RIDES CLOSED FOR MAINTENANCE AND REHAB AT WALT DISNEY WORLD
Walt Disney World rides and attractions can be closed for maintenance, rehab, or replacement at any time.
The way I keep up with this is to check the “Refurbishments and Attraction Closures” part of the weekly Walt Disney World Resort Update section of MousePlanet.com.
That said, the most common time for attraction closures is January and early February. For this reason, this site suggests that first time visitors who are unsure whether or not they will ever return should avoid this period.
Why go during a period when some of the best of Walt Disney World may not be available?
For the currently known 2016 winter closures at Disney World, see this.
However, I’ve seen some claims that “only Splash Mountain is closed” during this period, so I went back and analyzed ride closures over the last five years to double check the facts.
The results of this analysis are presented below.
WINTER RIDE CLOSURES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD
Over the past five years, an average of three rides are closed in January at Walt Disney World. (This figure excludes rides closed for massive rehabs—e.g. a nine month do-over.)
The average number of closures drops sharply as mid-February and the President’s Day Weekend approaches, and continues to drop into March.
See the chart for daily averages (click it to enlarge it.)
Splash Mountain is indeed the most common ride to be closed in this period–it has been closed each of the last five years, for at least five days, and for an average of almost 30 days.
Other attractions closed more than once during the period include Test Track, Buzz Lightyear, the Backlot Tour, and the Liberty Belle riverboat. Other significant attractions closed at least once in winter include Rock N’ Roller Coaster, Kali River Rapids, and Indiana Jones.
There’s not much on this list I’d want to miss…so the advice to first time visitors who may not be able to return remains the same–avoid January and early February!
This advice is reflected in this site’s 2014 weeks to visit, ranked in order.
Leave a Reply
99 Comments on "Winter Ride Closures at Walt Disney World"
Me too!
Aww man! 🙁 Well we will keep our fingers crossed for an earlier opening. Thanks for the info though!
Hi Kelly!
I don’t have any knowledge beyond what Disney is saying on its website–which remains March 11.
Because there are two Dumbos at issue–one being built new at Storybook Circus, the other dismantled and moved there–there had been specualtion about this being staged so the the new one might open earlier than 3/12. But I don’t know if any of this specualtion is true…
Hi Dave!
I was wondering if you could shed any light on the Dumbo closure situation. Is it completely closed? I’ve read two different things – one that it would reopen on Feb 18 and the other saying not until March 11. Do you know anything about this? Thanks again! Kelly
Hi Shannon and thanks.
The word on the street is that Splash Mountain will NOT be closed for refurb in 2012, and the people who say this say it comes from Disney, but I have not seen anything official…I’m not sure if WDW will make a definitive statement…sorry to be so little help!
If I were you I’d do the Jan-Feb dates in a heartbeat, as Splash can be visited another time but the crowds in March may be horrible…