Even more off-topic: Honestly, what you should have done was stay on the ride and just arrive 20 minutes late for your ADR, then when you get there explain what happened. Disney is very understanding of these things. Basically if you have any sort of good reason at all - and "ride breakdown" is a VERY good reason - they will seat you and you won't be charged.
The reason that policy was implemented is that (as usual) people were abusing the system, booking multiple reservations and no-showing the ones they didn't feel like going to. I heard - and this may or may not be true - they were up to around 10% no-shows on reservations, so they were overbooking all the restaurants, so when people WERE showing, they would get all backed up. The $10 fee fixed that problem...but again they are very reasonable if you are late or even if you have to cancel at the last minute, as long as you don't do it all the time.
Slightly more on-topic: I've helped numerous people plan Disney trips, and I have 3 rules I always try to stress. Number 3 is "have a plan but be flexible". What I always say is, find the 5 or 6 things that you really want to do in that park that day, and make a plan that allows you to get those done. Anything beyond that should be considered bonus.
Eve more on-topic: What is the reason that people feel they don't feed a plan at Universal? I bought the touring plans book, and I would have normally put together a pretty regimented plan, but with DD leading the trip, I decided to let her decisions (mostly) lead the flow. However, I am still considering rope drop a must, and strategizing about the first 2 or 3 rides we do each day. I realize there's no ADRs or FP+ at Universal - is that the reason people think you don't have to plan? I think to me it means a plan is even more important - because now you don't have a system to take advantage of, you just have to outsmart everyone.