Space Mountain Temporarily Closed

[Tinkerbell19672]

If something really bad happened, it would be all over the news.

Must have been some major issue with the ride for it to be down this long.

Would it? I thought Disney keeps injuries under wraps

 

[DLgal]

Would it? I thought Disney keeps injuries under wraps

With social media, all bets are off on keeping something that high profile hush hush. Most news outlets these days get their stories from social media postings...SOMEONE would have leaked it online.

Also, by law, they can't keep ride related injuries under wraps. They have to be reported to the state and injury reports are available to the public. What they don't have to discuss are legal settlements arising from those injuries.

 

[otten]

Would it? I thought Disney keeps injuries under wraps

A big incident like that would be extremely difficult to keep under wraps and Disney wouldn't have control over the investigation. Other organizations are called in. We have found out about serious injuries and deaths involving cast members in back stage areas or outside of park hours and that would be much easier to hush up than an major incident occurring on a major ride during operating hours.

 

[YayforMickey]

Well, right at 8am, the first minute or two of MM, the app showed Space Mountain open. But since then, it has gone back to "temporarily closed." I wonder if it really was open at all. The rest of the rides have had huge waits for a MM. 60 for Peter Pan, 45 for Alice, 40 for Matterhorn, 40 for Dumbo, 40 for Pinocchio!

 

[sherilaine]

Oh, good. It shows that it's open this morning.

The app shows it still as "temporarily closed".

 

[YayforMickey]

The app shows it still as "temporarily closed".

Yeah, I just posted about that a minute ago. I'm thinking maybe it only showed that it was open as a default. It was only for a minute or two right at the beginning of MM.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

Oh my! I wonder what is going on with it then. Seems like a long time down for a hoax/prank.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

... I wonder if it really was open at all. The rest of the rides have had huge waits for a MM. 60 for Peter Pan, 45 for Alice, 40 for Matterhorn, 40 for Dumbo, 40 for Pinocchio!

SM takes a lot of guests out of circulation, so with that ride out of commission, all those guests have to go somewhere else -- like into other ride lines. If SM stays down all day, other ride lines will feel the load.

 

[YayforMickey]

SM takes a lot of guests out of circulation, so with that ride out of commission, all those guests have to go somewhere else -- like into other ride lines. If SM stays down all day, other ride lines will feel the load.

That makes sense, but I didn't see long lines like this yesterday, and it was down the whole day. I feel bad for those who used their MM this morning.

 

[otten]

Found this:

https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2019/0...ride-in-motion/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

So sounds like not a hoax but also not quite as reported. Since it was already slated for refurb soon it wouldn’t surprise me if they kept it closed now until the refurb is done.

 

[YayforMickey]

Found this:

https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2019/0...ride-in-motion/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

So sounds like not a hoax but also not quite as reported. Since it was already slated for refurb soon it wouldn’t surprise me if they kept it closed now until the refurb is done.

Oh, I hope you're wrong. We are coming in a week for my daughter's birthday, and it's her favorite ride.

Thanks for the link to the article.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Found this:

https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2019/0...ride-in-motion/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

So sounds like not a hoax but also not quite as reported. Since it was already slated for refurb soon it wouldn’t surprise me if they kept it closed now until the refurb is done.

He must not have had the lap bar down very far to be able to wiggle out from under it. I don't think I could get out of the vehicle, even with wiggle room. There are cc cameras -- didn't CMs see him climb out before his friends reported it at the unloading area? I'm relieved that he wasn't injured, but this is really weird.

 

[Kender]

It kept going down on us on Monday so this was a huge bummer on Tuesday and Wednesday. We got in I think one ride Sunday and that's it. All our FPs we grabbed those two days kept turning into multi passes for Space usually about an hour before our window. Kept wondering if something broke really badly and it might send it down for maintenance early.

Another article about the incident: https://www.ocregister.com/2019/01/...osed-after-visitor-climbs-off-ride-in-motion/

Glad it sounds like no one's hurt and it's not as potentially tragic as it could have been from some statements. Hopefully it's able to go back up for those who weren't expecting it to be down until later in February

 

[DLgal]

Found this:

https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2019/0...ride-in-motion/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

So sounds like not a hoax but also not quite as reported. Since it was already slated for refurb soon it wouldn’t surprise me if they kept it closed now until the refurb is done.

