Walt Disney World monorail system power outage strands riders for hours

[crazy4wdw]

From the Orlando Sentinel:

Walt Disney World monorail system power outage strands riders for hours
By Sara K. Clarke, Orlando Sentinel
11:52 a.m. EST, December 13, 2009

Walt Disney World's monorail system suffered a power failure overnight, stranding some passengers for hours before riders were rescued by emergency crews.

The monorail was brought to a standstill by a failed hard drive in the computer system that runs the 15-mile long transportation system. The monorail lost power to its beam.

No one was injured, said Bo Jones, of the Reedy Creek Fire Department, which serves the Walt Disney World resort.

The monorail was running again by the time parks opened Sunday.

About 300 people were affected by the incident, which happened at about 1 a.m. Many of Walt Disney World's parks were already closed at the time, but the Magic Kingdom was open until 1 a.m.

Seven monorail trains were operating at the time. Three trains had passengers on them and were not at a station at the time of the power failure. Those passengers were either assisted by emergency responders from Reedy Creek Improvement District, or disembarked after their train was towed to a nearby station. Three other trains were already in the station at the time of the power failure, and one was empty.

Fire fighters did use fire ladders to rescue some park visitors, but Jones said the measure was for customer service, rather than for emergency purposes.

"Our commitment to safety guides all we do, and this is the type of situation we train for with Reedy Creek," said Andrea Finger, spokeswoman for Walt Disney World. "We extend our apologies to guests who were affected and are working directly with them."

Jones said the Reedy Creek fire department trains for such an incident about six to eight times a year.

"We're ready for it when it happens and try to make it as speedy a process as we can," he said.

This morning's incident comes several months after monorail operator Austin Wuennenberg was killed in a collision between two trains. Wuennenberg was the first fatality in the history of the Walt Disney World monorail system.

In September, the park's monorail system experienced an electrical short at a control booth that shut down some parts of the transportation system. About 25 guests were affected briefly in that incident, until a tractor towed the train to the station.

 

[zulemara]

This morning's incident comes several months after monorail operator Austin Wuennenberg was killed in a collision between two trains. Wuennenberg was the first fatality in the history of the Walt Disney World monorail system.

They will never let it die, I swear

 

[ChrisFL]

They will never let it die, I swear

yep, it never fails...

 

[sotoalf]

But that's what you do as a reporter: add history and context. As an advisor to a student newspaper, that's what we teach them.

 

[unfreshdiva1]

As someone without children I had to ask why were so many small children still out at 1 a.m.? Even on a Saturday night I am asleep by midnight!

 

[jheigl]

I agree..they just won't forget about that issue...however, this was a worthy story to report (which no one here is disagreeing with). I sort of got a vibe while reading though that they are trying to make the point of "another monorail problem on what is supposed to be the most efficient transportation system"...sort of like they are trying to make a point against it. I know I'm probably going waaaaaay overboard, but that's just how I felt. I feel that if a monorail was to experience a problem with one signle door not opening, they would make a big news story out of it because of the crash that happened....

 

[seashoreCM]

>>> The monorail was brought to a standstill by a failed hard drive in the computer system that runs the 15-mile long transportation system. The monorail lost power to its beam.

I would call this bad design if it affected the entire system. Maybe time for more imagineering.

Disney hints: http://www.cockam.com/disney.htm

 

[jheigl]

Yeah, I guess this was one of the fail safe's they put into place after the accident. I'm sure they'll take a look at it and see what they can do.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

A few days after this happened my family and I were on the Resort Monorail at the TTC and needed to get off because there was a problem with it, so then 20 minutes later they decide to move it to the repair station. Then a few days after that at the Polynesian we are told the whole Monorail Resort line is down, however we took a taxi back to the Contemporary and got $10.00 taken off our room because of that.

 

[BRERALEX]