Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster Closed in 2024 for Main Refurbishment at Disney World

Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster Starring Aerosmith is closed for an additional multi-month refurbishment till late Summer time 2024 at Walt Disney World. This put up covers the reopening date & particulars about what to anticipate from the challenge, what is going to seemingly not change and why this most likely isn’t a reimagining. (Up to date Could 21, 2024.)

The 2024 Walt Disney World Refurbishment Calendar is beginning to mirror elevated upkeep after just a few years of lighter refurbishment schedules. This most likely isn’t going to win me any buddies, however I feel Walt Disney World must be including much more points of interest to the closure calendar. There are quite a few rides which have been experiencing above-average downtime, and others which can be working however not show-ready.

Preventative upkeep doesn’t appear to have been occurring because it ought to–which is the ‘better of each worlds’ answer, because it means in a single day work that has minimal impression to visitors. I assume that’s what occurs while you let go of a bunch of old-timers who held the institutional data and lived-experience vital to take care of and repair so many of those legacy points of interest! (However I digress…)

Could 21, 2024 Replace: Walt Disney World has confirmed that Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster Starring Aerosmith will reopen on July 27, 2024. This date has been added to the official park calendar, which updates on a rolling foundation and simply had these dates added just lately. Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster Starring Aerosmith went down for refurbishment this 12 months on January 8 after the same closure final winter via early summer season.

This quantities to over a 6 month closure, which is longer than the refurbishment of the journey final 12 months throughout (roughly) the identical timeframe. Per Walt Disney World, the rocktastic attraction will resume its super-stretch limo rides in Summer time 2024. The journey is presently closed for normal upkeep and there aren’t any modifications anticipated to the visitor expertise because of this.

There are a pair issues to notice right here. The primary is that July 27 continues to be over two months away when this date was introduced, so it’s topic to vary. That’s true of all refurbishment reopenings, however particularly so with this challenge. Our guess is that Walt Disney World is being conservative with the reopening date, as that’s the higher method and results in fewer complaints.

That means that it’s extra more likely to see Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster reopen just a few days or perhaps weeks earlier than July 27, 2024 than it’s to see the journey return later. It actually all relies upon upon how work progresses within the dwelling stretch of the challenge. It’s probably price noting that, final 12 months, Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster reopened a number of weeks forward of schedule.

Second, this now places different points of interest “on the clock.” Whilst Walt Disney World is growing the journey refurbishment calendar quantity, we suspect they’d be disinclined to make extra last-minute additions till Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster returns. So take into account July 28, 2024 the seemingly earliest date for the rumored Magic Kingdom journey closures, in addition to different potential tasks in EPCOT and different refurbishments which have but to be introduced (and even rumored).

Late July via late September is one other comparatively sluggish timeframe, and we count on Walt Disney World to reap the benefits of that by including extra non permanent journey closures to the refurbishment calendar. However that’s simply hypothesis on our half. Both means, it’ll be nice to have Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster Starring Aerosmith again!

What follows is different authentic commentary and particulars concerning the Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster journey refurbishment…

If this appears like deja vu over again, it ought to. The very same factor occurred one 12 months in the past–proper right down to a few of the above verbiage from Walt Disney World concerning the nature of the refurbishment and the announcement coming round Christmas. That closure additionally began through the winter low season and was scheduled to run via summer season.

This 12 months, Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster Starring Aerosmith unofficially reopened initially of the Memorial Day vacation weekend following its multi-month refurbishment. Value noting is that this was a lot sooner than anticipated–by a number of months. Rumors initially pointed to the journey being closed via a minimum of July, with the challenge probably persevering with into the autumn low season.

Actually, Walt Disney World filed two development permits for Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster Starring Aerosmith’s prolonged closure that corroborated this. Each of these permits expired in September, and in addition appeared to sign a extra complicated refurbishment than what really occurred.

Our guess–and that is simply that–is that there was a final minute change of plans by Walt Disney World, and solely a portion of the originally-scheduled work occurred. That as an alternative of doing all the things suddenly, Disney opted to interrupt the challenge into two components, doing the primary half earlier than the summer season vacationer season final 12 months and pushing the second half to the identical timeframe in 2024.

