Dumbo Spinners Poorly Designed...

[waymickey]

I am really sad to hear this. The ride should not have these problems ever, not to mention mere months after opening.
Come on Disney get it done right, make it sparkle.

[DizneyFreak2002]

Thanks for sending that. Now that I can see the pictures I understand. That certainly shouldn't have happened. How could the contractor screw up like that? That's going to cost them a bit to fix and Disney needs to check the work better.

I'm not trying to make excuses, and I would never make an excuse for TDO being cheap, but a contractor/construction error could happened by anyone really... half an inch off and these are the results...

[Polynesian Dweller]

I'm not trying to make excuses, and I would never make an excuse for TDO being cheap, but a contractor/construction error could happened by anyone really... half an inch off and these are the results...

True, but I'd think a quite test run would show this if they inspected closely enough and they'd fix before opening. That said, looks like an error by one of the contractors rather than designers to me. Either the Dumbos were made too big or the wall just a shade narrow.

[Jared]

I'm not going to blame Disney for this, at least not yet. These sorts of errors can happen at any point along the way. It doesn't necessarily mean Disney went cheap.

The real question now is what happens next. If the company fixes this as quickly and simply as it should, all's well.

[BrerGnat]

The real question now is what happens next. If the company fixes this as quickly and simply as it should, all's well.

If not, they can operate Dumbo in "B" mode. Have everyone run around the perimeter of the ride flapping their arms and jumping up and down.

[BriarRose0708]

If not, they can operate Dumbo in "B" mode. Have everyone run around the perimeter of the ride flapping their arms and jumping up and down.

That's one way to work off all those Dole Whips!

[PirateLover]

Wow. Like was said earlier, just shut the darn thing down, fix it, and move on! Unacceptable. Poor Dumbo

[Katzateer]

That is REALLY disappointing. The ride looked so nice in April when we rode- how could they mess up a design of a ride they probably have at every Disney park???

[Mrs Bus Driver]

How sad. Not that I ride dumbo and DD is grown. But if I had kids this would definitely make me consider vacating else where. Even without small children I would consider somewhere else. Know my next trip is to DL but if I heard this about DL I'd go somewhere else. This speaks of greater problems at the parks. Sorry about downess of my post but I am just saying.

[wjdoc]

I don't post much but feel like i have to chime in to say you are all being pretty harsh. This thing is certainly not cheaply done. As an engineer, i can say that you're all being way too tough. You have to assume a mechanical engineer designed the ride system, civil engineer design the foundation and all the water systems, artists build the dumbos, then mechanical fabricators made each of the many parts, bolts, spacers, hydraulics... And then finally a contractor builds it all. Just one little thing being off would cause this problem.... And disney is held to a higher standard than any carnival. If that gap between the knee and the concrete foundation would have been 3" or 4", it would have looked shoddy. Give them a little time to make the corrections. For all we know, they could just be waiting for a part. I guarantee they didn't look at it and say "ahhh....good enough".... I have to assume that the designers definitely know there is a problem, assessed it and decided that opening it was more beneficial to the patrons then delaying it as they wait for the fix. Heck for all we know it may be fixing itself. It'll Grind out part of the knee, then they just buff it, repaint and it looks like a million bucks...

As a design engineer, i'm always going to point to the artists who built the dumbos! All their fault, they don't like to follow rules!

[DizneyFreak2002]

True, but I'd think a quite test run would show this if they inspected closely enough and they'd fix before opening. That said, looks like an error by one of the contractors rather than designers to me. Either the Dumbos were made too big or the wall just a shade narrow.

I agree with you... One would think they would have found this problem during testing... Thing I thought about is weight of the guests... There may be a design flaw in the ride where the arms/spokes can't handle guest weight correctly thus now allowing the arms to be their typical height... Or, they knew about this and just didn't care...

If not, they can operate Dumbo in "B" mode. Have everyone run around the perimeter of the ride flapping their arms and jumping up and down.

Nat, you are forgetting... They will add a strobe light to give the impression of the Dumbos going in circles and raising and lowering... Disco Dumbo!!!

[BrerGnat]

I don't post much but feel like i have to chime in to say you are all being pretty harsh.

I generally agree with this sentiment. Honestly, it sounds like a rather minor issue. I'm sure they are aware of it and it will be fixed with no fanfare.

Reminds me of something one of our MK tour guides said during a tour once about how people on the internet think they know what it takes to keep a place like WDW running, and the amount of moaning and groaning about minor things like burned out lightbulbs speaks to that ignorance.

They will fix it. It's not the end of the world.

[Aurora]

If not, they can operate Dumbo in "B" mode. Have everyone run around the perimeter of the ride flapping their arms and jumping up and down.

There are not many things that make me truly laugh out loud, but this was one.

[Katzateer]

There are not many things that make me truly laugh out loud, but this was one.

I agree ! That was a good one!

[DizneyFreak2002]

Reminds me of something one of our MK tour guides said during a tour once about how people on the internet think they know what it takes to keep a place like WDW running, and the amount of moaning and groaning about minor things like burned out lightbulbs speaks to that ignorance.

I'm going to disagree with this... The internet only helps to highlight how bad TDO is... I mean, did you expect a MK tour guide, a person paid by the Walt Disney Company to actually say that the people on the internet complaining about the ineptness of TDO are right and that TDO has no clue???

