Disneyland and rides down

[FLCA026]

We went to Disneyland yesterday. We are new with Disneyland.
A lot of rides broke down. We stood in line at Mr. Toads wild ride for a while Since we were in line when it went down. It did get started again. Looking at the map quite a few rides went down at different times.
Big Thunder Mountain went down after we were on it. Haunted Mansion stopped while we were in it.
We couldn’t go on Jungle Cruise because it was down.
I don’t remember this ever happening before.

it was supposed to be a 4 yesterday. Afternoon got more crowded. Fantasyland was really crowded.

 

[AprilsZoo]

Are you a jinx?

Actually, rides in Fantasyland go down frequently. Us Disneylanders just kind of expect it. Since they are all continuous load rides, if the line is still for more than a few minutes, it’s probably down. Occasionally, there will be a disabled party that takes a couple extra minutes loading or unloading, but that isn’t too often. Alice in Wonderland *always* goes down when it rains, idk why. Seems like even a light drizzle will do it.

Sorry you had a run of bad luck today.

 

[starlite_]

Crowd calendars are not accurate.

 

[LKing]

When you say that Haunted Mansion stopped, do you mean that the ride broke down or that it paused for a minute or two? It often stops mid ride to allow people who need extra time to get in/out of their doom buggies.

 

[sophy1996]

Disneyland has been having a lot of trouble keeping rides up for awhile now. Two years ago, one morning we were there, I think 5 or 6 rides were down at the same time (like HM, Pirates, Indy, BTMMR and 1 or 2 in Fantasyland). It felt like JC was the only thing running on that side of the park!

Of course, that was also when they were having a disaster at IASW.

Fridays seem to fill up later when pass holders get off work.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I noticed a lot more rides down during our 2022 and 2023 trips compared to pre-covid years. I'm sure it's something to do with staffing/maintenance issues but that's just speculation. It's a real bummer though and can be super frustrating.

And like mentioned above, crowd calendars are pretty pointless.

 

[FLCA026]

Are you a jinx?

Actually, rides in Fantasyland go down frequently. Us Disneylanders just kind of expect it. Since they are all continuous load rides, if the line is still for more than a few minutes, it’s probably down. Occasionally, there will be a disabled party that takes a couple extra minutes loading or unloading, but that isn’t too often. Alice in Wonderland *always* goes down when it rains, idk why. Seems like even a light drizzle will do it.

Sorry you had a run of bad luck today.

It was still good. We got a lot done early in the morning. I just never saw so many rides down. Then again we are new to Disneyland.

 

[FLCA026]

Crowd calendars are not accurate.

good to know. We checked touring plans and it said a 4. Not sure if that was true but afternoon was crowded at least to me. I couldn’t imagine being there if it was higher than that. We have only been to Disneyland another time a few years ago.

 

[Brandonius]

good to know. We checked touring plans and it said a 4. Not sure if that was true but afternoon was crowded at least to me. I couldn’t imagine being there if it was higher than that. We have only been to Disneyland another time a few years ago.

The afternoon always gets much more crowded than the morning. Lots of people that live close by and have passes don't show up until 11 AM - 1 PM. The feel of the parks is always packed - there are lots of people that want to go, and everything is packed in super close together.

Crowd calendars are pretty much meaningless for the feeling of the day. For wait times, yes they help. The amount you get done can change a lot because of how long lines are even if the park feels busy. But for just the overall feeling of "there are people everywhere!!" that's how the parks always are "these days".

 

[soniam]

good to know. We checked touring plans and it said a 4. Not sure if that was true but afternoon was crowded at least to me. I couldn’t imagine being there if it was higher than that. We have only been to Disneyland another time a few years ago.

If there was higher than expected rides down, then the crowd calendar prediction will be off. Less attractions means longer lines for the other attractions and more people wandering around with nothing to do.


WDW has been having issues too. Not sure if it's rides getting old, new, advanced, complicated rides, or lack of maintenance. Could be some of all 3.

 

[gelatoni fan]

Breakdowns have been way more common post-pandemic. Disney has been very sloppy with maintenance and refuses to put more money towards it. It's surprisingly common how often more than 1/2 of Fantasyland will be broken down at once.

Crowd calendars are rarely accurate and when multiple big rides go down at the same time, it makes everything else much more crowded.

 

[FLCA026]

If there was higher than expected rides down, then the crowd calendar prediction will be off. Less attractions means longer lines for the other attractions and more people wandering around with nothing to do.


WDW has been having issues too. Not sure if it's rides getting old, new, advanced, complicated rides, or lack of maintenance. Could be some of all 3.

Yeah never saw that back when we used to go to disneyworld. But that was years ago.

 

[bwvBound]

Thursday evening was packed! And, yes ... everywhere we turned attractions were down. We eventually retreated to our "known saving grace" (Smuggler's Run, single rider queue) and got our big, goofy, smiles back.

Yesterday (Fri) was super chill -- we entered DL just before breakfast ended (had to get the Veggie Bowl from Red Rose Tavern) and then hit everything on our list including Blue Bayou (walk-up)!! Wowza ... what a great day! DL seemed empty compared to what had encountered Thursday evening.

