Reasons Rides Go Down

[cal2net]

Have to throw my two cents in. We were just there last week and when we attempted to ride Indy for the second time with our FP, it shut down. Word got around that a expensive personal item was lost which caused the ride to shut down. After several minutes of waiting and getting to ride, as we were making our way out I over heard a family talking to a CM and it was a cell phone that one of the daughters lost. What part of securing your personal items do people not get?

 

[FryingPansWhoKnew]

Oh yes, that's absolutely correct. I hadn't thought of that one! It's not standard practice to pretend that something had gone wrong with the ride though. Perhaps a rogue cast member!

Well no one pretended that the ride had broken down. We are almost always given the standard, "The ride is currently closed" line. No explanation is given usually. I realize I misrepresented the truth in my initial post. What I meant is that the reason given is the same as when the ride breaks down for legitimate reasons.

 

[hyperminimalism]

Just a general thought not directed to anyone in particular: What I wonder is does it truly matter in the end? Will guests feel differently if the ride legit breaks down not for a guest-related reason or vice versa? Either way, the ride is down and it will come back when it comes back up regardless of what information the CMs are allowed to divulge. The fact of the matter is that DL/DCA, from a business and customer service related point of view, does not want their attractions to go down just as much as the guests don't want that to happen. I'm not necessarily going to question why a ride is down unless I see an emergency scene unfolding, but that's just me and my inevitable curious human nature. In any case, there are plenty of other rides and shows, gorgeous atmospheres, delicious things to eat and much more to do at the parks for me to spend my time wondering why I can't get on a certain ride.

 

[HydroGuy]

Just a general thought not directed to anyone in particular: What I wonder is does it truly matter in the end? Will guests feel differently if the ride legit breaks down not for a guest-related reason or vice versa? Either way, the ride is down and it will come back when it comes back up regardless of what information the CMs are allowed to divulge. The fact of the matter is that DL/DCA, from a business and customer service related point of view, does not want their attractions to go down just as much as the guests don't want that to happen. I'm not necessarily going to question why a ride is down unless I see an emergency scene unfolding, but that's just me and my inevitable curious human nature. In any case, there are plenty of other rides and shows, gorgeous atmospheres, delicious things to eat and much more to do at the parks for me to spend my time wondering why I can't get on a certain ride.

I think it does matter. Is the reason rides are going down because rides are breaking? If so, then Disney needs to hire more maintenance staff and do more preventative refurbs. And most of us on this forum would understand why this is necessary.

Is the reason because guests are misbehaving? Then preventative refurbs won't make any difference.

I think it affects how we view things and how we view Disney and how we view DLR.

 

[figment_jii]

I agree that in the end it doesn't matter at that moment because the ride is down and you can't ride it. However, I do think it would be helpful if the CMs could tell guests why a ride is down (I also understand why this doesn't happen). At least, it can help a guest gauge when to return to the ride and it can help alleviate (or perhaps not) some of the frustration.

As HydroGuy said, if the ride is suffering from a mechanical issue, then the "no estimated time to re-open" is probably (more or less) valid. If it happens frequently, then perhaps this is a sign that more maintenance needs to be done for this ride.

If the ride is down because something fell on the track or someone was slow to load or some other non-mechanical issues, then the guests have a better idea of when a ride might re-open. At least, it seems to me that most rides will come back up in less than an hour when it's not a mechanical issue (based on what folks have said here).

 

[hyperminimalism]

I understand it will matter a bit in some cases. However, as Disneyland/DCA goers know that, despite knowing when a ride will go back up, there's always a chance of it needing to go back down again. Perhaps they don't want throngs of people swarming the CMs when things don't work out as planned in the event that guests are given a certain time of day to return. You've all seen it, people swarm the ride entrances when they catch word a ride is going up and, although with good intentions, things can go wrong when they drop those ropes to open it again. I feel like a tentative "the ride is down for an indefinite amount of time" explanation is fine, especially if the operators truly aren't certain when or if it'll come back up. It allows them not to make promises in case some unexpected thing happens.

