Credit: Inside the MagicThousands of Disneyland Resort guests were impacted last weekend when one of its most iconic roller coasters, Space Mountain, struggled to function. Some Disney Park guests shared photos and videos of their experiences with the broken attraction on social media.
Space Mountain made headlines earlier this year when a disgruntled father dropped his child off a rocket when cast members told him his young child was too small to ride. A witness said the guests managed to sneak the boy past the ride entrance without employee intervention.
“The man gets on the ride with his [significant other] and the taller kid, then drops the other kid on the exit platform and leaves on the ride!” the guest wrote. “The small child was terrified and so confused! Cast members were not only shocked but had no idea what to do, as the train car had left the platform before anyone turned to see this kid left alone.”
Disney cast members are trained to handle lost or stranded children, but they’re not free babysitters. Accommodations like Rider Switch help families enjoy attractions that not everyone can ride.
“There was no communication between the man to a [cast member],” the guest continued. “He just left the kid there! This poor child started crying and the CM was trying to do her real job of making sure people are safely off the train and not babysitting this child…My train was the next one so I didn’t see the aftermath of what happened but the CMs were still talking about it when our train got into the station.”
Last weekend, Disneyland Resort guests had a much less traumatizing but memorable experience on Space Mountain. Redditor u/Disastrous_Spring147 took these awe-inducing photos while evacuating the indoor roller coaster:
Photos taken while evacuating Space Mountain
Photos taken while evacuating Space Mountain
byu/Disastrous_Spring147 inDisneyland
Guests had to climb out of their rocket and drop five feet.
“I’m not gonna lie, I was waiting for them to bring over a ladder or something but then they were just like ‘yeah you’re gonna have to jump off,’” the social media user recalled.
“That’s where I got stopped 2 years ago,” u/Phased5ek replied. “We ended up having to drop down about 4-5 feet from the vehicle, which could have been a dangerous thing in itself…I just remember feeling like if I landed wrong, I could have easily rolled an ankle or something.”
u/JonadoomV2 also got stuck on Space Mountain, but cast members reset the ride. No evacuation was necessary–but guests did get to experience the roller coaster with the lights on!
Stuck on Space Mountain last night 😩
Stuck on space mountain last night 😩
byu/JonadoomV2 inDisneyland
“Was awesome seeing everything with the lights on,” the Disney Resort guest wrote. “Was a little scary though randomly stopping and waiting for the lights to go on for a couple minutes. Got to ride it again tho as soon as it restarted so pretty much rode it twice.”
It’s unclear what caused last weekend’s breakdowns. Space Mountain was operating normally at the time of this article’s publication.
Have you evacuated a Disneyland Resort or Walt Disney World Resort ride? In the comments, share your most memorable story with Inside the Magic.