What happens if a ride breaks down and you can't walk?

[Annam26]

As my vacation gets closer I'm gatting more and more excited

But I'm shocked at the amount of posts from people who say a ride broke down and/or they were stuck inside. What happens if a ride breaks down and someone who can't stand or walk is on it?

 

[Disneyland_emily]

Depends on the ride and the duration of the downtime, where the car with the wheelchair guest is and even then the answer may vary-

I worked R n R Coaster and I would say that 99% of our downtimes were such that either no evacs took place or they were able to have chair availability- But if it was deemed imminate to get the guests out the fire dept would be called in and they are trained to handle it-

I have yet to hear of an evac that they had to call in the dept to handle it so I wouldnt worry too much.

-em

 

[Absimilliard]

I worked on Space Mountain at Disneyland Paris and on that ride, as well as the Indiana Jones coaster and Peter Pan's Flight, there was the following rule for people travelling in wheelchairs: You had to be able to walk the lenght of the station in order to be allowed to ride. The reason for that is that if the ride broke down and there was a train in the cannon (on Space Mountain, you launched from a big cannon), the train had to be evacuated before the ride was restarted. If the train was stuck at the top of the cannon, there was 150 stairs at a 35 degrees angle to go down! So due to that, the "walk the station" rule was implemented. We only had to call the fire departement a few times... but that was due to someone with a fear of height who was too terrified to go down the stairs!

 

[Talking Hands]

They will call Reedy Creek Fire Department to rescue you.

 

[Michigan]

a lot of the time people thing the ride broke down when actually it's someone in a wheelchair getting on and they stopped the ride.

 

[zumbergc]

The rides that are on a continious load track, like buzz, haunted mansion, etc. Like the previous posted stated. They stop the ride to help get someone onto the attraction. Its actually nice when you get stopped on buzzz, you get to have more time hittting the Zzzz's.

We've been stopped several times on haunted mansion. One time was for at least 5 minutes. But we got stopped in the main dining room. So we had lots of time to check out all the vanishing and reappearing ghosts, and looking for hidden mickeys. I never really noticed all the things going on in that room until the stopage happend.
Not all down time is bad.....
Connie

 

[Annam26]

Thanks to you all.

This is a wonderful board!

 

[seashoreCM]

There have been and will be times when people who are able to get out of a stopped ride will be told to get out and people unable to get out of a stopped ride will be told to stay seated.

If anybody gets out of a ride vehicle, the ride has to be inspected to be sure no one is in or about the ride scenery before the ride is restarted. So some of the time everyone is told to stay seated until the CM's are sure the ride will be stopped for a long while.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[SueM in MN]

Here's what I've been told at WDW, which may not be the same at the other parks (if it's not correct, those of you who are CMs, please correct it):
- When someone boards at the exit, the CMs keep a log of the car (each ride car is numbered) they were loaded into, so that they know which ride cars have people with special needs in them.
- Only a certain number of people with special needs who would have to be evacuated are allowed into each attraction at a time (so that they don't exceed the number who can be evacuated in a reasonable amount of time). In some attractions, they might be able to let another special needs party on after the first party gets past the hard to evacuate point.
- There are many cameras inside each attraction so that the CMs can have a look at what is going on. They can also find a particular car by number and know wherre it is.
- If you can't walk and evacuation is necessary, you will have to wait to be evacuated (as was already mentioned, by the fire department).
- At WDW, the rides with steps do allow people who can't climb steps or walk to ride, it just says you will have to wait to be evacuated. Even if a ride breaks down, an evacuation down steps might not be necessary.
- And, as was already mentioned, a lot of stops that people think are ride malfunctions are just temporary stops to let people with special needs on.