Disney Skyliner shutdown and evacuation - October 6 2019

[Nunu]

The personal responsibility is what I have doubts about. It was really hard to admit at 45 years old that I could no longer handle rides that spin like teacups...I can only imagine how much more difficult it is to admit to having a phobia and being worried about riding a gondola and the possible ridicule that might come with such an admission.

I understand. To me the issue gets complicated when a phobia could present itself or be triggered unexpectedly.

If someone knows about these ailments beforehand and feels pressured, that's when character comes to play, imo. I can't ride Space Mountain because of my neck, and I wouldn't do it no matter how ridiculed or pressured.

 

[zombiebbq]

As someone who has been stuck on several coasters with an evac off of 1 I can say... it's not very traumatic!

bless you. because although i can go on a coaster (and enjoy them), I'm terrified of heights. i wouldn't do well with an evac. but i guess that's the risk you take on anything suspended in the air...

 

[ImperfectPixie]

Do we know if these call boxes allow one on one communication, or is it more of a "party line" where everyone hears what everyone else is saying?

I haven’t seen anything said either way. One would hope it’s the former.

Surely they are using a duplex systems where the cast member could speak reassuringly to everyone at once, overriding outgoing comms from the cars for long enough to briefly check in a few times an hour: There was a problem in one of the stations, it doesn't affect your gondola's safety. If anyone is having a true emergency, call 911 and/or reply to us. We'll check back in 20 minutes and until there, please keep the comms boxes free.

What prevented this kind of information from going out to everyone periodically??

Like I said, they stopped working properly when they seemed to be needed most...I’m just going by what the details provided said...which only referred to the number of people trying to use them all at once.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

Could they just run an announcement through the in cabin audio or is it not something that can be easily changed on the fly?

There’s an automated spiel, but if I recall, even that stopped.

 

[monothingie]

Two-way call-boxes that ceased working properly when people freaked out about seeing the Reedy Creek emergency services teams and too many were trying to use them at once.

This is definitely one area that needs to be redone. The intelligibility of onboard off normal announcements are worse than awful and in the event of an emergency are unusable. It also seems that the same wireless system is used for the emergency phones as well. This definitely needs work.

 

[monothingie]

Im just curious as to what level the outrage will be when one of these cars drops off the line and crashes to the ground?

Probably higher if it was the result of spontaneous self combustion due to high heat exposure.

 

[TP2000]

This showed up in the Orange County Register's front page this evening. The Orange County 2,500 miles away that hosts Disneyland, not the other one on the East Coast. But it's a national story now, and the "Trapped For Three Hours!" line is being repeated.

https://www.ocregister.com/2019/10/...rk-rides-to-be-stuck-on-when-they-break-down/

I heard about it first this morning driving back from Santa Barbara County on LA's biggest newsradio station. It never ceases to amaze me how a Disney theme park ride malfunction can blow up into a national story.

 

[natatomic]

Im just curious as to what level the outrage will be when one of these cars drops off the line and crashes to the ground?

What’s the actual likelihood of that happening? I assume it’s not ENTIRELY impossible, but I imagine a lot would have to go very wrong to have that kind of outcome, no?

 

[ImperfectPixie]

This showed up in the Orange County Register's front page this evening. The Orange County 2,500 miles away that hosts Disneyland, not the other one on the East Coast. But it's a national story now, and the "Trapped For Three Hours!" line is being repeated.

https://www.ocregister.com/2019/10/...rk-rides-to-be-stuck-on-when-they-break-down/

I heard about it first this morning driving back from Santa Barbara County on LA's biggest newsradio station. It never ceases to amaze me how a Disney theme park ride malfunction can blow up into a national story.

What gets me is that they made it sound like every rider was evacuated while still outside the station, and we know that to be false.

 

[Tanna Eros]

Do we know if these call boxes allow one on one communication, or is it more of a "party line" where everyone hears what everyone else is saying?

I would suspect that they would be private, to insure what the guest is talking about is kept private- like a medical condition one could be shy about, and also, if it were more of a party line, other gondola passengers would hear it and be like, "Oh, that guy called, we don't need to, now." At least that's how my mind works, but then, I went two weeks without electricity from hurricane aftermath because the whole neighborhood thought someone else had called. We didn't want to bother anyone, I guess.

 

[DDLand]

Your grasp of basic science is woefully... bad.

