Transformers: The Ride - 3D

[Miss Betty Juice]

Single rider increases wait time in a strange way. It takes a staff member away from the gate A and standby lines, and gate A alone can damn near double a wait time for standby. Single rider does nothing for the speed of operations, its a courtesy for guests who are visiting alone or riding solo while the rest of their group does other things. They could run those things with a party of three just the same, stopping to add a single rider adds on precious seconds to the turnover rate of the ride. May seem small, but consider how many single riders they get, and how much time those seconds add up to in the end.

 

[Jon Fu]

Information concerning today's Transformers incident: http://insideuniversal.net/2013/08/transformers-downtime-statement/

 

[Krusty]

I got all nervous when I heard them announcing this on the news a half hour ago. Then I was like, "Wait, that's it??" Haha.

(Personally, getting stuck on a ride and being evacuated would be a perk for me.)

 

[Allen The Actor]

I still don't think it was newsworthy. Glad to have an explanation from Universal though. I wonder what happened with the elevator mechanism. Nice to know that it can at least run at half capacity.

(Personally for me, I love getting evacuated from any ride. Sucks for first time guests though)

And as always, i heavily applaud Universal for their evacuation procedures and the compensations they give their guests who were either stuck, evacuated, or just waited too long in line. In this they totally beat Disney.

At Disney, the best they'll give u if you're evacuated is one Fast Pass. But if you're in line and it breaks down, too bad. They let you stay in line or leave without compensation. At USH they always hand out different types of Gate A passes and snacks and other things, whether you waited too long or were stuck. Universal is a pro at this, and I commend them!

 

[Jon Fu]

It's unfortunate, but I think the media attempted to play this as a human interest story. As always, it's best to wait for the concrete facts before delving into speculation.

Like the post mentioned, this incident was only unique in that it required the help of firefighters to help evacuate guests onto the second floor. This is probably what alerted news outlets.

Other than that, no one was injured, guests were all reimbursed and the attraction ran at half capacity throughout the remainder of the day.

It really is a non-story.

 

[Allen The Actor]

Slightly off topic: what is the latest USH has ever stayed open? Not including New Year or HHN.

 

[Jon Fu]

Probably 10 PM.

 

[Allen The Actor]

So I'm guessing this 11pm extension for Transformers was pretty rare?

 

[Jon Fu]

I wouldn't say it's too common, but I wouldn't count that as a traditional extension of park hours. They're known to extend Transformers' operating hours when there's downtime.

When you incorporate most of the park, I want to say 10 PM. But I'm sure there are exceptions to the rule.

 

[Allen The Actor]

Gotcha. Still pretty cool though! It's extremely rare for DCA to extend hours even if Radiator Springs Racers is down for most of the day. It's happened but very rare.

Again though, major props to Universal management for the compensations they give to guests due to attraction break downs and other issues. Top class.

 

[UniversalFan]

True. I've had experiences at pretty much every theme park in So. Cal. At Disneyland, was stuck on Splash Mountain, they gave me 1 fast pass, that's it. At Six Flags Magic Mountain, nothing. At Knott's, free one day tix, SeaWorld, stuck on Atlantis, gave me front of line to any one ride there. At Universal Studios Hollywood, gave us water, snacks, priority passes, and Universal dollars.

 

[RyanTTD]

The only reason they close the single rider line is because when it becomes backed up, it blocks the special assistance elevator down to the loading/exit area. Really that's the only reason.

 

[Miss Betty Juice]

Does grinchmas count? I've been in the park till 11pm during that.

 

[Allen The Actor]

Does grinchmas count? I've been in the park till 11pm during that.

I guess that counts. Was there an added tree lighting ceremony or did they just extend park hours? I've been inside the park past closing, but all the rides were closed. Only thing operating were stores near the front though.

Oh, and when I was evacuated out of Transformers a few months ago, they kept the entire lower lot plus Simpsons open a few extra hours, not just Transformers. Then again, it was a pretty large evac. No pun intended.

 

[UniversalFan]

There was just added tree ceremonies after regular park hours, and there is not that many people there. They usually add shows if it is cancelled or postponed and are not on schedule.

 

[smoaT]

Yesterday the park was a mess... I was there too. The whole thing has been reported already but I spoke with a lady handing out the 3D glasses (yes we waited 3 hrs since I was with a first timer and he wanted to ride it). Well at first it strike me as odd that Transformers was closed all morning, they just kept saying that it would be up un running. When it was finally up the wait times started to get crazy amd it hit 3 hours. We spected it to go down since I assumed that it was so long because after the breakdown everyone expected to ride it. It was 7 pm and the wait time was the same so my friend and I decided to go and make the line. People at Universal were so kind and I have never seen this happen in Disneyland with a long wait or a broken ride. They handed you a free water bottle at the entry saying "It's going to be a long wait. Do you want a bottle?" and they gave away jelly bellies. When we were inside a lot of the crew memebers were circling the queue asking if people needed anything or wanted to go to the bathroom and such. They took people through the exists and returned them to the queue. Once I got to the glasses part I asked the lady if this has been the biggest breakdown of the ride ever and she answer yes and explained me the whole thing. The whole story is posted in this site already, but she told me that one of the elevators broke and that it was the first time they had to call the Fire Dept. to take them out of there. She told me the line was so slow because the ride can be used with one elevator (they have tested it) but it takes way longer. Obviously portions of the ride changed and I was going to record it but I couldn't. It didn't change a lot, just that instead of the cart going forwards it went backwards when leaving the elevator (I think that was the only change... maybe there wasn't a change at all). The main attractions of the park remained open until 11 pm even though the operating hours were until 10. They left the main attractions open to compensate for the long wait in transformers I assume. It was a strange day and you could feel the tension in the air with the crewmembers. When I arrived to the park there were 2 helicopters static on top of the park... it really seemed odd because they stayed there like for 2 hours orm ore. Was wondering about the reason, but maybe this was why.First serious breakdown of Transformers. It was quite an adventure. I already posted this story in another threat. But I don't think they overreacted since it seems that they got stuck for a long time and well it was newsworthy because you could tell that all the crewmembers were tense and like if something serious had happened, so it wasn't just a regular breakdown, it was a spectacular  breakdown of the flagship attraction of Universal, a pretty serious one. On the crewmember's own admission it was the biggest breakdown they ever had. 

