Cast Member Warns Guests to Anticipate More Frequent Ride Breakdowns

Former Cast Members and Disney Guests had an interesting discussion recently about ride breakdowns and why we’re likely to see them happening more often.

Ride breakdowns are a part and parcel of the Disney experience. Whether you’re a Guest at the Walt Disney World Resort or the Disneyland Resort, Guests know to anticipate that their rides might malfunction during their Disney vacation. However, off-late many have expressed an increase in the number of Disney Park ride breakdowns, and for obvious reasons, they are not happy about the development.

Do Ride Breakdowns and Malfunctions Happen More Frequently at Disney World?

Many Guests would argue yes. For months now, Park-goers have been reporting increased instances of their favorite attractions breaking down. Not only this, but Guests have also shared how the general quality of the Disney experience has greatly diminished over the years.

During former Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s tenure, this was attributed in large part to Chapek’s focus on the bottom line, i.e., the money coming in and nothing else. Many were hopeful that on Disney CEO Bob Iger’s return, this would change, however, this upward trend is yet to be seen at the Disney Parks.

Cast Member Warns Disney Ride “Breakdowns” Might Become More Frequent

Recently, one Guest took to Reddit to share that “it [seemed] the ride breakdowns are getting worse.” The Guest explained he was only at Disney World for the weekend, but his wife and children, who were there for a week, felt the same way.

In response, some fellow Guests shared their own experiences with breakdowns, and in particular, some former Cast Members chimed in.

One opined, “One thing I learned as an attractions CM is there are so many random reasons for downtime. Disney is very stringent about their safety requirements, which is good, but with increasingly complex ride systems I imagine there’s a lot that can malfunction and I don’t know if they have scaled the availability of maintenance / IT with that demand.”

Another Guest also shared, “Many ride “breakdowns” are usually a sensor giving a faulty reading. Rather than risk anything, the ride computer leaves nothing to chance and always triggers an e-stop.”

In response to this, another Reddit user commented,

Correct, the “breakdowns” are a result of new ride designs and functionality. Safety is top priority and mechanisms are in place to shut the ride down if any sensor trips.

When a sensor trips it’s a full reboot/checklist scenario that takes time to get the ride back up and running.

Disney is not going to waiver from safety so as these rides become more advanced anticipate sensor trips.

Stay tuned to Disney Fanatic for the latest Disney news.

More on Walt Disney World Resort

Walt Disney World Resort is home to myriad rides in attractions in four incredible theme parks and two water parks. Rides like Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Jungle Cruise in Magic Kingdom Park, Slinky Dog Dash at Toy Story Land in Disney’s Hollywood Studios Theme Park, and Spaceship Earth in EPCOT keep Guests coming back for more, and make each and every Walt Disney World Park a prime destination for a Disney vacation.