Reasons Rides Go Down

[Mouser172]

Anyone else really tired of seeing this picture of Janis all over the boards?

 

[sharona]

My suggestions for reducing these shut downs:

For high tech, sensitive, hard to restart attractions like RSR, Indy, Test Track (WDW) - no bags or loose items like hats or sunglasses allowed. Provide free, temporary lockers like they do at Universal.

For rides where guests do stupid things like try to stand up or reach out of the vehicle, change the restraints to remove the temptation.

I can't think of anything cost effective for the slow loaders issue.

Anyone else have any suggestions?

 

[bryanb]

Another reason rides go down is to disperse crowds. After a parade or F!, sometimes rides will mysteriously have "technical difficulties".

Just 2 days ago, Ninja at Six Flags Magic Mountain had a major breakdown when a tree fell onto the track. The front part of the suspended roller coaster got derailed. It must have been terrifying being on the ride and running into that tree at 55 mph. There were minor injuries, but thankfully no one was seriously hurt. Had Magic Mountain some sort of automatic breakdown if the track sensed some sort of obstruction, this might have been avoided.

Sometimes I'm thankful for breakdowns. I'd rather them err a little on the caution.

I was an attractions cast member for years and hadn't heard of the "technical difficulties" to disperse crowds. Not saying it isn't possible, just that I wasn't aware of it.

I'm in complete agreement that erring on the side of caution is necessary. All of the systems (both automatic and human) are designed to stop the ride if there's even the smallest doubt. When a complex ride shuts down, you don't just flip a switch to turn it back on. You might have to physically go out and start each vehicle, inspect the track, and/or dozens of other checklist procedures to make sure everyone is safe.

That Ninja incident... yes, what an unfortunate thing to have happen. At the risk of speculating, I'm sure every park will be taking a long look at tree branches in the coming days.

 

[bryanb]

My suggestions for reducing these shut downs:

For high tech, sensitive, hard to restart attractions like RSR, Indy, Test Track (WDW) - no bags or loose items like hats or sunglasses allowed. Provide free, temporary lockers like they do at Universal.

For rides where guests do stupid things like try to stand up or reach out of the vehicle, change the restraints to remove the temptation.

I can't think of anything cost effective for the slow loaders issue.

Anyone else have any suggestions?

I'm not a fan of the lockers at Universal... it adds such a complex step to the guest experience. I wish they would provide nets or other storage spaces on the vehicles as Disney often does.

Regarding slow loaders, many new attractions have redesigned their stations to hold extra vehicles in case things get backed up. Space Mountain has a special loading area for people needing extra time. They actually pull a rocket off the main track to the side, which has really cut down on station backups/ride cascades.

 

[Gisele]

Anyone else really tired of seeing this picture of Janis all over the boards?

No, why do you ask?

 

[sewingmolly]

I've always considered it polite to try to load and unload as quickly as possible, but now I realize that not doing so can have a real impact. Should guests be made aware of how their actions can have an effect? I really wouldn't want to see lockers like at Universal, but perhaps there could be more reminders about taking off hats and ears and securing sunglasses. And tell people to take off backpacks and be ready to load.

 

[Cholula]

Anyone else really tired of seeing this picture of Janis all over the boards?

If you use the Ignore feature it wonderfully goes away.

 

[Gisele]

If you use the Ignore feature it wonderfully goes away.

Good to know. Thank you. I am so happy to know that you enjoy my posts so much.

 

[kazbar]

My daughter and I got stuck in It's a Small World once.
The boat in front of us just stopped all of a sudden (the ones in front kept going). We had to listen to that song over and over for about 20 minutes. We then veeerrrryyy slowly drifted to the exit but got stuck again on the final bend where we sat for another 30 minutes.
I have no idea what caused it but thought it was odd that the boats ahead were not affected. I didn't get the song out of my head for days

 

[FryingPansWhoKnew]

I was an attractions cast member for years and hadn't heard of the "technical difficulties" to disperse crowds. Not saying it isn't possible, just that I wasn't aware of it.

I'm in complete agreement that erring on the side of caution is necessary. All of the systems (both automatic and human) are designed to stop the ride if there's even the smallest doubt. When a complex ride shuts down, you don't just flip a switch to turn it back on. You might have to physically go out and start each vehicle, inspect the track, and/or dozens of other checklist procedures to make sure everyone is safe.

That Ninja incident... yes, what an unfortunate thing to have happen. At the risk of speculating, I'm sure every park will be taking a long look at tree branches in the coming days.

Well everything is speculation I guess, even the OP. But I've seen on more than one occasion the Disneyland Railroad go down right after the parade, then come back up once the crowds disperse.

 

[Mouser172]

Good to know. Thank you. I am so happy to know that you enjoy my posts so much.

You are a great contributor, don't get me wrong. I appreciate all of the good information you pass along.
But that picture of Janis Joplin is awful! Every time I see it it's like the visual version of nails on a chalkboard.

