Peoplemover Reopening Extended Again

[Splashtest]

Looks like we will have to wait a little longer for the Peoplemover.

Opening has been extended until the end of February again......

[AlexisW]

I guess they're going for a full year with the PeopleMover offline? (It was out of operation for about a week before the parks closed last year in March.)

Even if it opened today, this is one of the longest refurb closures for any ride in Disney World history-- even the big Space Mountain refurb back in 2009 only lasted seven months. (Granted, it's likely that they weren't actually working on the PeopleMover while Disney was closed, but still...)

Really hoping this doesn't go the way of Disneyland's PeopleMover. They're obviously not to that point yet (we're still seeing work being done on it, during the day even), but how much longer do they spend trying to fix it before they conclude that it can't be reopened safely?

[Dopey]

Josh is probably crazy frustrated without having the peoplemover. I miss watching that ride live. Have to keep going back to past videos.

[JLThemeParkDude]

I Love the Peoplemover! I hope they get it up and running again soon.

[ADantuono]

You know you're really a part of this community when you read about the TTA reopening being pushed back... and you're first thought is about how Josh is doing

[mikeb_71586]

OH No!

[Meridasmom]

We're gonna need to send Josh a consolation gift or something Or a patience medal lol. Hang in there Josh!

[jbletheby]

I guess they're going for a full year with the PeopleMover offline? (It was out of operation for about a week before the parks closed last year in March.)

Even if it opened today, this is one of the longest refurb closures for any ride in Disney World history-- even the big Space Mountain refurb back in 2009 only lasted seven months. (Granted, it's likely that they weren't actually working on the PeopleMover while Disney was closed, but still...)

Really hoping this doesn't go the way of Disneyland's PeopleMover. They're obviously not to that point yet (we're still seeing work being done on it, during the day even), but how much longer do they spend trying to fix it before they conclude that it can't be reopened safely?

This is long but in perspective, employment was at full capacity in 2009. Still very unfortunate, and concerning.

[ResortTV1]

Looks like we will have to wait a little longer for the Peoplemover.

Opening has been extended until the end of February again......

Oh no!! Ugh... I guess I can wait another month. Wow.

[JanS Disney1974]

I hope it will reopen by the end of February, I will be at WDW the first week of March

[Kim*theParkWorld]

I hope it opens soon. I'm looking forward to some more streams from the TTA!

[ThatCrazyGuy]

At this point you have to wonder if Disney just doesn't want to open another attraction while Covid is still hampering its bottom line. Having that many more cast members operating the ride increases payroll. Even if that is not the case, I think they should stop extending the deadline month by month until they know for sure. People keep getting their hopes up only to be disappointed yet again.

[Splashtest]

Looks like we will have to wait a little longer for the Peoplemover.

Opening has been extended until the end of February again......

Oh no!! Ugh... I guess I can wait another month. Wow.

It needs to be back open by the time we get there In May. It’s a family favorite.

[Dazzlegal]

I miss the Peoplemover so much. I haven't rode it in years(when it was in Disneyland many years ago). Can't wait to ride it in Disney World on our first visit there in 2022.

[James]

Oof, the peoplemover is my favorite ride at Magic Kingdom.

[Wayfinder]

Super bummed. I'm there in two weeks and really wanted to ride it.

[Brewbud]

I hope it will reopen by the end of February, I will be at WDW the first week of March

We are hoping too. We will also be there the first week of March.

[nittanylions]

What are they trying to fix on the ride? Does it have something to do with the ride cars bumping into each other?

[Beaker & Honeydew]

I have ridden the people mover so many times... VIRTUALLY... thanks to Josh's videos!!! Can't wait to ride it for real!!!

[summerinthecity]

I think the PeopleMover uses some kind of ancient technology originally premiered at the World's Fair - is that the problem? For a ride that seems super safe/straightforward, this prolonged refurb is surprising to me and I wish a Disney engineer would hop on and explain it to us. (Not mad, just like to understand why apparently simple things aren't simple)

[AlexisW]

I think the PeopleMover uses some kind of ancient technology originally premiered at the World's Fair - is that the problem? For a ride that seems super safe/straightforward, this prolonged refurb is surprising to me and I wish a Disney engineer would hop on and explain it to us. (Not mad, just like to understand why apparently simple things aren't simple)

The Disney World PeopleMover is a completely different design from what was used at the World's Fair and at Disneyland's PeopleMover-- those propelled the cars using rotating wheels on the track.

Disney World's PeopleMover uses linear motors to propel the cars-- basically, you have electromagnets in the track that are switched on and off, pushing and pulling against magnets in the cars to move them along the track. This is the same basic principle used in many launched roller coasters, including Rock'n'Roller Coaster and Slinky Dog Dash at WDW, although (obviously) the TTA's system isn't designed for the kind of high acceleration used in a roller coaster.

The rumor going around is that it's these motors/electromagnets embedded in the track that they're replacing: immediately prior to Disney closing in March, they had a few incidents with cars hitting other cars (which is obviously bad); they attempted (after WDW reopened in the summer) to just repair/replace the motors in the affected section but, for some reason, that turned into "replace all the motors on the track" and the extended refurbishment. I'd be surprised if we ever get any kind of official word on what went wrong, though-- that's not really how Disney works.