Hey all,
Experienced my first evac last night and have mixed feelings...
The magic kingdom was open till 12:00 via extra magic hours, and we boarded the ride around 11:00. After about 5-10 minutes of the usual ride, we experienced a "Log Jam" right before the final drop, just about to go up the chain lift. What a place to break down!
At first, everyone was in good spirits! We all started talking to each other, some even started singing Happy Birthday to a guest randomly :lol:. We were repeatedly told that the ride would resume momentarily. All seemed well...
Well, I guess it went from being a minor holdup to a full-blown technical problem. We all waited patentially for upwards of an hour! At this point, a new cast member with a very harsh spanish-type accent was now basically yelling at us. It wasnt until after the ordeal that someone explained to me that he was reading off th safety instructions! The entire time, the cast members were talking in their special "ride lingo" which was totally gibberish to me. It was also a painful experience! We kept hearing loud noises and sirens of some sort! They also said that they were activating the drops...
Now here's where I had a problem... I just feel it nessesary to reiterate that everyone was calm and patient until the very end. That being said, personally I was rather upset with how they did manage the situation towards the end.
We were on the lift prior to the five story drop for upwards of an hour! when we start hearing that they are activating drops all the while sirens and alarms are sounding in the back of the intercom - that's not cool. Minutes past and we still didn't move. Some guests were absolutely anxious at this point and did NOT want to be the ones to go over the fall.
After several more minutes of waiting, eventually people started leaving the logs. I stayed put, but there were some children absolutely petrified and some anxious looking parents who were not going to put their kids through that... While I understand the safety aspect of staying in the logs, I didn't blame them one bit. At this point, cast members SCREAMED at us over the intercom and started entering the ride and cutting these people off.
Finally, upwards of an hour after we initially stopped, the decision was made to evacuate us through the back of the park. Woah, that was an experience all on it's own! Eventually, we were given TONS of fast passes that worked at any time, for any ride in the magic kingdom. I certainly appreciated the gesture, but there was only one problem - it was our very last day at the magic kingdom so the tickets were pretty much useless. It was also my girlfriends sister's first time to the Magic Kingdom, so I was a bit disappointed for that...
I get that these rides are far from perfect, and i understand that they also occasionally break down. I also think that the crew does a stellar job keeping the attraction running as fluidly as it does, but I really hope that this type of ordeal is avoided in the future! They shouldn't have to keep guests waiting upwards of an hour and tell them the ride will resume shortly (terrifying everyone!).
From a guest perspective, duno what it takes technically speaking... But we should have only needed to wait 15-20 minutes. At that point, the call should be made to evac the ride to keep the participants calm. That call should have been made sooner than it did last night!
For the record - It's not my intension to bash Disney (I don't think I am unreasonable, and I still love this place! - just disappointed!)
Experienced my first evac last night and have mixed feelings...
The magic kingdom was open till 12:00 via extra magic hours, and we boarded the ride around 11:00. After about 5-10 minutes of the usual ride, we experienced a "Log Jam" right before the final drop, just about to go up the chain lift. What a place to break down!
At first, everyone was in good spirits! We all started talking to each other, some even started singing Happy Birthday to a guest randomly :lol:. We were repeatedly told that the ride would resume momentarily. All seemed well...
Well, I guess it went from being a minor holdup to a full-blown technical problem. We all waited patentially for upwards of an hour! At this point, a new cast member with a very harsh spanish-type accent was now basically yelling at us. It wasnt until after the ordeal that someone explained to me that he was reading off th safety instructions! The entire time, the cast members were talking in their special "ride lingo" which was totally gibberish to me. It was also a painful experience! We kept hearing loud noises and sirens of some sort! They also said that they were activating the drops...
Now here's where I had a problem... I just feel it nessesary to reiterate that everyone was calm and patient until the very end. That being said, personally I was rather upset with how they did manage the situation towards the end.
We were on the lift prior to the five story drop for upwards of an hour! when we start hearing that they are activating drops all the while sirens and alarms are sounding in the back of the intercom - that's not cool. Minutes past and we still didn't move. Some guests were absolutely anxious at this point and did NOT want to be the ones to go over the fall.
After several more minutes of waiting, eventually people started leaving the logs. I stayed put, but there were some children absolutely petrified and some anxious looking parents who were not going to put their kids through that... While I understand the safety aspect of staying in the logs, I didn't blame them one bit. At this point, cast members SCREAMED at us over the intercom and started entering the ride and cutting these people off.
Finally, upwards of an hour after we initially stopped, the decision was made to evacuate us through the back of the park. Woah, that was an experience all on it's own! Eventually, we were given TONS of fast passes that worked at any time, for any ride in the magic kingdom. I certainly appreciated the gesture, but there was only one problem - it was our very last day at the magic kingdom so the tickets were pretty much useless. It was also my girlfriends sister's first time to the Magic Kingdom, so I was a bit disappointed for that...
I get that these rides are far from perfect, and i understand that they also occasionally break down. I also think that the crew does a stellar job keeping the attraction running as fluidly as it does, but I really hope that this type of ordeal is avoided in the future! They shouldn't have to keep guests waiting upwards of an hour and tell them the ride will resume shortly (terrifying everyone!).
From a guest perspective, duno what it takes technically speaking... But we should have only needed to wait 15-20 minutes. At that point, the call should be made to evac the ride to keep the participants calm. That call should have been made sooner than it did last night!
For the record - It's not my intension to bash Disney (I don't think I am unreasonable, and I still love this place! - just disappointed!)
