Why are rides "down" all the time?

[kandb]

Is it me, or do Disney rides go "down" way too often? We were at Hershey recently and I don't remember seeing one ride "down". Today, test track, TSMM was down and I am sure a bunch of others. With Disney making "billions", I am wondering why this happens so often? Yes, I know the rides are used all the time, but do maintenance during the night hours. Sorry, but it's getting ridiculous.

 

[CAS239]

Weather, maintenance, someone getting out a vehicle, being one of the most visited parks in the world..there's a lot of factors.

I don't think it's a lack of maintenance, it's more the demand. Yea I'm sure the rides at Hershey weren't down, but they don't have anywhere close to the amount of attractions at WDW and just a fraction of the visitors

 

[ITALIANNYC]

I love it. The rides always open up soon enough and I walk right on lol

 

[smores]

We were at Disney this past weekend and experience way more "technical difficulties" on rides/shows then we ever have.....dwarf ride (down), splash Moutain (down. No water). Rockin roller coaster (down several times). Tower of terror (only 1/2 working, 3 hour wait all day Saturday. Long wait even with fp. When we got on ride was significantly shorter. Less drops. Shorter drops). Star Wars launch pad closed due to technical difficulties???? Star tours (we got locked inside the simulator after ride complete....). Festival lion king 6 pm show Sunday started 20 min late due to "technical difficulties". They loaded guests for more than ten minutes into the show in the dark. I can go on and on....

 

[kandb]

I love it. The rides always open up soon enough and I walk right on lol

Really, guess you haven't been to wdw often.

 

[TGM]

I don't think that they go down 'too often', but when they do, it's annoying. The doom buggies stopped moving for at least 20 minutes last Friday, and I was still in line. A CM ran over, pushed me out of the way, and went to the console thing. He eventually got it to work, but we never found out what went wrong...

On another note, does anyone know what happened at Splash Mountain on Friday? I was on the train, and I looked over the edge, and saw that the queue was completely empty, but there were CMs walking around the queue, with hundreds of guests waiting outside.

 

[IrishNYC]

OP, we go to Hersheypark every summer, and something is always down while we're there. Last summer Laff Trakk was down for a few hours, Lightning Racer had only one track open, and Kissing Tower was open on and off all day.

Rides at Disney can go down for hours just because a guest does something stupid, the ride has to be stopped, and then reset.

 

[BobHarlem]

The vast majority of the time its related to one of the riders doing something they shouldn't (dropping something out of the ride, standing up, or doing all sorts of crazy things). Rarely its from a genuine malfunction.

 

[Lynzer4]

Also many rides at Disney are very complex technical rides that use complex computer operating systems. When they go down it takes time for the ride to come back. TT and TSMM are two that are very complex. It's not just a simple cart on a track that goes in a circle.

Example... Gringots at universal takes 15 minutes to restart. I was next in line when the computer system had to be rebooted. The ride attendant said that the computer system has to be reset and it takes a while. Then they have to run the ride so many times before people can get on.

 

[cdnjason]

We were at Disney this past weekend and experience way more "technical difficulties" on rides/shows then we ever have.....dwarf ride (down), splash Moutain (down. No water). Rockin roller coaster (down several times). Tower of terror (only 1/2 working, 3 hour wait all day Saturday. Long wait even with fp. When we got on ride was significantly shorter. Less drops. Shorter drops). Star Wars launch pad closed due to technical difficulties???? Star tours (we got locked inside the simulator after ride complete....). Festival lion king 6 pm show Sunday started 20 min late due to "technical difficulties". They loaded guests for more than ten minutes into the show in the dark. I can go on and on....

Remind me never to get on a ride with you.

 

[smores]

I don't think that they go down 'too often', but when they do, it's annoying. The doom buggies stopped moving for at least 20 minutes last Friday, and I was still in line. A CM ran over, pushed me out of the way, and went to the console thing. He eventually got it to work, but we never found out what went wrong...

On another note, does anyone know what happened at Splash Mountain on Friday? I was on the train, and I looked over the edge, and saw that the queue was completely empty, but there were CMs walking around the queue, with hundreds of guests waiting outside.

We were on splash Moutain when it went down Friday. They finally sent us over the edge without the water running. (I never knew the cars are on a track and are not "floating" on the water)... Not sure what was wrong but it started and stopped several times Friday.

 

[Klayfish]

The vast majority of the time its related to one of the riders doing something they shouldn't (dropping something out of the ride, standing up, or doing all sorts of crazy things). Rarely its from a genuine malfunction.

Also many rides at Disney are very complex technical rides that use complex computer operating systems. When they go down it takes time for the ride to come back. TT and TSMM are two that are very complex. It's not just a simple cart on a track that goes in a circle.

Example... Gringots at universal takes 15 minutes to restart. I was next in line when the computer system had to be rebooted. The ride attendant said that the computer system has to be reset and it takes a while. Then they have to run the ride so many times before people can get on.

It's both of these. Lots of knuckleheads get on the attractions and do something they're not supposed to and the ride has to be stopped out of safety or something similar. Or sometimes they do malfunction, but think about the complexity of the rides. Some of them are incredibly modern and probably have an insane amount of sensors, computers, etc... Can't compare it to Hershey Park. I was born and raised 2 hours from Hershey and went there many times. It's stone age compared to WDW. I also lived near Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, and now live 30 minutes from Six Flags over Georgia. We have annual passes there too....but they're $90/year and you get what you pay for. Rides are down there just as often, if not more.

 

[shanethesaint88]

I was told my a cast member( when i was a cast member so he wasnt pulling my chain just to shut me up) that it 90% of time is something to do with the rides safety sensors going off. Say your on a ride and some drops there glasses straight down onto the track. The sensors go off telling the ride that something is there that doesnt belong so the ride shut downs immediately. Then there is a whole system of safety checks they have to go through and like PP said it takes a while for these rides to restart. Just think about even your computer takes up to a minute to restart sometimes. Now amplify that by the complexity of these rides. It sucks when rides are down but it usually isnt just Disney letting these rides recieve no maintenance. Its typically out of their hands

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Most all WDW attractions are highly complicated mechanical and techno machines, much more so then local type parks.. Add the high volume of passengers make it likely more often there will be breakdowns.

Often it is not a breakdown, but a stop to load and unload handicapped passengers, or someone on the ride tripping the safeties.

You will find this problem at UNI as well, especially at complicated rides like dragon alley.

AKK

 

[Stitch813]

Was there this past May 21-27 with no problems whatsoever...guess we got lucky

 

[DizzyStitch]

I was just at Cedar Point Thursday and the hours were 10 AM to 8 PM. We got in line for Top Thrill Dragster at 10 AM and they had just started testing the ride. They did this with a number of rides. With the limited hours they are open you really don't appreciate spending that kind of time waiting while they test since it should be done before the park opens. I think that what Disney does to run their parks is phenomenal compared to many other parks. You just have to see how it is other places.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Is it me, or do Disney rides go "down" way too often? We were at Hershey recently and I don't remember seeing one ride "down". Today, test track, TSMM was down and I am sure a bunch of others. With Disney making "billions", I am wondering why this happens so often? Yes, I know the rides are used all the time, but do maintenance during the night hours. Sorry, but it's getting ridiculous.

live in the Hershey area and rides do go down esp weather relate. most of coasters close during storms plus the whole park can close early if weather is bad enough. have been known to not open at all for all day rains