"I'm sorry, this ride is currently experiencing technical difficulties"

[Guest]

I have not long got back from a 5 day stint at DLRP (my fifth visit in all) and one thing really stood out to me. Everything was breaking down! In my previous visits I have seen broken down rides including Big Thunder Mountain but never to this degree. Don;t get me wrong I still absolutely loved my stay but this seemed particularly excessive. Has anyone else noticed more regular breakdowns.

In the five days I spent at the park here's what I experienced:
RC Racer was halted for about 20 minutes while I was queueing (I suspect this was someone leaving a bag and the necessary precautions being taken however).

Toy Story Parachute Drop broke badly towards the end of the day when my group were the next to go on. Luckily we got a pass to get straight on the next day which was great but we weren't originally planning on straying into Studios again.

Big Thunder Mountain broke substantially with cars stuck out on the lift hills while I was in the FastPass queue which meant I missed out on a FastPass.

Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast had some kind of big technical meltdown (maybe it was still running Windows XP ) which meant we were stuck waiting the queue for an extra half hour while the ride stopped every 12 seconds for the people who were going round (I imagine they scored well). I assume they eventually turned it off and on again after just trying to run it for so long and getting nowhere and then it started working again.

Rock n Roller Coaster managed to break down. Luckily we had just got off the ride and were going to take advantage of the 5 minute queues to go round again but it had been shut just after us.

Storybook Land Canal Boats was a walk on and just as we reached the steps to come down the bridge it all ground to a halt. This was not due to an issue with loading/unloading as I first suspected and had actually just stopped. It did start going again after a few minutes but then stopped for another 5-10 while we were half way round.

This was all definitely out of the ordinary for me although I haven't been in about 3 years. I wonder if it is a cause of increased safety precautions or just lower reliability.

[Guest]

We noticed lots of technical issues with rides. Buzz frequently stopping (definitely helped my score! ) and being shut at times. Also flying carpets, dumbo and aome of the rides you mentioned too.
It does seem a shame, I appreciate they are used "frequently", but even so...

[sammykitten]

we were there last week too - in the 4 days we were there I saw the Parachute Drop queue being evacuated once, but 20 minutes later the ride was back up and running. We went into Stitch Live on Thursday afternoon and then were all immediately asked to leave due to technical difficulties, and on Friday morning the Flying Carpets were showing as temporarily closed (we weren't there long on Friday morning so I don't know how long it was down for). I recall BTM stopping and the queue being emptied one afternoon, but again, the ride was up and running later, and we weren't in the queue at the time.

On Buzz I expect (and look forward to ) the ride stopping for a minute or so, so I can shoot at more targets, and once on Phantom Manor we had the same thing - no more than about 10 seconds stopped when we were in the cars. Both of those rides use those moving walkways to get in and out of the cars, and if someone with mobility issues needs to get in and out, that can be why the ride is stopped temporarily. Same kind of thing with the Storyboats, we did that loads last week in the lovely sunshine and I think we were stopped in the boats twice, for no more than a minute.

To be honest, compared with previous visits, I saw less rides temporarily stopped this time, but maybe I was just lucky.

[Guest]

Sure I expect some stops on buzz as you said, but one ride had about 15 stops. Which seemed a lot. Apparently it had just reopened following a problem, maybe not fixed!

[bel]

When we went in september everything at hollywood studios was breaking down - at one point the tram tour was down, crushes coaster, rock n roller, tower of terror, flying carpets and one of the rides in the toy story playland - we were kinda wandering around for an hour or two waiting for things to open!

I didnt find this in MK though, there was only the unsual couple of closures due to refurbs

[Guest]

I expect stoppages on Buzz and Phantom Manor but the Buzz fault was a serious fault. We timed it at 12 seconds after it restarted each time before it made a seriously of loud beeps and put out the nicely themed we've got to stop you for a second message. The CM would then start it again and 12 seconds later it would stop. Same with Storyboat stoppage it wasn't due to a loading issue just random stops.

It really just surprised me how many directly affected me. The fact that I'd never experienced being ushered out of a queue line or a breakdown stopping me from joining a queue in four previous visits and then I got at least one a day during a 5 day visit was not expected. Also the fact that Crush's Coaster, Peter Pan and Indiana Jones were closed for refurbishment meant that a few rides breaking down caused some hefty queues on others. Still, like I said a great time was still had by all and even with queueing through breakdowns the wait times were less than I'd experienced on other visits.

[shellbdb]

We were last there in November and actually thought the opposite. Only ride we had problems was POTC which stopped as we were queuing so had to exit, we checked a bit later on but was still down but was up and running following day. Then on one of our many times on Buzz it stopped for a while, but we were on it and took advantage to boost our scores. These were the only two technical difficulties that we had on our whole trip though.

[Markpc2013]

Here now and agree completely with OP. First time in DLP so don't know what the norm is but we have experienced a lot of closures/breakdowns. We had to be rescued off BTM yesterday after a breakdown (very embarrassing having the park watch your rear end dropping from the train to the floor with assistance from Fire & Rescue! ) We have approached rides to be told they are broken - It's a small world (twice), POTC, Amargeddon, Peter pan etc. Has put a dampner of our first time here - just as well we have Florida in June!

[Guest]

Our second day there in November we got to the front of RnRC and it broke so using my dibb training I asked for a fast pass to come back later. On leaving the ride (approx 11am) Studio Tram Tours was closed, as was crush, ToT, TS Parachute Drop and Armageddon was a scheduled closure. There was literally not a ride open in the park! We went to guest relations and walked away with FP/EP for ToT, Crush, BTM and TS Parachute Drop. In addition to the RnR one once everything opened we didn't que all day. We did cheat though we used the ToT one three times as they didn't take it off us, I felt really guilty... For about three minutes!

I felt really sorry for the people that were only there for one day. It was beyond pathetic.

[Bugsy]

Id write to them with your concerns

we went in 2008 and had the same issues with rides shutting , being told rides were open in other parts of the parks and when getting there finding them shut etc.

after 3 days of this i had had enough and complained.

I didnt spend all that money to not get what i had paid for ( or even close).

The Customer services manager in DLP was poor , he eventually passed us on to his assistant who gave us 5 passes to get on at the ride exits , lunch at Auberge de Cendrillon and tshirts for the kids. She also advised we write a measured balanced outline of our issues to DLRP guest services when we returned.

We did this and basically said we were dissapointed in DLRP . They replied with a 2 night 3 day free stay in SL with park tickets to take when we wanted.

The holiday we were given was excellent and the rides were all running . they even gave us VIP breakfast passes and a pluto toy for both the kids.

I always say that its not the things that go wrong that define a company but how they deal with those things .

Disney dealt with them very well ( apart from the grumpy Frenchman )