Monorail/other rides and getting "stuck"

[WsPrincess]

I have an irrational fear of being stuck somewhere. As in I don't park in parking structures during sporting events/concerts since I know when it is over you are trapped for a while. I have read a couple reports of people getting "stuck" on the monorail while riding it. I was OK until I read someone said they were on there for 5 hours. I guess I assumed they would evacuate you or something if it was going to be a long time (not sure how they do that but it was what I thought). So my question is: How often does the monorail breakdown? Is it uncommon or something that happens all the time? Also, what about rides? Do some break down a lot and trap people? Tell me I am being irrational and I might be OK to get on

 

[stargazertechie]

I've been stuck on Expedition Everest for 15 minutes, Splash Mountain for an hour, and the monorail for an hour

They're machines, they break down, they get fixed.

 

[chartle]

I know this isn't going to help your fears but everything that is not a show type theater and has moving seats has a chance of breaking down.

From Small World to Tower of Terror.

No one can really say if or when its going to happen but it doesn't happen "often".

Some rides like HM will stop to let on a wheelchair guest and it may happen many times during a ride, but only lasts maybe 5 minutes max.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I have been stuck on the outside area of Test Track, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin and the Haunted Mansion, however it was only for a couple of minutes and things could have been a lot worse.

Now when I have been on the Resort Monorail there have always been a few times when we stopped on the track for a 1 - 2 minutes for traffic clearence when there was another Monorail at the station in front of us, so we had to wait for it to leave and that's very common.

There was another time we were on the Resort Monorail at the TTC and we were forced to exit because there was a problem with it and were waiting at least 30 minutes until they decied to send it to the service center. So that caused all the other Resort Monorails to stop where ever they were.

 

[DianeW]

I've been stuck on multiple rides each and every trip to WDW. No way to avoid it. Most times it's only a couple of minutes...sometimes longer. This last trip, we were stuck on "Winnie the Pooh" for 3 or 4 minutes, "Splash Mountain" three times during one ride...once for about 6 or 7 minutes, and "Haunted Mansion" every single time we rode the dang thing. Those doom buggies are notorious for slowing/stopping. Just know that it'll probably happen and they'll fix it as quickly as they can.

 

[WsPrincess]

Thanks everyone (and I mean it), I know things break and I am mentally OK with it happening. I think reading 5 hours just kind of ramped up the worry a little, in my head minutes could be dealt with, hours were something totally different. I am going with the flow and it will be fun. It is just an adventure!

 

[asta]

One of my favorite experiences was getting stuck on an outside area of the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. We were in the area between Space Mountain and a gift shop for 20-30 minutes. It was a great place to rest our tired feet and people watch. Eventually a CM came by and walked us off and out through an office in the gift shop. They even gave us fastpasses but I was having such an enjoyable rest that I didn't think it was necessary.

 

[LoriJune]

One of my favorite experiences was getting stuck on an outside area of the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. We were in the area between Space Mountain and a gift shop for 20-30 minutes. It was a great place to rest our tired feet and people watch. Eventually a CM came by and walked us off and out through an office in the gift shop. They even gave us fastpasses but I was having such an enjoyable rest that I didn't think it was necessary.

That sounds wonderful! For whatever reason, I've NEVER been stuck on any rides at WDW or any other theme park for that matter until our last trip. We got stuck on Buzz for about 15 minutes, Pooh for just a few minutes, and the monorail for about 45 minutes. The monorail was the only one that had me flippin' a bit because I knew I could not get up and out.

 

[lucas]

I have an irrational fear of being stuck somewhere. As in I don't park in parking structures during sporting events/concerts since I know when it is over you are trapped for a while. I have read a couple reports of people getting "stuck" on the monorail while riding it. I was OK until I read someone said they were on there for 5 hours. I guess I assumed they would evacuate you or something if it was going to be a long time (not sure how they do that but it was what I thought). So my question is: How often does the monorail breakdown? Is it uncommon or something that happens all the time? Also, what about rides? Do some break down a lot and trap people? Tell me I am being irrational and I might be OK to get on

Me, too!

Luckily (knock on wood) I have only been stuck on rides/monorail at WDW for a few minutes. Although it always seems longer, it is probably just a few minutes.

 

[disjointed]

I've been on the monorail at least 100+ times in my life, it's never broken down when I've been on it. I have been on other rides in WDW that have broken down, but never for more than 10 minutes. I guess I've had good luck... so far! Fingers crossed for our upcoming trip!

 

[carlyle688]

The monorail gets stuck all the time. Take the boat instead. It might get stuck, but at least you won't have that "trapped" feeling because you can breathe fresh air and move around if you need to.