Once more, that is only a guess, however it’s a minimum of considerably supported by the timeline shortening. Aside from this, when is the final time Walt Disney World received one thing main achieved forward of schedule? Then there are the permits. There’s additionally the sensible actuality that Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster has proceed to have reliability woes, which is exactly what the refurbishment was aimed toward addressing.

It’s solely potential that final 12 months’s challenge was accomplished in full and Disney is barely revisiting the challenge now as a result of, regardless of the work being achieved, downtime points persist. So that they’re going to do extra and totally different upkeep because of this. I’ve no insider data, so I definitely wouldn’t depend that out.

Nonetheless, we will additionally look to the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, which had its personal bifurcated refurbishment over the course of 2021-2022. That was barely totally different, because it was a ‘stealth’ challenge achieved whereas the journey was nonetheless operational (elevator shafts went down for upkeep whereas the others continued to run, successfully chopping the journey’s capability in half). However that was additionally achieved with an extended hole in between the 2 halves of the challenge.

Operationally, this can be a massive blow for Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which already is missing in sufficient points of interest to soak up the heavy crowds the park sees. This may solely make that worse, particularly if there’s overlap with every other closure. Right here’s hoping that Walt Disney World brings again Jedi Coaching Academy, Residents of Hollywood, or another leisure within the first half of 2024.

We already know that Voyage of the Little Mermaid received’t be returning throughout this refurbishment, as Walt Disney World introduced {that a} reimagined model of that, “The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey” is coming in Fall 2024. On the plus aspect, DHS does have a number of character meet & greets, however these don’t have practically the identical capability as a present or journey.

The Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster refurbishment will put much more pressure on the already imbalanced Lightning Lane lineup. Already, return occasions are sometimes pushed out into the late afternoon and early night, and it will solely worsen that. Anticipate to solely rating just a few good Lightning Lanes through Genie+ for those who don’t have a robust refresh sport.

As for the scope of the work, it’s onerous to imagine that this might be an entire observe alternative. Something lower than a 12 months will not be sufficient time to take away and rebuild a curler coaster inside an current gravity constructing. Anybody who watched the development of TRON Lightcycle Run would understandably be skeptical of Disney’s skill to do something with that quantity of pace.

What’s extra seemingly is that parts of the observe are changed, or the launch system is upgraded. That is yet one more Vekoma coaster, the identical producer of Cosmic Rewind and TRON Lightcycle Run. The redone Avengers Assemble: Flight Power at Walt Disney Studios Park, which was beforehand Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster earlier than the reimagining, can also be a Vekoma.

It’s potential Imagineering and Vekoma have partnered to refresh elements of the coaster and lengthen its life, having realized classes from these tasks or others all over the world. I don’t know what such an replace would entail, however it will presumably be achievable in a ~6 month timeline. In contrast, there’s no conceivable means that Walt Disney World might basically rebuild the curler coaster in that point. I don’t assume there’s a means they may try this in something lower than 18 months.

Now let’s flip to hypothesis about what’ll happen throughout this prolonged closure–or relatively, what is going to not occur. In keeping with Walt Disney World, the journey goes down for normal upkeep, and that’s it.

When you’ve learn our put up, Will Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster Be Reimagined? (which discusses prospects for the reimagining), that we expect this will occur in some unspecified time in the future within the subsequent couple of years. There are a number of causes for this, together with the reputational legal responsibility offered by Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, who has now been named in two sexual abuse lawsuits within the final two years. These allegations haven’t gained a ton of media traction, but when they do, it will make sense for Disney to need to distance itself from Tyler.

Reimagining Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster isn’t just the secure transfer, however it will be cash effectively spent. It presents a chance for Imagineering to simply inject new life in an attraction that’s inherently common as a thrill journey, and would give the corporate one thing to market between now and 2025.

Though the corporate has respectable Plans to Double Funding to $60 Billion in Walt Disney World, Disneyland & Past that received’t begin in earnest for an additional couple of years. Disney has an excessive amount of debt and never sufficient liquidity to front-load spending; they want to determine streaming, ESPN, and linear tv earlier than turning their focus to Parks & Resorts.

