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View Full Version : Are attraction shutdowns normally this common?



daveywest
06-23-2008, 01:54 PM
We were at the park last week, and it seemed every ride we wanted to go on was shut down at some point.

Space went down twice while we were in line.

Indy seemed like it was down at least 2x a day.

Splash was down when we had fast passes for the last hour of our last day.

Peter Pan went down right as the park closed one night.

TSM was having performance anxiety so much that we never did bother waiting in line.

The paint was chipping so bad on BLYAB and several other rides, that I was afraid to ride the thing.

Is there a maintenance problem going on at the DLR? Or, is this just the norm for summer?

Malcon10t
06-23-2008, 02:35 PM
We were there June 1-6, and the only issue we encountered was Indy being down a lot (but the kids got great pics!) I don't know where you saw paint chipping on BLAB, but we had a blast riding it. Maybe bad Karma?

cynthia312
06-23-2008, 03:23 PM
Space normally "shuts down" the most just because it is always being ride to its capacity.

The paint was chipping off on BLAB?? Really?? I never noticed. Lol. Perhaps I'm usually too busy trying to aim at the targets.


I'm sorry you had to experience so many "shut downs" on your trip.

DangerMouse
06-23-2008, 03:33 PM
It's the ride vehicles on BLAB that are looking so warn already. Just about every seat back has warn off paint. I would think it would be pretty easy to get those repainted overnight if they just one or two at a time.

Matterhorn Yodeler
06-23-2008, 03:34 PM
Maybe a ride operator CM can chime in. But as a guest, it has been my experience that when a ride temporarily shuts down, it takes a little more than a half hour for it to re-cycle and get back online.

As to your experiencing several breakdowns, I would probably guess that you happened to be at the wrong place at the right time. I would imagine that most rides have these automatic temporary shut downs especially when some sort of safety issue comes into play.

kiowa
06-23-2008, 05:30 PM
I'm confused, hmmmm, i guess I'm just not understanding something.

Why would paint being worn off from where 1000's a people a day sit, cause a ride to break down? Or for you to not ride it?

Sorry for asking, but I just don't understand.

Burnt Toast
06-23-2008, 06:09 PM
Hrmn... thought I just logged into Mic...

Oh nevermind. Name of the page here is longer and it's in easy to read greens and blues. :D

PanFan
06-23-2008, 07:33 PM
I'm confused, hmmmm, i guess I'm just not understanding something.

Why would paint being worn off from where 1000's a people a day sit, cause a ride to break down? Or for you to not ride it?

Sorry for asking, but I just don't understand.

That was my first question too!

This thread (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=96767&highlight=breakdown) has some more info about why certain rides break down (though I've learned a bit more about the particulars behind dark ride breakdowns since writing that, but the general idea is still the same). In some (and I would venture to say most) circumstances, rides break down not because they aren't working properly (though that is the case for some) but rather because they are doing what they are designed to do. For example, on the Matterhorn, if all 8 station parking spots are taken up (or fewer if the station isn't stacked) and another sled is coming in, it wouldn't be safe to let it keep going until it hit the sled sitting in Hold 4. So if there is a sled parked in Hold 4 and another one enters zone 11 (the last zone), the ride will "cascade" meaning the brakes will come up and the sled coming into zone 11 will stop there. Since we can't have another sled come in and run into the sled stopped in zone 11, the brakes at zone 10 come up and stop the next sled from moving past that. This continues until each sled still in the attraction is stopped from crashing into the one ahead of it. However, the brake zones then need to be manually reset and that involves releasing the brakes and pushing the sleds stopped there until they get enough momentum to make it down the mountain. Once the brake zones are reset, we can begin loading again.

Each attraction has a number of safety features built into them and breakdowns are a huge part of that. We need to have both mechanical and manual ways to stop vehicle motion for the safety of guests as well as cast members. Though we may spout "technical difficulties" as the reason for most downtimes, more often than not (in my experience) downtimes are caused directly or indirectly by guests. Yes, sometimes systems freak out and the ride shuts down for mechanical reasons, but again, the fact that a ride won't work if something is wrong mechanically is testament to the fact that the ride itself is working properly. Though we know it's an inconvenience and a bit of a bummer when an attraction you want to ride isn't working, be glad that rides can break down if safety is at stake.

daveywest
06-24-2008, 07:52 AM
I'm confused, hmmmm, i guess I'm just not understanding something.

Why would paint being worn off from where 1000's a people a day sit, cause a ride to break down? Or for you to not ride it?

Sorry for asking, but I just don't understand.

Sorry for the confusion. Buzz wasn't down, but there were several cars with bags over them, and this was just another example of where I felt like upkeep was lacking. Maybe it was the heat last week making me irritable, but the park seemed dirty and in disrepair (by Disney standards). I watched cast members walk right by trash without stopping to pick it up.

The trip as a whole was less than magical. I had a couple interactions with CMs who were less than helpful. For instance, I wanted a $1 & a $10 of the new Mickey Disney Dollars. Customer service couldn't help me, so they sent me to the emporium. The person there rang it up, then pulled out an old 1 & a 10 and rudely told me that it was tough luck and refused to give me the cash back.

End result is we will never return in peak season again.

Bytebear
06-24-2008, 09:33 AM
I have had days where you just hit bad luck on ride break downs. It happens, but they are very rare. I have found that, on Space Mountain at least, it is better to wait a while and see if the ride comes back up than to leave the queue. If you are inside the building, and they can't get things running soon, you will most likely get a front of the line pass.

I do think the Buzz queue could used a little TLC, but believe me, compared to the dreaded Paul Pressler years, and really since the 50th anniversary, I have never seen the park in such good shape.

EeyoreGirl
06-24-2008, 11:48 AM
Thanks for the explanation, PanFan. It was really enlightening. Also very interesting for an engineer geek like me. :)

Darkbeer
06-24-2008, 12:42 PM
There are a few reasons why, and a main one is the new safety requirements that the state agency DOSH requires, including additional sensors on most rides, so a better chance of one going off and shutting down the ride.

But age and maintenance are also part of the equation. For example, the Monorails, the Mark VII are not yet available to guests due to design and construction flaws, and due to the fact they were using parts of the old Monorails, only one remaining Mark V Monorail remains in the park and is available to guests. Having just one monorail, with no spare causes long lines in the Summer and other peak times, and with no backup, even a minor problem can cause the attraction to close until they can take the Monorail back to the barn to repair it and the return it to service.

Same issue with Indiana Jones, it is overdue for a major refurb, but since the new Indy movie came out, and the fact that another major E-ticket, "small world" is already closed, Disney tries to "limp" along with Indy until they can get past the summer season.

HobbitFeet
06-25-2008, 01:33 PM
The person there rang it up, then pulled out an old 1 & a 10 and rudely told me that it was tough luck and refused to give me the cash back.

Well that doesn't even make sense on their part, since you can turn in un-used Disney Dollars for cash. You could just have done that, so it's silly for them to have refused to void the sale.