 

[Vintage Mouseketeer]

You are a great contributor, don't get me wrong. I appreciate all of the good information you pass along. But that picture of Janis Joplin is awful! Every time I see it it's like the visual version of nails on a chalkboard.

Poor Janis, she had tough teenage years and still many years later she is being picked on, on a Disney forum. :-(

 

[sharona]

You are a great contributor, don't get me wrong. I appreciate all of the good information you pass along.
But that picture of Janis Joplin is awful! Every time I see it it's like the visual version of nails on a chalkboard.

Using Janis Joplin and nails on a chalkboard in the same sentence is a sin.

 

[Cholula]

My daughter and I got stuck in It's a Small World once.
The boat in front of us just stopped all of a sudden (the ones in front kept going). We had to listen to that song over and over for about 20 minutes. We then veeerrrryyy slowly drifted to the exit but got stuck again on the final bend where we sat for another 30 minutes.
I have no idea what caused it but thought it was odd that the boats ahead were not affected. I didn't get the song out of my head for days

The one time I got stuck on Small World they thankfully turned off the music. They didn't turn off the animatronics, though, so it was creepy seeing the little dolls dance and move in silence.

 

[Eclectic Goddess]

Threads like these almost make me sad that I've never been stuck on a ride, as it seems such a part of the Disney experience!

(And I love Janis. Seeing her makes me smile.)

 

[mich311e]

We were riding Alice in Wonderland and my husband's sunglasses fell off right near the entry before you go through the door. The ride operator had to shut it down to retrieve his glasses. It was quite the process for some sunglasses we probably could have grabbed from the other side of the railing between cars. Better safe than sorry and my husband was very grateful to Rose, the ride operator, for saving his shades!

 

[llump41]

We were boarding Test Track and a single rider boarding our car dropped his sunglasses on the track as he climbed in. He actually jumped down onto the track to retreive them. They immediately shut down the ride. Ugh.

We had just boarded RSR at the ADA loading gate when a kid jumped out of his car. I guess he was scared. This did cause the ride to completely shut down which required a restart. Every car on the track had to be unloaded where it sat and the ride 're-booted'. A 45 minute process according to the CM.

 

[llump41]

My daughter and I got stuck in It's a Small World once.
The boat in front of us just stopped all of a sudden (the ones in front kept going). We had to listen to that song over and over for about 20 minutes. We then veeerrrryyy slowly drifted to the exit but got stuck again on the final bend where we sat for another 30 minutes.
I have no idea what caused it but thought it was odd that the boats ahead were not affected. I didn't get the song out of my head for days

DW and I rode IASM with a boat load of samoans. Large Samoans. I swear we were inches from floundering. I was talking to a CM at Splash one day and he related that they had loaded a log with the starting OL of the USC football team. The log couldn't clear one of the brakes and the whole ride needed to be shut down. I thought the same thing later when we s=were on IASM.

 

[bryanb]

Well everything is speculation I guess, even the OP. But I've seen on more than one occasion the Disneyland Railroad go down right after the parade, then come back up once the crowds disperse.

Oh yes, that's absolutely correct. I hadn't thought of that one! It's not standard practice to pretend that something had gone wrong with the ride though. Perhaps a rogue cast member!

 

[Fivers]

I've seen both Indy and RSR go down due to one vehicle that malfunctioned. On Indy the Jeep ahead of us malfunctioned somehow. They stopped the ride and brought the lights up, we sat for a little while, then they came, unloaded that Jeep, manually got it off the tracks (if I'm remembering correctly, this was a couple years ago), then we had the eerie experience of going through the ride with the lights out, the sound on, but no music. Rather disconcerting! They let us all ride through again properly once more too. The whole thing took around 30-40ish minutes I think. There was a very brave kid in the back of our Jeep who was about 8 years old. She was pretty scared, but held it together super impressively!

When RSR went down it was first thing in the morning during EMH. As we were walking through the queue, we heard this awful 'thunk', and then silence. We chose to stuck around as we were literally at the front of the line, and how many times can that happen?? After about 20 minutes the CMs told us one of the cars had broken down. Again if I'm remembering right, they had to clear the track in front of the car, then used this fairly awesome machine to tow the car off the track, then reset the whole ride. That process pretty much took up our entire EMH, but we're lucky enough to be able to visit fairly often, and usually stay for a full week, so that was okay for us! We had a very enjoyable time chatting with the CMs (who were all absolutely wonderful, they even went out of their way to find us pins we'd been searching for!), and learned lots too! I can definitely see how if you're only there for a short time that can really mess with your plan, but if you've got the time and don't mind waiting, it can be a neat experience! Everyone in line did get FPs for RSR as well, plus a very thoughtful and nice CM that we chatted with quite a bit surprised me as I was getting off the ride, and gave me one of the FPs good for any ride in the park, for our entire group! It was a very nice little bit of Disney magic that I'll always remember!