Someone is trying to tell me something.
First it’s snow in DFW in March (see prior), now this.
Now its 42 minutes stuck on the good ship Maria in the Pirates of the Carribean. So far. Really.
Update: I was at Disneyland, with my wife and daughter; wife sat this ride out, perhaps she’s prescient. We were in the ‘yo, ho, you, ho, a pirates’ life for me’ segment of the ride when everything came to a stop.
At first no biggie, then we stayed still as more and more people-filled boats piled up behind us. We knew something was wrong, but no big deal. Then, no motion for a long time. I wasn’t timing at that point, but at about 6 or 8 minutes a female voice gave us a “we’ve hit some stormy seas, but we will be moving shortly”. No motion.
At about 15 minutes we’d heard the announcement once or twice, and they mercifully stopped the music. A male voice accidentally said we were having a technical problem (true) and then later gave the ‘stormy seas’ thing (to his credit, then he abandoned the script).
Shortly after we were told that a sensor at the first drop had malfunctioned which had caused the whole ride to stop, and that facilities were/was coming. (Something I cannot figure out: how does any system designer allow one sensor failure upstream to stop all the downstream travel? Is the system that tight? During one announcement they said there were 44 boats holding 22 each, which given the size of the ride I cannot imagine would necessitate stopping all the boats.)
At about 25 minutes in another announcement, and the work lights were turned on. That was a good psychological move, as now we could see a lot more than the standard theatrical lighting, and the kid behind me stopped crying almost immediately. (It wasn’t me, really, but was good for my psychology, too). We could see some walkways not normally visible (pictures to follow if they clean up in photoshop okay), but nothing earthshattering.
Several more announcements, and then it was time. We were sequentially removed in an orderly fashion onto a landing, then went through a Cast Only area back to the Magic Kingdom. (My daughter was very happy to personally confirm there’s a Cast Member break room under the Pirates ride, which she’d read on a message board).
Disney was appropriately nice, and they seemed genuinely apologetic, and gave out a fast-pass equivalent for any park ride we wanted (good for that day only, and excluding the new Nemo ride), which we used.
The plane ride home was delayed, but only 45 minutes, so I suppose that’s a win.
Plainly, I shouldn’t vacation.
Hope there are some great moments to your vacation.
Hey at least you’re in Florida or California, apparently with your family per your tags. There’s a lot worse places to be so make the most of it and have fun.
I remember being “trapped” in a float in “It’s a Small World”. I don’t remember for how long exactly, but I’ve never thought quite the same about the “once cute” theme song. I think we were there 45 miutes or so. … I feel your pain… Maybe Aunt Susie remembers how long we were there!
I was in disneyland once with my family and I remember it was great fun. I’m sure you might have experienced the same fun.
This is the stuff of vaction legend. Your daughter will always remeber this one.
I hate disneyworld.
Welcome back to reality.
Hey, was this CA Disneyland or FL Disneyworld? I suppose I should go back and look at your other posts and figure it out for myself…
My Brother has been working at the CA Disneyland for 18 years now. Started all the way at the bottom and now has some Exec job. but he’s taken me all over the behind and underground parts of the park, and it’s crazy. I’ve even been able to “climb” the exterior of the Matterhorn.
Crazy how well it’s all run. But a breakroom UNDER the Pirates ride? Since the Pirates ride is already underground (hence the waterfall drop), does that make the breakroom underground the underground?
What Steve said:
“This is the stuff of vaction legend. Your daughter will always remeber this one.”
Ya Grinch! That’s going to be a family topic of conversation brought up at every family gathering long after your daughter’s grown with children of her own. “I saw how the Pirates of the Caribbean really worked!”
Families seldom talk (or even remember!) about the vacations where nothing went wrong. Screwed up vacations, Christmas trees that turned out to be ugly, Dad cutting himself after he told the Kid “Here, let me show you how to do that safely”, THOSE are the stuff of memories that will be laughed at for decades