Popular Ride Closures at Rope Drop

[mocame]

We just got back from our trip and had come across this problem at 3 of the 4 parks. The first day that this happened, we rope dropped Epcot and headed with the crowd right for Test Track only to be told that the ride was having technical difficulties and they had no idea when it would open. At least a quarter of the crowd left but we stayed to try and see if it would reopen soon. Thankfully it did and we didn't lose a lot of time.

The second time this happened was at HS. Our plan was to go to RNR first, then do Tower of Terror. When we got to the intersection between the two attractions, they had a line of cast members blocking it and said RNR was closed and they didn't know when it would open. They were pushing everyone to Tower of Terror. We rode TOT hoping RNR would open soon but it didn't. We decided to do a 2nd ride on TOT instead but since RNR was closed and more people were now in line for TOT, the wait was longer than anticipated. RNR didn't open up until later in the morning but it had thrown our timing a little off for the day. My son did ride it later using the single rider line.

The third time was at MK. We were rope dropping Space Mountain, then planned on doing Buzz, and then Monsters. Got over there and both Space Mountain and Buzz were both down. We rode the peoplemover instead (only ones on the ride) and then went to do Monsters. That attraction then went down for technical difficulties! Ugh! Since all of those rides that we planned to do were down, we headed over to Tomorrowland Speedway and started wondering toward the other lands and kept an eye on when any of the rides were back up. We got Space Mountain later in the morning but Buzz was closed until around lunch time. We ended up getting a FP for Buzz and Monsters in the afternoon. But again, it messed up our timing and we ended up spending more time figuring out what to do next and try and get FPs for these rides for later in the day.

We didn't have this problem during our last trip 7 years ago. Did we just have bad luck or do these rides tend to not be available at RD fairly often? I would like to plan another Disney trip in the future and if this is a fairly common occurrence, I will have a backup plan in case it happens.

 

[gap2368]

it happens I have been a number of time Pooh was not open and a few times POTCB was not opened

 

[Robo]

The first day that this happened, we rope dropped Epcot and headed with the crowd right for Test Track only to be told that the ride was having technical difficulties and they had no idea when it would open. At least a quarter of the crowd left but we stayed to try and see if it would reopen soon. Thankfully it did and we didn't lose a lot of time.

So very, very common that TT will have tech problems at any given time of day or night.
So common, even since TT was first built, that the downtime it might be considered a "feature" of the attraction.

 

[ellie05]

We had trips were it happened to us in every park. TSM, SM seen the ones that we have encountered the most problems with at RD.

 

[loves to dive]

I have never, ever, never, ever ridden Space Mountain when it didn't go down or been in the park when it wasn't down for a short time. I don't think I've ever been when some ride wasn't down, you did get the trifecta though, I would count that as some sort of medal winning event though. I've been on ToT when it went down, that was kind of fun because they had to turn the house lights on and we got to see everything then when they got it back up they had to drop us, which was exciting. We then got the option of getting right back on without even going through the line, you betcha we did. Sat in the dark for a pretty good 10 min. on Spaceship Earth one year, when the darn thing was turned backwards coming down so not even anything to see but that sky thingy, good time for a nap and to look for hidden mickeys. Given the number of rides there and the amount of engineering involved, I'm not surprised they don't go down more often.

 

[mocame]

During our last trip and this one, we had a number of rides that had technical issues while we were riding them at some point during the day. It just seemed odd that we had so many of these closures at RD during this trip and none the last trip.

 

[Memaw2Wm]

We had this happen last summer ... hit RNR at rope drop and it was closed due to repairs. Hit ToT, when we were done my RNR was open and my granddaughters got in the single rider lane and waited and waited (45-60 minutes) ... eventually they asked a CM and was told that they wouldn't make it through the line in time for our lunch ADR so they left the line.

So annoying since we rarely do rope drop and only did it this time b/c said granddaughters *had* to do RNR, otherwise we could have slept in a bit (girls were exhausted) then gone directly to AK where we had FP+ for the afternoon. Oh well, that's life.

 

[pa. dad]

Test trak is very common and we go caught in that one too. More than once too.
Besides the technical breakdowns, the weather can delay it also.

When it happens frequently like it did with your trip, it makes you wonder what they are doing in the hours before park opening. Aren't they supposed to be checking that all the rides are in working order before the parks open and fixing them then?

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I've experienced this many, many times. As Robo mentioned, TT is down so often it's more of an event if we DON'T encounter a closure there than if we do. Same with Space Mountain. There's at least once a trip when we're wanting to ride Space Mountain and it's down for technical difficulties. Splash Mountain is another that we have bad luck with.

