Bouncy, by "down" do you mean broken or not offered that day? I believe they only run FP if the crowds warrant it. It may have just been that there were not enough guests in DCA to offer FP? I hope they had a magical trip.
My son said that there were signs on the machines saying they were not available. He said it was very crowded in both parks...70 minute wait times for Soarin' and TOT.
Hummmm. Soarin' is the most popular FP ride in DCA. I have read that Soarin' and Screamin' almost always have FP available. If it was crowded, they should have been offered. Maybe a CM will pipe in and let us know what happened.
What the OP didn't mention is when his son's family checked Soarin'... Soarin' FastPasses run out VERY quickly on busy days. Once Soarin' runs out of FastPasses, then other attractions run out of FastPasses quickly as well.
I was there yesterday and the fast pass machines most certainly were up and running. We were able to get fast passes for everything we wanted. In fact, we actually gave away our fast passes to another couple because we decided we didn't need them after all. Not sure what time your son's family was trying to get fast passes. They may have run out if they went too late in the day. But the fast pass machines were up yesterday.
Hmmm I dunno. I got home late on Monday night, but before that I have been at the resort for the last week and a half and they have been up and working.
We were also there yesterday and the only fastpasses available were Soarin and Screamin'. The other machines said they werent available. The schedule for this week had the same information.