SOARIN'- what happened?

[budbeerlady]

Well yes, we should all be concern with public safety over inconvience. However with that being said, as I recall from post AND first hand reports from friends who had been in the parks on 9/11, Disney employees still managed to hand out return vouchers to departing guest as they were quickly evacuating the parks for that very scary emergency. Just food for thought.

But that was everything closing, not just a ride. I dont see anything wrong with what the cm did. Stuff happens, doesnt mean any of us are entitled to anything if it does.

I really, really was looking forward to seeing the Osbourne lights one night, we go the bus to MGM and it started to pour. It rained so hard but we thought they would still do the lights. They didnt. Stuff happens, I didnt see them that trip as it was our last night. Disney doesnt owe me anything just because I didnt get to do what I want.

 

[fall08CP]

We've had this happen before and simply went to Guest Services and they gave us fastpasses that didn't expire so we could use them on our next trip, and refunded our park tickets for the inconvenience (there were at least 4 big rides down that day and several of them we had been in line for when they closed). We didn't demand anything, we just explained that the magic wasn't there and they sprinkled a little pixie dust and made it all better.

 

[LeesyUD]

Well yes, we should all be concern with public safety over inconvience. However with that being said, as I recall from post AND first hand reports from friends who had been in the parks on 9/11, Disney employees still managed to hand out return vouchers to departing guest as they were quickly evacuating the parks for that very scary emergency. Just food for thought.

IMHO, I worked in Disney during 9/11 and I think that someone missing one ride is alot different that having to leave a park that someone paid a good chunk of change for. Obviously Disney would make it up to people that already used their admission, especially when the park closed such a short time after it opened. And while yes it was an emergency situation in which they felt they needed to close due to safety, it was not a situation which was directly putting the guests in physical danger at that moment. They would have had a few moments to say we need to close and lets handout vouchers. Where as an incident at an attraction where they feel physical safety is the most important thing they are not going to take the time to make a plan of action to make things up to whoever was in line. If someone is upset with this they can easily go to guest services, that is what it is there for. Also thousands of people is alot different than maybe a few hundred that are in a line.

Guest services is very good with things like that. When I was at AK last time we were there at park opening and had waited for about 20 minutes to get in. However when we got to the gate my fiance's card had demagnetized for about the 5th time that trip, despite having kept it separate from everything else he had on him. We went to guest services who gave him a temporary ticket to be able to get our fastpasses. Which took us another 15-20 minutes. We were a little frustrated but very patient bc the guy was very nice. But then without us even saying anything, the cast member that was helping us gave us each a fast pass to use at one of the attractions since he knew that by the time we got where we were going now there would probably be another wait. Every situation is different, but if someone is that upset they should go to guest services. It doesn't mean they will always do something for you but at the very least you can express your frustration.

 

[mistyt]

I'm glad to see so many people who are okay with sometimes having to be quickly evacuated. As a former CM I can promise you all that sometimes things are just beyond our control and we need to "get the guests out" as quickly and safely as possible.

 

[KevGuy]

You know ... I am as curious as the next guy ... but sometimes it is none of our business why something is cancelled or closed. Just my little pot stirring ...

Ummm....when you spend the kind of money you do at Disney it is your business. I'm sorry you accept whatever your told, I don't and ask questions! !

 

[stellablue]

Ummm....when you spend the kind of money you do at Disney it is your business. I'm sorry you accept whatever your told, I don't and ask questions! !

I might ask questions too, but I would wait until the ordeal was over. If they were having a safety concern, I'd rather let the CM's do their immediate job & make it easier to usher us out.

 

[centurythree]

Ummm....when you spend the kind of money you do at Disney it is your business. I'm sorry you accept whatever your told, I don't and ask questions! !

I disagree. Their park, their rules. In this case, those rules have a solid policy rationale: safety and efficiency. As Stellablue says, asking after the fact is one thing, asking during the emergency is something else.

