Disappointed in temp closed rides

[WDSearcher]

Yes. I'm surprised I haven't read this possibility in the thread yet either: guests behaving badly.

Ah yes ... or, as Jerry Seinfeld would call them, "Standers". Standers and Jumpers. The bane of Attractions CMs everywhere.

 

[d1gitman]

we experienced what we felt were a high number of ride delays/shutdowns during our trip. in all of out trips, we have been very fortunate and had little to no impact with any ride issues.

while we were there:

8/18 - space mtn was shut down most of the afternoon/evening
8/20 - several slides were delayed due to what was being reported as waterpump issues (there was a storm that passed thru and stopped everything for a bit, so maybe it was just a start up issue)
8/22 - space mtn, buzz & goofy's coaster were all down in the same timeframe for an extended period. other than wasting steps by trekking from tomorrowland to fantasyland, it worked out as we had FP's and they said they would be honored all day, so in the end we ended up having better planning.

nothing really was an issue, it was just the first time we had a trip where we encountered long or multiple ride delays. all in all, we were able to adjust and still had a magical trip

 

[wookiebeck]

while we were there:

8/18 - space mtn was shut down most of the afternoon/evening
8/20 - several slides were delayed due to what was being reported as waterpump issues (there was a storm that passed thru and stopped everything for a bit, so maybe it was just a start up issue)
8/22 - space mtn, buzz & goofy's coaster were all down in the same timeframe for an extended period. other than wasting steps by trekking from tomorrowland to fantasyland, it worked out as we had FP's and they said they would be honored all day, so in the end we ended up having better planning.

And just wait until FP+ where the return windows are lost and not honored later in the day. This thread will explode!

 

[Kristine316]

I hope I am not jinxing us for our next trip but, we have been to WDW for a 7+ day vacation 3 times and have only experienced 1 ride stoppage.

We were right about to climb into our boats for Splash and the ride stopped. We didn't want to leave the line because we were right there ready to board, so we waited. It ended up being about a 30 min stoppage... it was a little frustrating but, it would have been way worse being trapped in the boat inside the ride.

Other than we haven't had an issues. I guess I had no idea that is was normal to deal with so many ride closures.

 

[Donnainnj]

We were in Disney Studios on Wednesday (8/28) and experienced the power outage. We were in One Man's Dream waiting for our TSM fastpass, at about 12:15pm, and the power went off and then started back up. When we went to TSM everyone was coming out. Decided to try something else to pass the time (we needed to leave in about 2.5 hours for the airport) and passed by Mermaid, where everyone was coming out of the entrance. Then moved onto the Great Movie Ride which was down, asked a cast member there, and she thought it was the entire park. Talked to my DD who was with friends on the other side of the park and RRC was down. We hung out taking pictures of our little one in hats and then headed back to TSM to wait it out. They started letting people in at about 1pm.
Donna

 

[Missyrose]

I hope none of the rides I want to go on don't go down. Since I haven't been there since 1991 I know alot of new rides have been put in and there are some we don't have here at out Disneyland.

You're setting yourself up for disappointment. Yes, you hope nothing goes down while you're there. But you're much better off assuming you'll run into temporary closures and letting them roll off your back.

 

[JanaDee]

I never presented any data. But then again, I wasn't the one to flat out dismiss your theories as though I knew for sure what was going on.

I said "I wonder if this isn't tied to the time of year."

You said "This has nothing to do with the time of year."

The burden of proof is on the one stating something as though it's a fact. I simply speculated, you tried to disprove my theory as completely invalid without facts.

I never said maintenance hasn't declined in recent years, or that rides don't break down more often now than they did 10 years ago. What I did speculate (and it seems to make sense?) is that the summer (specifically August) might be one of the worst times of year for breakdowns, due to consistently long park hours and lack of scheduled maintenance during the summer (most rides have sched maintenance during the slower season). Seems at least reasonable enough that you can't say I'm flat out wrong without at least presenting some backup.

I've been to WDW 3 times in the last 9 months (Oct, April and July). Every trip, we had consistent breakdowns during the week (I am not counting shutdowns due to weather). Time of year has nothing to do with rides being down.

