Broken ride features

[DVCcurious]

I've seen youtube videos about broken ride features in Rise of the Resistance. Specifically the lightsaber doesn't come down from the ceiling in the holding area, the cannons don't move or light up when they fire, Kylo Ren's animatronic doesn't move, etc. Also the animatronic blue dude at the end of the Navi River Journey doesn't work anymore either. These rides are brand new. It's ridiculous they're having these problems.

This made me think about Expedition Everest and how basically none of the original ride features (the mist, bird on a stick, the Yeti itself) work anymore. I'm no ride expert but I'm sure many of you can point to other rides with malfunctioning animatronics.

So what's the problem here? Is it that Disney Imagineers create attractions that just can't function in the real world? The features can't hold up once the ride is operating literally hundreds or thousands of times each day? Or is it that there isn't sufficient staff to fix these problems? Is it the design or lack of maintenance? Or is it that these issues could be fixed but Disney just does not care after the ride goes into operation?

I just think it's sad that you pay all this money to visit the "best theme park in the world" and many attractions aren't operating correctly.

Why put all the effort into designing cool features if they're only going to work for two years? So I guess what I'm saying is....don't get too attached to that cool new feature you see on the Tron roller coaster, because that thing won't be working after 2024.

 

[Meglen]

Was just there in June and the lightsaber worked, and the bird was random if you got it or not. The Navi animatronic also was working. All these things you mentioned sure can break down but not 100% like the yeti is.

 

[fabfemmeboy]

It's mostly the animatronics and effects that break. Tron is a coaster with screens around it, much like Guardians, so it should have a better functionality rate. Plus it's been running for like 5 years in Shanghai so it should be relatively easy to make sure it works (one would think...)

 

[gatorlisa]

I have ridden Rise a total of 10 times, most recently 2 times each in January and September of this year. The only feature that was not working on most of these trips was the laser canons. I haven't seen those fully operational since my December 2019 trip. The Kylo Ren animatronic does sometimes go down and a B mode is used in its place, but as far as I know it hasn't broken and stayed that way. I think I've seen the B mode 2 or 3 times. The lightsaber through the ceiling feature has worked every time I have ridden it.

My understanding is that the timing of the laser canon movement with the movement of the ride vehicles was a large factor in the frequent and lengthy downtime the ride experienced in its early days and that stopping that movement has reduced that downtime. That could also just be an internet rumor. I know it still seems like it goes down a lot, but it's nothing like it was back in December 2019/early 2020.