what happens when space mountain breaks down?

[Networth]

Lol I never lift my arms on SM. I know odds are you will be perfectly fine but I have to remind myself every single trip when I ride it the first time to not raise my arms at any point in the ride.

 

[cfw213]

Have they changed something in the last year, because it was still going through SM last year, or am I misunderstanding what you are saying?

They definitely haven't changed it...we saw space with the lights on when we were on the peoplemover in October - very cool!

 

[Satchmo128]

I have not been on SM when it has broken down.... but someone on here before posted that when they were riding SM once, the ride broke down, and they flipped on the lights... and he was shocked at how close all of the tracks were. He said he would NEVER raise his arms on the ride again. Too freaked out he would get seriously injured! Maybe that's one ride you would prefer to sit in the dark if it broke down.. so you wouldn't see how compacted the actual ride is!

Seriously??

I was on Space Mountain with a friend in Disneyland when we were stopped and after about a minute they turned on the lights and turned off the music. We had to be evacuated off the ride and it was pretty easy (there are cast members who help you out of the ride vehicle, down any ladders/walkways, etc). I remember thinking that everything was VERY far apart and that I shouldn't be such a chicken about putting my arms up on the ride. Not the other way around...

OP - you will be fine! Have fun!!

 

[CinderElsa]

Space Mountain is one of the safest attractions in all of Walt Disney World. Most Cast Members in the area refer to it as Breakdown Mountain and check-in on Facebook at Breakdown Mountain when it goes down. Leaders, coordinators and Space Cast Members consistently go through Breakdown Classes and trainings. When Space goes down, it is usually caused by the guests.

The most common breakdown usually happens at unload. During a busy day, rockets come as quick as 21 seconds between each other. If guests are slow or need extra time to exit the rocket, there will be a backup of rockets at the station. After a couple of rockets getting backed up, the ride will have an automatic emergency stop because the rockets will eventually be too close to each other. This will have the shortest amount of downtime, usually just over an hour.

When this happens, the coordinators need to dump the queue. After the queue is empty, the Cast Members at load will reset the ride on both A Side and B Side and they will RAC out and begin track walking. Once the Cast Members meet up, they will then begin to cascade the rockets. Cascading the rockets means manually pushing them to the next zone and eventually to unload. This needs to be done for every rocket on the track.

If there is a 104 party (wheelchair party,) Space Cast Members may need to contact the fire department, Reedy Creek, to assist with the evacuation. There is an elevator inside Space Mountain on B Side, the side we send guests with disabilities. On a related note, the top of Space Mountain is an extendable roof and can open in the event of a Signal 25 (fire) inside the mountain.

Another common breakdown is when a guest drops something on the ride. If it lands on the track or passes through an intrusion sensor, it will trigger another emergency stop. The closing track walkers at the end of the night will be able to retrieve the item that was dropped. For this, Ride Access Control procedures must be taken and Cast Members will have to make sure everyone is still seated in their rockets and figure out what caused an intrusion in that zone. They then have to cascade the rockets, etc.

Occasionally, Cast Members inside the tower can cause an issue. Sometimes it is a station stop, guest standing up or even a guest getting out of their rocket. Once, a Cast Member advanced a rocket without seeing a hand signal from another Cast Member signaling he was about to cross the track. The restraint Cast Member hit the E-Stop just in time, as a Cast Member could have been seriously injured. Oddly enough, Space will always go down whenever a certain coordinator steps foot in the mountain for the first time in a while.

Also to note, if one side goes down, it affects both sides. Other attractions like Tower of Terror have separate ride systems for each side, but Space only has one. If Reedy Creek needs to be called, Space can be down for 3-4 hours. If it is only a minor issue, it should be up about an hour and a half later.

Interesting! Thanks for this info!

The scariest roller coaster malfunction I can remember was when a car got stuck underneath an inversion at Six Flags. The people had to hang upside down until they could be safely collected.

 

[goofy289]

This was exactly what I wanted to know When I was a kid, my friend's parents took us to an amusement park (six flags) and they rode the Ferris Wheel. It broke down and they had to CLIMB down this little ladder. Someone would have to tranquilize me to do that, because I'm really afraid of heights. I was just wondering if SM shut down, if you would have to climb around on tiny ladders and such. Thanks for all the awesome info!!

