Breaking News! California Adventure Accident

[roymccoy]

I just got back from California Adventure and I have the sad news that 35 people have been hurt when 2 train cars collided on California Screamin' Roller Coaster. DCA was shut down and there was a triage type area setup in the Timon parking lot. We saw at least a dozen ambulances coming through the side gate. There are 7 news helicopters circling DL and DCA as we speak. Local news has just picked it up and are broadcasting live.

I'll post as soon as I hear anymore.


Roy

[WebmasterKathy]

They just carried the story and showed video on my local news... they described the incident as "two cars bumped", and said that there are no serious injuries.

[bgirldeb]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/custom/tourism/la-me-ridecrash30jul30,0,3359959.story?coll=orl-home-headlines&track=rss

[roymccoy]

They just carried the story and showed video on my local news... they described the incident as "two cars bumped", and said that there are no serious injuries.

Hmmm....I think it was probably a little more than a bump. They have shut down the whole park and they have at least 20 people on the ground with neck collars on. Disney is taking this pretty serious.

[bgirldeb]

http://www.nbc4.tv/news/4789248/detail.html

[mickey2000]

ANAHEIM, Calif. Anaheim, California, fire officials say at least 60 people have received minor injuries in an accident on a roller coaster at Disney's California Adventure.

[bgirldeb]

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/12260671.htm

Accident at Disney's California Adventure roller coaster injures 60

Associated Press


ANAHEIM, Calif. - Two cars on a roller coaster at Disney's California Adventure theme park collided Friday evening, injuring 60 people, authorities said. None of the injuries were believed to be serious.

The accident shortly before 7 p.m. sent a fleet of ambulances rushing to the Disneyland Resort park, which is located adjacent to the older Disneyland amusement park.

"There were 24 patients in the first train, 36 in the second," said Danielle Craig, a dispatch supervisor with the Anaheim Fire Department.

None of the injuries appeared serious, she said.

Craig did not have other details.

Police Sgt. Joseph Faria said the accident was described to him as a minor collision.

"One car bumped another," he said.

He did not have additional details.

It was the second accident in four months at a Disneyland park in Anaheim.

In March, a 4-year-old boy broke a finger and severed the tip of his thumb while on the Storybook Land Canal Boats ride at Disneyland, forcing the ride to close for nearly two days while state authorities investigated the accident.

The accident occurred when the child's fingers were pinched between the boat and the dock while passengers were unloading.

[Sarangel]

Here's another version:Fifteen people suffered minor injuries Friday evening when a roller coaster train rear-ended second train that was stopped on the tracks at Disney's California Adventure, marking the first significant accident at the Anaheim theme park.

The crash occurred around 6:39 p.m. on the California Screamin' ride, a popular roller coaster designed to propel riders through a silhouette of Mickey Mouse's head. The trains, each carrying 24 passengers, were about to reach the end of the ride, at a point when both vehicles were supposed to stop.

The train in the front completed the stop as scheduled, but the train in rear continued going, hitting the first vehicle, said John Nicoletti, a spokesman for the city of Anaheim. Officials said they don't know why the second train malfunctioned, but investigators from the state officials were at the park investigating.

Nicoletti said the impact of the crash appeared to be minor. None of the 15 people taken to hospital - 13 adults and two minors - appeared to have serious injuries, he said.

"There was not a great amount of damage to the cars. It was like a fender bender," he said. "It does not appear that the ride was going very fast."

About 100 firefighters from Anaheim and surrounding cities descended on the theme park, along with 18 ambulances. Most of the passengers were about get out of their trains and walk to safety on their own using the roller coaster's catwalk. Eights passengers were situated on a higher point on the ride, with their car leaning at a 45 degree angle, and could not access the catwalks. So firefighters helped them descend the 15 feet to the ground using ladders.

Some of the riders complained of neck and back pain, said Michael Simpson, dispatcher for Metronet, which covers the Anaheim Fire Department. Firefighters could be seen placing neck braces on some riders.

