Regardless of whether the original story is true, I'm sort of on the fence with this kind of stuff.
On the one hand, if the ride stops, I really do think that you should stay put and they'll come and help you and all that. That's normal, to me. It's SOP. It's safe and all that.
On the other hand, though, I think that sometimes common sense ought to outweigh "what does the rulebook say" depending on the situation.
Let's say I'm stuck on It's a Small World at Disneyland for 1+ hours (unlikely, I'll grant you). No announcements. No signs of moving people off the ride. That's the one where only the trough has water, as opposed to the entire building being flooded. All of the boats have caught up to you because it's been so long and you're not going to experience a sudden bump or anything. I'm thinking: Get out and walk on the concrete side walk that's *right there* and leave.
To me, it's dumb for the ride to stop and for people to try to immediately get out and leave. Still, it's dumb for people to sit there indefinitely with no word of what's going on just because there's a rule. At some point my brain says, "This is stupid. If it looks plain-jane obvious to get off of this ride, I'm going to do it." That means I've given operations ample time to make their announcements and show some progress and I'm aware enough to know that everything around me is mechanical and if things are still moving, I need to stay put (like boats still moving, animatronics, track gear, etc.).
I know this will go against the grain of a lot of people but I just don't think you need to sit somewhere indefinitely and never try to save yourself because: There's a rule and someone else will do it.
