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After Guests named it absolute hell, one Disney Park may soon be even more challenging to navigate as Walt Disney World’s Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is readying to shut down.
Across Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Guests visiting the Walt Disney World Resort (Orlando, Central Florida) can experience hundreds of different attractions and experiences.
There’s thrill rides like Space Mountain, Test Track, and Expedition Everest — Legend of the Forbidden Mountain; there’s gentle family-friendly attractions like Peter Pan’s Flight, Frozen Ever After, and “it’s a small world”; and then there’s the newer bunch of rides that blend modern tech with a new and industry-leading operation, think Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, and Avatar Flight of Passage.
Each theme park has its own appeal, and with valid Park admission and a Park Pass reservation, Guests can indulge in all things Star Wars, Golden Era Hollywood, Disney Princesses, and worldwide conservation. While there is indeed much variety at Disney World, the Parks have somewhat of a barrier tied around them. Guests must utilize the Park Pass system to select their chosen Park, and then they must visit said Park before moving to another using the 2 p.m. Park Hopper rule.
And so, for Disney, capacity and attendance can be managed much easier, but as Guests have pointed out over the last (almost) three years, the Park Pass and Park Hopper system does not always work in favor of the Guest and their intended Disney experience.
Take Disney’s Hollywood Studios, for example. The Park has one of the lowest attraction counts out of the Disney Resort, meaning that problems can arise if those rides were to go down for any reason. This is what happened recently with Guests visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios calling it “absolute hell” due to essentially being trapped inside a Park with few attractions to ride and not being able to go to another Park until 2 p.m..
And again, just recently, three of the biggest attraction draws — Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith — were all down at rope drop. With the latter two attractions on the divisive Disney Genie+ service and the former available on the a la carte Individual Lightning Lane, this meant demand for the remaining rides like Slinky Dog Dash and Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run grew to compensate for the downed rides.
Walt Disney World’s Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster
Now, Disney World is preparing to shut Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith indefinitely from February 21, 2023 for refurbishment. The only comment Disney has made on the reopening is that it will be sometime in Summer 2023, with no concrete date revealed. With an accompanying soundtrack of Aerosmith hits, the coaster has been a staple of Disney’s Hollywood Studios since 1999, back when the Disney Park was Disney-MGM Studios.
The significant closure of such a popular thrill ride will make trips to Hollywood even more tenuous. The loss of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster from the Disney Park roster will put more demand on other e-ticket draws like Rise of the Resistance, Tower of Terror, and Slinky Dog Dash; it will also mean there will be more people hunting for less Genie+ slots when it comes to selecting rides while on vacation.
Related: Guest Endured Pain and Suffering at Disney World and Has Lost Ability to Enjoy Life, Lawsuit Reveals
Is Disney World replacing the Aerosmith ride?
Rumors are floating that Disney Parks & Resorts is looking to retheme Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith following sexual assault allegations against the band’s frontman, Steven Tyler. The singer-musician allegedly took 16-year-old Julia Holcomb back to his hotel room in the 1970s where he performed “criminal acts” of sexual misconduct on her.
However, The Walt Disney Company has not yet issued any form of statement on the situation; as the official Disney World website acknowledges, the “rocktastic attraction will resume its super-stretch limo rides” when it does reopen this summer, suggesting it will remain the same when it comes back after refurbishment.
Do you think it will be harder to operate the theme park when Walt Disney World’s Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster goes dark? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!