Kali River Rapids closing for refurbishment in early 2016

DisneyJeffJun 01, 2016

{{Thread Bump}} Has anyone ridden Kali RR at night yet? If so, could you see any lighting enhancements?

AbsimilliardApr 21, 2016

Kali River Rapids has some potential, but what did WDI and Intamin think by using flexible rubber pipes and hoses to create the "rapids"? Removing the storage bins did help, but what is funny is that all the guide books and online "touring sites" still say there are storage bins on the boats. Guests get mad at the cast members when they notice there are none now! One interesting theory I heard is that the turntable is too small for the rafts and this is what leads to the constant stoppage and empty seats on the boats. If you look at Popeye over at IOA, Barr Engineering put a bigger turntable and they run it a little slower, helping them fill up the seats. One fascinating thing I noticed over in Europe is that no rapid rides there have seat belts. Yes, that includes River Quest that features 3 drops and an elevator lift. The mindset (which is correct based on what has happened before in my view) is that the seatbelts are a drowning hazard in case a raft flips over and they prefer to deal with the occasional standing guest.

Tom MorrowApr 21, 2016

This is incorrect. If the ride runs with more than 18 rafts, then all that happens is they stack up before the station constantly, additionally causing more stacking before the drop and on the lift. This does not gain the ride any capacity. The reason the ride has huge wait times is it has several design quirks that make it very inefficient. It has the 38"-42" wrist band/additional lap bar requirement that no other Intamin raft ride has, and only some of the rafts have the required lap bar... and even if they do, only one or two lap bars are equipped. It is nearly impossible to efficiently group people into the rafts as they are all the same color and not numbered or anything so you will often see half empty rafts. The station has to stop frequently because people do not buckle their seatbelts fast enough, as well as for pulling rafts aside to the wheelchair dock. Each time the station stops, that's two or three rafts of hourly capacity lost. It also allows the Fastpass line to fill up again. More Fastpass = longer standby. They tried to combat the frequent station stops by removing the storage bins in the rafts - people were too concerned about storing their items instead of fastening their seatbelt. Not sure if that has made any improvement or not.

AbsimilliardApr 20, 2016

Like I said in the WDW Awakens thread, they also made resetting breakdowns easier by installing wooden platforms around the Turntable. The idea here is that when the river empties, the boat won't sink to the bottom and won't risk damaging the turntable when it fills up again. The ride is still in bad shape and desperately need a new fleet of rafts. The ride is supposed to run with over 20 boats, but they are lucky if 15-16 are running and this is what leads to the huge lines. Also, the ride is still amazingly an off the shelf Intamin ride and would need a control upgrade to run better.

marni1971Apr 20, 2016

Don't have to tell me....

RSoxNo1Apr 20, 2016

Fire effects would help the lighting...

marni1971Apr 20, 2016

Lots of lighting improvement / installation.

cjkeatingApr 20, 2016

I haven't heard of any improvements/fixed effects anywhere. Hopefully something is more apparent when the ride is open at night but I wouldn't hold your breath.

DisneyJeffApr 20, 2016

I haven't heard anything about this refurb. Apparently the ride has been open for a month. Does anyone know of any details? Ride effects? Lighting enhancements for when (if) AK extends the hours? At least a strobe light for the waterfall would be nice.

Tom MorrowMar 20, 2016

The ride is open again, but I haven't had a chance to ride it. I wouldn't hold your breath for anything noteworthy.

spectromagic04Mar 17, 2016

Any updates on if they restored any of the old broken effects?

peter11435Mar 06, 2016

I don't defend disney every chance I get. I correct misinformation any chance I get. There's a huge difference. And for the record I agree with you. There is a lot more that could and should be done in most refurbs. There really is no excuse for things not being repaired and painted while attractions are down. But... The notion that attractions are closed and nothing is done is simply not true.

BartattackMar 06, 2016

If anybody thinks Walt Disney World is falling apart... boy, they better don't visit Disneyland Paris. Now there's a park that was REALLY falling apart.(which is a shame, because it's a beautifull park) They are now trying to catch up and fix everything from the past 20 years of neglect. Construction walls everywhere! Haven't visited in 5 years now... and gonna wait untill their 25th anniversary when everything is refurbished. Visited WDW 3 times in the past 5 years instead...and loved every second of it.

DisneyGentlemanMar 06, 2016

The future of POTC...