leblanan wrote:haunt1000 wrote:
I cant wait to get stuck in the Haunted Mansions Elevator! I think that would be the coolest!
We were once in the haunted mansion in Disney World, and we were exiting the chambers at the beginning and it was completely packed in the ride loading area, so we didn't move for about 10 minutes but they forgot to tell the cast members outside who let in two more groups of people. Now, both chambers were packed with people and no one was going anywhere. The Chambers however kept going... They reset themselves and went through the whole experience again, so we got to watch the ceilings come down and then go back up through the whole part of the show. It was annoying waiting, but it was a cool thing to see.
This happens quite a bit on busy days. It's not so much that they forgot to tell the Stretch CMs as it's just hard to let people know. Everyone has a job to do, and communication to the CMs in the Foyer that the ride is stopped can be hard. There's an intercom in there, but talking on it in front of guests would be bad show, even if you heard it ring (which is hard). Not to mention you are on a schedule.
Once you've been there long enough, you start to recognize the signs of the hall backing up. I recognize when the ride isn't making noise and if the hall is full, I'll pull in fewer people. I very rarely have trouble emptying my stretch room at this point, but I've had a lot of practice. Not every Cast Member has, and mistakes happen.
That said, by the way, I should point out in this thread: the Haunted Mansion very rarely breaks down. If the hallway is backed up and the ride hasn't moved for a while, 99 times out of 100 (at least), the ride is stopped for a guest who needs special assistance. Sometimes that can take a very long time (10 minutes is not unheard of), especially if a guest is coming off and another guest getting on. Here's a little bit of cool trivia for you: if you're in the load area and the ride is stopped and the numbers on the buggies in the load are are in the 140s, then you know it's stopped to board guests requiring special assistance (there are specific buggies we stop on at unload to help guests board).
