Ride breaks down while waiting... How do YOU decide?

[twitch]

Many of us have been there... we're halfway through the queue, barely close enough to hear the cast member try to get everyone's attention and say something like, "I'm sorry to inform you that the Haunted Mansion is not currently receiving guests due to a malfunction. I don't know how long it will be. You're welcome to remain here or leave the line, but please note that we are unable to offer any recovery passes at this time."

How do you decide what to do? How long are you willing to wait? Do you immediately get out of line and do something else? Or do you set a time limit on how long you are willing to wait? Or do you just wait until the point of no return?

(I realize that EVERY situation is different... you might be at the very front of the line... you might have upcoming dinner reservations... or any number of variables... I'm just looking for an interesting conversation topic.)

 

[twitch]

It's happened once each on our last two visits.

For RotR, we made it about 20 minutes in (a couple of rooms before the armory) when we heard the music/fx stop and the lights went up. It was one of the primary objectives of our day, so we wanted to wait as long as possible. We gave it about 30 minutes, and finally decided to stand up and start walking out. No joke... as I said to the people behind us "another one bites the dust", the lights went back down and the music/fx started playing again.

Yesterday, we were about 20 minutes into HMH queue (we were up on the level courtyard area where the two lines snake back and forth before the merge), when the above announcement was made. HMH was not as high on our must-do list, but BTMRR was broken down at the same time, and that was what we wanted to do next. We decided that we could stay there and hope that both rides would get worked on and fixed. It took about 20 minutes to come back online... during which time we moved up substantially in the line. BTMRR was still not up, so we moved on to other things.

In both cases, we used the time to do a couple of Spanish lessons on Duolingo, so we didn't break our (655 day?) streak. (We just tell it that we can't use the speakers or microphones, and do written exercises). We always have a hard time getting in a couple of lessons on a Disney day, so it made it feel like the ride breakdown was less of an issue.

 

[mdmost]

I've never had an in-line breakdown with the exception of almost getting on Incredicoaster near the front of the queue but I believe they gave us a multi-ride pass which we then used on Radiator Racers. I typically wouldn't wait unless we were way ahead of schedule on our list. I'm a planner so I try to group rides in an order that allows us not have to wait too long. I'd go hit the next ride on our list that's close by with a low wait and just check back on the app to see if the ride opened back up. Or go get a churro or some other snack with the down time.

 

[Angel141925]

We have a toddler so unfortunately we’re heading out of line.

 

[gelatoni fan]

It depends on the ride and what else I may want to do at the time. There's some rides where I want an in-queue breakdown to happen because I haven't completed the achievements in Play Disney Parks and the line typically moves too fast to do them properly. There's also rides where an in-queue breakdown means a chance to see some hidden walkways in which case, I would prioritize seeing those hidden walkways and wait until they open them up for evacuation. The most famous example of a hidden walkway would be the Haunted Mansion stairs. Then, is the chance of getting a return ticket or a multiple experiences pass. If they were offering physical return tickets, I'm absolutely leaving that line so that I can get the ticket because those are so rare nowadays and I will keep the ticket rather than use it. I'd also likely leave for an in-app multiple experiences pass.

My main priorities now are shows and characters over rides. So if there's no characters left that I want to meet for that season and no shows that I want to see coming up, I will wait in that line for the chance of something special happening. But if there's still characters left for that season and I know there is a potential of them being out at that time, I may leave the line pre-maturely. My main limit on time to leave will be my bladder. Of course, if I'm with a group that wants to leave, I may leave with them and not worry about any of these things.

 

[ktlm]

We've had this happen many times. If they are unable to offer recovery passes and it is ROTR or WS we would not move. WS broke down when we had been in line for 30 minutes and could see the ride vehicles--- they wound up evacuating the whole line-- we did get an all experience pass good for WS if it reopened. I'm not sure if they did that for the whole line. I know there was a point where they were having people go backwards out of the line instead of forwards. We would not have been happy if they made us get out of line and did not replace our passes.

Part of it depends on where we are in line and how we got in line. If we are standby and are fairly far back we leave. If we are standby and are close and expect the line to be really long later, we stay put. Our October trip we were next up at Luigi's when the ride broke down-- we just stayed put for 10 or 15 minutes and then were loaded on. Back pre-covid- if we used FP and they weren't going to replace because we had already scanned twice we stayed put--- if the FP was going to be replaced with a multi- or a come back to this ride if it re-opens --we would leave.

We have also been known to stalk a currently closed line that we think may reopen soon to try to hit a shorter line. That has worked for us a few times. Most notably at WDW when the Frozen ride was new and had lines over an hour most times--- we jumped in line at re-opening and made it on in about 20 minutes (we weren't the first ones there-- they had an outside line of people who refused to give up after being evacuated).

 

[Chickinvic]

I'm not patient. I'm out of there lol.

 

[lalasmama]

Totally depends on the ride and who I have with me. Teen? We'll wait up to an hour depending on the ride. (We did this on Test Track at WDW because it was raining and who knew how long it would go on.) Grandkid #1: wait, depending on the ride and how excited he was. He loved the slower rides and is a good waiter. Grandkid #2 was all about the big rides and would ask if there was a fast pass for every flipping ride, so not much waiting when he was with us!

 

[DLRExpert]

- If I am in line and have no view of the ride vehicles I give it 15-20 minutes or until they give out return passes.
- If I see vehicles moving I stay in line.
- If I see Cast Members on the phone, talking to each other or moving around I stay in line.

- If an attraction is down at opening it is usually due the attraction not being signed off in time for opening.
- NEVER listen to what the CM is telling people. They will tell people, they don't know when it is opening and a minute later open back up.

ME

 

[cruisehopeful]

I decide based on how long I've already been waiting and how far into the line I am at the time. If I've already waited a while and am getting close to the front, I'll normally stay in line. That's worked for me each time with only one exception when the CMs told us after about 10 minutes that the ride was not coming back up. There was no offer of a fast pass for another ride.

 

[Epicnemesis]

Depends on how long I’ve been in line/how long the line is.
if the line is usually long and I caught it at a short wait time I’ll stay in. If I e already been in it for 30 minutes I’ll stay in. If I just got in a long line and it breaks down I’m out of there.