 

[georgina]

Agree with missyrose. We had several issues a few weeks ago, but if we had a fast pass they said they would be honored the rest of the day. We were standing in the Soarin Fastpass line when it stopped moving. Eventually they made an announcement that the standby line was now 150 minutes, and the fastpass line was 60 minutes. We left and went back another day. At several rides at the MK, we were stopped at the entrance and told they weren't running and to come back later. This happened with Barnstormer, Pooh, and BTMRR. These were not weather related, but on another day with thunderstorms, many rides and attractions at AK were shut down for hours - Everest, Kali, the walking trails, Primeval Whirl. Again we decided to leave and return another day after we did the open attractions.

 

[WDSearcher]

I've been to WDW 3 times in the last 9 months (Oct, April and July). Every trip, we had consistent breakdowns during the week (I am not counting shutdowns due to weather). Time of year has nothing to do with rides being down.

That's not exactly a large enough sample to state it unequivocally as fact, but I understand your point.

My question is, what do you mean by "breakdowns"? Are you talking multiple instances of rides being down for extended periods of time? Or was it several instances of rides stopping midway through for 3-5 min at a time?

I'd also be interested to know which rides. Just because I'm curious.

 

[JanaDee]

That's not exactly a large enough sample to state it unequivocally as fact, but I understand your point.

My question is, what do you mean by "breakdowns"? Are you talking multiple instances of rides being down for extended periods of time?

Yes. I've been to WDW enough to know when the continuous loaders are stopped for someone to load vs a ride breaking down.

BTMRR (numerous times), Splash (numerous times), POC (numerous times), TTA, Space Mtn, Test Track (numerous times), Barnstormer, boats to Tom Sawyer island, Pooh.

That is over three trips and and those are only the ones I remember, not related to weather. Luckily, none of them broke down while we were riding. On this last trip, one day it was a challenge to actually find something we *could* ride.

 

[glammadiva]

Wow! I have been lucky! Was there in January, May, June, July and August and not one breakdown. Going back up for NOJ. Hope my luck holds!

 

[Beep]

FWIW We encountered no unexpected ride closures or delays on our entire trip last October (except for Aladdin's carpets, which was a scheduled refurb that we somehow missed hearing about).

We were the same, apart from POTC which stopped for about 15 minutes. They turned off the audio and it was creepy watching the characters move!

We go for the first 3 weeks in October every year and I can't remember any rides that have broken down or been closed outside of the published schedule.

We've also found the parks and resorts to be immaculate.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[DisneyNDecember]

Yep, PP down for 5 hrs. Splash down all day on Tuesday. Very frustrating. Also, on Tuesday at MK, food places shutting down hours before park closing. Columbia Harbour House closed at 5:30pm?!?! Why? Many booths with popcorn, ice cream, etc closing down around 7pm. Really, really annoying.

Merchandise is old and stale. Same things in almost every store and nothing we haven't seen over the past few years. Boring! Can't shop of you don't get anything worth buying! trend D is the only store that feels somewhat fresh to me every time and I did find a cute scarf there.

I can honestly also say after 25+ visits that I have never seen the parks and hotel areas so littered ( garbage pails overflowing onto ground at hotel- AKL) and seen so many areas in need of general maintenance - chipped paint, little broken things, etc. Our room at AKV was actually filthy when we checked into it. There was literally a thick layer of black mold under the soap dish as if it had neverbeen washed and a less noticeable but still gross ring of black mold all around the shower tile grout. White old around bathroom door jams and then peanuts and food under sofa cushions and chair cushions.

And a final observation- many rides were just plain hot. AC not only not cranked up but felt like it wasn't even on in many rides.

For the first time ever, I am considering cutting back multiple annual visits to once every 2 years or so. The whole experience was definitely lacking this time around.

And, yes, of course we still had a great time. And of course it is still a great place but I honestly feel it slipped a few notches this year.

Walt Disney himself would be so disappointed......
I remember watching on TV many years ago the pains the cast members go thru nightly touching up the paint & making the parks in pristine condition, no light bulbs out, no chipping paint, no over flowing trash cans, everything in top notch shape.

For the price increases, this is truly sad & unacceptable.
We used to go every year as well & we are heading back in November, but it has been 3 years since we have been back.

I was so disappointed the past few years in the cutbacks on Christmas lights thru out the parks, the removal of the Wonders of Light from Epcot that made Epcot truly magical at Christmas time, & the items the poster that I am quoting is mentioning.