 

[Allen The Actor]

Even with this being the largest breakdown in the ride's history and the fire dept had to help out, I still don't think it was newsworthy. My opinion, of course.


What I'm curious about is if they were still letting guests go through Gate A after it was reopened with the 3 hour wait.

 

[smoaT]

Even with this being the largest breakdown in the ride's history and the fire dept had to help out, I still don't think it was newsworthy. My opinion, of course.

What I'm curious about is if they were still letting guests go through Gate A after it was reopened with the 3 hour wait.

Yes they did and there was a looong line... you could see the people in the entrance of Gate A... when I got into the loading bay there was no line there anymore... And I think it's newsworthy since these days are slow newsdays and well I rather to see about this in the news than a special by Barbara Walters about the Royal baby. Also... the evac of the Windseeker in Knotts Berry Farm also got a huge news coverage, with choppers circling the site... so this wouldn't be the first one

 

[Allen The Actor]

Well, those riders were literally stranded midair for hours. In Transformers, even if they were stuck in an awkward place (middle of shaft), I still don't think its newsworthy. i agree its better than royal baby specials but still, I think iit's silly considering it's not much different from other ride evacs at Universal and Disney parks.

 

[Ryan]

Time to break some silence. 

Yesterday the park was a mess... I was there too. The whole thing has been reported already but I spoke with a lady handing out the 3D glasses (yes we waited 3 hrs since I was with a first timer and he wanted to ride it). Well at first it strike me as odd that Transformers was closed all morning, they just kept saying that it would be up un running. When it was finally up the wait times started to get crazy amd it hit 3 hours. We spected it to go down since I assumed that it was so long because after the breakdown everyone expected to ride it. It was 7 pm and the wait time was the same so my friend and I decided to go and make the line. People at Universal were so kind and I have never seen this happen in Disneyland with a long wait or a broken ride. They handed you a free water bottle at the entry saying "It's going to be a long wait. Do you want a bottle?" and they gave away jelly bellies. When we were inside a lot of the crew memebers were circling the queue asking if people needed anything or wanted to go to the bathroom and such. They took people through the exists and returned them to the queue. Once I got to the glasses part I asked the lady if this has been the biggest breakdown of the ride ever and she answer yes and explained me the whole thing. The whole story is posted in this site already, but she told me that one of the elevators broke and that it was the first time they had to call the Fire Dept. to take them out of there. She told me the line was so slow because the ride can be used with one elevator (they have tested it) but it takes way longer. Obviously portions of the ride changed and I was going to record it but I couldn't. It didn't change a lot, just that instead of the cart going forwards it went backwards when leaving the elevator (I think that was the only change... maybe there wasn't a change at all). The main attractions of the park remained open until 11 pm even though the operating hours were until 10. They left the main attractions open to compensate for the long wait in transformers I assume. It was a strange day and you could feel the tension in the air with the crewmembers. When I arrived to the park there were 2 helicopters static on top of the park... it really seemed odd because they stayed there like for 2 hours orm ore. Was wondering about the reason, but maybe this was why.First serious breakdown of Transformers. It was quite an adventure. I already posted this story in another threat. But I don't think they overreacted since it seems that they got stuck for a long time and well it was newsworthy because you could tell that all the crewmembers were tense and like if something serious had happened, so it wasn't just a regular breakdown, it was a spectacular  breakdown of the flagship attraction of Universal, a pretty serious one. On the crewmember's own admission it was the biggest breakdown they ever had. 

It was indeed a very intense atmosphere, as the flood of humanity completely threatened to crush the attraction. Fire hazards were aplenty, as every single nook and cranny was filled with guests waiting to ride the ride. The VIP tour guides who had to detour the entire morning from Transformers (the attraction went back up shortly after noon) lined up and down the exit stairs trying to calm their constantly impatient guests who couldn't believe they paid $300+ to wait even thirty minutes. The single rider line was closed, and used as a separate entry for Gate A's while the normal Gate A line became a strict ADA-only passage. 

I kid you not the wait time did rise to 4 hours (the longest recorded wait time for the attraction ever), but some guests waited five hours. Suffice it to say, despite the constant (and excellent) attempts for recovery that nearly crippled the staff load for not only the ride, but management itself, there were still some extremely unhappy guests. It was a rather... tough day we'll just say.

Well, those riders were literally stranded midair for hours. In Transformers, even if they were stuck in an awkward place (middle of shaft), I still don't think its newsworthy. i agree its better than royal baby specials but still, I think iit's silly considering it's not much different from other ride evacs at Universal and Disney parks.

Let's not even talk about the still seething anger behind the completely unnecessary, fear-mongering news media trying to damage Universal's reputation over something so incredibly trivial.