 

[Sneezie]

I have an irrational fear of being stuck somewhere. As in I don't park in parking structures during sporting events/concerts since I know when it is over you are trapped for a while. I have read a couple reports of people getting "stuck" on the monorail while riding it. I was OK until I read someone said they were on there for 5 hours. I guess I assumed they would evacuate you or something if it was going to be a long time (not sure how they do that but it was what I thought). So my question is: How often does the monorail breakdown? Is it uncommon or something that happens all the time? Also, what about rides? Do some break down a lot and trap people? Tell me I am being irrational and I might be OK to get on

I definitely know what you mean. That is my biggest fear. I don't ride elevators or use rotating doors for fear of being stuck and not getting out. I understand it is an irrational fear, but I can't talk myself into getting over it. I do not ride the monorail at all. My sister rides it and I take the bus, sometimes I even get back to the room before her. I also make sure that the ride safety rails are loose enough for me to get out of, just in case.

 

[Radiorox]

Hello! I was there in June during one of the busier days since schools had started letting out. Getting to the Monorail was a major pain in the neck. Very busy at the station and the cars were crammed. That's the one thing I wish Disney would take better care of - not over filling the Monorail.

Anyhoo... From the TTC to MK: We got "stuck" on it about 2-3 times for about 2-4 mins each time mainly because there was a Monorail ahead. When it does this, you do hear a loudspeaker go off telling you what is going on. I forget exactly what they say.

From TTC to EPCOT, I haven't gotten stuck ...ever. I think that's the more seamless of the beams.

As for rides, In MK: HM, TTA and in EPCOT it was SE and Nemo. we were stuck for a bit. Basically anything that's on a omnimover system (a long train that is always in motion) has the potential to stop mid-ride when they have to help the elderly on and off or persons with wheelchairs. It's really not bad and lasts only a few minutes. In June we had HM stop about 5 times in one ride. It was actually really cool because you spot little things here and there that you probably wouldn't had the ride been running without stopping.
Jackie

 

[GreenDog]

We got stuck on Haunted Mansion today. It was like 2 minutes. No big deal. POTC had a problem for about 15 minutes tonight when we were standing in line.

 

[kaligal]

The longest I ever sat on the monorail without moving was 25 minutes.

Rides get stuck sometimes. If you can't handle it, don't ride rides. It's not like you will die or feel pain or anything.

Test Track breaks a lot. RnRc has more than its fair share. But everything can break.

I sat in the Egypt room on TGMR for over 20 minutes and wanted to scream. That soundtrack gets very annoying after the first 5 minutes. I did have a deeper understanding of noise-as-torture when I was done, though.

 

[disneygirl777]

Usually, we only get 'stuck' when they're loading a handicapped person onto a continuous ride like HM. And even then I wouldn't consider it stuck because it's only for a couple of minutes. However, there was one time when we were all loaded up in the rockets for Space Mountain and ready to go, when the ride broke down. For some reason they couldn't or didn't want to lift the restraints and we were stuck in those little cars for about an hour. They had to evacuate the ride and turn all the lights on and stuff. I have never had a problem being stuck on the monorail. But every moving attraction at Disney does have a chance of breaking down and getting stuck. On most of them if they know it will be a while, they will evacuate you. But sometimes you have to sit there for a while. Just try to stay calm if that happens. Now I don't think you'll be stuck anywhere for 5 hours, so don't worry about that. Don't let the fear of getting stuck keep you from enjoying your trip.

 

[smidgy]

why. oh why did I read this thread?

 

[FrankWDW]

2 years ago I was waiting outside test track waiting for my DW to ride (we were doing rider swap due to DS) and just as one of the cars comes flying around the curve it screeches to a halt (not sure if it was an E-Stop or some malfunction). Tell you what the tires were smoking from stopping so fast...the people were screaming for help because they thought the car was on fire. Fortunately my wife had just finished the ride before that happened.

 

[fla4fun]

One thing to keep in mind is that there isn't any ride, including the monorail, where you will be trapped indefinitely. They have ways of evacuating all the rides. Sometimes the methods are more obvious than others (you may actually see walking areas along the Omnimover vehicles, for example) but there is always a plan for getting people out.

The only reason I can think of that a monorail would be out of commission for hours would be if they lost power to the track. They do have evacuation equipment to use on the monorails, but if all the power went out at once and you were on the last monorail to be evacuated, it might take a little while. I've been going to WDW for years and can only think of one issue that caused the monorails to have to stop, and since it wasn't a power issue, they just had to get each monorail back to a station and unload. I have been on the monorails for their afternoon "checks" and those never seem to last more than about 10 minutes.

 

[mountdew1]

As a PP mentioned, the only ride where you may be stuck for an extended period of time is the monorail. All the others are fairly easy to evacuate from. PoTC and IASW may take a little bit as the CM's may need to get in the water and manually push your boat to an evac point.