Is it normal for so many rides to breakdown so often?

[AvonleaCF]

So maybe it's a case of wrong place, wrong time, but I've never experienced so many ride closures/breakdowns!

Went to AK this past Sunday (9/1) and had to be evacuated off Dinosaur after it stopped.

Then today (Wed, 9/4) I started off in MK, where Space was down all day. When I made it over to Frontierland, Splash was down. Then I hopped to AK and EE was down when I got there. Then, I waited in line for Dinosaur for 20 minutes before we were all told the ride went down and we all had to leave!

I mean, I know things happen, but this is excessive. I doubt I'll make it back to AK this trip, so no Dino for me. I guess I should count my blessings Test Track has been operational each time I've gone (let's hope I didn't just jinx it)!

[Arielfan98]

Unfortunately this all occurs by chance. I went to Disney August 14th-21st and August 18th in MK Pirates, Splash, and TMR were closed due to power failures because their was a bad rain. Sorry about all the breakdowns!

[Reedy Creek Buccaneer]

Remember these are machines that are in service 365 days a year. They break down. In June, we went about 10 feet on Dumbo and it just stopped. We did get a free Fastpass for any ride, so that was good, and we came back later to ride Dumbo. I know it is inconvenient, but it is going to happen to us all.

[The Horned King]

Remember these are machines that are in service 365 days a year.

Exactly. That and alot of them are very complicated. A simple thing can stop a ride. A park map thrown on the floor in tower of terror. A boat getting stuck on Pirates. (happened to me on more than one occasion!) All these take a while to sort. Just unlucky I think.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

We had a worse than usual run of broken rides this trip too. We were evacuated off Winne the Pooh (which was a huge issue with DD in a wheelchair/crutches), and Peter Pan and Laugh Floor were both closed for the better part of a day.

It was nice though, when Ariel's voyage stopped for a long time while we were on it, they let us ride a second time, they asked us if we wanted to, and DD quickly took them up on the offer.

[Scar]

In all my trips, I have only been evacuated off a ride twice, and turned back in line once. All three happened in the same trip about 8 years ago.

[grumpyguy]

Yup-that stinks !! We've been walked off living with the land,stuck on PP (which was great ! )
right by mermaid lagoon...stuck on splash near the last turn.Kind of disturbs the "magic" but
a day at WDW is better than a day anywhere else!:thumbsup:
Breakdowns are always in the back of my mind.
No Jungle Cruise for us this trip.

[Anthony007]

Was at the parks everyday from Aug 19 to 24, only thunder mountain was closed, for a couple hours on one of the days. Luck of the draw.

[texas211]

We've had the most issue with broken rides at MK. Especially Pooh, and HM..

[masonlovesdisney]

I have been to Disney well over 20 times...but never been walked off a ride. Sort of disappointing actually..Lol.

But yes, almost everytime we go, TMR breaks down. Even if its only for a few hours.

[Main Street Jim]

Christmas Day, 2004: The ENTIRE Magic Kingdom shut down due to a generator failure.

Only two attractions remained open: the steam trains (where I was working); and Tomorrowland Speedway (powered by gasoline engines, no electricity needed).

Took about five hours to get everything all up and running again...

[phillydan]

Seems to be the luck of the draw. On our last trip, we had no issues until our last day. My son and I went in early to hit Space and Big Thunder and both were down. The worse part was the trek back and forth across the park. Because it was so early, the online wait times hadn't been updated yet, so we did not know until we got there. Fortunately, they were back online within 2 hours. We actually used the time to get some nice photos and hit some rides we usually skip.

[The Hitchhiking Ghost]

Only time we've had to walk off a ride was "The Great Movie Ride" over at DHS which seems kind of odd considering the general simplicity of that attraction.

I think our biggest inconvenience was leaving MK for our dinner ressie over at Ohana and the monorail had broke down and was down for quiet some time.

POC and HM seem to get more issues at times if they are loading & unloading guests with special needs. One year no matter how many times we rode HM, it always stopped at least once in the middle of the ride.

[Aurora]

Christmas Day, 2004: The ENTIRE Magic Kingdom shut down due to a generator failure.

Only two attractions remained open: the steam trains (where I was working); and Tomorrowland Speedway (powered by gasoline engines, no electricity needed).

