Epic Universe Ride Breakdowns/Delays

[AB2020]

For those who don't have Twitter or can't see it:

• Ygor down.
• Hunchback down.
• Phantom down.
• Finale Drac down.

At what point do we acknowledge that the final Dracula will never fully work again? Seems like there is something major wrong with it that cannot just be fixed overnight.

Also to add, on Friday the second pre-show wasn't working after some down time in the morning.

 

[mccgavin]

At what point do we acknowledge that the final Dracula will never fully work again? Seems like there is something major wrong with it that cannot just be fixed overnight.

I wouldn't make that assumption. It may simply be that other areas of the attraction are taking maintenance priority at the moment, especially ones that do not have a "B-Mode".

 

[UniversalRBLX]

When's the last time the Finale Drac worked properly? Only saw it during previews.

I'd imagine it's a timing issue between RVs as the figure appears to work.

 

[Cwoolboy]

The finale Drac seemed to be working fine back in the 2nd week of September when I visited.

 

[Mad Dog]

When's the last time the Finale Drac worked properly? Only saw it during previews.

I'd imagine it's a timing issue between RVs as the figure appears to work.

It worked 5 of the 6 rides we did back in November.

 

[Mad Dog]

Just read a post by guest complaining on the Universal Epic FB group. He said he waited in line for Ministry 5 hours earlier today.
Said it ruined his entire day. I see so many posts like that. Why someone stays in line that long, I'll never understand.

 

[Jake S]

Why someone stays in line that long, I'll never understand.

The sunk cost fallacy is strong. Also, I can imagine what it must feel like if the Ministry is at the tippity top of your Must Do list and this is your only chance to get on it.

But yeah, no way. My days of waiting in lines more than two hours are in the rear view mirror.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Just read a post by guest complaining on the Universal Epic FB group. He said he waited in line for Ministry 5 hours earlier today.
Said it ruined his entire day. I see so many posts like that. Why someone stays in line that long, I'll never understand.

The issue with Ministry is that it goes down often. For example, the queue will move (slowly) and then stop for a good 20-30 mins. After that, it'll pick up again for 20 minutes before an inevitable additional 20-30 min stop. It's unfortunate.


In addition to the reduced number of vehicle operating, faulty ride stops just make things more annoying.

 

[jwbitterman]

Just read a post by guest complaining on the Universal Epic FB group. He said he waited in line for Ministry 5 hours earlier today.
Said it ruined his entire day. I see so many posts like that. Why someone stays in line that long, I'll never understand.

I only went to Hollywood studios to ride Rise; I've ridden basically everything else and heard Rise was amazing.

We went straight to the ride at early opening (stayed at swan reserve specifically for proximity and early access). We endured multiple breakdowns over the course of 3+ hours. We finally gave up and went to Magic Kingdom. They gave us express for Rise IF it ever came back online.

Rise opened back up with an hour left to closing. I booked it to Hollywood, got in line, wait 1h+ and the ride broke down again for the night while I was on the ride.

Like the person wanting to ride Ministry, I think the blame rests with the faulty ride not the guest.

We waited awhile to ride Ministry, too. After several breakdowns, I was done. We left the line and shortly thereafter the ride resumed service.

Theres no winning against unreliable things.

I'll close by saying that Ministry is more trouble than it's worth. Rise was/is very impressive.

 

[SkiBum]

I only went to Hollywood studios to ride Rise; I've ridden basically everything else and heard Rise was amazing.

We went straight to the ride at early opening (stayed at swan reserve specifically for proximity and early access). We endured multiple breakdowns over the course of 3+ hours. We finally gave up and went to Magic Kingdom. They gave us express for Rise IF it ever came back online.

Rise opened back up with an hour left to closing. I booked it to Hollywood, got in line, wait 1h+ and the ride broke down again for the night while I was on the ride.

Like the person wanting to ride Ministry, I think the blame rests with the faulty ride not the guest.

We waited awhile to ride Ministry, too. After several breakdowns, I was done. We left the line and shortly thereafter the ride resumed service.

Theres no winning against unreliable things.

I'll close by saying that Ministry is more trouble than it's worth. Rise was/is very impressive.

