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[stifle]

On my last visit earlier this month I had an unexpectedly different experience on RC Racer. I was riding with my brother in law P, and the CM assigned us to gate 1 (yay!) for what was my fourth or fifth go on the ride that day. (The end of November/start of December was so quiet!) With the other two seats in our row locked out of order, we set off to infinity and beyond at around 5:55, with the park closing at 6.

I had become a little overfamiliar with the pattern of motion that the ride takes – a little forward, accelerate back to halfway, forwards near to the top, and so on. It was after the first time getting all the way to the top on the "backwards" run, when the car did not reach the top on the next "forwards" run, that I knew something had gone a bit wrong. We continued back and forth but reaching a lower level each time, without any acceleration or braking, eventually stopping in the station, maybe 0.5 metres in front of where we should have done. The little green gates at the front and back of the platforms stayed open. And the restraints and belts stayed locked.

The CMs in the control station were quite worried-looking and stayed behind the big gates, calling throug to ask in French and English if everyone was OK. Having established that nobody was in any trouble, they advised us in French and English that there was a minor technical difficulty which they needed to call for assistance in order to fix, that it was not major and we were in no danger, but that it would take 5-10 minutes to resolve. They asked if anyone needed water or first aid, and nobody wanted either. A couple of guests asked for an explanation in Italian, but there were no Italian speakers so they had to go without.

Some of my family members were waiting for me at the exit. They found the whole thing hilarious and were taking lots of photos of the two of us trapped in the front row (I can't imagine they will have been any good though, with all the fencing in the way and given that it was already dark). The CMs went to explain the situation to them and reassured everyone that we would be off shortly and it was a minor setback. They were also allowed to stay around even though the park was by this stage closed. The guests waiting to our right to ride RC Racer were, however, sent away and told the ride would not be operating again that day.

After around five minutes, two more CMs wearing white costumes and with a toolbox turned up. After some tinkering around in the control room, they announced that they were going to reset the ride. Automated (and quite long-winded) announcements played in French and English stating that the ride was about to restart, to hold on, and keep hands and arms inside, etc. They drove the car backwards the necessary 0.5 metres and closed the green gates, and the restraints released. Job done, nobody hurt or particularly bothered, and time to head out of the park. The CMs were apologetic as we left RC Racer a little later than scheduled.

So in summary – ride failed, but failed safe, just as it should. We were stuck, but at the flat middle part of the track rather than up either end. It is encouraging to know that the restraints won't come open even if you're under a metre away from the station. And technicians were on-call and available to respond quite promptly; I suppose they probably hang out backstage in the Studio 1 area so were on their way over as soon as they got the call.

I'm happy that DLRP takes safety seriously and handled this minor incident well.

[littlebitofpixiedust]

I guess it made your visit somewhat more interesting! You never forget ride breakdowns, if broken down on 2 rides at DLP on different trips.

The first was rock n roller coaster this terrified me! We stopped quite high up and we could hear another train behind us still moving myself and my friend thought we were Goners!  obviously Disney were brilliant after an anxious few minutes in the dark they turned the lights on and made an announcement and told us we had to evacuate. We slowly got out and proceeded to the stairs and escorted out the building.

Second break down was tower of terror this was quite funny it was my cousins first time and obviously I knew like you did with RC racer the sequence if you will, and as the elevator moved slightly back before going up it moved back and stopped dead pitch black I knew immediately we were broke down. My cousin how ever thought it was part of the ride to scare guests! She realised after about 5 mins sitting in the dark that it was not part of the rose experience. They got it working but by this point she was so scared She ran of ride before thy restarted it she told the cast member she wanted to get off.

DLP are really top class it comes to safety and deal with things very well I think. I think I'd of been a little worried about RC even though I trust them just purely because of the ride layout! However I love RC and can't wait for another go. That was the last big attraction I hadn't done until last year, looks quite scary but I really enjoy it.

[Ohana]

Good to know they are helpful if anything goes wrong. If I were you I'd have taken a leisurely and slow stroll out of the park to make the most of it being empty! Haha

[NCC1701Q]

We have had some experiences with technical difficulties as well the last two years, and indeed looking back it is more of an exciting story than actually a dangerous situation or a major inconvenience.

The first one was a quite simple one: Dumbo the Flying Elephant: it started to circle, we went up, and just as we reached the highest point it stopped turning and all elephants slowly lowered. There was an announcement and the whole thing just restarted.
Something similar happened to Ratatouille: the Adventure: about ten metres before we could disembark the Ratmobiles just stopped. The lights came on and all Ratmobiles were manually opened by CM's and we were escorted out of the attraction.
In Crush Coaster we left going backwards, and everything went fine just until we came at the end of the lifthill: the shell just stopped. We were looking down, hearing other shells go around inside and just "hung" there for about five minutes. No announcements, no warnings - and then we just tipped over the hill and continued the ride.
Last but not least, last year February in Big Thunder Mountain the train just stopped after entering the second lifthill (looking out on Phanton Manor). There were announcements and CM's swiftly came to evacuate (as we were in the last seat we were evacuated last) and guide us through the "inside" of the mountain back to the "mainland".

I think as long as there are no accidents those breakdowns are sometimes very spectacular - something to remember!

[tigger1974]

On 16/9/15 it was absolutely teeming with rain (I've never seen anything like it! ) but my mother and I were in the park and had decided to make the best of a bad day.  We decided to ride one of our personal favourites,  Casey Junior, we were seated in one of the cages and off we went.  We got to the last bend just before you reenter the boarding area and we just stopped!  The rain was pouring in and we were on a slant.  After a couple of minutes it became obvious something was really wrong and we weren't going anywhere.  Cast members came along and made sure everyone was okay and then said they were fetching ladders to get us of the trains.  Unfortunately my mother and I were unable to use the ladder so 2 lovely lady cast members came and stood in the pouring rain and talked to us the whole time.  After a couple of minutes a fireman arrived and helped us down (he was gorgeous!  - he looked like tennis player Novak Djokovic). When we got back to the station area my mother and I were so cold that the 2 lady cast members gave us a voucher for a free hot drink at one of the restaurants (we had a lovely hot chocolate at Casey's Corner). I have to say everyone was wonderful and we never felt in any danger in fact we felt safe and relaxed during the whole experience.  It certainly has not put us off what remains a favourite ride and will never, ever be forgotten!

[billy]

my husband got stuck on both crush coaster and space mountain 2 as well as the haunted manor and we were told to leave buzz lightyear as it had broken down. i was beginning to think he was a jinx! all things were fixed quickly although it did take them an age to fix crush coaster but everyone was perfectly safe. Disney were very good at not causing a panic and leaving everyone feeling calm they even gave out fast passes to those on space mountain so that they could ride again.