POTC ride in the news...

[Communicore]

I guess no monorail for those stuck, buses or resort launches it is!

Anyway I got stuck one time at HM when the doom buggy was in reverse and beginning it's descent to the graveyard and it was for around 5 minutes!

 

[duff527]

I was stuck on Pirates for about 90 minutes when I was younger. The famous "yo-ho, yo-ho" song gets a little old after a while.

I'm glad there were no issues with the stranded riders, but I could see how there could be some concerns. What if someone had to use the bathroom? What if there was someone with diabetes or some other condition that required attention at some point over the course of those 2 hours? Two hours isn't a long time when you are prepared to be in one place for all that time, but when you expect to be in and out in 15 minutes, that could present some problems.

 

[Bairstow]

The ride was broken for nearly two hours and they didn't bother to evacuate their guests?
That's beyond inconsiderate.

 

[Victor Kelly]

So since POTC broke down.......Did the pirates start eating the Tourists?:ROFLOL:


God I love that line.:goodnevil

 

[Neverland]

Pirates is often down multiple times a day; it's very unreliable, and that's nothing new. However, guests being stuck for almost two hours is something that shouldn't happen... After trying and failing to start the ride multiple times, they should have just evac-d. I know Pirates is tricky to evac, but the whole point of a non-emergency evacuation is so that guests don't have to sit in the ride while maintenance tries for lord knows how long to fix it.

The article tries to make it sound like some horrendous, huge, mechanical thing happened in the ride that caused it to stop and leave innocent people trapped inside the attraction, but it sounds to me like it was just poor decision making. Management likely doesn't like to evac Pirates, because it's so difficult, but really, if you have to evac, you have to evac. Peter Pan and Space Mountain are difficult to evac, too, but if it needs to be done, it gets done.

 

[Master Yoda]

The ride was broken for nearly two hours and they didn't bother to evacuate their guests?
That's beyond inconsiderate.

Pirates is often down multiple times a day; it's very unreliable, and that's nothing new. However, guests being stuck for almost two hours is something that shouldn't happen... After trying and failing to start the ride multiple times, they should have just evac-d. I know Pirates is tricky to evac, but the whole point of a non-emergency evacuation is so that guests don't have to sit in the ride while maintenance tries for lord knows how long to fix it.

I am wondering how accurate that time is. From the article it would appear that the 2 hour figure came from guests and most people tend to exaggerate especially when being interviewed by the media. From my understanding Disney has pretty clear procedures with set times of when non-emergency evacuations are suppose to happen. In the case of POTC I could possibly see the last guest getting off the attraction 2 hours after a 101 evacuation but not starting one 2 hours later.

 

[Neverland]

I am wondering how accurate that time is. From the article it would appear that the 2 hour figure came from guests and most people tend to exaggerate waits considerably. From my understanding Disney has pretty clear procedures with set times of when non-emergency evacuations are suppose to happen. In the case of POTC I could possibly see the last guest getting off the attraction 2 hours after a 101 evacuation but not starting one 2 hours later.

I was wondering that, too. However, I think if they were only stuck for an hour, or 45 minutes, or so, I don't think it would be worth sending a news crew and creating a news story about it, since that happens quite a bit.

There are no set non-emergency evac times. It's management's call when to do it, or to do it at all, because it's technically a courtesy thing, not a safety thing. (Although duff527 is right; it could very well have been a giant problem had there been guests with health issues.)

 

[Master Yoda]

I was wondering that, too. However, I think if they were only stuck for an hour, or 45 minutes, or so, I don't think it would be worth creating a news story about, since that happens quite a bit.

There are no set non-emergency evac times. It's management's decision when to do it, or to do it at all, because it's technically a courtesy thing, not a safety thing. (Although duff527 is right; it could very well have been a giant problem had there been guests with health issues.)

In this day and age nothing regarding the media would surprise me. All it would take is one cell phone call from an irate guest and someone will be there with a camera and a microphone.

 

[Plowboy]

We got stuck on Dinosaur a few years back and had to walk out. Actually, it was kind of cool to see the inside of the ride with all the lighting on.:sohappy:

 

[klineski96]

I'm glad there were no issues with the stranded riders, but I could see how there could be some concerns. What if someone had to use the bathroom? What if there was someone with diabetes or some other condition that required attention at some point over the course of those 2 hours? Two hours isn't a long time when you are prepared to be in one place for all that time, but when you expect to be in and out in 15 minutes, that could present some problems.

↑ This... I couldn't have said it any better myself.