You're lucky to have had a ladder to climb down! About 20 years ago I was on a Ferris wheel at a local carnival. All the cables broke and the Ferris wheel wouldn't stop going around. We were stuck until the workers slowed it down by hand and eventually got us off. Needless to say, I've never been on another Ferris wheel since! Disney, however, doesn't make me nervous at all. I always feel that rides and attractions that do not move locations and have regular safety checks are safe and not anything to be overly nervous about. Go and have a great time! Space Mountain is way better than any Ferris wheel!!

 

[Travelgrrl]

I'd rather get stuck on EE or SM than Pooh! Pooh broke down once when we were about halfway through...we had to listen to tigger for a good 10 minutes, then got unloaded and walked thru the ride. So annoying. Tigger's voice was annoying, not that the ride broke down.

Once a reluctant WDW beau came with me on a family trip. He didn't want to go, then he did, and so on. So we make it to Shades of Green and he's calmed that the resort is largely Mickey-free, then we went to Magic Kingdom on the monorail from Poly and I manage to get us in the pilot's car (back when they gave you a "Monorail Driver's License - don't know if they do that any more). So everything is tickety boo, right? Look at all the pretty flowers!

We go on Buzz right away and of course the ride breaks down in the middle. He had about 90 seconds of Disney fun. Then we sat there near a very large animatronic Buzz Lightyear that said "Blast him with everything you've got" repeatedly for the next 15 minutes or so. Let's agree it's quite a loud and vibrant ride, and we sat there "Blast him... Blast him... Blast him..."

That was it. The following day I found him quietly crying in the stairwell and arranged his early airfare home.

 

[aVASTGrl]

Space Mountain is one of the safest attractions in all of Walt Disney World. Most Cast Members in the area refer to it as Breakdown Mountain and check-in on Facebook at Breakdown Mountain when it goes down. Leaders, coordinators and Space Cast Members consistently go through Breakdown Classes and trainings. When Space goes down, it is usually caused by the guests.

The most common breakdown usually happens at unload. During a busy day, rockets come as quick as 21 seconds between each other. If guests are slow or need extra time to exit the rocket, there will be a backup of rockets at the station. After a couple of rockets getting backed up, the ride will have an automatic emergency stop because the rockets will eventually be too close to each other. This will have the shortest amount of downtime, usually just over an hour.

When this happens, the coordinators need to dump the queue. After the queue is empty, the Cast Members at load will reset the ride on both A Side and B Side and they will RAC out and begin track walking. Once the Cast Members meet up, they will then begin to cascade the rockets. Cascading the rockets means manually pushing them to the next zone and eventually to unload. This needs to be done for every rocket on the track.

If there is a 104 party (wheelchair party,) Space Cast Members may need to contact the fire department, Reedy Creek, to assist with the evacuation. There is an elevator inside Space Mountain on B Side, the side we send guests with disabilities. On a related note, the top of Space Mountain is an extendable roof and can open in the event of a Signal 25 (fire) inside the mountain.

Another common breakdown is when a guest drops something on the ride. If it lands on the track or passes through an intrusion sensor, it will trigger another emergency stop. The closing track walkers at the end of the night will be able to retrieve the item that was dropped. For this, Ride Access Control procedures must be taken and Cast Members will have to make sure everyone is still seated in their rockets and figure out what caused an intrusion in that zone. They then have to cascade the rockets, etc.

Occasionally, Cast Members inside the tower can cause an issue. Sometimes it is a station stop, guest standing up or even a guest getting out of their rocket. Once, a Cast Member advanced a rocket without seeing a hand signal from another Cast Member signaling he was about to cross the track. The restraint Cast Member hit the E-Stop just in time, as a Cast Member could have been seriously injured. Oddly enough, Space will always go down whenever a certain coordinator steps foot in the mountain for the first time in a while.

Also to note, if one side goes down, it affects both sides. Other attractions like Tower of Terror have separate ride systems for each side, but Space only has one. If Reedy Creek needs to be called, Space can be down for 3-4 hours. If it is only a minor issue, it should be up about an hour and a half later.

Fascinating!! Thanks for the insight, I love learning how rides work!

All the years that I've ridden Space Mountain, I've never been on it when it broke! Other rides, plenty of times but never Space.

 

[JM27]

I'd rather get stuck on EE or SM than Pooh! Pooh broke down once when we were about halfway through...we had to listen to tigger for a good 10 minutes, then got unloaded and walked thru the ride. So annoying. Tigger's voice was annoying, not that the ride broke down.