 

[2Gma]

When it happens frequently like it did with your trip, it makes you wonder what they are doing in the hours before park opening. Aren't they supposed to be checking that all the rides are in working order before the parks open and fixing them then?

I've thought the same thing. I know they check all the rides and get them working properly for OUR safety but geez, they have hours to check them to get them operating by park open!

OP, what a bummer especially when you put forth the effort to get there early and use a good touring strategy. Did you talk to guest services at all to express your frustration?

 

[WiscMomof2]

At MK last week 7DMT, Space, and Barnstormer were all down in the morning. We've also RD'd Epcot only to find TT closed for technical difficulties. It's a bummer, but it happens.

 

[mocame]

I've thought the same thing. I know they check all the rides and get them working properly for OUR safety but geez, they have hours to check them to get them operating by park open!

OP, what a bummer especially when you put forth the effort to get there early and use a good touring strategy. Did you talk to guest services at all to express your frustration?

No, I didn't even think about going to guest services. I figure there isn't anything they could do except listen to my problem and it would've taken up more time. It is what it is but I didn't know if these problems happened often at RD. I never experienced them at that time of the day and hadn't heard about it being an issue before we left on the trip so I didn't plan accordingly.

We plan so much for these trips and now I need to plan a Plan B for each day too!

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

Wow, we do either rope drop or morning EMH pretty much every morning when we are at WDW, and I don't ever remember having a ride down...knock on wood!

 

[Loopster]

There's nothing worse than getting up for rope drop and the main ride you're there for is closed due to technical difficulties. Happened to me two years ago with RNR. Had to end up riding single rider with a long wait in the afternoon.

I can't believe it happened to you at three parks on one trip. So not fun and hard to plan around!

Thanks for the heads up, might need to always keep a backup strategy in mind.

 

[RedAngie]

I've been fortunate to never have experienced a ride closure at rope drop. Plenty of other times, but not at rope drop.

Even if they test the rides for an hour before opening, problems can occur at any time, even 10 seconds before the first guests arrive.

Sorry this happened to the OP three times during her trip.

 

[ParrotBill]

Ride startup and safety checks do start before rope drop, but not far ahead of rope drop. Thus, if there is a problem, they won't be ready at opening. Startup assumes success or else they would be staffing too early with people standing idle waiting for opening time. That costs too much money.

 

[jeffg4]

Ride closures at RD can really mess up your touring plan. You hightail it to the first attraction, only to find out it is down. Then you have to make a quick decision on whether to wait it out or go to a different attraction as the crowds build. Other attractions in the area will be more crowded as a result. Last year at DCA, RSR was down at RD. We were headed to TSMM as our first attraction anyway. When we got to TSMM, it was down. We waited 5 minutes and decided to bail. We went to the nearby CS and waited in a 20 min line because it had people that would have otherwise been at TSMM or RSR. Then when we got off CS, TSMM was open and had a long line. It really impacted our entire day as we were only able to get a couple of attractions in during the first hour as opposed to several. I just wish that Disney would do a better job of informing the guests at RD if attractions are down. That way we wouldn't waste time going to an attraction that's down. If it's not ready at RD, just make an announcement.

 

[mocame]

Ride closures at RD can really mess up your touring plan. You hightail it to the first attraction, only to find out it is down. Then you have to make a quick decision on whether to wait it out or go to a different attraction as the crowds build. Other attractions in the area will be more crowded as a result. Last year at DCA, RSR was down at RD. We were headed to TSMM as our first attraction anyway. When we got to TSMM, it was down. We waited 5 minutes and decided to bail. We went to the nearby CS and waited in a 20 min line because it had people that would have otherwise been at TSMM or RSR. Then when we got off CS, TSMM was open and had a long line. It really impacted our entire day as we were only able to get a couple of attractions in during the first hour as opposed to several. I just wish that Disney would do a better job of informing the guests at RD if attractions are down. That way we wouldn't waste time going to an attraction that's down. If it's not ready at RD, just make an announcement.

Yup, sounds like us! Maybe if they had time to let people know while standing in line to get into the park (announcement or something) that certain rides were having technical difficulties, we would've had a little time to rethink what we wanted to do. They may not know that far in advance, though.

 

[MomTo3PrincessesInNJ]

In November we spent 45 mins of our "Extra Magic Hour" waiting for Expedition Everest to open

Of course we could have gotten out of line, but we had already power walked all the way back there... so we just waited...

 

[Meeko5]

Our trip last year POTC was down the ENTIRE DAY....my first Disney trip since I was a kid and I missed out on my favorite ride. I was so bummed!