Disney Q&A Friday has become one of my favorite features of Enjoying the Magic! I love going through my email and/or social media to find questions from others planning a WDW vacation! I sort of live vicariously through those of you who are planning your next trip, especially since I don’t have a new trip countdown of my own, yet. (which I’m hoping to change soon!)
Question: Is there any way to know if a ride at Walt Disney World will be closed when my family gets there? My son wants really wants to ride Splash Mountain! What happens if a ride we have a FastPass+ reservation for is closed?
Answer:
Few things are worse than getting so excited about going on a specific ride only to discover it’s closed! Unfortunately, ride closures are not uncommon at Disney World. Most of the time, it’s a short-term issue (maintenance, staffing or clean-up from an unfortunate incident involving motion sickness, etc.). Some times, though, it lasts longer. Let’s look at both situations.
Short term: When my family was in the Magic Kingdom last month, we had FP+ for Pirates of the Caribbean. A few minutes before our FP+ time, I got an email from Disney saying the ride shut down. I went up to the Cast Member in front of the ride and asked how long the ride might be down. He said he didn’t know. I looked at my email, which offered me a number of choices from My Disney Experience to replace the experience. I opened the app on my smart phone, made the switch and had an alternate plan within 2 minutes.
As we were trying to figure out what to do until our new FP+ attraction, the ride opened! We got in the line, waited less than 5 minutes and actually had ANOTHER FP+ because of the replacement. A small happily ever after for us!
If your family really wants to ride the closed attraction, you can choose to hold on to the FP+–Disney usually honors it later in the day if the ride reopens. Ask the ride/attraction Cast Member for confirmation about this!
Long term (refurbishment): Sometimes, ride closures last for longer periods of time or refurbishment. This means the attraction will remain closed from a few days to months at a time. Disney almost always plans these advance so visitors can plan around the disruptions.
Some rides even have a “refurb season”–usually an annual shutdown to refresh the ride and give it a full inspection. Splash Mountain is usually one of these rides: after the Christmas touring season, when crowds (and temperatures) are lower. If you’re planning to visit the MK between January and March, you may want to check when or if Splash Mountain is up and running.
How? Fortunately, TouringPlans.com has a comprehensive refurbishment list (non-sponsored link) which gets updated regularly throughout the week. If you’re planning a trip and want to know about upcoming ride closures, you need to check out this list! It includes rides, attractions, water parks, restaurants, shows and more!
Knowing ahead of time can help take the sting out of potential disappointments. Happy planning!
Have a Disney planning question? Drop me an email at marie@enjoyingthemagic.com and I’ll answer it ASAP!
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