If the Escalator Ain't Movin, Stay Off It!

[Big Wallaby]

At Epcot, today, I went on Soarin' a couple times. Going down to the main level and coming back to the pavilion entrance level, the escalators were not working, shut off and blocked. The descending had special safety barricades, which were bad show but at least they kept people off. The ascending had trash cans at either end, which was even worse show, and people would use the escalator to bypass the stairs. I started standing by the bottom entrance and just said, "Idiot" any time someone walked around the cans. Several dirty looks to which I would explain that walking into an area that had for safety reasons been blocked off made you an idiot, but it was getting really entertaining for me to see how people responded. Then, something unbelievable happened... other guests, who had been there watching, started saying, "Idiot," in unison with me. More dirty stares, but after about five people were lined up next to the escalator entrance next to me all telling people who were bypassing what was meant to be a block what we thought of them, people started turning around and taking other ways to the entrance level. Before walking off, I adjusted the cans so they would be harder to get around.

Nothing important, but I do believe it shows how you can use group mentality to allow a few people to stand up to those who greedily do the wrong thing.

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

hehehehehe


Good Job!!

maybe you started an anti-SG movement?

[Whazzup]

That's an example of smart sheeple instead of stoopid sheeple. :D:

[Shorty82]

How hard is it for Disney to fix the damn escalators? Last week I went into The Land and saw that the escalator nearest Soarin' (not sure which way it goes normally) wasn't working and blocked off with trash cans. I would have thought it would have been fixed by now instead of the other one being down too.

[kurtisnelson]

How hard is it for Disney to fix the damn escalators? Last week I went into The Land and saw that the escalator nearest Soarin' (not sure which way it goes normally) wasn't working and blocked off with trash cans. I would have thought it would have been fixed by now instead of the other one being down too.

Well, the Soarin' side one was broken last Saturday for a very good reason- someone had gotten a croc eaten in it. But they left the croc there...

It is nice to know that they bother someone else besides me. Next time I will visit GR. What I don't understand is blocking off the escalators. They are perfectly safe and usable as normal stairs. Certain other companies in their parking garages leave theirs off all the time and it seems safe.

[Shorty82]

Well, the Soarin' side one was broken last Saturday for a very good reason- someone had gotten a croc eaten in it. But they left the croc there...

It is nice to know that they bother someone else besides me. Next time I will visit GR. What I don't understand is blocking off the escalators. They are perfectly safe and usable as normal stairs. Certain other companies in their parking garages leave theirs off all the time and it seems safe.

I understand closing them off at the Land. With all the foot traffic between the two levels and how narrow the escalators are they close them off so people won't have to squeeze by each other (which could be dangerous as there would be no way to make sure people only used them in one direction.

[Rob562]

Well, the Soarin' side one was broken last Saturday for a very good reason- someone had gotten a croc eaten in it. But they left the croc there...

Maybe they left it there as a sign to other Croc-wearing SG's as to what can happen when you *don't* ride the escalator properly...

What I don't understand is blocking off the escalators. They are perfectly safe and usable as normal stairs. Certain other companies in their parking garages leave theirs off all the time and it seems safe.

Someone else pointed out the reason why they do it at Land, but as for blocking escalators off in general, it depends.
Most breakdowns on an escalator are either motor or control-system based, and the stairs are perfectly fine for climbing up and down while motionless. But if the breakdown is mechanical, one or more of the steps could be unstable enough that it can't bear weight. Thus the escalator should be walled off from use until it can be repaired.
Each step is essentially like a little ride car in a dark ride, riding along a track. If a wheel on the step breaks, or something's wrong with the track, it becomes mechanically unsafe to use. But unlike a dark ride or coaster where defective cars can just be taken off the track while the rest of the ride still runs, on an escalator if one step is broken, the whole thing needs to shut down until it can be repaired.

-Rob

[Whazzup]

Maybe they left it there as a sign to other Croc-wearing SG's as to what can happen when you *don't* ride the escalator properly...




Someone else pointed out the reason why they do it at Land, but as for blocking escalators off in general, it depends.
Most breakdowns on an escalator are either motor or control-system based, and the stairs are perfectly fine for climbing up and down while motionless. But if the breakdown is mechanical, one or more of the steps could be unstable enough that it can't bear weight. Thus the escalator should be walled off from use until it can be repaired.
Each step is essentially like a little ride car in a dark ride, riding along a track. If a wheel on the step breaks, or something's wrong with the track, it becomes mechanically unsafe to use. But unlike a dark ride or coaster where defective cars can just be taken off the track while the rest of the ride still runs, on an escalator if one step is broken, the whole thing needs to shut down until it can be repaired.

-Rob

You never know what you're going to learn on the SGT web site. Thanks, Rob!

[turkeyham]

I have been to the Land area, we took the elevators instead of walking.

One day at Disneyland we parked in the Mickey and friends parking garage. The escalator was broken and we went to another floor and road it down. :p:

[CMGUY89]

The escalators are the original ones from when the pavilion opened in 1982. The company that made them went out of business a few years later because they constantly broke. Unfortunately the only way we can effectively block them from guests is by using the trash cans. But they never really notice them and just try to squeeze by them.