"Temporarily closed due to technical difficulty"

[Fabnsab]

we were at MK yesterday and heard that term 3 times! First, was the mine ride but it opened 10 minutes later. Then we were turned away from our Peter Pan fast pass at 9:10 but went back around noon and it was working. Lastly, was the Astro orbiter, around 8 and I don't know if it ever went back up.

I don't know if this is normal because we only go one day once a year but it seemed odd and coincidental.

Upside, the weather was gorgeous, lines weren't too long anywhere, and a good day was had by all!

 

[Livvie]

we were at MK yesterday and heard that term 3 times! First, was the mine ride but it opened 10 minutes later. Then we were turned away from our Peter Pan fast pass at 9:10 but went back around noon and it was working. Lastly, was the Astro orbiter, around 8 and I don't know if it ever went back up.

I don't know if this is normal because we only go one day once a year but it seemed odd and coincidental.

Upside, the weather was gorgeous, lines weren't too long anywhere, and a good day was had by all!

We've been at MK when it was hard to find a ride to ride because the majority of them were down or closed!

 

[DisDadDVC]

We've been at MK when it was hard to find a ride to ride because the majority of them were down or closed!

This simply isn't true.

 

[Livvie]

This simply isn't true.

Unfortunately, it was.

 

[hakepb]

During my trip last summer there seemed to be a lot of "nearby lightening" precaution closures, that do stop all outdoor rides at MK, even if the storm is North of MK and not directly impacting guest areas.. At the same time as one of those precautionary closures, there was a ride issue that resulted in the temp closure of Space Mountain and PM, also. There really wasn't much to do in MK after spending some time on COP.

I don't know if that is the type of situation the PP had or not.

 

[DavidNYC]

Unfortunately, it was.

I think the complaint was you're using "majority" like many people use the word "literally". I don't think you'll find many people on this board who are going to believe that a "majority" of rides were down or closed. You may have hit 3-5 over the course of a day that were having issues or under renovation but I'm sure there were far fewer than a "majority".

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Unfortunately, it was.

There are 30+ rides in the Magic Kingdom. Are you saying 16 of them were closed?

 

[Livvie]

I think the complaint was you're using "majority" like many people use the word "literally". I don't think you'll find many people on this board who are going to believe that a "majority" of rides were down or closed. You may have hit 3-5 over the course of a day that were having issues or under renovation but I'm sure there were far fewer than a "majority".

I'm curious, what do you think happens when a computer outage hits the park? Or an electrical outage? With all of the rides that were down, it had to have been a computer issue. There were 12 (*yes, I counted) rides that were down/closed.

 

[Livvie]

There are 30+ rides in the Magic Kingdom. Are you saying 16 of them were closed?

It was before NFL opened.

 

[Robo]

It was before NFL opened.

OK. 14.

 

[HM]

we were at MK yesterday and heard that term 3 times! First, was the mine ride but it opened 10 minutes later. Then we were turned away from our Peter Pan fast pass at 9:10 but went back around noon and it was working. Lastly, was the Astro orbiter, around 8 and I don't know if it ever went back up.

I don't know if this is normal because we only go one day once a year but it seemed odd and coincidental.

Upside, the weather was gorgeous, lines weren't too long anywhere, and a good day was had by all!

This happened a bunch the year we went during Easter week. So annoying.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I know it's frustrating, but this is really for the sake of safety (and a little CYA). Rides have a lot of moving parts and can be dangerous. Things degrade. Stuff breaks down. Sensors go off for no reason (dirty sensor, probably). It just happens.

 

[Anesthesia Fine]

we were at MK yesterday and heard that term 3 times! First, was the mine ride but it opened 10 minutes later. Then we were turned away from our Peter Pan fast pass at 9:10 but went back around noon and it was working. Lastly, was the Astro orbiter, around 8 and I don't know if it ever went back up.

I don't know if this is normal because we only go one day once a year but it seemed odd and coincidental.

