getting up for RD will be a whole lot easier.
We just got back from WDW and I was glad that Dinosaur was closed. My kids would have wanted to ride it and two of them would have ended in tears. That being said I was really bummed that Thunder Mountain was closed. It was a once in a lifetime trip. I highly doubt my kids will be back until they take their own kids someday. However, after all the people hurt or killed on various rides this year, I had to put it in my head that it was closed for safety. We admired it from afar while riding Splash Mountain instead.
We took out 6 and 4 year old granddaughters on Dinosaur this past June and I was truly afraid they would be jettisoned out of the car. They were both tall enough –barely, since the height requirement is 40 inches — and we placed them on the ends so they could see better. However, the car lurches from side to side and is very fast, plus it is pitch black, and even though strapped in, a 40 inch tall little person next to an open door on a slippery seat could easily fly out. Afterwards we thought that perhaps the car door should be closed (not open) and a suggestion made that smaller riders be placed in the middle, not on the ends.
I think one of the frustrating things about this was the late nature of the announcement of the closure. I had a FastPass for Dinosaur for this Friday, October 21st. I got an email from Disney Thursday- just 8 days before my scheduled FastPass that stated it was no longer available and my FastPass had been changed to Primeval Whirl! Now, I don’t know about you, but I sure as heck don’t want to ride that nausea-inducing ride! I think if I had known about the attraction closure sooner, then I might not have been aggravated like I am now.
I’ll be honest: there are literally zero circumstances in which I wouldn’t be MAD AS HELL that I somehow ended up with a Primeval Whirl FP. 😉
My daughter has been <48" on all of our previous trips. I'm actually looking forward to riding Primeval Whirl just to see what all the hate is about. 🙂
I like your idea about Expedition Everest but I think it might be a little later. With Toy Story land and Star Wars land opening up soon having them both open to help “pull” people away from AK could help minimize the impact EE being closed.
Perhaps, and it might also depend upon cost. If it’s going to be incredibly expensive, they might want to save that until major capex spending for SWL & TSL has concluded.
I thought the same thing about the yeti getting fixed a few months after avatar is open and rivers of light finally running. I think you may be right about the timing coinciding with Star Wars opening.
I visited about a month ago and was really looking forward to rivers of light, but missing one attraction will never ruin my Disney trip. If that were the case one may just tell people that they are going on a vacation to ride “Dinosaur,” not telling people that you are going on a trip to Disney World, but that sounds crazy doesn’t it? It is crazy.
On a sidenote, in another comment section I kind of defended dinosaur land, that it wasn’t that bad, but it is worse than I remembered. Fake cracked parking lots with out of the box amusement rides on top, give me a break. A dinosaur themed land plus Disney magic should be one of the best areas in any park anywhere, but that’s not what we have (at least for now I hope).
I really enjoyed reading this. I grew up going to WDW every few years and have the pretty typical nostalgic sentimental attachment to the place as many do. I do think there is room for improvement as far as timely communication about park hours and closings go. Especially with the heavy focus on planning way in advance. I also think there is a fundamental problem with the “vacation ruined” mindset. We are and always will be living in a state of imperfection. WDW and all of the Disney Parks provide an escape to a more “perfect” environment but to hold them to the standard of complete perfection every moment of every day is unrealistic. This especially applies to ride closures. I believe for the most part they do handle this process very well. I am huge advocate for your proposed 3- 4 day maintenance closures, Tom. And I also prefer that they close attractions for the duration necessary to substantially improve them. I’m going the 2nd week of January and just found out a few tings will be closed at that time. Granted they were not on my top 10 list, but both the Railroad and the Riverboat will be down and a big goal for this extended solo trip was to do things I haven’t done in years and really slow down and take in the parks from a different perspective. Both of these attractions were important to me in achieving this goal. I was planning to take the train around the entire park during the day and right after sunset! I did have an internal “my vacation is ruined!” moment when I first found this out but I took a deep breath and calmed down and accepted it and looked at my agenda realizing this frees up some time for other things. I think it’s important to step back and really think before letting yourself feel the “vacation ruined” feeling for more than a few minutes. Disappointment is different than ruination! Getting sick or injured during your park visit, your room being flooded and your clothes and belongings ruined, a death in the family occurring back home… Now these are some reasons why your vacation may be ruined.