The same thing happened to me but on the Nemo ride! We were stopped by the jellyfish area but mostly I just heard Dory repeating the same thing over and over and over for what felt like forever.

 

[Viva Las Disney]

If you are really concerned and don't mind some of the magic being revealed you can find evacuation videos on youtube for most of the rides now. Personally I find the behind the scenes stuff fascinating.

WDW SM - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXtX1W_1e_Y

DL SM - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MEo8XJiPhg

 

[Albion218]

I've ridden it with the lights on and I still keep my hands up as high as I can get them. If I really try I can brush the tops of the tunnels but I have to be actively trying to reach as far as humanly possible. Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

The one time I touched the top of the tunnel at the beginning, I got the bejesus shocked out of me. My arm didn't quite feel right for a couple hours. Never did that again! Haha

My mom and I got stuck on SM at Disneyland over Christmas. It was very awesome! There are break checks throughout the ride so if that happens each one stops at a checkpoint so no one crashes. The DL one isn't very compacted. I got quite a few pics, I was super excited to see the inside!

I haven't seen the WDW SM yet. Hopefully one day!

 

[msmileyface]

Space Mountain is one of the safest attractions in all of Walt Disney World. Most Cast Members in the area refer to it as Breakdown Mountain and check-in on Facebook at Breakdown Mountain when it goes down. Leaders, coordinators and Space Cast Members consistently go through Breakdown Classes and trainings. When Space goes down, it is usually caused by the guests.

The most common breakdown usually happens at unload. During a busy day, rockets come as quick as 21 seconds between each other. If guests are slow or need extra time to exit the rocket, there will be a backup of rockets at the station. After a couple of rockets getting backed up, the ride will have an automatic emergency stop because the rockets will eventually be too close to each other. This will have the shortest amount of downtime, usually just over an hour.

When this happens, the coordinators need to dump the queue. After the queue is empty, the Cast Members at load will reset the ride on both A Side and B Side and they will RAC out and begin track walking. Once the Cast Members meet up, they will then begin to cascade the rockets. Cascading the rockets means manually pushing them to the next zone and eventually to unload. This needs to be done for every rocket on the track.

If there is a 104 party (wheelchair party,) Space Cast Members may need to contact the fire department, Reedy Creek, to assist with the evacuation. There is an elevator inside Space Mountain on B Side, the side we send guests with disabilities. On a related note, the top of Space Mountain is an extendable roof and can open in the event of a Signal 25 (fire) inside the mountain.

Another common breakdown is when a guest drops something on the ride. If it lands on the track or passes through an intrusion sensor, it will trigger another emergency stop. The closing track walkers at the end of the night will be able to retrieve the item that was dropped. For this, Ride Access Control procedures must be taken and Cast Members will have to make sure everyone is still seated in their rockets and figure out what caused an intrusion in that zone. They then have to cascade the rockets, etc.

Occasionally, Cast Members inside the tower can cause an issue. Sometimes it is a station stop, guest standing up or even a guest getting out of their rocket. Once, a Cast Member advanced a rocket without seeing a hand signal from another Cast Member signaling he was about to cross the track. The restraint Cast Member hit the E-Stop just in time, as a Cast Member could have been seriously injured. Oddly enough, Space will always go down whenever a certain coordinator steps foot in the mountain for the first time in a while.

Also to note, if one side goes down, it affects both sides. Other attractions like Tower of Terror have separate ride systems for each side, but Space only has one. If Reedy Creek needs to be called, Space can be down for 3-4 hours. If it is only a minor issue, it should be up about an hour and a half later.

That's fascinating! That really helps me feel better. I am pretty well under control, but I have had panic attacks in the past and it helps me a lot to know "the plan" for a "what if" situation. It helps me a lot to know that if the ride went down I would just wait and someone would come "cascade" me!

 

[TimothyG]

This question reveals my anxious nature... I realize that Space Mountain breaks down quite a bit. When this happens, do people have to get evacuated from the cars? Or do you just sit until it starts again? How do you get out if they make you- ladders, walking on paths beside the track, something else? I am nervous that I will be on that ride when it breaks down. I am not sure how well I would handle being in there with the lights on and being escorted out of a car on the tracks.

My experience is lights turn on, car stops when you get to the next brake section, two cast members meet you at your car, then you walk down some stairs and around to the ride exit. It's not really a big deal and it's happened only once in the hundreds of times I've ridden. You get a fastpass to use for the rest of the week too if you get pulled.