 

[maccagerl]

I was at Nemo at AK a couple of weeks ago ( March 5) and right after the scene where Dory gets stung by the jellyfish, they cut the show short and announced that due to circumstances beyond their control everyone must exit the theater.
I was disappointed, but hey, these things happen, and we went back a few days later and saw the entire show. It's not like we couldn't find anything to do in the meantime!!

 

[Aliceacc]

In an evacuation (or anything that seemed to be an emergency situation) I would absolutely do as told, and would do everything in my power to help.

BUt I have to admit that, after the fact, I would be curious. Not because I spent so much money, but because I would just be curious.

 

[bgdiznee]

I guess what I was trying to point out is that there doesn't seem to be a "standard" when it comes to ride problems/disruptions. I personally have recieved a bonus FP for any ride in the park when a FP machine has had problems reading my ticket as the OP mentioned happened to them.

I realize it is much easier to rectify a situation when it envolves one guest as opposed to a crowd. I just would of liked to have heard that all the guest in the FP line that had already handed over their FP would have recieved a FP to use later or at another attraction.

Some would argue that the CM's would not be prepared for that and maybe so. But I still would like to pose the question,"Do the CM's have access to enough FP's that they could give them back to guest in the FP line in such an event?"

 

[inkkognito]

I know it's off topic, but wow! The Nemo show sure sounds like it gets interrupted a lot for various reasons.

 

[Aliceacc]

Some would argue that the CM's would not be prepared for that and maybe so. But I still would like to pose the question,"Do the CM's have access to enough FP's that they could give them back to guest in the FP line in such an event?"

I have no clue. But I'm guessing that access wouldn't be the concern; it would be time.

In any sort of emergency, the priority would be to evacuate the building, not determine who was in line and deserving of a fastpass.

 

[MisunderstoodLilo]

On Tuesday the 18th we enter the ride and had just handed the CM our Fast Pass...we waited several minutes saw all the CMs running around in a panic...next thing we know the whole line waiting (several who had waited more than an hour) were asked to exit the building with no explaination whatsoever. We exited in an employee only area and then went thru a gate to re-enter the park. It was so strange and it was handled SO POORLY. When we went to guest relations they said it was technical difficulties and we would be allowed back on the ride if it were running later? WHAT? I was really disappointed in the level of service we were given!????

They probably handled whatever happened the best way they could. It sounds like they needed to act fast. I'm sorry you were disappointed in the service, but like another poster said, sometimes safety trumps service. I'm sure the CMs were not trying to be malicious.

 

[AuroraBeauty]

Several weeks ago there was another thread about Biergarten closing abruptly in the early afternoon and many many posters were venting and ranting b/c it destroyed their whole vacation because they had ADRs and it was the only place they wanted to go, blah blah blah. There were complaints that the CMs were unpleasant and rude, that the management should have told them why they couldn't dine there and given them some type of 'fastpass' ADR (I know there is no such thing but y'all understand) because now their family was starving to death, blah blah blah.

Well, Disney had a bigger concern than people missing out on their beer and brats. There were guests dining for lunch when a member of the band had some type of medical situation (heart attack, stroke?) and died while on stage. At that point I highly doubt Disney cared who had 8:15pm ADRs. People were in mid-bite and were asked to leave. Families with small children were escorted out to areas where special CMs were waiting to help the families.

I've personally stood on line for over an hour on many occasions only for the ride to close when I got near the front. It happened when I was a kid and it still happens. If there is any type of emergency I'd rather the CM focus their attention on the matter at hand and not answering 'curiosity' questions. Put yourself in their position. If you are parents you've probably been in a situation where something went wrong and then all of a sudden your kids want to play 20 questions. Magnify that for Disney. Guest are their children and they're doing the best job to kindly tell us to shut up and leave mom/dad alone.

