How Often Do Rides Break Down and People Get Stuck??

[Mom2six]

I've seen a couple topics about people getting stuck on rides, and now I'm wondering how often does that happen? What is the chance of the ride breaking down while you are on it and actually getting stuck for more than a minute or two?

 

[GraceLuvsWDW]

Some trips I've had it happen quite a few times-some not at all. It's the luck of the draw. I will say that it seems to be the more crowded times where it happens the most. Mostly you will get a minor delay. A major ride breakdown (with evacuation) is fairly rare.

 

[stargazertechie]

I'd say at least once a day a ride stops for a long enough period of time that someone complains somewhere.

The likelihood for being stuck for more than a minute or two is actually fairly high- it can take some people quite a bit of time to transfer to/from a wheelchair, and you may think there's a "breakdown" when it's actually just a guest transferring.

 

[disnut8]

I've been to Disney World over 60 times with trips ranging from one day to 18 days. In all that time, I've been stuck on Haunted Mansion once (for about fifteen minutes) and its a small world for twenty-four hours. OK, it wasn't 24 hours, more like ten minutes but it seemed longer with that song constantly playing!

Will a ride stop momentarily? Yes, that's common, especially on the continual loading rides if someone if having difficulty getting into the ride vehicle.

I really wouldn't worry about it too much. The chances of you having to get evacuated from an attraction are really slim.

 

[sephorachick]

I used to work at fantasyland and the whole time I was there we only had snow white get stuck once but I fixed it within 1 minute

 

[GovieMom]

Not sure if it actually "broke down," but we were stuck on Haunted Mansion for quite a while ... and more than once. The longest I've been stuck on an attraction was last year on Spaceship Earth - for 20 loooong minutes.

 

[mmtska]

Worst breakdown was on Small World. 15 minutes. It traumatized me. Only had that happen once, but a few weeks ago we got stuck in the last room before the signs for about 4 minutes and I broke into tears. Not kidding.....I got an apology drink later that night from my friend who made me go on it lol. I have been on the continuous rides when they stop and usually it's a transfer from a wheelchair or something, so not long.

 

[goofyernmost]

I have been visiting WDW for over 29 years. It never has happened to me yet.

 

[Heidi Lou]

I think that while yes, it probably does happen somewhere at least once a day (i'm talking a long wait) the chances of it happening to you ...more than once....are slim. I think that splash mountain is the most likely to get "backed-up" probably due to how difficult it must be for someone with any type of physical disability to get in the log,but rides breaking down are not at all what stand out from my trips bc once you are off you just move on. haha. In all my disney trips there are only 2 times that vividly stand out in my mind that i was literally stuck on a ride. The first time i was probably 12 and a hurrican had passed over during the night so the parks were rainy and quite empty. we took this as a chance to go ride splash mountain over and over...until we got stuck literally right before the drop. great view but REALLY!!! haha finally we were evacuated..sounds like a bummer but it was actually a favorite memory of mine bc we got to walk around inside the ride!!! second "stuck" was honestly the scaredest i have ever been. i wont go into all the details but i am scarred for life where space moutain is concerned. i get so nervous i could cry in line...but i still ride it!haha

 

[appleorchard]

SSE--had to be evacuated and we were near the top, where Michelangelo was painting--and painting--and painting. That was our only evacuation in numerous trips.

 

[catne]

in 20+ trips, we actually only once had a ride break-down while we were riding . That was last year, Thunder Mountain RR. Hubby & adult son were stuck at the summit through most of Wishes (actually had a great view of the fireworks) but then they had to get off & walk through ride's "backstage" areas to get down to ground level. I was very glad I sat that ride out because I can't do stairs very well and there were several places involving steps. Now a couple of years ago in May we were at Magic Kingdom the day after a terrifically bad thunderstorm had hit Orlando the night before...on the news that morning they were reporting lots of areas still without power, power lines down, even a couple of fires from lightening strikes. When we got to MK, the Frontierland "Mountains" were down, as was POTC...the park opened at 9:00, these 3 rides were all back up by about 10:30. A manangement-type told me they were down because a nearby lightening strike in the night had triggered the warning alarms on the rides, and possibly done something to the circuitry, so the engineers were checking those rides to make sure everything was working correctly.