 

[Mansion Butler]

I am wondering how accurate that time is.

It's not. It was a long stop, but it was not two hours.

Like you said, guests exaggerate wait times a ton. It's always exaggerated how long a ride was stopped, or how long they were in line.

 

[Ignohippo]

So it says they were on there for 2 hours, then goes on to say they were on there for an hour. Which is it? Lazy reporting to not make that clear.

An hour is very understandable considering it may take maintenance a little while to get there and then diagnose the problem. Anything over an hour should be an automatic e-vac. It sound like they thought it would be an easier fix than what ended up happening.

If it were in the middle of the day, I could see it being a bigger issue for the guests. Coming in from out of town, with limited time available to enjoy the park, and being stuck on a ride for 2+ hours could really ruin the day.

At the same time, I've been on a couple of rides where the wait time has said 20 minutes, only to end up waiting for over an hour and a half. It completely destroyed our plans for the day both times. Should I be compensated? Should I call the newspaper?

Things happen folks...

 

[MonorailMegan]

I agree with everyone who mentioned potential medical conditions. My mom is type 1 diabetic, and while it probably wouldn't have been a problem, it very well could've been. My guess is that if someone was having medical issues, they could evac that person relatively quickly.

It's been about 10 years, but we got stuck on the MONORAIL for over an hour. We were actually sitting in the front, back when you still could. We just chatted with the driver and enjoyed the view! One lady in one of the car started to freak out though, she was screaming into the emergency phone and causing a huge scene.

I think they gave everyone a meal voucher, especially since some people missed dinning reservations. We did, and they just squeezed us in later. I attribute my passion for the monorails, and perfect pronunciation of everyone's favorite "Please stand clear of the doors; por favor manténganse alejado de las puertas.", to that adventure. :ROFLOL:

 

[theadmiral459]

I have a question i have been stuck on a couple of rides SSE and HM and had to evac off both of those how would they evac on Pirates you just can't get up and walk off the ride like others?.

John

 

[Bairstow]

So it says they were on there for 2 hours, then goes on to say they were on there for an hour. Which is it? Lazy reporting to not make that clear.

It's not lazy reporting; read it again.
The article says that guests told Fox that they were on the ride for varying lengths of time. The reporter has no way of independently verifying the time of the stop, which isn't the real story. When what you have to report are eyewitness accounts, that's what you report as long as you make that clear.

 

[Victor Kelly]

There are only certain areas where people can get off the boats. Other times, the boats are too far from "land".

 

[GrumpyFan]

What a ridiculous "news" story. Must have been a real slow news day. What's next, reporting flight delays at the airport?

Having been stranded on POTC earlier this year and NOT making the news, I can tell you it does not take 2 hours for evac. We were on it in March when it broke down (unload conveyor broke down), and we
were the next to last boat unloaded. It took maybe 45 minutes tops, but it did seem longer, especially for my wife who needed to use the bathroom before the ride started.

 

[Master Yoda]

I have a question i have been stuck on a couple of rides SSE and HM and had to evac off both of those how would they evac on Pirates you just can't get up and walk off the ride like others?.

John

It is not an easy process. At some locations guests can simply be transferred from ship to shore. In others CMs in hip waders actually have to come out and physically move boats to positions where guests can be transferred more easily to shore. It is a dreadful process and I can understand why the manager on duty would have given a restart every opportunity to be successful before calling for an evac.

 

[wdwfan22]

So it says they were on there for 2 hours, then goes on to say they were on there for an hour. Which is it? Lazy reporting to not make that clear.

An hour is very understandable considering it may take maintenance a little while to get there and then diagnose the problem. Anything over an hour should be an automatic e-vac. It sound like they thought it would be an easier fix than what ended up happening.

If it were in the middle of the day, I could see it being a bigger issue for the guests. Coming in from out of town, with limited time available to enjoy the park, and being stuck on a ride for 2+ hours could really ruin the day.

At the same time, I've been on a couple of rides where the wait time has said 20 minutes, only to end up waiting for over an hour and a half. It completely destroyed our plans for the day both times. Should I be compensated? Should I call the newspaper?

Things happen folks...

I disagree even an hour is to long to be stuck on an attraction. If they can not power it up within 20 mins or so, then make the decision to evac, otherwise be prepared to compensate guests.

 

[GrumpyFan]

There are only certain areas where people can get off the boats. Other times, the boats are too far from "land".

Correct. The boats have to pushed/pulled by maintenance crew/CMs to the nearest exit point. I believe there are two or three of these in the ride.