While we all hope for a theme park vacation filled with cool breezes, short lines, and cheerful companions, the reality is often much different.
As a visitor, certain disastrous situations often seem like rare occurrences. Unfortunately, those seemingly “fluke incidents” are much more common than you probably realize, as I found out when I worked as Walt Disney Wolrd Cast Member. As any theme park employee knows, some awful situations happen much more often than you think.
1. Attraction Down Times
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit
Down times are far from a rare occurrence at theme parks. Don’t be surprised to find one or many attractions experiencing “technical difficulties” during your theme park visit. The frequency of down times depends largely upon the attraction. Some, like Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit at Universal Studios Florida, are notorious among team members for having frequent down times. Newer rides typically have more frequent down times as well, as kinks get worked out of the system. Visit the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Magic Kingdom or Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts any time soon and you may see what I mean.
In nearly all cases, the employees standing out front truly have no idea when the ride will be back up, if they even know exactly what went wrong. Asking the same question different ways won’t help. Instead, move on to the next attraction on your agenda and check back later.
2. Hats and sunglasses whisked away on rides
Sunglasses
As a Cast Member, I saw plenty of guests who believed that their hats and sunglasses would be the exception to the rule, staying securely on their heads despite all warnings to the contrary. I also picked up hats and sunglasses from the ride track nearly every single night. Sure, you might get lucky and keep your accessories, but chances are also excellent that a sharp turn will send them flying. Don’t wait for someone to remind you to take them off. If you’re riding any kind of roller coaster or bumpy ride, play it safe and remove them.
The good news is that many hats and sunglasses are retrieved from ride tracks and taken to lost and found at the end of the night, so there is a chance that you’ll get your belongings back if you lose them. The bad news is that these items usually sit on the track all day before they’re picked up at closing, so if they fall in the wrong spot they could be completely destroyed by the time someone gets to them.
3. Ride evacuations
Caribbean Plaza Warnings
As with down times, ride evacuations are much more common on some rides than on others. The process also varies dramatically. If a simulator stops working at Star Tours, guests are simply escorted to the next available simulator. If technical difficulties occur during an attraction with a show, guests are often asked to leave mid-show. A team member from Terminator 2: 3-D Battle Across Time shared that the bike in the show would experience faults numerous times a week, and sometimes daily that would cause the show to stop in the middle.
Evacuations like these cause only minor inconveniences to your day. Evacuations from bigger rides, however, can be quite the experience. While the preferable plan of action is always to cycle the ride out so guests can get off at the regular exit point, some technical problems require an evacuation directly on the ride track. If you’re evacuated from Expedition Everest, you may have to climb down long flights of stairs. In Pirates of the Caribbean, a Cast Member may have to climb in the water and push or pull your boat to the next exit point. In any dark ride, the lights will come up and you’ll get to see the attraction as it appears in stark reality rather than the carefully lit fantasy you’re meant to see.
4. Inclement weather
Unfavorable weather conditions can happen to theme parks worldwide. In some locations, however, these situations are more common than others. Anaheim, California where Disneyland is located, sees just 33 days of precipitation a year, and annual rainfall averages 13.4 inches. Head to an Orlando theme park and it’s a very different story. The city has an average of 117 days of rain each year, and an annual precipitation over 50 inches. If you visit Orlando in summer, it’s less a question of if it will rain during your visit and more a question of when. Afternoon showers are typically a daily occurrence.
While rain is a minor nuisance, the worst it can cause are some annoying backups in gift shop doorways. It’s what comes with the rain that causes real problems. Florida is the lightning capital of the United States, with 1.45 million strikes each year. If there is lightning anywhere in the vicinity, outdoor attractions at all major theme parks will close until they get the all clear. If you see lightning on the horizon, stick with indoor activities instead.
5. Illness or injury
Dasani Bottled WaterDrink up to stave off dehydration and related problems
It would be completelyunfair and incorrect to portray theme parks as highly dangerous destinations (in fact, they are quite the opposite), but they’re not without their dangers.
The best way to protect yourself from injury in a theme park is to be aware of the fact that all the pixie dust in the world won’t save you if you’re doing something dangerous. Many riders who do get injured do so as a result of failing to follow basic safety instructions. Always read through the safety warnings and listen to employees’ warnings.
It’s important to prepare for the strenuous environment of a theme park vacation as well. It’s not at all uncommon for guests to get dehydrated and sunburnt. After getting good and hot and consuming more soda and sugar than good clean water, the natural reaction is often a quick refunding of the last thing you ate. It’s not just the big roller coasters that can cause guests to vomit. Bumping around a bit in a 3-D show can do the trick, and it often does.
Do what you can to stay hydrated and healthy and protect yourself from the elements. If you have to be sick anyway, look for a contained spot off to the side. Throwing up in the bushes may seem like a great way to keep the mess out of the way, but take it from someone who’s cleaned up this type of mess before – it’s not. Flat streets or hard floors make it much easier to take care of the mess. Don’t forget most theme parks have first aid with basic medications like Tylenol if you’re feeling ill and need some help.
6. Guest fights
In a perfect world, all guests would be sweet, polite, and full of sunshine. Many of them are. Unfortunately, long days, lack of sleep, and uncomfortable conditions can cause tempers to flare. Particularly hot and humid days have seen multiple fights break out between guests within a single day. While confrontations are handled as diplomatically as possible by park security, you could be asked to leave the park if things get too out of hand. Do your best to stay out of these kinds of confrontations yourself so you can enjoy the best vacation possible.
Park employees could easily see several or even all of these situations happen in a single busy day. Try not to view a few unfortunate incidents as a sign of a failed vacation. Things like this can happen more frequently than you expect, but there are almost always things you can do to salvage the situation and still make the most of your day.
