According to Cast Members working at Journey of Water – Inspired by Moana, the self-guided nature trail will be forced to close if inclement weather is in the area. In fact, the Annual Passholder preview was paused for that very reason yesterday afternoon. The walkthrough experience will be required to close when there is lightning in the area like any other outdoor attraction. It appears that the Cast Members stationed at the attraction entrance and throughout the trail will need to head indoors when lightning is near, necessitating the closure of the experience.
Originally, we assumed that the closure of the Passholder preview was due to the unavailability of Cast Members to check guests into the preview, but Cast Members at the attraction said that the current operating procedure is to close when lightning is in the area. It’s possible that the operating procedure will change when the attraction opens to all guests on October 16th. The attraction is “gated” in the sense that Cast Members have the ability to start and stop the guest flow into the area. There is also a literal gate in the attraction, but it’s not clear what it would be used for.
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