Wow, that's crazy, and sad at the same time. I really hope this young man wasn't forced to go on this ride because every one else in the group wanted to ride. To use force to maneuver out of a roller coaster car during the initial climb means this guy had a SERIOUS panic reaction. Unfortunately, he might not have known what he was in for when he got on the ride, but I have witnessed many people with cognitive disabilities have serious panic reactions to rides at the parks, but it's usually a smaller child and the adults have been able to hold them down until it was safe to exit. I sat in front of a mom with an autistic son around age 8 on the tram from the parking lot a couple weeks ago who was completely out of his mind with fear, screaming "get me out of here" over and over. It took 2 adults to hold him down. My boys are autistic, so I had so much sympathy for this mom, but she told me it was their first trip and he was so excited and has been watching You Tube videos for years, and she didn't understand why he was so scared of the tram. I saw them later in the park and the boy was watching Small World boats with his mom, while the rest of the family rode. She told me he wouldn't go on any rides and was scared of all of them. I imagine if she put him on a ride and he panicked, he'd easily be able to get out. That kid was STRONG.

I am glad that this man escaped uninjured. It could have ended very tragically for him.

 

[DLgal]

He must not have had the lap bar down very far to be able to wiggle out from under it. I don't think I could get out of the vehicle, even with wiggle room. There are cc cameras -- didn't CMs see him climb out before his friends reported it at the unloading area? I'm relieved that he wasn't injured, but this is really weird.

Never underestimate the ability of someone with a cognitive disability who is panicking. I have seen some amazing feats of strength and flexibility in those situations .The Space Mountain lap bars don't come down far enough to prevent someone from wiggling out and the CMs don't push them down when they do checks, they just ask you to push them UP. The seats are pretty roomy and the shape of them makes it possible to get out compared to a ride like Goofys Sky School, for example.

 

[otten]

Wow, that's crazy, and sad at the same time. I really hope this young man wasn't forced to go on this ride because every one else in the group wanted to ride. To use force to maneuver out of a roller coaster car during the initial climb means this guy had a SERIOUS panic reaction. Unfortunately, he might not have known what he was in for when he got on the ride, but I have witnessed many people with cognitive disabilities have serious panic reactions to rides at the parks, but it's usually a smaller child and the adults have been able to hold them down until it was safe to exit. I sat in front of a mom with an autistic son around age 8 on the tram from the parking lot a couple weeks ago who was completely out of his mind with fear, screaming "get me out of here" over and over. It took 2 adults to hold him down. My boys are autistic, so I had so much sympathy for this mom, but she told me it was their first trip and he was so excited and has been watching You Tube videos for years, and she didn't understand why he was so scared of the tram. I saw them later in the park and the boy was watching Small World boats with his mom, while the rest of the family rode. She told me he wouldn't go on any rides and was scared of all of them. I imagine if she put him on a ride and he panicked, he'd easily be able to get out. That kid was STRONG.

I am glad that this man escaped uninjured. It could have ended very tragically for him.

Yea It’s really fortunate he wasn’t hurt. Great job by the CMs.

 

[sherilaine]

That man is very lucky this turned out as it did - I can see this spooking Disney that someone compromised their safety protocol for this ride and perhaps the whole "pull up, pull up and show the CM your lap bar is down and locked" part of the ride will be altered to make sure no one else can copy cat this occurrence.

 

[AP1209]

I wouldn't be sad if they closed it down for refurb right now and had it back up for my trip in mid-March....

 

[DLgal]

That man is very lucky this turned out as it did - I can see this spooking Disney that someone compromised their safety protocol for this ride and perhaps the whole "pull up, pull up and show the CM your lap bar is down and locked" part of the ride will be altered to make sure no one else can copy cat this occurrence.

This has never sat well with me. I remember they used to physically push down on safety bars. I don't know why they stopped that practice. I understand the "pull on the safety strap" protocol on other rides because they are checking the integrity of the latch/buckle, but it seems unwise to trust people to pull down a roller coaster safety bar down far enough. Especially people with disabilities.

 

[GatorChris]

Trying to remember the details, and I can't seem to find the article. But it seems like a man did something similar on Splash Mt at WDW about 5 years back. Seems like they had to take it out of commission for a while. And then they ended up adding lap bars. The bummer here is that someone doing something really dumb is costing a lot of people their favorite attraction. And more, all those people are flooding to other e-tickets all day.

That said....Space Mt is the perennial DL favorite...and always breaking down. But so does Indy, Big Thunder, and Roger Rabbit. Seems to be a problem that's never addressed.