That chart is from NOAA for situations of *prolonged exposure* or strenuous activity. NOAA issues heat warnings if there's going to be more than 2 days of elevated heat.

You're claim of 1 degree makes a huge difference is completely absurd and ridiculous.

Here are the parts you're (intentionally?) leaving out...

View attachment 416751

Obviously, this isn't a chart for what happens in just a few hours with a one degree increase being the difference between life and death.

I think you’re interpreting the graph incorrectly. What you circled is only when NWS is compelled to issue an alert. The chart is not saying that you must experience two days of that level of heat before it’s a health danger. If that were the case, it would be very rare for anyone to get a heat disorder.

You can get into debates about the definition of “prolonged exposure,” but at the end of the day it’s often relative to the size and health of the individual. A baby or elderly individual might actually begin experiencing heat exhaustion in the three hour window if it were very hot outdoors. Even a healthy young person could start seeing symptoms begin to onset if they haven’t been drinking water or are fatigued. The conversation turns very theoretical very fast though.

The graph is pertinent and they seem to have interpreted it correctly. Even if it was in a slightly alarmist package.

 

[NearTheEars]

Ha! I can read it on my phone. So...logic and deduction would make it seem that the person who called 911 requested medical attention, since Reedy Creek states that they evacuated 1 cabin containing 6 passengers.

Interesting to hear more details come out. Last night I was still under the impression that a ton of cabins had to be evacuated.

Do we think that request for assistance actually resulted in the extended delay and not necessarily the accident?

 

[ImperfectPixie]

Interesting to hear more details come out. Last night I was still under the impression that a ton of cabins had to be evacuated.

Do we think that request for assistance actually resulted in the extended delay and not necessarily the accident?

Yes...there was a post outlining the sequence of many of the events.

 

[Vacationeer]

The chart shows almost the whole range of humidity is already "extreme caution" at 91 degrees. 103 is "danger" in common humidity range.
Interesting.

 

[NearTheEars]

Yes...there was a post outlining the sequence of many of the events.

Thank you. Trying to weed through them all for the info.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

Thank you. Trying to weed through them all for the info.

Found the link to the post...
https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/skyliner-shutdown-and-evacuation.960547/page-46#post-8915098

 

[Dutch Inn '76]

But I don't pay thousands of dollars to leave my house. sure there are extremes on both sides of the situation. I have a family member who will now never set foot on this. It might be overreacting to you. But for someone with anxiety issues, being trapped in a high spot with no way out, for 3hrs is a bad situation. This whole incident is amplified because it's Disney. People expect things might not go as planned. But no one really would expect that stepping onto the skyliner, they could be stuck for 3hrs.

I also have a family member with serious anxiety issues, and I'm willing to bet that he'll never get on the Skyliner with or without this incident. This has nothing to do with money. So what you paid thousands of dollars? Rolls Royces break down too, and the Skyliner will break down again. It's a machine.

All I'm saying is that "the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry."

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

I kinda hope Katie Bug was on one of stuck gondolas and had to be rescued, causing another "UNMAGICAL DAY"

 

[joelkfla]

We rode the skyliner last week and those gondolas come in HOT into the stations. The first station we went into, I screamed because I thought we were going to hit the one in front of us. They brake very fast and at the last minute almost. I'm afraid of heights as it is, so this definitely doesn't make me feel better about it. Otherwise, we loved them! they move quickly and get you where you need to be fast.

The cabins entering the station are clamped to a constantly moving cable. By the nature of the system, they enter the station at the same speed as they travel.

After they enter the station, they are detached from the cable, and must decelerate rapidly to the speed within the station. That deceleration is accomplished by contact with a series of tires spinning at decreasing speeds: the first tire in the series is spinning at the same speed as the cable is moving, and each successive tire spins somewhat more slowly, until tires spinning at station speed are reached. The last few feet of deceleration are at a lower rate, to allow the cabin to return to vertical before closing the gap from the preceding cabin.

The cabins are then moved through the station by tires spinning at the same speed (slightly faster around turns), until they reach the end of the load platform, where a series of tires spinning at increasing speeds accelerate the cabin to cable speed. Then the grip re-engages and the cabin continues on its journey clamped to the cable.

There are no actual brakes. While in the station, cabins move at the speed of whichever tires they are in contact with.

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

Also really dissapointed no one posted the simpsons; "here are 2 free passes" "but there are 4 of us." "here are 2 free passes" "that's better!" video or meme from the ITCHY & SCRATCHY LAND episode