Everybody knows that it wouldn’t be a Walt Disney World Resort vacation without rides breaking down right when you decide to join the line.
Despite the advanced technology (and Mickey magic) that goes into building a Disney attraction, breakdowns happen at Disney’s theme parks every single day. From Magic Kingdom to EPCOT, Hollywood Studios to Animal Kingdom, you’d be hard-pressed to find a single park that doesn’t suffer some kind of downtime.
Which Rides Break Down Most at Walt Disney World?
While there’s no way to totally avoid disappointment, there are statistically a few rides at Disney World that break down more often than others. Beware the following attractions on your next visit.
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
If there was a prize for ride breakdowns, it would probably go to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios.
Related: Troubled ‘Star Wars’ Ride Facing Serious Issues at Disney World
The Galaxy’s Edge attraction is arguably the most sophisticated and complex in the entire resort. However, it may be too impressive. The attraction combines a walk-through with a trackless dark ride, motion simulator, and drop ride system to immerse guests in the middle of a battle between the Resistance and the First Order, as seen in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. It contains a whopping 65 audio-animatronics, with the Kylo Ren audio-animatronic proving the most impressive.
Being the first of its kind comes with a few caveats – namely that this is the first time anybody’s ever tried to keep this tech running smoothly in theme park history.
With many elements in the ride, there are more chances for something to go wrong on Rise of the Resistance than your average attraction. Disney is often forced to run several parts of the ride – such as the Kylo Ren animatronic and Rey’s appearance in the queue – in B-mode to minimize downtime.
However, when so much has gone wrong that it’s impossible for guests to ride at all, the attraction has no choice but to close. Downtime is recurrent on Rise of the Resistance. According to Touring Plans, there’s a 17.2% chance that Rise of the Resistance will be down come rope drop. On average, it takes 30 to 40 minutes for it to reopen once it does go down. However, if you get your timing right, you may be able to enter the queue at the perfect time to skip its usual hectic crowds once it does reopen.
Tower of Terror
Also at Hollywood Studios, Tower of Terror is one of the park’s most iconic attractions and has been in operation for nearly 30 years.
Despite its longevity, the Tower of Terror still suffers frequent downtime. In 2023, the thrill ride (inspired by the iconic horror series The Twilight Zone) experienced more closures than ever, with some guests growing concerned over its issues.
Guests were evacuated from the Hollywood Tower Hotel on multiple occasions, with wait times soaring due to the repeat closures. Over the summer, the line even reached highs of 220 minutes. This was despite a lengthy refurbishment on half of the ride’s elevator shafts earlier that year.
Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
One of Disney World’s most underrated gems is a slow and peaceful ride around Tomorrowland. Sometimes, however, it seems that the Peoplemover is so relaxed that it breaks down entirely. According to AllEars, the ride broke down 532 times over the course of 264 days in 2022.
Thanks to its relatively short lines compared to other attractions in Magic Kingdom, Peoplemover closures don’t get quite as much press as some rides featured on this list, but its cult fanbase will tell you that you have a better chance of being evacuated from the ride than you do most attractions at Walt Disney World.
Getting evacuated from Peoplemover may not necessarily be a bad thing, though (something this writer can attest to). Ride evacs are always pretty exciting at Disney World, and this ride is up there with one of the best you can experience. So maybe ignore our advice to “beware” this ride and join the queue anyway, hoping for a potential evacuation experience.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
Another of Disney’s relatively newer attractions, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is based on the Marvel franchise of the same name. It’s a thrilling ride from beginning to end (especially if you get the song of your choice), but it also has a rep for being one of the not-so-reliable rides at Walt Disney World.
Related: Disney World Traps Angry Guests on Multiple Rides
While it definitely doesn’t break down as often as in its early days at EPCOT, Cosmic Rewind is still unluckier than most and has its fair share of downtime. Its downtime also tends to be pretty lengthy, which is frustrating if it makes you miss your virtual queue time slot or Individual Lightning Lane. Fortunately, if this does happen, you’ll most likely receive another Lightning Lane to return to the attraction at any time once it does reopen.
Test Track
This entry may not be totally relevant soon. Test Track is scheduled to close at EPCOT at some point in the near future for a major refurbishment, which could possibly put an end to its technical woes.
In the meantime, however, Test Track isn’t the luckiest of rides. The car-based attraction isn’t exactly rain-friendly (and Florida being Florida, rain isn’t exactly rare). It’s an extremely complex ride, which will go down at the slightest mechanical problems, such as if two vehicles come too close or something lands on the track.
It also doesn’t help that Test Track is getting on in years now. In 2024, Test Track will turn 25 – which is pretty ancient in roller coaster years.
Frozen Ever After
After it initially replaced Maelstrom in EPCOT’s World Showcase, Frozen Ever After broke down so often that it actually generated the most Reedy Creek evacuation calls in the entirety of Walt Disney World between 2016 and 2018.
Related: Here’s Why Rides in Disney Parks Break Down So Often
Things have improved somewhat since then, but Anna, Elsa, Olaf, and co. still have their fair share of downtime. The attraction frequently goes down for extensive periods of time, even entire days. In fact, Disney was forced to add an apology to the ride’s listing in the My Disney Experience app in October 2023, attributed to EPCOT’s Vice President Kartika S. Rodriguez, promising that cast members were “working diligently to get the attraction up and running again.”
Toy Story Mania!
When it works, Toy Story Mania! is one of the most colorful, entertaining attractions on all of Disney World property. However, you may be surprised to learn that it runs on Windows XP (yes, the Microsoft computer system from decades past) and can take an extremely long time to reset when it does go down.
Guests have noted more frequent closures for Toy Story Mania! than usual post-pandemic. While we can’t guarantee this is the case, it seems we’re hearing guests complain about their experience on the ride more than before.
Which ride do you think breaks down the most at Walt Disney World Resort? Let us know in the comments!
The post 7 Rides Most Likely To Break Down at Walt Disney World appeared first on Inside the Magic.