We are heading back this year due to my son & I started going when he was in 1st grade, now he is in 12th grade & I want to get one more Christmas vacation in while I can.............. But yes, if you go every year, you can see the lack of attention to detail like I used to see on those old videos describing the pains that the WDW company went thru nightly to keep the place in top notch condition to WOW everyone..

 

[PeterPanic]

We are here at WDW now and have been disappointed in how many rides have closed the past few days. I understand a few malfunctions however, this is just what instances that have happened to my family in the past few days....
Monday...got stuck shortly on test track
Tuesday....got to mk rope drop. My husband walked quickly first thing to get 12 fast passes for our family and the ride was broke down until very late in the day

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

I've been going regularly the last 15 years and I don't notice a slacking in how the parks look. I have only been stuck on a ride one time and that was on Splash Mountain a few years ago for about 3 minutes. Maybe I've been lucky, but I really haven't seen any issues with any open rides.

 

[PeterPanic]

I've been going regularly the last 15 years and I don't notice a slacking in how the parks look. I have only been stuck on a ride one time and that was on Splash Mountain a few years ago for about 3 minutes. Maybe I've been lucky, but I really haven't seen any issues with any open rides.

No, I don't think so! I have been going for 30 years and what you describe is pretty much the extent of what I have experienced. I have gone when a ride was broken but never when I was on it. Once for HM and once for Pirates, but otherwise it was planned maintenance that I knew about ahead of time or that small stop and restart that usually indicates helping someone board the ride.

I also have never seen that reported slacking in how the parks look. In fact, overall, cosmetically, I think they look better then I ever remember them. Now if they are rotting away, that I wouldn't know...but from what I have seen it looks fine to me. I might add that I have never noticed the 3 or 4 light-bulbs that are out. I have noticed the 100 thousand that are shining brightly though.

 

[ShayBells]

No, I don't think so! I have been going for 30 years and what you describe is pretty much the extent of what I have experienced. I have gone when a ride was broken but never when I was on it. Once for HM and once for Pirates, but otherwise it was planned maintenance that I knew about ahead of time or that small stop and restart that usually indicates helping someone board the ride.

I also have never seen that reported slacking in how the parks look. In fact, overall, cosmetically, I think they look better then I ever remember them. Now if they are rotting away, that I wouldn't know...but from what I have seen it looks fine to me. I might add that I have never noticed the 3 or 4 light-bulbs that are out. I have noticed the 100 thousand that are shining brightly though.

I agree with you. I live near two amusement parks and if you'd go to them you'd think disney rides were brand new lol. They keep up with them really well and same here other than schedule closures any other has been temp closed for not long at all. I've been going there on and off since I was a baby and I'm 25.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[PeterPanic]

I agree with you. I live near two amusement parks and if you'd go to them you'd think disney rides were brand new lol. They keep up with them really well and same here other than schedule closures any other has been temp closed for not long at all. I've been going there on and off since I was a baby and I'm 25.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

That post made me remember when I went to Dollywood last year. Now understand, I think Dollywood is a very nice park, but it is very old. I don't believe that it is as old as WDW, but it's getting along in years. They have two rides that your post reminded me of one looked exactly like the Teacups and the other was the spitting image of Dumbo. Both looked older then the surrounding mountains and as if they were made out of Papier Mâché. They looked like they were just built by a group of 7th graders as a science project. Disney always looks professional and the condition of the rides actually tells you how much time that they spend on them, contrary to the folks that remember things as a child that never really were. That now want to blame Disney for letting things get in shoddy condition compared to their memories.

 

[lovesdumbo]

Just returned from a 2 week trip. The only rides I remember being down were BTMRR & Pooh once each. We rode TSMM 5 times. On 2 of those rides we had issues with the games not playing right.

Yes. I'm surprised I haven't read this possibility in the thread yet either: guests behaving badly.

Last Thursday at Buzz in MK I didn't actually witness it but saw the CMs freaking out when a guest a bit ahead of us dropped her cell phone and tried to step between the moving cars to retrieve it. the CMs have to be on their toes to save the guests from themselves.

Not ride related but earlier that night we had gone up to the overlook at Top of the World lounge and witnessed a woman sitting her about 18 month old on the wall. She had her arms around him but I've seen kids squirm out of arms before.