Took about five hours to get everything all up and running again...

Whoa. What a day to have that happen. Although maybe it happened because of that day. :D

Sooooo... I gotta ask.... Was there any remedy give to the guests who tried to get in at the MK gate that day? Cause if I paid top dollar, and by that I mean mega-high-season dollar, to be there that day, I'd be plenty bummed.

[Tekneek]

We were taken off of Test Track once. I think it was right in the corrosion test section.

I hope it is all just random chance. Maintenance has been a hot button issue in the fan community for years, though, so I always have to wonder when random chance might actually be something else.

[badjujue]

So maybe it's a case of wrong place, wrong time, but I've never experienced so many ride closures/breakdowns!

Went to AK this past Sunday (9/1) and had to be evacuated off Dinosaur after it stopped.

Then today (Wed, 9/4) I started off in MK, where Space was down all day. When I made it over to Frontierland, Splash was down. Then I hopped to AK and EE was down when I got there. Then, I waited in line for Dinosaur for 20 minutes before we were all told the ride went down and we all had to leave!

I mean, I know things happen, but this is excessive. I doubt I'll make it back to AK this trip, so no Dino for me. I guess I should count my blessings Test Track has been operational each time I've gone (let's hope I didn't just jinx it)!
I have been in that same situation. Them ride are getting a ton of usage. The night I went to mnsshp I got stuck on winnie the poo, haunted mansion, little mermaid and buzz light year. Haunted mansion and poo we got to walk thu the ride with the lights on

[joanna71985]

Only time we've had to walk off a ride was "The Great Movie Ride" over at DHS which seems kind of odd considering the general simplicity of that attraction.

Even though GMR is a simpler attraction, you'd be surprised what issues it has

[Main Street Jim]

Whoa. What a day to have that happen. Although maybe it happened because of that day. :D

Sooooo... I gotta ask.... Was there any remedy give to the guests who tried to get in at the MK gate that day? Cause if I paid top dollar, and by that I mean mega-high-season dollar, to be there that day, I'd be plenty bummed.Other than the normal re-admission passes (the "FastPasses" for later in the day), no. :P It's like the weather - it's *not* (or wasn't) something that the Cast can control. Yes, there were *plenty* of complaints at City Hall.

Similar situation on the *same* day exactly one year later (2005).

The weather was *terrible*. It was about 29 degrees outside, and *raining*, but no lightning, so all the attractions were still open. Unfortunately, it *rained*....and *RAINED*....and *RAINED* (think Living Seas pre-show here...LOL...) ALL DAY - AND NIGHT - LONG. All outdoor shows, including Castle shows, Belle's Story Time, etc. - and *every single parade*, from the two daytime Christmas parades, plus both nighttime Spectros - were all canceled because of the weather - from about 7am through midnight). After the second Christmas parade was announced throughout the park as being "cancelled due to inclement weather", guests *STORMED* City Hall demanding their money back (which, they can't do, by the way). Orange County Sheriff's Deputies had to be stationed outside and the doors shut and locked to keep guests from tearing the place down....

[MrPeetrie]

Funny Story:

In 2002, my parents were with us on their first trip to Walt Disney World. Dinosaur broke down for an extended time. Although the sound was off, you could hear the actuators working and sense "movement" in the dark. My mom got so scared, she started to dial 911! (My dad had to stop her.)
"Honey, believe me. They know we're in here."
It's becoming the running joke: I hope it's not so scary, we have to dial 911.

Also, DW & I were walked off Test Track once. Also, lights came on in Space Montain once.

Truthfully, for as often as we've been there, we've encountered few serious breakdowns.

[MNNHFLTX]

Funny Story:

In 2002, my parents were with us on their first trip to Walt Disney World. Dinosaur broke down for an extended time. Although the sound was off, you could hear the actuators working and sense "movement" in the dark. My mom got so scared, she started to dial 911! (My dad had to stop her.)
"Honey, believe me. They know we're in here."
It's becoming the running joke: I hope it's not so scary, we have to dial 911.
Yikes! I would hate to be stuck on Dinosaur. With my luck it would probably be right in front of the Carnosaur chasing the vehicle through the jungle. :eek:

[AvonleaCF]

Yikes! I would hate to be stuck on Dinosaur. With my luck it would probably be right in front of the Carnosaur chasing the vehicle through the jungle. :eek:

That's EXACTLY where we got stuck!! It was seconds before your picture gets taken. But the lights came on and the sound went off fairly quickly. Not very scary when you can see how sparsely decorated the building is. There was even construction equipment tucked away in one corner.

