Disney Tour Bus Involved In Fatal Accident

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/19100970/detail.html

 

[OrlandoMike]

Just an FYI...

Disney does not operate "Tour busses".

The busses that take people from the resorts to the parks are operated by Disney.

This was probably a Magical Express or DCL bus, both are operated by Mears.

 

[Uncleromulus]

And of course the title--calculated to make you think it was a Disney bus and probably caused the accident.

 

[KidDurango]

Unfortunately, in this case it was poor wording on the part of the person writing the article. It was an actual Disney bus, not a Mears operated.

 

[Dznefreek]

Disney bus or Mears operated Disney bus; dead is dead. . . . . . . . .

Just an FYI...

Disney does not operate "Tour busses".

The busses that take people from the resorts to the parks are operated by Disney.

This was probably a Magical Express or DCL bus, both are operated by Mears.

Nice word smithing . . . a statement Disney would make

 

[doconeill]

Disney bus or Mears operated Disney bus; dead is dead. . . . . . . . .

Nice word smithing . . . a statement Disney would make

I don't think it was really wordsmithing. When I first heard about it, the early reports said it was a "tour bus", and I likewise first thought that it wasn't a Disney Transport bus, but perhaps a charter bus.

As for the Mears buses - Disney contracts Mears to run them. So for all intents and purposes they are Disney buses. I still wouldn't call them a "tour bus". Tour buses I normally think of as being used for sightseeing, dwelling multi-stop services, not point to point transport.

 

[Scurvy]

My husband and I were at WDW when this happened.

In addition to closing World Drive, they also stopped letting people ride the monorail over that area. At one point they were making everyone get off of the monorail at the Magic Kindom and transfer to a different monorail (that was looping in the opposite direction on the other track) to go to the Contemporary. The lines for the Monorail were extremely long during that time. I assume they must have been removing the body and didn't want anyone to see it. The only reason we knew there had been a fatal accident was because we had been listening to traffic reports on our satellite radio. The CMs at the monorail station were just saying that there was an issue with part of the monorail track.

 

[OrlandoMike]

Unfortunatly it was a cast member who died......

 

[mitros]

My husband and I were at WDW when this happened.

In addition to closing World Drive, they also stopped letting people ride the monorail over that area. At one point they were making everyone get off of the monorail at the Magic Kindom and transfer to a different monorail (that was looping in the opposite direction on the other track) to go to the Contemporary. The lines for the Monorail were extremely long during that time. I assume they must have been removing the body and didn't want anyone to see it. The only reason we knew there had been a fatal accident was because we had been listening to traffic reports on our satellite radio. The CMs at the monorail station were just saying that there was an issue with part of the monorail track.

Yea, Disney is real good at "hiding" the people killed on something to do with Disney.

 

[Scurvy]

Yea, Disney is real good at "hiding" the people killed on something to do with Disney.

Well, in this case I can't really blame them. I really don't think it would have been a good idea for them to tell all the vacationers that they couldn't ride the monorail over that area because they were cleaning up a dead body. I think "issues with the track" was a much better thing to say.

(And though I think this is horribly tragic, I don't know that Disney is really responsible for it. If the reports I heard - and the article quoted earlier - were correct, it sounds like the victim lost control of their car somehow. The bus might not have been able to avoid hitting it. Given how long the area was closed off, I imagine they examined the scene well, so hopefully eventually there will be a report that explains if it could have been avoided.)

ETA - I know that last bit makes it sound like I think you were blaming Disney, which of course I know you weren't. But in a case where they aren't responsible, I can understand why they might want to "hide" it, since some people will hear "Disney" and "fatality" in the same sentence and assume Disney is to blame somehow.

 

[doconeill]

Well, in this case I can't really blame them. I really don't think it would have been a good idea for them to tell all the vacationers that they couldn't ride the monorail over that area because they were cleaning up a dead body. I think "issues with the track" was a much better thing to say.

Agree. It would be improper of Disney (or any company or agency) to be giving out information of that nature at that point in time.

"Issues with the track" was arguably misinformation though. A more typical response is "medical situation", "police activity", or some such.

 

[fairestoneofall]

Agree. It would be improper of Disney (or any company or agency) to be giving out information of that nature at that point in time.

"Issues with the track" was arguably misinformation though. A more typical response is "medical situation", "police activity", or some such.

To me, "medical situation" and/or "police activity" would be something that would peak people's curiosity. "Issues with the track" is more of a bland response and one that people probably wouldn't think twice about.

I'm sorry for the lost CM and for his/her family.

 

[doconeill]

To me, "medical situation" and/or "police activity" would be something that would peak people's curiosity. "Issues with the track" is more of a bland response and one that people probably wouldn't think twice about.

I'm not sure I'd pick something that might raise questions about the safety of the mode of transportation I am now stuck on...

I'm sorry for the lost CM and for his/her family.

Likewise.

