I don't know if others were given return times but I do know that others were talking about leaving the line. In the past, everyone was given return times when a ride broke down. After we were denied, we left.
When I was a CM (multiple e-ticket attractions under my belt), we never gave out fast passes to the ENTIRE queue during a breakdown. There was always a midway point in the line at which we cut it off - the back portion (the ones who waited the least) would just turn around and exit the queue the way in which they came and receive nothing. The others would continue forward and exit in/near the station, but receive a FP for later. It was very cut and dry. So you must have been in the group closer to the station.
Regardless, if you were in Soarin…that ride rarely ever breaks down TOTALLY. They have three theaters. For all three to break at once is unheard of, and even if it happened, they would have dumped the queue, not left everyone to wait in one spot indefinitely for them to fix the entire ride. Are you sure it wasn’t just that one theater broke down which caused the line to back up, because that’s the more likely scenario.
Now, regardless - maybe there’s a bit of a learning curve here in this situation for
everyone involved. Guests have probably now learned about the RTQs and ADQs and in the event of a much slower line than anticipated due to reduced ride capacity they think, “oh, well I was fine when I thought the line was only X minutes, but if it’s going to be Y or more minutes, I’m gonna go ask for one of those new return fast passes (probably what the average guest is calling it in their heads).” It’s all still very new and vague and guest and cast alike are still learning how to deal with these requests both from people who need them during normal operations as well as people who are asking for them when the wait is suddenly longer due to technical issues. I’m guessing you weren’t the first person to come up and ask a RTQ/ADQ, and I doubt everyone who asked even technically qualified. I’m imagining CMs at their wits’ end with tons more guests asking for random access to the LL, which already happened with a mild amount of frequency even in the old days of legacy FP.
And as far as I can tell, in your case
you are supposed to leave the line because you have pain, not the entire family. Then you would have been given an AQR to meet up with your family at the merge point. The RTQs are not supposed to be given out to just anyone who asks, and I think the CMs are probably inundated with entire families leaving the lines expecting to get LL access granted, which is where their frustration is stemming from. Unless you are a solo traveler or a single adult with a young child(ren) or with someone who cannot be left alone, pretty much everyone is expected to stay in line while the person with specific needs exits and gets a AQR pass to meet up at merge later.
(I’m sure I will be corrected if I have any of that wrong. But as I said, we’re all still learning the ins and outs of this)