Bad show is now the norm in WDW, when that was never the case... Lightbulbs, while maybe trivial in their eyes, only adds to bad show... Lightbulbs used to be replaces on a schedule BEFORE they were burnt out... And if they burnt out ahead of time, they were either replaced that day or after park closing.. Today, they remain burnt out for days, maybe weeks... While that may not be a big deal to them, this shows how they have slipped in maintenance...

Let's not even get into show scenes going weeks without being fixed, and effects getting shut off or not fixed, and AAs not working properly for weeks...

Maybe it is because they have cut the maintenance budgets... Maybe it s because they have cut the maintenance staff.... Actually, those ARE the reasons for some of the decline...

Listening to an MK tour guide is like getting rumors from a bus driver... Not something that should be taken seriously...

[Ian]

Reminds me of something one of our MK tour guides said during a tour once about how people on the internet think they know what it takes to keep a place like WDW running, and the amount of moaning and groaning about minor things like burned out lightbulbs speaks to that ignorance.

This is precisely the attitude at Disney World these days and it really annoys me. That level of condescension and dismissiveness of those "people on the Internet" (also known as "paying guests") just really drives home the fact that they think we're all nuts and just some annoying fringe group with unrealistic expectations.

It also goes to show that these people have no clue anymore what kind of quality Walt Disney demanded. They've totally lost touch with their roots.

They will fix it. It's not the end of the world.

I wonder how many people posted this same thing about the yeti two or three years ago?

[BrerGnat]

This is precisely the attitude at Disney World these days and it really annoys me. That level of condescension and dismissiveness of those "people on the Internet" (also known as "paying guests") just really drives home the fact that they think we're all nuts and just some annoying fringe group with unrealistic expectations.

To be candid, this tour guide wasn't just some "random Disney employee." She had been with the company for a VERY long time, and had received some special award (I forgot what it was called) for her many years of outstanding service to the company, etc. She really was very down to earth and had an obvious love and respect for Walt Disney World. She did not say that in a way to imply that us fans were a bunch of whiners. Rather, she pointed to the internet as part of the reason WHY fans these days have such unrealistic expectations. And, face it, we ARE a "fringe group" and we DO have "unrealistic expectations." Like it or not. When I go to Disney World with people who are NOT obsessed with Disney, they don't notice ANY of this stuff we complain about unless I bring it up, then they look at me like I'm nuts.

Without people posting every day about some burnt out lightbulb or bare spot that needs painting, no one would even notice this stuff. It would get fixed in accordance with the maintenance schedule in place. But, no one would go so far as to document this stuff and write a book about it. The internet makes it easy to complain, and get people to be on board with your sentiments when you can post pictures instantly to gain credibility. Then, people get riled up about it, and turn a burned out lightbulb into proof that the Disney company doesn't care anymore and the parks are going downhill. Etc. Etc. Etc.

I agree about RIDES being visibly broken or in need of repair and just continuing to operate that way (i.e. Splash Mountain, E:E). That shouldn't happen.

However, to turn something like this Dumbo issue into "Disney went all cheap on the Fantasyland Expansion and this is what you get", seems a bit off the rails to me.

No one has even heard from Disney on this matter. It's just been posted before we even know what's going on with it, thanks to the instantaneous nature of the internet. They might be fixing it RIGHT NOW, for all we know. Or, they have to wait to get it fixed, because they need to figure out where the problem lies.

Anyway...sorry to go off. I'm kinda bored today.

[joonyer]

My expectations of WDW don't come from what I read online. They come from what I actually experienced on my trips to Magic Kingdom for years (from 1971 until about 6-7 years ago). Before then, I rarely saw light bulbs burned out, or faded/peeling paint or any litter in the parks. I wasn't riding Splash Mountain from year to year with the same scenes not operating or not being painted from the last visit. I won't even mention the Yeti at EE. (OK, I mentioned it).

If Disney employees (from CMs at the park all the way up to the big brass) want to blame the "internet" for guests having "unrealistic" expectations for the theme parks, then they are the ones being "unrealistic". They are either fooling themselves, being obtuse, or trying to rationalize the condition of the parks. If they want to blame somebody for for guests' high expectations for Disney parks, then they can blame Walter Elias Disney. He set the expectations that I have when I visit WDW.

Ok, off the now.

[Polynesian Dweller]

I agree with you... One would think they would have found this problem during testing... Thing I thought about is weight of the guests... There may be a design flaw in the ride where the arms/spokes can't handle guest weight correctly thus now allowing the arms to be their typical height... Or, they knew about this and just didn't care...

Good thought about guest weight. And that makes it possible that it might take a few days operation before the sag get sufficient enough to scrap.

I do think they would care about this though. They'd have to make sure this isn't a symptom of something worse happening.

[antngoof89]

I didn't notice any of these problems on the one spinner that was open during our trip last month, however, it does sound like a missed measurement during construction. I sell appliances so we're used to this kind of thing happening every now and then. Unfortunately, like a previous poster mentioned, things being outsourced is a cheap way to do business, but it's also a great way to have a few possible screw ups along the way during construction. Guest weight is another thing that could be hard to estimate. Many construction workers don't come close to the weight of some of the Disney guests you see around the park. It'd be unfortunate if they were unable to have a solution for this possibility, but it is plausible reasoning behind this "defect."