Stitch's Great Escape! moves to seasonal operation

By WDWMAGIC Staff · Wednesday September 21, 2016 10:50am EDT · "Stitch's Great Escape!"

Stitch's Great Escape! at the Magic Kingdom is moving to seasonal operation next month.

The attraction will have its final day of daily operations on October 1 2016, with its next scheduled opening on November 19 for the busy holiday week.

It will then close on November 27, reopening again on December 17 for the Christmas and New Year week. Even during those seasonal openings, the operating hours will be restricted to 10am to 8pm.

Stitch's Great Escape has been an unpopular attraction since its opening in 2004, where it replaced the highly rated Alien Encounter attraction.

The move to seasonal operation suggests that work may well begin on its replacement in the new year, with a Wreck It Ralph attraction rumored to move in. Read more about that on the WDWMAGIC Forums.

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SGE to operate seasonally starting October 2nd.....talk about a slow and painful death for an attraction. Just shut it down and put it out of it's misery. I'm sure it won't be missed. ;););)
↩ replying to Katie G
Now that's interesting. Cost cutting while they wait to redo it?
That is horrible if that is what they are doing. If you going to close it close it. Don't go half way bs.
I can't decide how I feel about this. I hate to see anything shut down/operating on a limited schedule like this because it means fewer attractions for paying guests, but but I like this because it means it will likely be going away and eventually replaced by something (hopefully) better.
This new Wreck it Ralph attraction better be worth it.
↩ replying to HeroOfWDW
Worth losing Stitch?
↩ replying to Launchpad McQuack
Tell me if I'm reading your post wrong but, I'm pretty sure you and I are the only people who like the Stitch attraction. It hurts to see him go, and while I want to still see him in the parks with a ride of his own, I think it's best he moves. Wreck it Ralph does NOT belong in the stitch theater , where it works so much better at Tomorrow land Speedway (the best worst smell in the Magic Kingdom ;) ). I'll miss you Stitch
↩ replying to HeroOfWDW
Ahh yes putting sugar rush racers in at TL Speedway... I vaguely remember someone *cough* suggesting that some time ago. ;)
↩ replying to HeroOfWDW
You like that? looks like your not a hero anymore
↩ replying to HeroOfWDW
I'm not a big Stitch fan, so losing it specifically doesn't bother me as bad as losing anything else would. I just don't like seeing empty buildings/closed attractions at WDW. I really enjoyed the Wreck It Ralph movie, so I'm hoping whatever they do to fit it in that theater works, even though I wish it was a new attraction instead of a replacement attraction.
↩ replying to ThemeParkGuru
My kids love stich... the ride not so much but the character is finnand mischievous and they love that and love seeing him. Ride needs to go but I hope they don't just bury the character.
Here is the thing, if you are going to close it and loose the capacity start working on a replacement immediately, if its still blue sky keep it open as long as you need too. It can't be that expensive to run one theater. The day it closes should be the day it begins the gutting process.
Ah, seasonal status - purgatory for a Disney theme park attraction. You've basically been deemed insignificant enough that you can be closed most of the time, but at the same time Disney can't be bothered to just put you out of your misery.

Bets on how long this will last? I'll say Summer 2019 before anything new opens in this location (pure speculation on my part).
↩ replying to ThemeParkGuru
Pretty sure most heroes have their own opinion. Have you seen Civil War?

Yeah I agree. Seeing things closed is sad. Knowing what's inside and not being able to see it is kinda sad. You are right. Wreck it ralph should be a new attraction, and maybe even a new "type" of attraction.