[peter11435]

Hmmm....I think it was probably a little more than a bump. They have shut down the whole park and they have at least 20 people on the ground with neck collars on. Disney is taking this pretty serious.
I don't know where you got that information, but they did not shut down the whole park. Only screamin' the carousel and the immediate area around the coaster was closed off. The entire park remained open as normal except the cancaled the MSEP.

[jazstar87]

In March, a 4-year-old boy broke a finger and severed the tip of his thumb while on the Storybook Land Canal Boats ride at Disneyland, forcing the ride to close for nearly two days while state authorities investigated the accident.

The accident occurred when the child's fingers were pinched between the boat and the dock while passengers were unloading.

i never heard about this one but that the reason why they say please keep your hand in side the boat at all times.

to the real post:
i know there was new technology to prevent these types of things, like it automaticly stops if the car get too close. i wonder if they put it into this ride, it is kinda wierd that the cars would "bump" each other like that.

[damo]

Couldn't have been anything major as it didn't make any national news. Sounds like computer error.

[Hermosa11]

No national news I guess..........no one died. they said it was like a "fender bender". neck collars are for precaution. They are such a public entitiy, they have to be careful to show publicly they care and will do EVERYTHING they can do to for the situation.

[rascalmom]

It did make national news - I have heard several reports today & there has been a note on the scrawl on CNN.

[Belle23]

I just heard on headline news that the ride is closed indefinetly. That is all I caught I turned over in the middle of the story.

[peter11435]

I just heard on headline news that the ride is closed indefinetly. That is all I caught I turned over in the middle of the story.
All that means is that the ride is currently closed and at this time they do not know for sure when it will reopen.

[mitros]

The Orange county Register says that the ride remains closed to the public, and much of the area around the ride is off limits to visitors. It says that 15 people were injured, but guests were saying that they cannot get any information from employees. {CMs} at the park.

[Pinnie]

It DID make national news. This morning I was in Nashville and it was on the news there. Tonight I am back in Detroit and it was one of the lead stories on the local news here.

pinnie

[roymccoy]

I don't know where you got that information, but they did not shut down the whole park. Only screamin' the carousel and the immediate area around the coaster was closed off. The entire park remained open as normal except the cancaled the MSEP.


I was at the park when it happened. I was near the Pizza Mow Mow restaurant shooting baskets when it happened. They ushered us out of the Paradise Pier area and roped it off. We went through the Paradise Pier Hotel entrance and into Downtown Disney. I assumed they closed the whole park because there were a huge amount of people streaming out of the main entrance to DCA and into DD. Where did you hear that it was only the Carousel and the immediate area? A Florida news report? We had nothing on our news out here that I saw that mentioned that.

[Saxsoon]

Not a good year for disney is it. Even if the space and TOT were the riders own fault, it is not going to look good for them :guilty: :sad2: :sad1: :scared: :eek: :worried: :(

[Goobergal99]

I agree, my DH says Walt is punishing Disney from the grave for canning Micheal Eisner....

But in all seriousness it really is sad and I am glad it noone was seriously injured. :guilty:

[grinningghost]

Sounds like a minor fluke. I rode it in March and it seemed perfectly safe to me. I think the press is just having a field day with another Disney accident.

[DancingBear]

I don't know how two rollercoaster trains colliding could be described as just a "fluke". It's not supposed to happen. Period. Something went wrong, and they may be lucky that it didn't have a more serious result.

[peter11435]

I don't know how two rollercoaster trains colliding could be described as just a "fluke". It's not supposed to happen. Period. Something went wrong, and they may be lucky that it didn't have a more serious result.
fluke: Pronunciation Key (flk) n.
A chance occurrence; an accident.

Im not sure how you can say it isn't a fluke.

[DancingBear]

Because there shouldn't be any "chance" of this "occurrence."

Look, I understand dictionary definitions, and human error, and Murphy's Law, and all that, but the point is that the connotation of a "fluke" is "just something that happens." I think it minimizes the seriousness of the breakdown of the (presumably) redundant systems and operational guidelines that should keep this from happening.

Clearly this is something that can't be shrugged off, and I think calling it a "minor fluke" is shrugging it off.

[mitros]

Well said, DancingBear.

[peter pan217]

ya this is one time we can't blame the riders for the accident