trips tour : Disney California Adventure reportedly set to close Luigi's Flying Tires in January

By Robert Niles: Disneyland cast members have leaked a new schedule that will see Luigi's Flying Tires in Cars Land close next Jan. 12 for an 11-month refurbishment. It's highly unusual for a functioning attraction in a popular land to go down for such a long period so relatively soon after its opening. (Luigi's opened with Cars Land just two summers ago.) Given the unpopularity of the ride with fans and designers, it's easy to jump to the conclusion that this January closure might be the end of Luigi's — at least in its current form.

Luigi's Flying Selfies

Let's keep in mind that many fans were ready to bury the Finding Nemo submarine ride at Disneyland when Disney closed it for a months-long planned refurbishment last January. But the subs did return as promised last month, so a plan to close an attraction temporarily does not necessarily mean that the ride will close permanently.

If Disney proceeds with the plan to close Luigi's for most of 2015 it could do one of three things:

Simply mothball the ride to see the effect on wait times elsewhere in Cars Land and the park, then use than information to make a decision about replacing Luigi's.

Test various tweaks to the ride system to improve the experience, such as changing the number of tires, the air pressure levels, the cycle time, etc.

Tear out the ride system while leaving the queue and "Luigi's" name, allowing the park to introduce a different ride experience as a "refurbishment" of the existing attraction.

Depending upon the option the company choses, we could see the current or a slightly modified Luigi's reopen in late 2015. Or we could see a substantially different ride open in its place at the same time, or some later date. Whatever Disney chooses, it's unlikely that the company would tear down the Luigi's queue building, as that's a vital location within the Radiator Springs setting for Cars Land.

Here's another possible outcome: The flying tires yard out back remain closed while the Luigi's building becomes a walk-through attraction, or yet another merchandise location. If Disney can't find a cost-effective way to offer a popular ride in the yard out back, don't discount one of those possibilities.

What would you like to see Disney do with Luigi's?

Previously:

How to fly Luigi's Flying Tires

Ride review - Radiator Springs Racers and Cars Land at Disney California Adventure

Luigi's Flying Tires Getting Rid of Beach Balls

This article originally appeared at http://ift.tt/1FyLCU8. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this on a personal RSS reader (such as Feedburner) or on http://ift.tt/N0yOgi, you are reading a scraper website that has illegally copied and stolen http://ift.tt/N0yOgi's content. Please visit http://ift.tt/1FyLCU8 for the original version, along with all its comments.