3. Space Mountain
Most of the evacuations listed here aren’t problematic. Space Mountain is different. Guests get stuck on the tracks an average of 2.7 times per month. Whenever you watch ride videos of Space Mountain with the lights on, odds are good that they came from a post-evacuation test run or walkthrough of the attraction. It’s not easy for cast members to free Space Mountain riders from certain parts of the track.
When the ride shuts down, a Disney employee will walk the track to see where guests are stuck. Sometimes, they’ll ask you to depart the attraction and walk to a nearby set of stairs or ladder. On other occasions, they’ll attempt to dislodge you in a way where you can coast your ride cart back to the station.
In some horrific instances, Disney even needs special equipment from the fire department to remove you, the same as Kali River Rapids. These two rides are the ones where you REALLY don’t want to get stuck and require evacuation.
2. Pirates of the Caribbean
Have you heard one of the stories about guests losing fingers on Pirates of the Caribbean? These stories aren't apocryphal. They happen, and the reason why is that morons stick their fingers in the water on the ride. Usually, lacerations occur instead of actual ligament losses, which is…good, I guess?
From a safety perspective, the fingers in the water, the potential ligaments messing up sensors, and the redirected water current are all causes for a ride shutdown. In extreme cases, Disney has to retrieve guests, and that’s a messy affair for people on a boat.
You’ll see cast members walking toward you and pointing toward a walkway. They’ll ask you to depart row by row in order to minimize splashing and the possibility of people falling into the water. Then, you’ll walk out an emergency door that you didn’t even know was there. It’s the purest way of ruining the immersion of a Disney ride forever. And it happens three times a month on average.
1. Frozen Ever After
Hoo boy! Everyone's favorite journey to Arendelle is a landmine. Frozen Ever After tears up a LOT. Even worse, when it does tear up, it's challenging to reset without performing a full evacuation. Cast members frequently cut power to parts of the attraction, making it the rare ride whose Audio-Animatronics may shut off while you're waiting. And if you're in the Let It Snow portion of the attraction, you'll be grateful for the respite from hearing that song on repeat while you wait.
The numbers on Frozen Ever After are absolutely terrifying. It required evacuation 113 times in 24 months. Friends, that's 4.7 times per month or a little over once a week. Since its opening day debacle, the attraction has struggled to operate consistently. When it breaks down, the ride stays down for almost an hour on average.
The combination of guests sticking their hands in the water, jumping out of the ride, and the possible disruptions in the ride path explain the why of it. If you’ve always wanted to get evacuated from a Disney attraction, Frozen Ever After is far and away your best bet. Roughly 20 percent of all Walt Disney World ride evacuations come from this single attraction.
Comments
I have been going to the Walt Disney World Resort for the last six years or so and I never have been evacuated off of a ride before. Until this last Sunday night, we were evacuated off the Splash Mountain right before the final drop. It was a cool experience as a whole.