The rest of the times we've gone, no breakdowns...sure, there are sometimes temporary holding-patterns on the rides. But since I've seen it happen many times (from the loading area) I know most of what people call "ride broke down repeatedly" is actually the castmembers either slowing down or stopping the ride to allow special needs people to load more easily...or they are loading a wheelchair onto the special ride vehicles, which takes a few moments.

 

[cheerbaybee]

hmmm.... We go to disney world at least 3 times every year. I have to say it happens at least 3 times every trip. The worst time was when we were stuck at the end of Splash Mtn. We were there for 30 mins. I was about to go crazy if I heard the the ending phrase about Br'er Rabbit..


What was scary was I was so close to the end that I could hear them manually saying " log to drop"... If i was stuck on that incline I would have been freaking out!!!

 

[disney1990]

We were stuck on Kali River for about 15 minutes -- just sloshing around.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

I've been to Disney World over 60 times with trips ranging from one day to 18 days. In all that time, I've been stuck on Haunted Mansion once (for about fifteen minutes) and its a small world for twenty-four hours. OK, it wasn't 24 hours, more like ten minutes but it seemed longer with that song constantly playing!

Will a ride stop momentarily? Yes, that's common, especially on the continual loading rides if someone if having difficulty getting into the ride vehicle.

I really wouldn't worry about it too much. The chances of you having to get evacuated from an attraction are really slim.

agreed - we've only been 11 times (well with me as an adult anyway ) - most trips are 10 days. We've been stuck only once - for around 20 minutes on Spaceship Earth (the guy pounding the reeds into paper is VERY dedicated!)....they did eventually evacuate us.

other than that we've been stopped for very brief periods for what I"m sure was loading / unloading or quick technical issues (TSM).

 

[Princesca]

I've been to Disney five times in the course of my life, and it's happened to me twice. Once on Pirates of the Caribbean, which was kinda creepy because it was also right before park close, and once this past trip on Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. That was about 10-15 minutes I think.

 

[DianeW]

Hmm, we've gotten "delayed" on rides multiple times during every visit. Splash Mountain...always. Pirates...once or twice. Small World...torture. Haunted Mansion...regularly, and usually when we're tipped backwards. Spaceship Earth...occasionally. Winnie the Pooh...psychedelic.

I've never been stuck for longer than ten or fifteen minutes, at the most, and it's usually the continuous loading rides, because someone needs assistance getting in or out.

 

[Offsides]

I don't remember any significant delays on any of my trips except for when I was there this past March. We got stuck on Pirates and Splash Mountain. Both times required evacuation. We were stuck in the very beginning of Pirates and heard "dead men tell no taaaales" about 80 million times. After about 25 minutes they ended up evacuating us.

Splash Mountain we were stuck on for over an hour. We were at the part in the briar patch outside, right in front of where the logs go down the big drop. The problem was that there were 3 cars ahead of ours and the ride was shut down, so they could not move those cars (up the "hill") and there was no way for us to evacuate.

The 3 cars in front of us got off fairly quickly (maybe after 15 minutes) but we were stranded for FOREVER. We got to watch all of Wishes though, whish was nice! When they finally got one of the cars half way up the hill, they were able to pull our car forward and get us off. It was cool though, because we got to see and walk around the inside of the ride. Then they gave us free waters and a stack of fast passes each (which we ended up giving away since we were leaving the next day and wouldn't be able to use).

 

[fairestoneofall]

i've been stuck on HM for a few minutes here and there. i've always assumed it's because they were assisting a guest with mobility issues.

my family got stuck on the Peoplemover on our last trip (i had gone back to the room with my baby). my mom says she'll never ride it again.

 

[Mom2six]

Wow. I don't mind minor delays when people are loading and unloading, but it might freak me out to actually be stuck and have to be evacuated. Glad that doesn't happen as often as shorter stops!

 

[Mom2six]

The 3 cars in front of us got off fairly quickly (maybe after 15 minutes) but we were stranded for FOREVER. We got to watch all of Wishes though, whish was nice! When they finally got one of the cars half way up the hill, they were able to pull our car forward and get us off. It was cool though, because we got to see and walk around the inside of the ride. Then they gave us free waters and a stack of fast passes each (which we ended up giving away since we were leaving the next day and wouldn't be able to use).

That must have been a pretty great view of the fireworks. Maybe worth the aggravation of being stuck...for some who don't get anxious about it!