Disney’s Hollywood Studios experienced significant operational disruptions last week when about one-third of its rides unexpectedly stopped running. This left many Walt Disney World Resort guests frustrated, dealing with longer attraction lines and crowded walkways.
On May 16, Reddit user u/rrsafety posted a screenshot from the My Disney Experience app showing that three fan-favorite attractions—Slinky Dog Dash, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, and Toy Story Mania!—had all suddenly ceased operations.
“Some rides are not ready for prime time,” the guest remarked. “After a while, it’s ridiculous.”
Some rides are not ready for prime time. After a while, it’s ridiculous.
byu/rrsafety inDisneyWorld
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is notorious for its complex systems and sensitive sensors that can be easily triggered by dropped items, resulting in frequent breakdowns. However, last week’s incident was worsened by the simultaneous closures of Toy Story Mania! and Slinky Dog Dash, intensifying crowd congestion and wait times throughout the Disney park.
Many Disney Parks fans used the discussion about Friday’s operational troubles to express concerns over what they see as a decline in Walt Disney World Resort’s operational standards.
“There has to be a standard for a company that charges as much as Disney,” said Redditor u/TheManicac1280. “It’s not just an ‘awe well it happens’ situation on a destination that demands an amount that takes months or even years to save for.”
Voices of frustration were echoed widely.
“Rides going down on the regular is not normal,” u/Emmy600 agreed. “At least it used to not be normal. Disney has just gone downhill.”
Other Walt Disney World Resort guests shared their experiences dealing with ride closures at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
“Last week at Hollywood, Rise, slinky dog and Mickeys runaway were all closed when for park opening,” u/rimmera69 recalled. “Slinky dog was down until the evening before starting up and eventually going down again. Lots of unhappy people that morning.”
u/beneficial-oven1994 shared several difficulties they experienced throughout their Walt Disney World Resort vacation: “Over the last 3 days, rockin rollercoaster broke and my group had to leave the queue, Toy Story mania paused for a few minutes while on it, figment had issues with sound and music and at one point and went pitch black, haunted mansion stopped for a few minutes while on it, the people moved stopped and was shut down shortly after we got off, and buzz light year also stopped mid ride.”
Despite the backlash, some fans defended the Disney parks, pointing out that rides are complex systems prone to occasional downtime, especially given guest behavior.
“Somewhere, somehow, this idea that parks are infallible and nothing is ever down in the past has spread,” said u/fathorse23. “… It’s definitely not true, anywhere.”
“This is normal,” u/J_Gabriel757 added. “Some rides close for a little bit of time to do maintenance and open after about 30 min or so.”
Has an attraction breakdown affected your Walt Disney World Resort vacation? Share your story with Disney Dining in the comments!
