5. Evacuation

If a repair will take a long time, or if it cannot be completed properly with guests on board, you might be evacuated. Every ride has emergency exits along the tracks, which are sometimes accessed via stairs or even ladders. Cast Members will make an announcement that the ride is being evacuated and give you instructions on what to do—which is normally to remain seated until assistance arrives. Cast members will approach your ride vehicle and give you specific instructions on how to get out and where to go next. EMTs and other professionals are on call if needed, but evacuation is usually a fairly simple procedure even from roller coasters. The emergency exit might lead to a backstage area, where you will be instructed that photos are prohibited. In any case, cast members will guide you through the entire process and lead you back out into the park.

6. Guest recovery

Guest recovery is the term for turning a negative guest experience into a positive one. For most ride breakdowns, guest recovery involves ensuring that you get a complete ride experience. For example, if you are evacuated from a ride, you might receive an Anytime FastPass to come back to that attraction and use the FastPass line when it is up and running again. If the situation was particularly trying, such as a lengthy wait in an uncomfortable position, you might be offered something extra such as an additional FastPass to another attraction.

Guest recovery also occurs outside a temporarily closed attraction. Once all guests are safely evacuated and the ride is closed, several cast members are stationed outside the ride entrance to explain the situation to those who want to ride. While they cannot tell you exactly why it broke down or when it will reopen, they can suggest other rides, answer general questions, and generally make life more pleasant for those who decide to wait for the attraction to reopen.

In addition, the Greeters stationed outside every attraction can find out the status of another attraction in the same park by radio. For example, if Big Thunder Mountain Railroad has been temporarily closed, you can ask the Greeter at Space Mountain to find out if Big Thunder is open yet. This saves you the trouble of walking back and forth or waiting outside the ride.

7. Cycling without guests

When a ride has been closed down for a repair, cast members want to ensure that the problem is completely fixed. The best way to do that is what is known as “cycling,” or running ride vehicles empty while monitoring for any issues. This is why you will sometimes see or hear a closed ride running. Unless they find a problem, they typically need to do only a few cycles before reopening.

8. Restarting normal operations

Each attraction has its own procedures for restarting normal operations after a breakdown. In some cases, the Greeter will get instructions to reopen the queue before cycling finishes. This allows the cast members to quickly fill the first available ride vehicles and get operations running smoothly. At other times, cast members will completely finish cycling, make sure that the lights and sound effects are set for normal operations, and generally get everything ready for guests before reopening the queue. Either way, once the ride reopens, you can be confident that the issue is fixed and the ride should begin operating as normal.