If something happened to me or my family I don't want the CM outside giving a dissertation about what is going on. Also, remember, anything said by a CM will be on the internet in about 30 seconds and Disney won't tolerate that and CMs know that. Besides, we've all played the phone game and what was a malfunctioning car on the ride will become a rogue vehicle careening down Main Street killing tens of people, all the princesses and flying through the castle like the General Lee before you can even get back to your house/hotel and boot up the internet.

Disney doesn't routinely give out lots of info. Know that now and remember it always.

But, just my rant.

 

[qanita92]

Not being able to go on Soarin is sad but this is just horrible but things happen! Here is the video:
http://cdn3.libsyn.com/**************/fantasmic.mp4

I thought the performers handled it really well!

 

[Aliceacc]

But, just my rant.

Nope, you made perfect sense.

Sometimes we need to take a step back and see the big picture.

 

[WDSearcher]

I guess what I was trying to point out is that there doesn't seem to be a "standard" when it comes to ride problems/disruptions. I personally have recieved a bonus FP for any ride in the park when a FP machine has had problems reading my ticket as the OP mentioned happened to them.

I realize it is much easier to rectify a situation when it envolves one guest as opposed to a crowd. I just would of liked to have heard that all the guest in the FP line that had already handed over their FP would have recieved a FP to use later or at another attraction.

Some would argue that the CM's would not be prepared for that and maybe so. But I still would like to pose the question,"Do the CM's have access to enough FP's that they could give them back to guest in the FP line in such an event?"

I think maybe there isn't a "standard" because every ride problem or disruption is different. A ride disruption at someplace like PhilharMagic affects a larger group of people than a ride disruption at Dumbo. Evacuating people due to an emergency or safety situation is different than temporarily closing down a ride because someone has thrown up in a ride car. There are protocols -- what types of events can lead to what kind of compensation -- but again ... it depends on what's going on at the time. If a ride is on fire or a guest is having a heart attack, one would hope that the manager on duty is more worried about the situation than getting FPs to the people inconvenienced.

And no ... individual CMs do not have easy access to enough FPs to hand them out to large numbers of people. They would need to go through a Manager at the very least -- higher than that if it's a particularly large group (like everyone in PhilharMagic, for example). Likewise, line cast (hourly ride operators) cannot make that determination. The decision to FP everyone as "compensation" must be made by a manager.

It's really easy to Monday Morning Quarterback how someone else should have handled a situation.

 

[k5thbeatle]

Just curious-- what do you think should have been done different?

Free life time park passes including the keys to Cinderellas castle plus a personal apology from every living relative of Walt Disney! The age of entitlement.

 

[slmjam]

We just had something similar happen this Monday at MK. We were in the room where they do the pre-show for Monsters Inc. Comedy Floor. The full pre-show had finished but instead of the doors opening to the theater, a CM came on and asked everyone to exit immediately through the back doors. Everyone was issued a fast pass for any attraction at the MK as they exited. No other explanation was given. About 10-15 minutes later, we saw paramedics leaving with someone on a stretcher. Never did hear what happened or if the person was ok.

 

[SandrA9810]

If the ride "freezes" and every one is escorted off the ride, generally the manager will offer re-ads (which is good for one person for one ride). They have them printed way before hand and ready. And in a situation like that, it's easy to hand every one that is walked off the ride one. Sometimes when you're waiting in line and at the end, you might leave before CM have the time to bring them out. And it's usually handed to those they seeing exiting. But it's hard at some rides when there's crowds milling about and you don't want to hand them to people who weren't even in line.

I was escorted off Spaceship earth from the cinema room, took over and hour and a half. And granted we came into the parks late, but we got out just in time to run to the back to watch illuminations, without a really good spot either. The CM there did nothing for any of us and said nothing about what happened. Since it was EMH night we went to guest relations and told them about it, they gave us two no strings to fastpass two rides that night.

And you probably won't find out what happened because a CM can get fired for saying anything that Disney has not officially announced, whether it's the heart attack on a ride or the safari truck that caught fire, you'll have to find out on the internet or just never know. I don't want to lose my job over something like that.