Upside, the weather was gorgeous, lines weren't too long anywhere, and a good day was had by all!

We missed out on TSMM our first HS day last week because the ride went down while we were in the FP line (They issued paper FPs on our way out, but we couldn't use them that day and had to rope-drop it later in the week.) That same day half the cars were down on ToT. And I've never been to MK when Pooh wasn't down at least once!

Pirates, though. Pirates was down at least four times while we were there. Mostly we all laughed (our family terrified an elevator at MCO on arrival day, so us "breaking" things became a family in-joke) but that one was getting a little frustrating.

Excellent weather and relatively short lines helped us as well, though! Glad you guys had a good day.

 

[tlmadden73]

I've had it happen on my trips .. but only really noticed because I had a fast pass for that time:
Once was for Winnie the Pooh
Second time was due to lightning storm (for 7DMT).

Both times . it was actually to my BENEFIT the rides were down because I was rewarded with a "use anytime later in the day" fast pass. And it was good not just for the ride we missed but for a bunch of different rides. Instead of going on Winnie the Pooh, I went on Peter Pan later that evening.
Instead of going on SDMT at lunch, I just went on later at night in the dark .. both gave me some fun flexibility for my day with my fast passes.

 

[shanethesaint88]

I know it's frustrating, but this is really for the sake of safety (and a little CYA). Rides have a lot of moving parts and can be dangerous. Things degrade. Stuff breaks down. Sensors go off for no reason (dirty sensor, probably). It just happens.

Exactly. When I worked there (not in attractions but my roommate did) I was told that the majority of ride closures like that were just sensors going off. Most of the time from people dropping stuff or from putting their hands legs and/or feet where they are not supposed to, or like you said just faulty dirty sensors. And there is a process to starting the ride again after one of these sensors go off. You can't just start the ride again. There is procedures and safety checks to make sure nothing is wrong and the guests safety is number one priority

 

[Skywise]

OK. 14.

13 - You can't count Swiss Family Treehouse as a "ride that breaks down". (Of course it was probably still up...)

 

[Sargeant Tibbs]

I'm curious, what do you think happens when a computer outage hits the park? Or an electrical outage? With all of the rides that were down, it had to have been a computer issue. There were 12 (*yes, I counted) rides that were down/closed.

When the power goes out the generators kick on. The entire park can be up and running on generators in 5 minutes.

It is unlikely that a computer issue would shut down 12 rides. It often is just coincidental.

Also, "technical difficulties" can cover many issues, including vomit or other bodily fluids, items dropped on the tracks, guests who refuse to obey safety precautions, etc. A cm is not going to tell you that a ride is closed because some kid puked all over. It's a "technical difficulty."

A ride will automatically shut itself down if it sits idle for too long, usually because guests refuse to listen to the cm's during loading. When this happens, the entire ride must be evacuated and it takes awhile to bring the ride back up.

 

[Livvie]

13 - You can't count Swiss Family Treehouse as a "ride that breaks down". (Of course it was probably still up...)

Funnily enough, that is what we ended up doing. I knew that wouldn't close!

 

[scrapquitler]

we were at MK yesterday and heard that term 3 times! First, was the mine ride but it opened 10 minutes later. Then we were turned away from our Peter Pan fast pass at 9:10 but went back around noon and it was working. Lastly, was the Astro orbiter, around 8 and I don't know if it ever went back up.

I don't know if this is normal because we only go one day once a year but it seemed odd and coincidental.

Upside, the weather was gorgeous, lines weren't too long anywhere, and a good day was had by all!

Well would you rather have them running the ride and allowing people on if there is a malfunction happening?
Sometimes the malfunction is that the ride is out of sync or that there is a temporary issue. I'd rather not ride on something if there is a possibility of a malfunction or some part of the show not functioning properly.

 

[Pixie Dust ✨]

A few years ago, there was an air compressor issue that took out quite a number of MK rides for a period of time. I don't mean five rides, I mean 10+ rides.