 

[zulemara]

I also wanted to add that during that time, watercrafts operated 3 ferry boats to assist with getting guests to and from MK. We also put the 120 passenger cruisers on the route to GF and the Poly to help with the increased traffic and brought out our "MK" boats to help with the additional traffic as well. It was a major operational shift to make sure the "magic" was preserved. I'm sure many many guests were unhappy that day and it's also the balance between what guests see on the surface and what goes on behind the scenes that determines the decisions managers make. In this case, it is better to say there is something wrong with monorails and inconvenience people than to let kids watch an accident scene from above. It's just another example showing that if Disney transportation is causing a major inconvenience, there is probably a reason for it.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I can see why WDW would say something like the Monorail was having issuses and not say what really happened. Now I am not sure if this tragic story made the local news broadcasts, however since it was posted on the internet and another site which mentioned it was the Orlando Sentinal, wouldn't people at WDW maybe with internet access who were in the area at the time found out what really happened?

 

[KYMickey]

I can see why WDW would say something like the Monorail was having issuses and not say what really happened. Now I am not sure if this tragic story made the local news broadcasts, however since it was posted on the internet and another site which mentioned it was the Orlando Sentinal, wouldn't people at WDW maybe with internet access who were in the area at the time found out what really happened?

I actually think Disney's biggest concern was to keep people out of the area during the incident, avoiding press on the issue was probably desired but a secondary issue. We certainly didn't want a lot of people observing the actual accident with the body in the car. By the time people find out about it on the Internet I'm sure the actual accident scene was cleaned up.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I actually think Disney's biggest concern was to keep people out of the area during the incident, avoiding press on the issue was probably desired but a secondary issue. We certainly didn't want a lot of people observing the actual accident with the body in the car. By the time people find out about it on the Internet I'm sure the actual accident scene was cleaned up.

Those are some very good points, however they are not always able to aviod people from seeing these types of horrible things. For example when my family and I were at the Contemporary in December 2008 when they had that accident where a WDW bus hit a mini van that was parked illegally in the bus area. We didn't see it happen however we saw all the police cars, ambulances and helicopters arriving at the same time. Anyway they had a Cast Member standing by the doors which lead to the Contemporary bus station and he said no one could not go out that way, however he did tell us what happened. Anyway we were able to walk out the main doors of the lobby towards the valet parking area and we saw the bus station was jammed with police cars and the ambulances. So that was one example where the Cast Members could not hide what was going on.

 

[TisBit]

First, I find it funny that people are offended that they might not be told the real reason something is closed or rerouted. I am sure a CM would love to tell hundreds of people that someone died and get everyone worried about their family members that aren't with them, etc. I work in Law Enforcement and would gladly not tell the "real" reason for something like that. (similar to my wife asking if she looked fat in that dress).

Second, from the sounds of this accident, the CM probably had a medical emergency that caused the accident, such as heart attack or stroke...and was probably the cause of death. Most accidents that match this story are usually medical emergencies or drunks...and with the speeds at WDW the impact would rarely be fatal.

 

[doconeill]

I work in Law Enforcement and would gladly not tell the "real" reason for something like that.

Don't they train you, or at least instruct you, not to discuss such things other than there is police activity? Typically they don't want anyone discussing such things because the information is often incomplete or incorrect, and can often make the situation worse.

Then again, saying there was a "problem with the track", coupled with partial reports of an accident, could easily bloom into "Did you here? The monorail beam cracked and fell onto a Disneyland Tour Bus coming from SSR and killed 50 DVC members!"

(similar to my wife asking if she looked fat in that dress).

Still waiting for the course on that one...

 

[Scurvy]

Then again, saying there was a "problem with the track", coupled with partial reports of an accident, could easily bloom into "Did you here? The monorail beam cracked and fell onto a Disneyland Tour Bus coming from SSR and killed 50 DVC members!"

Somehow many of the people around us seemed to have the impression that the problem wasn't so much the track itself but something on the track. I didn't hear a CM say anything that would have implied that, so I don't know why everyone seemed to assume it. I heard people saying that there were birds on the track that wouldn't move, or that the monorail had hit a bird and it needed to be moved, or that a tree limb was on the track. Lots of different things like that. No one seemed at all concerned about safety, they were just irritated at the wait. I did hear one person say there had been a monorail wreck, but no one else seemed to believe that. And someone else thought that a car had hit the base of the track, so they were checking it before letting the monorail go through that area.

I don't know how the CMs phrased it when they first told everyone why the monorail wasn't running normally, but whatever they said seemed to do a good job of keeping people calm. By the time we got there, they were just saying that "Due to an issue involving the track" they were temporarily having to make everyone transfer monorails at the Magic Kingdom.

And I didn't realize it at the time, but when we got off the tram at the TTC they were directing everyone to the ferry, saying that it was the "mode of transportation for the evening". I thought it was a little odd but assumed that the monorail was just really crowded. We walked over to the Polynesian and it wasn't till we were trying to catch a monorail after dinner that I realized that there was an issue with it. I had assumed that the accident had been dealt with by then because it had been a couple of hours since we heard about it on the radio.

I think the people next to us at dinner had seen at least some of it. I'm not sure that's what they were talking about, but a manager of some sort came over to the table next to us and apologized to the family at the table, saying that he was "so sorry that they had to see that", and that he hoped they could enjoy the rest of their trip. The chef also came out to talk to them and seemed to be trying to cheer up a little girl at the table. I'm not sure that they saw the accident (or the aftermath) but I definitely got that impression.