This would be extremely frustrating. Rise suffers from trying to combine ride systems with a lot of technically difficult combinations. The ride vehicle has to lock into position just right for the motion simulator at the end to work during the drop back down to ground level. It has a lot of interesting scenes that seem to break down (ex. The A-Mode version of Kylo Ren's animatronic when the ship's exterior explodes, the cannons moving back and forth). I haven't been on Ministry but the forum on it goes into great detail all the issues. While I always appreciate the lengths that Disney and UNI go to in order to create these rides, extended downtime leaves guests with a negative impression. I love Hagrids but wouldn't even try to ride it for the first few years due to the wait times caused by downtime.

 

[Mad Dog]

I only went to Hollywood studios to ride Rise; I've ridden basically everything else and heard Rise was amazing.

We went straight to the ride at early opening (stayed at swan reserve specifically for proximity and early access). We endured multiple breakdowns over the course of 3+ hours. We finally gave up and went to Magic Kingdom. They gave us express for Rise IF it ever came back online.

Rise opened back up with an hour left to closing. I booked it to Hollywood, got in line, wait 1h+ and the ride broke down again for the night while I was on the ride.

Like the person wanting to ride Ministry, I think the blame rests with the faulty ride not the guest.

We waited awhile to ride Ministry, too. After several breakdowns, I was done. We left the line and shortly thereafter the ride resumed service.

Theres no winning against unreliable things.

I'll close by saying that Ministry is more trouble than it's worth. Rise was/is very impressive.

Yes. RotR is very very impressive. Ministry is just Ok, nothing special. Not bad, but certainly not top twenty or maybe even thirty at WDW/Universal Florida.

 

[AvoidTIMtation]

Just read a post by guest complaining on the Universal Epic FB group. He said he waited in line for Ministry 5 hours earlier today.
Said it ruined his entire day. I see so many posts like that. Why someone stays in line that long, I'll never understand.

I agree with this. I refuse to wait that long for any ride. Luckily the single rider line was open the day we went because I was already fully prepared to miss out on riding it due to the downtime. And I actually DID miss out on riding Donkey Kong for the same reason.

 

[DOOMBOT]

Just read a post by guest complaining on the Universal Epic FB group. He said he waited in line for Ministry 5 hours earlier today.
Said it ruined his entire day. I see so many posts like that.

It's so unfortunate that multiple attractions seem to behave like this all across Epic. Mine Cart and Ministry have it the worst, but Mario Kart, Unchained, Cirque, Untrainable all seem similarly temperamental. The park is seriously straining under its' own weight.

 

[Mad Dog]

It's so unfortunate that multiple attractions seem to behave like this all across Epic. Mine Cart and Ministry have it the worst, but Mario Kart, Unchained, Cirque, Untrainable all seem similarly temperamental. The park is seriously straining under its' own weight.

Yeah, operations are still a mess. Epic is helping Comcast extend Universal Orlando on site vacations and increase spending per guest,
per the fourth quarter financial results. Of course, that was expected. But they admit to keeping restraints on Epic attendance.
It's regrettable that these tech and/or maintenance issues are still occurring at the same, and sometimes worse, level as the first
opening months. You know, these major corporations only have so much patience. I'm guessing that if operations don't noticeably
improve by the summer months, there is the potential for management shakeups at some level. They can't keep operating like this
and expect to maintain the public's positive attention.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Yeah, operations are still a mess. Epic is helping Comcast extend Universal Orlando on site vacations and increase spending per guest,
per the fourth quarter financial results. Of course, that was expected. But they admit to keeping restraints on Epic attendance.
It's regrettable that these tech and/or maintenance issues are still occurring at the same, and sometimes worse, level as the first
opening months. You know, these major corporations only have so much patience. I'm guessing that if operations don't noticeably
improve by the summer months, there is the potential for management shakeups at some level. They can't keep operating like this
and expect to maintain the public's positive attention.

The way I see it is that Epic has the possibility of delaying other additions throughout not just UOR, but the entire experiences division as well in favor of providing funding for Epic Universe projects. Whether that's as small as hiring a consulting firm to help solve issues or major capacity additions like Ministry and who knows what else.

I think Epic is "fine" as long as they quickly work on Ministry and smaller entertainment projects that can be set up quickly.