[Tekneek]

Disney should be a little more proactive with failures (not necessarily weather-related issues, although they could be more sensitive to the complete loss of value of tickets when weather is especially poor) and give a little something back to those who experienced problems (instead of just a pass to come back later).

Once everybody is on these MagicBands, they will have the capability to know who was on the ride at the time and give all of them some extra FP+ slots, for instance. They would know all of the people that were in the park on some horrendous day and automatically throw them something extra. I don't think they intend to use the technology this way, but it would represent a huge leap in customer service if they did.

[The Dad]

Wow, 5 closures in the course of a few days does seem excessive. I'm happy to say that after numerous trips to WDW I have never had to walk out of an attraction because of tech difficulties. The only breakdown that comes to mind had a great ending......one evening we had just disembarked from the Wilderness Lodge in the launch and were heading to the Magic Kingdom. We had not gone far when we heard a huge BANG which literally shook the launch! Apparently the prop shaft had broken and we were dead in the water. After about 30 minutes another launch pulled up alongside and we climbed aboard and continued on our journey. With the Contemporary in view we were about to turn into the channel toward the Magic Kingdom when the engines came to a full stop. The skipper asked if anyone had a pressing dinner reservation that had to be met....fortunately no one did. He then replied that the Magic Kingdom fireworks were just about to begin and our vantage point would be quite impressive. Was it ever! Bay Lake was as smooth as glass and reflected the brilliance of the fireworks like a mirror.....it was "The Wonderful World of Color" for real! I'll always be grateful for that "breakdown".

[Arielfan98]

Disney should be a little more proactive with failures (not necessarily weather-related issues, although they could be more sensitive to the complete loss of value of tickets when weather is especially poor) and give a little something back to those who experienced problems (instead of just a pass to come back later).

Once everybody is on these MagicBands, they will have the capability to know who was on the ride at the time and give all of them some extra FP+ slots, for instance. They would know all of the people that were in the park on some horrendous day and automatically throw them something extra. I don't think they intend to use the technology this way, but it would represent a huge leap in customer service if they did.


Actually when I went to the World on August 18th MK had experienced a bad rain which shut down many rides so they extended the regular park an hour for guests staying off-property which I think is good customer service. Although I was disappointed I only got 1 EMH that night :/

[JerseyDad]

....we had one of "those" days last week at MK (9/1 ...Sunday).

...got of PoTC ...and the 'boat' was 3/4 way out of the loading / launching area ...and we were stopped ...for 20 minutes. We could see the guys in the 'control room' above us fumbling around trying to fix things.

....then ...same day ...on the DW Railroad ...another 20 minute delay while they got a signal in front of us fixed (that was brutal ....had the sun beating down on us all the time)

...then ...had a 10 minute delay / problem in Buzz Lightyear ...but at least it was cooler than the train.


....and once ...we too were stuck on Dinosaur for 20 minutes. Dead stopped (forward motion) ...but the hydraulic pistons that jolt the 'car' and simulate a bumpy road ...kept on doing their job. So every 15 seconds ...we got shaken like a martini!! After the first 5 minutes ...it got old ...real fast.

[Giggy]

...then ...had a 10 minute delay / problem in Buzz Lightyear ...but at least it was cooler than the train.


Did the lazer-guns keep firing? If so then take it as an opportunity to rack up a record high score! :party:

[JerseyDad]

Did the lazer-guns keep firing? If so then take it as an opportunity to rack up a record high score! :party:

...no ...they shut down ...as did the sound system. In retrospect ...I should have taken a nap!!

[SandmanGStefani24]

sometimes you just catch all the bad breaks. (no pun intended) :mickey:

I had one trip where kali river rapids, space mountain, test track, primeval whirl, and rockin roller coaster all were down. sometimes it just gets ya. I feel like I made up for it in later trips though, especially when haunted mansion stopped and I got to spend an extra 10 min in the séance room. or, the other time when it was really hot outside and I got stopped on the TTA inside Space Mountain. It all comes back around, I figure.