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disneymom2000
05-05-2007, 08:40 PM
When Disney puts out the dates for refurbs are they usually on target or do they go over the time they post? I know no one can predict weather or other problems that might arise, but does Disney try and take these type of things into consideration when posting?

frozman
05-05-2007, 10:08 PM
I think they usually give themselves a couple of "extra days" when posting that schedule.
In my experience they usually are a few days ahead of schedule (aka "soft openings in many cases). Pirates was about a week ahead of schedule during my visit last summer. I believe it's the same principal as the line times. If the wait is 20 minutes, and they post 25 minutes, no one will complain if the line is a few minutes slower, where as if they post 20 minutes and it takes 30, there will be complaints.

Therefore, if they say a ride will be closed until, say 7/1/07, and they reopen it on 6/28/07, no one will complain, where as if the ride didn't reopen until 7/4/07, there would be countless complaints about famlies missing their favorite ride.

Strmchsr
05-05-2007, 10:55 PM
They are almost always on target, plus or minus a week. It depends on how major the rehab is. Minor ones rarely go over.

PAYROLL PRINCESS
05-05-2007, 11:17 PM
I'm hoping that HM opens early. We'll be there 8/28 through 9/5. So I'm keeping my fingers closed that it opens a week earlier than planned. Or at least it has a soft opening while we're there.

jszczur5
05-07-2007, 12:08 AM
I really hope haunted mansion opens a few days early. We are there until September 7, so fingers are very tightly crossed.
It is our family tradition to always do Splash Mountain as our last ride on our last night. I would be willing to break tradition to see a refurbed Haunted Mansion. Truth be told, I'm not really a fan of the HM, because I'm not crazy about the graveyard scene with those dead ghoulies popping up all over the place.
But the nostalgiac side of me says that our trip this year just won't be the same without the HM and Spaceship Earth over at Epcot. I'm such a traditionalist that I felt bad when they replaced Walter Cronkite's narration with Jeremy Irons' voice-over.
Hopefully we'll be lucky and have an early soft opening for HM. Fingers crossed.

Carol
05-07-2007, 07:07 AM
They are usually spot on.

They do not do 'soft openings' for refurbished rides. That's done for new attraction. If a ride is complete a few days ahead of schedule - it simply opens early.

TFrauts
05-09-2007, 05:44 AM
DO ride referbishments ever end before they are scheduled?? We are going late July/early August, and my fiance has never been on the Haunted mansion... :confused:

Strmchsr
05-09-2007, 07:43 AM
Every now and then the minor ones finish a little early, but the big ones rarely do. They especially don't open over a month early. Sorry, but there's pretty much no chance it'll be open when you're there. Just a good excuse to go back!

kakn7294
05-09-2007, 08:16 AM
Maybe a few days or even a week, but usually not very far in advance if it does reopen early. Sometimes they have "soft openings" where the attraction has periods when it is open towards the end of a refurb. Those are usually not announced - you just happen to be in the right place at the right time. However, it doesn't happen for most attractions down for refurb though, so I wouldn't count on that either. Like Chris said, it's a good excuse to go back - it's the one we're using!

Pop Centurion
05-09-2007, 11:39 AM
I'm also hoping HM refurb finishes early since I'm going home 2 days before the "scheduled" reopening.

frozman
05-17-2007, 08:23 PM
To you 3 people going home just before the scheduled opening of HM... Be sure to ask around about it's opening date. The CM's that stand in front of the ride to offer apologies about it being closed will always tell people the official opening/reopening date. However, asking a couple of CM's at other rides or Bus drivers may land you another answer. That's what happened when I asked a CM operating Splash Mountain about Pirates. He said that the opening date was July 8th, but :secret: they were plainning on doing a soft opening on it July 1st if the ride was ready. That made all the difference to me since that was my last day at WDW and was planning on doing MGM that day, I did MK and I got a chance to go on one more ride.

Mickey91
05-17-2007, 09:19 PM
Okay, here's a stupid question. What exactly is a soft opening??:huh:

AliceinDisney
05-17-2007, 09:36 PM
lol, as opposed a hard opening?