POLL: Have you ever had to evacuate a ride at WDW?

[hopemax]

Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters and Dinosaur at WDW. Big Thunder at DLR.

 

[Parker in NYC]

Rise. 3 times.

 

[MikeyK72]

Test Track, shortly after the refurb opened. We stopped in the "S" bends just before the truck. We were stuck there for at least 10 minutes before they came by and walked us out.

 

[KimAnnFran]

I've been 17 times and NEVER been evacuated....but I have been stuck on a ride, or turned away because it died.

 

[Marguerite T]

My sister and I were on Spaceship Earth four years ago when it was stopped near the AA who was teaching math in Greek- we sat there for almost an hour but the ride did get going again, so no evacuations. But we were all sizing up the path we would have taken if we had to evacuate, I've been to WDW and DL about twenty times and so far no actual evacuation

 

[Jon Good]

I use to work at WDW Attractions so I saw many down times. One of the hardest ones to keep running was Big Thunder Mountain, at the time it was the only coaster that could run five trains at one time. If you were in the control tower the timing for five trains was very critical so each train had to leave on time or you would have problems. When a wheel chair party came to the ride we would drop one train to have more time for them to get on, however that did not always work. If tow trains entered the same zone the ride would go down and we would have to evacuate the ride and reset everything. I remember biting my nails many times watching the monitors with five trains.

I was at test Track when it first opened and since it was a prototype system it would break down many times each day and we would have to evacuate the ride. It was a very complicated system with two computers running the ride and each car with its own computer, they were called smart cars. I was told that each car cost $500,000 and there were 32 of them. Before it opened the imagineers almost could not make the ride work so it was two years behind schedule.

It was interesting working there and seeing how they make all of the attractions work. You dont just turn on a switch and make it go. There are many complicated procedures to power up each ride. In the morning before we opened we had to complete many check lists to make sure the rides are ok to open for guests. The maintenance department was very good at keeping everything working.

 

[Disney4family]

We got stuck on Pooh right under the balloon. It thundered for a long time before a CM helped us out and we walked through the rain scene. That's my favorite scene so I didn't look around a lot to see how they do things.
WDW = smoke & mirrors = happy bubble away from reality.

We got stuck on Dinosaur. It took a long time to get evacuated. We kept moving around in the same spot for a very, very long time. The CMs finally came with a ladder to get us out of the vehicle. I remember the floor being very sticky all the way out.

We got stuck right at the start of Primeval Whirl. That was an easy evac since it was just about to go up.

We got stuck on SSE for an eternity. My husband was stuck in the Renaissance and the kids and I heard all about the Civil War being over and over and over and over...before being evac-ed.

 

[mkt]

Yep. A few times. Most recently Dinosaur.

 

[BubbaisSleep]

Haven't been evacuated yet though I've always wanted too, especially at Disney.

I did however get the chance to ride Gringotts when it was heavily malfunctioning & I thought we would be. None of the scenes were working correctly. The best part is the final room where you blast off, our car was facing backwards for some reason. So we got to do the launch backwards which was pretty scary at the time as I knew the ride wasn't working right. They did let us again but we had to take a long, behind the scenes route to get reenter where you exit the fake elevators.

 

[Freddie46]

I’ve been to WDW four times over the past five years. On our third trip, our first ride at Magic Kingdom was Big Thunder Railroad. The ride stopped on the first steep ascent. We were stopped for quite a while before we were evacuated. Our car was right next to the speaker that continuously played an annoying loop of music and message. When the CM’s came to get us out of our cars I got yelled at for taking pictures. Not really “yelled” at, but very sternly and forcefully told to put my camera away in a manner I’m not used to CM’s using when I’m in the parks. The actual evacuation was very organized and while we saw nothing very exciting or interesting, it was still kind of cool to be able to add that to our list of things we have done while at WDW. Plus, we got extra FP’s out of the deal.

 

[Tomi-Rocket]

Okay, first off my memory is not what it used to be, but that being said, I don’t believe we have ever been evacuated off any rides.

 

[Texas84]

Only once. People Mover from Space Mountain. Got an anything except 7DMT FastPass.

 

[danyoung56]

My last ride ever on Ellen's Energy Adventure, as the vehicles were entering the last scene, they stopped with the 3 big screens on the right. For a few minutes you could see the smaller screen on the left working, even though its black curtain was covering it up. Then it stopped, and all the lights went out. After a few minutes a tech came by and opened the seating area doors one by one. So I got to step down and walk a few feet to the exit. I've seen the show a zillion times, but it would have been nice to see it that last time all the way through.

 

[Scott Duracher]

Surprisingly, it's only happened to me twice in all of my many visits to Disney's theme parks. Both were at Disneyland California. Once on the Indiana Jones ride and once on Rise of the Resistance on our last trip in February. On ROTR, the ride stopped about 75% of the way through, so we were evacuated and received a pass to experience it later after the ride systems were reset. This was totally okay with me since it's so hard to get on this attraction and we basically got to ride it twice with only one reservation!

 

[Jedi Stitch]

Knock on Wood. No break downs for me.

 

[Pepper's Ghost]

We got stuck on Pooh right under the balloon. It thundered for a long time before a CM helped us out and we walked through the rain scene.

Stuck in the rain... did you get wet?

I'm kinda stunned how many people have been there SOOO many times and never been evaced, and others have been evaced numerous times. So strange.

I'm going to "off-topic" my own thread briefly, but for the sake of perhaps a logical explanation. In my mind, the statistics don't make sense. The only explanation I can think of is those who've been so many times don't go on rides as often anymore and enjoy more shows and just the atmosphere?? I've only been there maybe 5 or 6 times, but I love to just walk the park, absorb the atmosphere, etc. I don't have to be in line for a ride every minute of the day. I definitely try to cram in as many of my faves as I can, but I also need mental down time, and love to absorb "the World". I take it all in, the smells, listening to the sound of people talking, laughing, hopefully very few kids screaming, etc. I absorb as much as I can so I can feel satisfied and not like I have to go back in two months. I hate it, but admittedly my thought on Day 1 is always... "Crap, only 7 days left". I have to absorb as much as I can because it's not a cheap vacation.

 

[OG Runner]

I was evacuated right at the base of the last climb for Splash Mountain. We walked out through some scenes and then out a back door.
I was surprised at the time, how unthemed the back was, just looked like a warehouse.

 

[GraysonsDad]

Been to WDW a ton, only evacuated once...DINOSAUR

 

[Raineman]

Ride stoppages? Many. Evacs? Sadly, no. There are a few stoppages that will stay with me for a while. The best one, last November, had us stopped for about 10 minutes at the ballroom scene in HM-we've been stopped in HM quite a few times, was always hoping for a stoppage there, and finally got it. The worst? Stopped in the tunnel just before unload on RnRC, for 10-15 minutes. Both my DD and I are claustrophobic, which includes the fear of being held down and not able to move, so the thought of not knowing how long we would be stopped, in that narrow tunnel, while having restricted movement with the shoulder restraints, made both of us start panicking. Luckily, I had a stranger sitting next to me, who recognized what was happening, and she helped talk me down. Our first ride on it last November, we stopped-in the same spot-and I thought, not again! But, we only stopped for a minute or two, then moved to unload.

 

[dmw]

I was evacuated right at the base of the last climb for Splash Mountain. We walked out through some scenes and then out a back door.
I was surprised at the time, how unthemed the back was, just looked like a warehouse.

If tours ever resume, take the Keys to the Kingdom tour to see even more of the warehouse look backstage. Unfortunately, cameras are not allowed during the tour so I have nothing that can be shared.