I never said that the technology itself was fickle, just that ROTR is exceptionally unreliable and that gives me pause for concern. While all of the other trackless attractions you named are operational (not living overseas, I’ve no idea how they behaved when they first debuted) none of them are currently operating in the domestic parks. I’ve been told that the powers that be have wanted to cheapen out on important construction materials that just don’t hold up the same, which can vary from project to project (against the recommendations of those actually building it), and every little adjustment can impact the behavior of the ride operation.
Yes, rides break down, including the “tried and true.” I’d say that’s more from not so great maintenance from what I generally see, but certain ride systems are also more particular than others. But I’ve never heard of a new Disney attraction being as temperamental as ROTR has been.
This is, of course, a definite possibility. Indiana Jones at DL and Dinosaur at DAK have frequent breakdowns due to the sensor technology on the track. If even a little hydraulic fluid is detected on the path of the jeep, the ride will shut down. With the trackless vehicles, it’s even more imperative that the floor they operate on is perfectly flat. The elevator technology was already perfected with TOT.
This all leads to my main point. We’re all unfortunately just guessing why ROTR is having as many technical issues as it is. Growing pains are normal, but I’m not used to seeing a new attraction struggle as much as this one out of the gate. But it’s an excellent attraction, and I’d love to see that level of imagination inspire something new for the Imagination Pavilion.
More important in my eyes s that the new attraction would have high capacity. The parks desperately need more attractions that are high capacity. I don’t want to further derail, but I recommend looking at the amount of attractions and average wait times at Disneyland Resort and then compare them to Walt Disney World. It’s not good that the parks so often get high-capacity attractions replaced with low-capacity ones (if anything at all in many cases), especially if the goal is to get even more guests visiting the parks.
