On-Ride Breakdown Experiences

What rides and attractions do you miss? Share your memories of Alton Towers' extensive past here.
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nemefan08
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Not at alton but at west Midlands safari park twister stopped on the lift for 10 seconds, then started then stopped then it did that 1 more time before going normally.
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dantheman
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This was back in 2013 in Alton. Me and a few others were on the skyride and we stopped over the dark forest. We were there for about 5 mins, then started again. We only got 5 metres i'd say when we stopped again and were there for just over 15 mins. A lady came on over the speakers and said we will be starting again in a few mins. I never saw Rita lauching so many times in my life...
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Danny
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They often stop the sky ride if there are disabled passengers or elderly wanting to board/exit. It's a normal procedure that happens many times throughout the day.
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dantheman
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DannyG wrote:They often stop the sky ride if there are disabled passengers or elderly wanting to board/exit. It's a normal procedure that happens many times throughout the day.
Thats right, but does it take 15 mins to get a disabled person off or on?? I dont think so.
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Morgan
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Closest I've ever had to a breakdown is:
1. Stopped on airs lift for a few seconds (I was on back row so I was still in the tunnel)
2. Friends came off of Smiler 20mins before the wheels came off. Was strange seeing a deserted X-Sector later on!
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Ryan.B
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Duel stopped at the camera for me and my friend spending quite a bit of time posing for to find ourselves evacced. Also last year I had 3 on ride breakdowns. The Smiler had a lift roll back I was on. Air stopped for 10 minutes and spent ten minutes waiting for Rita's launch..
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Jack
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Not at Towers, but as I few of you know, I broke down just before the lift hill on Speed at Oakwood, was actually really good fun, had a laugh with the ride op/host (Oakwood have brilliant staff, but the rides are just completely understaffed) was only there about 10 mins, and it was drizzling, but all round, I don't care about breaking down as long as I'm not there for an hour or 2 :lol
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lf2001
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Was on Tower of Terror a few months ago at Disneyland Paris, we were sat in the elevator for quite a bit before we eventually set off, and at the end we found out some idiot was throwing their bag in the air on the drops. They were removed from the ride and we got another go :)
JustWill

21/10/14 (scarefest)

Stuck on air for 20 mins on the lift hill...
Horizontal rain...
Understand the pain and agony as the water running off the top of the air car ran into your shoes :cry:
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undeadarmy
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Got stuck on The Smiler's brake run just outside the station for a good 15 minutes today. Also got stuck just before the Spinball station for about half an hour yesterday, which got us priority passes which was okay I guess :D.
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lf2001
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Ripsaw on Thursday, I wouldn't really call it a break down but this large guys restraint wouldn't fit, meaning the ride had to keep stopping. Eventually he was told to get off the ride, but the good side was we got 3 rides in 1 :)
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alicheesy
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Got stuck on The Flume once. We were sat in a line of bathtubs for half an hour until we were rescued :lol
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RIDECRAZY
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As much as they can be annoying and frustrating, when involved I really enjoy a ride breakdown, I find it exciting and love seeing the staff pacing around in an attempt to do so (in which I must say they do an excellent job with)! I just made this thread so people could share their breakdown experiences at Alton Towers with each other as I find i quite an interesting part of roller coasters, especially finding out the cause etc if you can!

My best breakdown as on Air a few years back, we had a failed tilt and then they failed to get the restraints open after around 10 attempts at tilting the train. Suddenly and miraculously the ride tilted and the pin locked and we were off, until halfway up the lift hill we stopped, along with all the screams that come with it. We stopped for around 15 minutes while engineers pressed various buttons in the station (I could hear all that was going on over a Ride Op's radio). Once we finally set off again we arrived into the breaks and were again, stuck for another 15 minutes, all in all we were in the train for coming on 40 minutes, which I can tell you now was uncomfortable. I did feel for staff though as on all three occasions they were about to evacuate when the ride kicked back into action again, this lead to us being stuck for such a long amount of time. Two free fast tracks later though and everyone was happy!

Anyone else got any interesting ones? :P
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Chris_c_4
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I always enjoy breakdowns and evacuations, especially on dark rides because then you get to see a little bit of how the ride works on your way out :)

I had a couple of breakdowns during Scarefest. I got evacuated from the garden scene in Duel, which was very fun - although I did find the evacuation procedure a little bit confusing. At one point, the lap bars were just unlocked and people started wandering around everywhere! The next day we got stuck on the Skyride for 20 mins between Forbidden Valley and Dark Forest - wasn't anything too spectacular, but staff were handing out priority passes when we got into the station which was nice.

At PB, I have been evacuated from the Alice ride, Valhalla (just before the first forward drop), the Big One (on the brake run) and 3 evacuations from Wallace and Gromit (luckily from different scenes each time - so I got to see quite a bit of the ride!) I have also had a few breakdowns on Valhalla and River Caves - which were fun :)
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TheBeast
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Does anyone remember the parkwide powers cuts a few years back at Alton? I got stuck on Ripsaw for over 20 minutes, and we all know how painful Ripsaw's restraints can be. However, it was a whole-park incidentwhich left people on the climb of Air for about 3 hours, same with Nemesis and the cable cars were also stuck for a similar amount of time... AND MERLIN KNEW ABOUT IT
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Credit to NemesisRider for an amazing signature!
Stan.H
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Had broken down on air break run for 20 mins last saturday!
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vikkimoo
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We were stuck on the lift hill on Air on Saturday, I don't really like it anyway and did NOT like being forced to look down at Nemesis' track (heights bother me a little...). Luckily it was only for about 5 mins but I was really starting to worry, especially as I couldn't work out how we'd get off if we needed to be evacuated.
Stan.H
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vikkimoo wrote:We were stuck on the lift hill on Air on Saturday, I don't really like it anyway and did NOT like being forced to look down at Nemesis' track (heights bother me a little...). Luckily it was only for about 5 mins but I was really starting to worry, especially as I couldn't work out how we'd get off if we needed to be evacuated.
ikr, the restraintaints do dig in!
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Nathan_Fisher
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Me and my family were stuck on safari sky way at Chessington in 2010 i believe. All the trains were building up just outside the station, we were there for about 20 minutes and in this time the trains decided to go backwards and forwards bumping into each other, it was a very strange experience. We got off and they give us four exit queue tickets. It was quite relaxing actually considering it was a warm day in august :lol
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funstie
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My only breakdown at the towers was on the flume! Going up the first hill, got to the top and bam! Nothing. Sat there for about 15mins with my Mum (who didn't want to go on in the first place) freaking out. We then got out of the boat and walked down the hill. Alas this was before fast track tickets so we got a sorry and a cheery wave :)
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