Another CM Killed at WDW

[RabFlmom]

Since the board will not let me correct an error I made in the last post I will correct it here. The man was not Hungarian but Bulgarian. He was hired in July and had not done a show yet according to local news.

 

[DisneyBrideToni]

How sad for Disney, the CM's and the families of Disney CM's. I can't believe how bad it has been in these past few months. I hope all of the tragedies end soon.

 

[Disneykat]

thats so sad.

 

[michelleiada]

I saw this on the news tonight and was saddened. My heart goes out to the CM's family. The news also mentioned somthing about the Indiana Jones show had recently been cited with OSHA violations and the accident was being investigated. I sincerely hope that this was simply a tragic accident and not some type of negligience on Disney's part. I would hope that saftey for all is at the top of Disney's priority list.

 

[idieh]

our prayers and thoughts go to all the families, friends and coworkers.

 

[Mrsdisneyb2b]

I am just hearing this now and I am praying to god that they have enough training. I understand that they cut back on ALOT of things but training should be one huge thing to pour money in...

The family is in my prayers...its just soso sad

 

[amberg@eastlink.ca]

another disney cm angel up there...sadly these things always seem to come in threes....let's hope that's it!

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

Unlike the stunt accident and the leukemia and the car accidents on the way to work, the monorail crash (Mr. Wuennenberg) and the parade accident (Mr. Cruz) were totally senseless and obviously preventable.

If someone needs to go out inspect the track, then that person should not be multitasking with something else such as dancing or supervising passengers or answering questions or getting back by a certain time. His first task is his own safety which does not always need pushing the stop button on the ride.

I respectfully disagree with you regarding the parade accident involving Mr. Cruz. That happened less than a year after I moved home from Florida so I still had many friends who were (and still) are working for WDW. I can't tell you how many of my friends I spoke with that night regarding the accident. Unfortunately, it was just an accident. Mr. Cruz tripped over his own feet which caused him to be run over by the float. It was by no means the fault of the float operator. Javier (Mr. Cruz) was always joking around, I have wonderful memories of him on stage and backstage. From what I was told, before tripping, he was waving/blowing kisses to the princesses who were on the float.

Due to his death, things have changed on and off stage at WDW. Now there is a sidewalk backstage for the performers to walk on so they aren't directly next to the floats. Also, there are parade spotters to make sure that guests are safe during the parade - because believe it or not guests will push their children in front of floats to take their pictures. All of that information was given to me from a parade performer/spotter and driver. It's sad that Javier had to pass away for these changes to be made, but that is how it always seems to happen in history.

The driver of the float that was involved in the accident never forgave himself for what happened to Javier. Sadly he passed away himself a few years ago.

Here is a link to an article that was published 5 days after his death. http://www.mouseplanet.com/7933/Walt_Disney_World_Park_Update

In the article it states:

An Orlando Sentinel article (link) quotes Donna-Lynne Dalton, business agent for Teamsters Local 385, the union representing costumed workers, as saying, “It appeared the float was where it was supposed to be. The driver and coordinators were in no way at fault. They were following proper procedure.” Dalton sat in when OSHA interviewed witnesses to the accident.

As far as I am concerned, this death was an accident just as was the stuntman's death.

 

[eeyoregon]

What a tragedy. I have been one of the audience extras 3 times and have seen up close just how physically intense that show is. Those castmembers put their lives on the line to entertain us.

 

[VMKaddict]

Thoughts go out to family and friends! This is very sad! ):

 

[eeyoregon]

This makes me wonder what lies ahead for Disney, now with 3 deaths in 2 months’ time.

Statistically 3 deaths amongst 50,000+ castmembers (or whatever the current employee count is after cut backs) is really quite low. In our warehouse, with 300 employees, we lost 3 people last year due to various causes.

It just seems worse when it's the happiest place on earth and a place that is so dear to all of us DIS'ers.

 

[btuftee]

Statistically 3 deaths amongst 50,000+ castmembers (or whatever the current employee count is after cut backs) is really quite low. In our warehouse, with 300 employees, we lost 3 people last year due to various causes.

From accidents? Or just people dying from natural causes? I would assume that Cast Members pass away from non-work related accidents, illnesses, natural causes, etc., all the time - it just doesn't make the news. For your workplace, 3 people out of 300, that's 1%. If all of those deaths were due to workplace accidents, I would think OSHA would be shutting things down, and local news would be all over it. At my workplace of about 1800, which is primarily composed of factory and warehouse positions, I'm not aware of any work-related deaths in the last several years. A 1% annual death rate from workplace accidents is pretty high! I'm hoping you meant 3 deaths from non-workplace related incidents.

I would say that three workplace related deaths out of 50,000 cast members in a single year actually is actually pretty high, given that there are very few jobs at WDW that are unusually dangerous or hazardous. Sure, there are stunt performers and drivers, fireworks and pyrotechnics, but that's a tiny percentage of WDW's workforce. Before the monorail accident in July, I can only find records of two cast member deaths since 2000 - the CM who was struck by a parade float backstage in 2004, and the CM who fell at Primeval Whirl in 2007.

Of course, of the three recent deaths, only the Monorail incident involves any culpabiltiy on the part of Disney. The other two were just freak accidents, sad and tragic. It's truly a bad time for Disney, and my heart goes out to all of the affected family members, friends, and fellow cast members. I can't imagine what it must be like - it must seem like the place is cursed right now.

 

[Brook1099]

My DH and I were watching CNN and it showed on the bottom of screen stuntman injured but Acccording to foxnew.com Anislav Varbanov 30 yrs. od dies during rehearsal. This is the 3rd death is Disney also 47yr. old dies during Capt. Jacks Pirate Tutorial. and the monorail driver. What a sad time for the families and friends and co workers of all these young men.

 

[sjanus]

Wow, this is very sad. You just don't think of these things happening at Disney. Our hearts go out to the friends, families, and co-workers of these individuals and to Disney, who are really top-notched at providing the best, I'm sure, for their employees and us vacationers.

Sandy and Rick

 

[rgf207]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2260366