 

[DisneyloverinWA]

We went to Disneyland yesterday. We are new with Disneyland.
A lot of rides broke down. We stood in line at Mr. Toads wild ride for a while Since we were in line when it went down. It did get started again. Looking at the map quite a few rides went down at different times.
Big Thunder Mountain went down after we were on it. Haunted Mansion stopped while we were in it.
We couldn’t go on Jungle Cruise because it was down.
I don’t remember this ever happening before.

it was supposed to be a 4 yesterday. Afternoon got more crowded. Fantasyland was really crowded.

I was there yesterday as well. Jungle Cruise and Small world are getting a holiday overlay so that is why they were “down”. Haunted Mansion almost always stops when you are on it as they have to load handicap people. Fantasyland is always busy and I did notice Mr.Toad was down but it was pretty quick to come back up. Hope you had fun!

 

[DodgerGirl]

Why Disneyland is having so many ride troubles lately I think it's because as many posters have mentioned due to staff shortages and it's not only Disneyland rides it's also affecting the entertainment like the parades and shows. Because when families go to Disneyland they expect to have a good time and want to see shows parades and ride tons of rides to enjoy their trip but not at a amusement park where most of the rides are not in operation. What I think Disneyland should do is make announcements over the PA system saying this "DUE TO WEATHER AND TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES CERTAIN RIDES WILL NOT BE IN OPERATION TODAY" "ANY GUESTS WHO WISH TO RIDE THE FOLLOWING RIDES WILL RECIEVE A PASS TO BE USED WHEN THE RIDE WILL BE PUT BACK IN OPERATION FOR MORE DETAILS PLEASE SEE CAST MEMBERS AT CITY HALL FOR MORE INFO THANK YOU" and this announcement would help everybody understand what is going on without having to panic. Because the one thing when it comes to people at Disneyland when they find certain rides not in operation they are known to panic all the time when a ride they want to go on is not working at this time

 

[KPeterso]

Why Disneyland is having so many ride troubles lately I think it's because as many posters have mentioned due to staff shortages and it's not only Disneyland rides it's also affecting the entertainment like the parades and shows. Because when families go to Disneyland they expect to have a good time and want to see shows parades and ride tons of rides to enjoy their trip but not at a amusement park where most of the rides are not in operation. What I think Disneyland should do is make announcements over the PA system saying this "DUE TO WEATHER AND TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES CERTAIN RIDES WILL NOT BE IN OPERATION TODAY" "ANY GUESTS WHO WISH TO RIDE THE FOLLOWING RIDES WILL RECIEVE A PASS TO BE USED WHEN THE RIDE WILL BE PUT BACK IN OPERATION FOR MORE DETAILS PLEASE SEE CAST MEMBERS AT CITY HALL FOR MORE INFO THANK YOU" and this announcement would help everybody understand what is going on without having to panic. Because the one thing when it comes to people at Disneyland when they find certain rides not in operation they are known to panic all the time when a ride they want to go on is not working at this time

Planned refurbs are on the calendar ahead of time, so should never be a surprise. All rides go down at some point most days. It just happens. They do issue re-entry passes (scan the tickets to put on electronically) IF someone is near the front of the line and it goes down to allow the person to come back later that day to ride it via the Lightening Lane when it is up. Imagine the chaos of anyone who wanted to ride a ride and demanding a ticket to come back later just because you walk up and a ride is closed.

Or as mentioned, there are times a ride stops to allow a handicap party safe entry or exit to a ride who needs extra time. And for the record, at Haunted Mansion, they load all the handicap parties that need the moving walkway in buggies 130, 131, 1, 2, and 3 so they only stop it in theory once each rotation. Sometimes it stops too when groups are slow to load because they have not figured out how to split their groups or just take a long time. We have to wait for the handicap to come around to stop so I know the process quite well.

With regard to the above quoted, I have never seen anyone panic because a ride is down. More of just an annoyance than anything else. The poster has admitted to not having been to the parks since 2004 so she really does not know the process and how these things are handled today.

 

[crystal1313]

I was there yesterday as well. Jungle Cruise and Small world are getting a holiday overlay so that is why they were “down”. Haunted Mansion almost always stops when you are on it as they have to load handicap people. Fantasyland is always busy and I did notice Mr.Toad was down but it was pretty quick to come back up. Hope you had fun!

Jungle cruise no longer changes to Jingle Cruise unfortunately. That has moved over to magic kingdom at WDW.

 

[ComeToSocialize]

There are definitely more breakdowns these days than I remember pre-pandemic. That being said, I also track the app way more than I did even 5 years ago with G+. So I probably notice a lot more breakdowns than I would have back then.

The Fantasyland rides (other than Alice) do break down a lot but it seems like they come back online pretty quickly. I wonder if they changed their safety checks there and now breakdowns get "triggered" more easily than the used to. They very rarely are emergency exiting guests, so the breakdowns aren't serious.

Haunted mansion, Buzz, and Little Mermaid, with the nature of the Omnimover system and how they handle disabled guests, are basically guaranteed to have one meaningful stop during your ride. I actually wish they would just keep the music unaffected and not make an announcement so as to not break the flow of the ride. I suppose they have to announce it so that people don't freak out or get up. But i hate when they announce that the ride is stopped and will start momentarily, then 15 seconds later announce that the ride is about to start again. Two distracting announcements breaking the flow of the ride for a 15 second delay.