 

[figment_jii]

I understand it will matter a bit in some cases. However, as Disneyland/DCA goers know that, despite knowing when a ride will go back up, there's always a chance of it needing to go back down again. Perhaps they don't want throngs of people swarming the CMs when things don't work out as planned in the event that guests are given a certain time of day to return. You've all seen it, people swarm the entries when they catch word a ride is going up and, although with good intentions, things can go wrong when they drop those ropes to open it up again. I feel like a tentative "the ride is down for an indefinite amount of time" explanation is just fine, especially if the operators truly aren't certain when or if it'll come back up. It allows them not to make promises in case some unexpected thing happens.

I don't think anyone is saying that the CMs should give a time estimate of re-opening (at least that wasn't what I was saying), nor should they make any promises about whether a ride will come back up or not. However, knowing whether a ride is down for mechanical versus non-mechanical issues can help guests decide what they want to do next. From a practical view point I can see how it's easier to just say the ride is temporarily closed and there is no estimated time for re-opening. It's vague and covers all of the bases. So it makes the most sense to do. However, the question you asked was does it matter why a ride is down and to some people, it does matter.

 

[hyperminimalism]

I don't think anyone is saying that the CMs should give a time estimate of re-opening (at least that wasn't what I was saying), nor should they make any promises about whether a ride will come back up or not. However, knowing whether a ride is down for mechanical versus non-mechanical issues can help guests decide what they want to do next. From a practical view point I can see how it's easier to just say the ride is temporarily closed and there is no estimated time for re-opening. It's vague and covers all of the bases. So it makes the most sense to do. However, the question you asked was does it matter why a ride is down and to some people, it does matter.

I think this is more of a personal issue. It will matter to some people and to others it won't. As for me, personally, as you may already be able to tell--it won't matter whether I know if a hat just fell off and they need to stop and reset the ride or if it's down for maintenance. For me, finding out if the ride is down takes a simple walking past the attraction itself to see with my own eyes. But again, it's going to be subjective on whether it matters and that's just fine.

In the case it would matter more is if I had an FP and the time was quickly approaching (or if the time to return had passed), or if it was one of those last-day kinds of things and I hadn't been on the ride yet and desperately wanted to. Like I said, though, in the end--and that's all the point I'm making--is that for me it's not going to matter because it is what it is:

The ride is down and is not boarding guests.

 

[figment_jii]

I think this is more of a personal issue. It will matter to some people and to others it won't. As for me, personally, as you may already be able to tell--it won't matter whether I know if a hat just fell off and they need to stop and reset the ride or if it's down for maintenance. For me, finding out if the ride is down takes a simple walking past the attraction itself to see with my own eyes. But again, it's going to be subjective on whether it matters and that's just fine.

In the case it would matter more is if I had an FP and the time was quickly approaching (or if the time to return had passed), or if it was one of those last-day kinds of things and I hadn't been on the ride yet and desperately wanted to. Like I said, though, in the end--and that's all the point I'm making--is that for me it's not going to matter because it is what it is:

The ride is down and is not boarding guests.

Yes, it's is largely a personal matter, so I don't disagree with that. For you, it doesn't matter and that's fine. I've seen enough posts on this board to know that a fair number of people just assume that when a ride is down, it's down because it's broken. This then leads to posts where the general statement/feeling is that Disneyland needs to do more maintenance and/or they just don't care about their rides and their guests' experiences anymore. Now, if the CMs said the ride is down due to some non-mechanical issue, would that stop everyone from saying Disneyland is poorly maintained? No, of course not. However, I think it would help some people get a better sense of what is down due to mechanical issues and what is down due to a re-set needed. It won't change whether or not you get to ride the attraction, but it can help folks get a better sense of what is going on.