Anyone else had this happen at Illuminations?

[Tamar]

Now first off, let me say....I'm fine, no lasting effects, but I still am surprised this happened.

DH and I were at Epcot during a slower time of year probably about 2 years ago, and we got what we thought was a great spot for viewing Illuminations...right at the International Gateway, and we were standing right behind the roap (no one in front of us). It was spitting rain (just a drizzle) and there was a little bit of a wind; certainly not enough to send die-hard Disney-fans home, but the crowd was light.

When Illuminations started, it was pretty clear that the wind was gusting our way, but we weren't too concerned about it. Then during some of the fireworks, there was a swirling gust, and I got a faceful of soot. A little bit got in my eye, and it felt a little funny. When we got back to the room, I found out my eye had actually been burned by a cinder.

I went to Epcot's first aid station the next morning, and they said there really wasn't anything they could do about it. They gave me a few little packets of saline and they said it would heal itself. It did, in about a week. I'm just curious if this has happened to others, or if it was one of those freaky, never happened before, never will happen again type things.

Tamar

 

[idofabric]

No burns, but on our last trip we were allmost drown while waiting for the start of the show.
Well, not really, but we did get wet and they delayed the start almost 15-20 min, and I swear it was shorten also!

We went mid week and no rain all day... so we found the best place to sit and wait for the show. We have seen it a dozen times at least, but we had never camped out an hour early for the perfect spot.

Well about 10 min befor it was to start we see/hear thunder and lightening..no big. HA! in the next 25 min or so we ended up with white caps on the water, and waves that came up allmost to the pavement. We were sitting between Canada and England.. and did we get soaked! It was kinda fun, in a spooky, this can't be happenig at Disney type way!

And we thought we would not have people stand/push in front of us, but OH, NO! As soon as it did start, a bunch of people decided to stand right in front of us and SMOKE! But they did move when we asked them to.

At one point we could hear that they were making announcements but could not understand what they were saying, the thunder was so loud. We were stupid not to get undre some thing safe, but we just keep thinking it was blowing in so hard it would only last a few min... and we LIVE in the South, so it is not like we don't get our share of T-storms!

A not to be repeated event, I hope! But still it was fun....if we had had a bar of soap we would honestly could have showered right then and there. How would that have been for a Disney first?

 

[WillCAD]

Any time you watch fireworks of any type anywhere in the world you risk being hit with flying debris.

You must remember that Illuminations is a particularly low set of explosive shells, which generate ash and soot and lots of smoke. If you stand directly downwind of the show, you are going to get hit with that stuff once in a while.

And no, Disney's first aid stations are not permitted to practice medicine of any kind. They are there strictly to hand out minor supplies for people who wish to self-treat (like saline, Tylenol, etc.) and to help people avoid heat-related ailments by administering ice-packs and Gatorade. Anything more serious than a minor scrape or cut must be refered to the Reedy Creek paramedics, or sent to the nearby Celebration hospital for treatment.

So the eye burn you got, which could have been quite serious, could not be treated by a guy at a first-aid center in a theme park. But you should have been advised to go to the hospital for a more thorough exam by a real doctor with full diagnostic facilities.

 

[figment95]

I was on an Illuminations cruise last year. The boat was anchored right under the bridge and the pilot gave us safety goggles. It never occurred to me that we would need them until the ash started coming down.

 

[Tamar]

Well, they didn't refer me anywhere, so it must not have been that bad. It was a spot on my eye that was whiter than anything else. Felt annoying, but it did heal itself in a week or so, and I didn't spend $$ on emergency treatment. I suspect they see this stuff pretty frequently....we weren't standing someplace we shouldn't have been.