That alone places the begin of great development work in late 2024 or 2025. That’s the purpose at which we’d count on work to start on the Tropical Americas at Animal Kingdom, that means that Indiana Jones Journey and no matter else is deliberate received’t open till 2026 on the earliest.

Within the meantime, Tiana’s Bayou Journey will open someday in 2024, most likely earlier than October. That leaves completely nothing for 2025, which is the 12 months that Common’s Epic Universe–a model new theme park–will debut. Until Walt Disney World is simply going to ‘surrender’ and let Common have 2025 (a method that we identified may make some extent of sense in Is Common “Beating” Disney?), they should begin shifting on one thing quickly.

About the one chance at this level for an oblique reply to Epic Universe–or marketable additions, usually–is reimaginings. On the subject of these, few points of interest have as a lot untapped advertising potential as Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster. A redone Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster might be achieved in 6-8 months and could be a colossal draw with mainstream audiences. Regardless that Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster is already fairly common, I can’t consider every other rides that hit the ‘candy spot’ of an environment friendly reimagining and a marketable one.

Given all of that, there are just a few prospects. The primary is that we’re simply flat-out unsuitable and Walt Disney World has no plans in anyway to the touch Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster. Actually, this is likely to be the most certainly state of affairs. Regardless that we expect a retheme is very seemingly–and pragmatic–within the subsequent 2 years, it’s most likely nonetheless solely 50/50, at finest.

The following state of affairs is that the retheme will occur in 2024, and Walt Disney World is simply not able to announce it but. This type of factor occurs, the place Disney denies initially or says there are “no plans…right now.” These are well-known wiggle phrases from Disney, with the concept being that plans change–and the corporate anticipating followers to imagine the plans didn’t exist when the unique non-announcement occurred.

The ultimate state of affairs is that the 2023 and 2024 refurbishments are each vital conditions to a reimagining. That Imagineering, the coaster producers, and contractors are getting in there to take care of the journey system and nuts & bolts of the attraction now, refreshing the underlying curler coaster, making it extra dependable, and laying the groundwork for a thematic and aesthetic reimagining across the identical timeframe in 2025. That means, when it goes down in Winter 2025, all they should do is swap out the surroundings and alter the window-dressing, relatively than doing that and addressing the journey system.

Whether or not it’s in 2024, 2025 or past, we nonetheless assume {that a} substantive overhaul is inevitable in some unspecified time in the future within the subsequent ~5 years. I personally love Aerosmith, however I’m however stunned that Walt Disney World is taking the attraction offline for therefore lengthy and never giving it a retheme. Fashionable thrill rides can all the time turn out to be much more common with the mixing of extra common mental property. Simply have a look at Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout at DCA.

Iconic as they might be, it’s most likely truthful to say that Aerosmith doesn’t have the identical cachet or title recognition with youthful visitors. I can’t consider one other up to date band that’s common, crowd-pleasing, non-controversial, and suits the journey profile. Then once more, the Guardians of the Galaxy have demonstrated that traditional rock can transcend its period. (So right here’s hoping Led Zeppelin is within the subsequent film!)

No matter finally ends up taking place down the highway with Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster, I hope Imagineering additionally learns from Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and incorporate becoming and enjoyable songs. Additionally they must take the time to check a ton of various choices. The tip outcome on Cosmic Rewind is superior–even with the songs I don’t personally love.

Maybe Walt Disney World is ‘saving’ the reimagining for subsequent 12 months, and one other “new” Marvel curler coaster would be the marketable draw for Walt Disney World in 2025? There are many characters which can be off-limits as a result of Common contract, however that also leaves loads of choices–together with ones which can be common within the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Section 4.

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Your Ideas

What do you consider the multi-month closure of Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster Starring Aerosmith at Walt Disney World? Dissatisfied that it’ll be down throughout your journey? Assume Disney is being coy, and it’ll really get a retheme in 2024? What about in 2025 or past? Ideas on potential bands, manufacturers, or tremendous heroes to exchange Aerosmith? Any questions concerning the present refurbishments at Walt Disney World? Do you agree or disagree with our evaluation? Any questions we can assist you reply? Listening to your suggestions—even while you disagree with us—is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!