Originally Posted By kmsandrbs This past week, the CM skippering the ark Twain told me that they were draining and renovating the Rivers of America for about the first four months of 2010. This means, of course, no Fantasmic and no Tom Sawyer's Island as well. She indicated they would be doing some work along the banks of the river as well (she alluded that the Natures RR car may not be there). She did not give any specifics, though. But this also jibes with the short run of the Princess and the Frog show. Time for APs to get their ROA fix in!
Originally Posted By TempestsPrince Do you suppose it will take them another few months to get the dragon working again after they reopen it? Temperamental beasts those dragons.
Originally Posted By TP2000 This Rivers closure has been known for quite some time. I would imagine since the dragon doesn't require water to work, they've got five months of downtime to tweak and practice with it. When Fantasmic comes back in June, it should be working exactly as it was designed.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros That's the main reason that they have been running F! almost daily this fall. Since it took so long to get the dragon working, they wanted to get the most mileage out of it before the River was drained for several weeks in the spring. Anybody else think that this might be some sort of prep work to get crowds ready for World of Color in DCA? Have a while without the old show to get people even more excited about the new one?
Originally Posted By gadzuux I don't think that's going to be a problem. The problem is more likely to be turning away thousands of guests per night - or perhaps directing them to less desireable viewing locations. I'm expecting WoC to be terrific, but if it's even 'good' it will be swamped.
Originally Posted By TempestsPrince This sounds more like a routine maintenance activity than some ruse to push people over to the other park. If the military taught me one thing, it's that you can make something last practically forever if you do the proper scheduled maintenance on it.
Originally Posted By EighthDwarf Do we know the date that work begins on Rivers of America? I assume they will wait until the Christmas crowds die down a bit?
Originally Posted By Darkbeer The date I heard, January 4th, with ROA being refilled in mid-May, with the return of Fantasmic!! in mid June. A lot of work is scheduled, including the replacement of the entire guide rail for the Mark Twain and Columbia. It is a tight schedule, and even with expected large crowds for the first week of January (Including 2 Rose Bowl Games in 2010, with the BCS Championship on January 7th), it looks like the ROA will start being drained on the 4th. HMH and iaswh might be delayed in closing due to the expected large crowds.
Originally Posted By dresswhites i wonder what they will find this time when they drain the river? i hope they add some new scenes and return some scenes.add more animals, and bring some sort of waterfalls.
Originally Posted By Westsider dresswhites, it sounds like you know what you are talking about when it comes to things "found" in the river. You can bet that a few of those things will be found, cleaned up, and ceremoniously returned to their underwater keeping place when the river fills up again in May. ;-)
Originally Posted By dresswhites the last time they drained the river, there was a la times article about all the odd things they have found at the river bottom. i can't remember the items now, but it was pretty interesting. Also as a former custodian, i do know they will probabaly find brooms and pans. Some accidently found their way into the river and some not so accidently.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt But Westsider alluded to them putting things back that they find....
Originally Posted By LOVE-DCA this is not a treasure hunt for peats sake!! do they think there is lost treasure buried there?
Originally Posted By Westsider The last drained rehab for the river was in the winter of 2003, seven years ago. There are a couple of things that don't belong in the bottom of the river, but every rehab they are found again, cleaned up, maybe a few new signatures put on them, and then saved to be dumped overboard once the water returns. It sounded like dresswhites knew what they were, that's why I mentioned it.
Originally Posted By Westsider Cant's say much more than that, plus I'm at work posting on my phone, but there are things in the bottom of the river that don't belong there.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan How mysterious! TOP TEN THINGS THAT DON'T BELONG AT THE BOTTOM OF A RIVER: 10. Angel food cakes 9. Parachutes 8. Cactus 7. The money you could be saving with Geico 6. The Ark of the Covenant 5. Buddy Ebsen publicity photos 4. Bubble wrap 3. Chia Pets 2. Accordians (well, wait... let me think about that one...) 1. Diced onions
