CA Screamin - reopening 10/11

[jlima]

I cannot find the DOSH report anywhere on the internet!! If somebody out there has it can you please post . . . many thanks.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Brakes cited in Disney crash

BY MICHELE HIMMELBERG
The Orange County Register

Disney officials plan to re-open the California Screamin’ roller coaster on Friday, nearly 11 weeks after an accident sent 15 people to the hospital and state regulators closed the mile-long coaster for an investigation.

Faulty brakes failed to stop a coaster car in its appropriate brake zone and it rammed the car in front of it on the evening of July 29, at the California Adventure theme park, according to a state report released late today.

Several failures on the brake valves in Zone 7 caused the accident, reported the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, which oversees safety at permanent amusement parks. Valves and airlines in that brake zone had been replaced several days prior to the accident after "ongoing problems" documented in Disney’s maintenance records.

It was the first significant accident at Disney's California Adventure since it opened in early 2001. The injuries were classified as minor, with most people complaining of neck and back pain. Others walked away with bruises and sore necks.

State investigators poured over mechanical records and ride operation logs and inspected the entire 5,577 feet of track before narrowing the problem to brake zone seven, one of nine brake zones. The coaster’s purple train slowed down in brake zone seven, but failed to stop, colliding with the orange train that was stopped and waiting to enter the unload station.

DOSH cleared the ride to open after verifying that Disney had met all the agency’s requirements, including:

• Consider the redesign of the valves used in the braking system in use on the coaster, and redesign the raking mechanism as needed so that all trains will stop reliabley as they enter braking zones.

• Determine whether valves similar to those that malfunctioned are used ion other rides at the Disneyland Resort,and determne whther they might also be likely to malfunction.

• Retrain all appropriate employees on specific maintenance procedures.

 

[WDWHound]

Yes!!! Just in time for our trip next week.

 

[cardaway]

Yeah for you.

(Grrrrr one week too late grrrrrr)

 

[WDWHound]

Yeah for you.

(Grrrrr one week too late grrrrrr)

Sorry bout that, but at least you didnt have to face the crowds that are going to be there for Mickey's Halloween Treat during our visit. I suspect this be will one of the few times when there will be lines in Disneys California Addendum.

 

[cardaway]

Not true, lines got quite long in the afternoons. With the Pixar parade, Aladdin, and ToT, DCA has enough to pull away folks looking to escape the even longer lines Originaland. CS being open will only make that worse.

If you haven't seen Aladdin do make the time. We had to wait around for a good 45 min to secure the best seats (IMO the front row of the second level) but boy was it ever worth it. Better than any show in WDW. The theater was packed and I iamgine it will be until December.

All the CM's we spoke to said the 50th has translated to much bigger crowds than usual. Even for the Addendum.

 

[YoHo]

Hound, you were there this last weekend? So was I, but I didn't deign to enter the former parkinglot.

We watched the coaster of death send a few cars up from Storytellers.

I'm frankly surprised it was so busy, but on the other hand, It was unnaturally packed Saturday. Looked like a bunch of Homecoming people making things even worse.

Anyway, rumor has it that DCA's numbers are their worst ever this past summer.

 

[WDWHound]

Hound, you were there this last weekend? So was I, but I didn't deign to enter the former parkinglot.

We watched the coaster of death send a few cars up from Storytellers.

I'm frankly surprised it was so busy, but on the other hand, It was unnaturally packed Saturday. Looked like a bunch of Homecoming people making things even worse.

Anyway, rumor has it that DCA's numbers are their worst ever this past summer.

Nope, We will be there this weekend. We arrive on Thursday, so hopefully we will have one or 2 days with light crowds before the weekend mobs descend.

BTW: Hows the temp out there? Is it warm enough for to ride Grizzly River Rapids? It was too cold on our last visit, so I have never ridden this attraction.

 

[YoHo]

Well, it was cold as heck Saturday afternoon when I got there, but a coldfront and water from the sky was moving in.

Thursday and friday were really really warm though both down by me and up in Anaheim. You might be better off checking with gcurling though, he was there for the better part of the week.