Attraction downtimes are more common than you might think, but this setback doesn’t have to ruin your day. As a former Cast Member, I have a few tips to share on how to deal with the situation.
When a ride is non-operational, it’s referred to as 101 (pronounced “one-oh-one” like the numbers, not “one hundred and one” like the Dalmatians). If you haven’t spent much time in theme parks, or if you’ve simply received an extra dose of super lucky pixie dust on your visits, you might believe that this kind of thing is a rare occurrence. It’s not. Theme park attractions are incredibly large and exceedingly complex pieces of machinery. They run all day, every day 365 days a year. Walt Disney World isn’t like a Six Flags or Kings Island. This isn’t a seasonal theme park that’s closed half the year for rehab. With so much on-time, it’s simply a statistical certainty that the attractions will go down with regularity.
So when you reach the part of your day where your agenda reads “Splash Mountain” and you find a cluster of Cast Members out front telling you the attraction is experiencing technical difficulties, don’t let it ruin your day. Here are a few suggestions thay may help alleviate the frustration.
1. Keep your cool
Here are a few other things you don’t want to do:
- Insist on getting an estimated time for when the ride will be working again. They really don’t know. Truly. Stop asking.
- Pout and park yourself out front waiting for the attraction to reopen.
- Attempt to use the empty queue as a shaded area to hang out and lounge on the dirty, dirty ground in the shade with your tired kids.
2. Understand the potential causes
If you’re still feeling a little irked that Disney’s worldfamous attractions go down so often, stop and take a moment to be thankful for the vigilance that keeps these rides so safe. Most of the problems that cause a ride to go 101 are minute. It may simply be that one feature of the ride isn’t working properly and the show quality is too compromised.
Star Tours: The Adventures Continue almost never goes 101 because the ride system is composed of six identical simulators that operate independent of one another. If one simulator goes down, guests are simply ushered over to the next one with profuse apologies and given the exact same experience they would have had next door. However, Star Tours can go 101 if one of the characters in the queue experiences a problem. C3PO has always been something of a worrier and has been known to go to pieces unexpectedly, shutting the ride down.
3. Be aware of the 101 process
When an attraction goes 101, the situation can be handled in a few different ways. The preferable option is that the ride will cycle out, meaning that all the guests already in the queue will be allowed to ride but the attraction will shut down once the line is cleared. If the problem is more serious, the Cast Members will dump the queue, turning back everyone in line. If you’ve passed a certain point in the queue, you’ll probably receive a ticket for readmission through the FastPass line later in the day. The magic point of no return where you’ll get one of these tickets is different for every ride.
Some problems require a third option, which is to stop the ride completely and evacuate everyone on it. While this may seem like a terrible hassle for the guests stuck on the attraction, it can actually be a really cool experience if you look at it the right way. When you’re evacuated from an attraction, you get to see the ride track with all the lights on. You’ll probably notice details that guests rarely see or have time to appreciate. On Dinosaur, you can see the tail of the Carnotaurus receding into the darkness in one of the very first scenes. This exists for no logical purpose considering the fact that it is completely impossible to see the ominous tail when the ride is in operation. It’s behind you to the left in an area that’s absolutely pitch black. If you’re lucky enough to get evacuated off a ride, these are the kinds of fun little details you get to see.
4. Don’t panic
If you’re on an attraction and it stops unexpectedly, don’t panic and get stupid. Cast Members will spiel to you shortly to let you know that this is not the apocalypse and everything is going to be just fine. You’ll probably hear this spiel several times as everyone does what they can to get the ride moving again. If you’re on an omnimover (think Haunted Mansion, Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid, Spaceship Earth, or The Seas with Nemo and Friends) your vehicle may slow down or even stop completely just to accommodate guests with disabilities who have trouble getting into the vehicle from the continuously moving belt.
If the ride problem can’t be resolved in a reasonable amount of time, a new spiel will alert you to the fact that you will be evacuated. You’ll be told to do any number of common sense things like staying seated and staying cool. Don’t get out your phone and start calling for help. Every Cast Member on the entire attraction knows you’re there. They will get to you.
In a perfect world no attraction would ever have to stop running. In Florida, it rains almost every day and so much as one lightning strike too close to the park will close down every outdoor attraction on property. Pixie dust can only do so much. Be flexible, go with the flow, and don’t let a down time ruin your day. If you really want to impress your party with your theme park knowledge, instead of wringing your hands and demanding to know why the ride is down, cooly ask the Cast Member if they’re 101. Then nod knowingly, shrug your shoulders, and move on to the next part of your agenda.