I’ve viisited WDW many times as an adult and 90% of the time every one I encounter is trying their very best to make my vacation as perfect as possible. Even if 3 of any top 5 Attractions were closing on my next visit I would not cry “ruined!” I would look for an alternative way to spend that time. even of the once in a lifetimers. There is always something els to do! This blog is proof of that! the parks are full of places and things to explore and enjoy. Turn that disappointment into a new or unexpected experience!
A Bojack Horseman-themed attraction would immediately become my favorite thing.
Start a #SaveDisney petition that somehow calls for Eisner to be reinstalled as CEO and I guarantee you a BoJack *land* not just ride!
It would obviously be part of Hollywoo Studios.
This is a great article. I think the group I feel most sorry for are the “once-in-a-lifetime” visitors, who may not experience a quintessential Disney attraction because of its closure – which is ironic, as that group is likely to care the least about quality, and most about the hype of the latest attractions.
I think everyone can agree that scheduled attraction closures are preferable to unscheduled closures. My first visit to SDL was “ruined” by POTC being closed. This was an unscheduled closure, I had every expectation of being able to experience it across a two day visit. Now, was my trip actually ruined? You could argue not; I had a great time, experienced some incredible attractions, and what I lost in POTC I gained in time to do other stuff (something which is often forgotten). But it’s impossible not to feel a sense of “ruin”, considering the hype the attraction has amassed.
This “attraction hype” is Disney’s worst enemy, things often only get hype because they are new. Frozen (Epcot) is a far more talked-up attraction than e.g. Haunted Mansion, and yet the latter is qualitatively better on almost every measure. Which brings me to my point: if POTC Shanghai was having such trouble operating to an acceptable standard, and all the reports I have read is that it does have such trouble, Disney should have postponed its opening or announced a lengthy closure to fix the problems once and for all. That would have been a scheduled closure, and customers would have been prepared for it. I suspect there are lots of operational reasons why that didn’t happen, not least wanting to shy away from the fact that their most technologically advanced attraction is an operational failure, but it should have done.
Another good example is Big Thunder Mountain, DLP. This dragged on for years with severe operational issues, and the bold decision was taken to close it for over a year (and the closure further extended). I’m not sure there is precedent, anywhere, of such a headlining attraction being closed for that length of time – though I’m sure I’m wrong. But the point is, if it resolves the operational issues plaguing guests practically daily, it will have been worth it.
Finally, I think operational closures for safety or “behind-the-scenes” maintenance are always more disappointing to fans than those for enhancements/plussing. There’s the disadvantage of the closure, with seemingly no upside. It’s not a rational gripe, I think the best solution is where possible to do safety closures, and other maintenance or improvements, at the same time – so that the attraction has something to show for its closure. DLP BTM is receiving fairly significant enhancements over its extended closure, but that isn’t the reason for the closure – the actual upshot is better overall maintenance, plus a vastly improved software system to restart the ride more quickly. But the change people will notice and appreciate is the new effects.
I think with SDL, more forces were at play, primarily the push to get that park open. This led to multiple E-Tickets opening before fully ready, unfortunately.
As for your idea of maintenance plus show upgrades bundled into one refurb, I really like that. It’s also what was done with Disneyland Big Thunder & Space Mountain, both of which were also year-plus refurbs. I think we will see the same with Disneyland RR, although that closure has more to do with Star Wars Land than it does plussing the railroad.
Disneyland RR being closed wasn’t a “make or break” for me. I enjoy it, but I can live without it for the duration. When they announced that you could get up close with the trains, I thought “well at least they had some sort of alternative”. Surprisingly, when I finally took the time to go check out the parked trains I loved the experience. On a normal non train refurb park day, you never get to get that up-close, see the WED markings on the parts(super cool to see), take pictures from all angles, and be in a part of the park that was practically empty(because it’s not a “ride” most guests just didn’t seem to bother”) for 20 minutes on a bench soaking it all in. I realized that “once in a lifetimers” who take a trip to DL right now, might not get to ride the train, but they get to do something – walk up close to the train- that I could have easily accepted as a behind the scenes costs extra tour during a non-refurb; and may be a “once in a lifetime” experience and never happen again at Disneyland.