Day of Whoa : For a Time, Disneyland Magic Stopped in Its Tracks

It was the day the magic died.

At least that’s the way it seemed to some of Disneyland’s Sunday visitors, when five rides--including Pirates of the Caribbean--all pooped out.

And we’re not talking C-ticket rides, either, several people noted loudly in complaints Wednesday about the park’s Labor Day weekend woes.

First, crowds that had been in snaking lines for hours missed the boat when attendants told guests that Pirates of the Caribbean was temporarily “inoperative.”

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad lost its steam when it was shut down for a “mechanical problem.”

Small World--with its oh-so-memorable refrain--was stopped for the entire day for routine maintenance.

The skyway sky buckets were put out of action by high winds.

And the People Mover stopped moving. Twice.

Disneyland spokesman Bob Roth said equipment failures and ride halts occur on occasion, but he didn’t know if five major rides had ever been shut down on the same day.

The five events were unrelated, Roth said, “but sometimes, it adds up.”