mousehockey37
Well-Known Member
For those that may not know, may I refer you back to this fun thread... http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/unmagical-day-at-the-magic-kingdom.881147/
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Epcot Monorail Being Evacuated
- Thread starter peachykeen
- Start date
For those that may not know, may I refer you back to this fun thread... http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/unmagical-day-at-the-magic-kingdom.881147/
And not only that, but the odds of it being struck as it crosses exactly over the one switch on the entire Epcot beam, preventing it from being a "simple" tow and turning it into a full blown evacuation.
PhotoDave219
Well-Known Member
Yeah, we were discussing it in another thread.
No big deal. Lightning hit the beam and it lost power.
All of this has happened before and all of this will happen again.
PhotoDave219
Well-Known Member
I believe the beam was struck as opposed to the monorail itself. Not 100% sure but I'm pretty sure....
mousehockey37
Well-Known Member
When do the "I survived the Disney World Monorail Lightning Strike of 2014" shirts go out?
"Unfortunately, at this time, we do not see the need to prepare such a shirt. Please head to one of the nearest gift shops that sells the same crap as the other 234099087 gift shops and purchase one of those shirts for 99.99...."
Tom Morrow
Well-Known Member
Why even include a freakin' Twitter comment in the news article? And they included the most hyperbolic one, not for comedic value (although that was an unintended result), but to turn non-news into something for people to get all up in arms about.
PhotoDave219
Well-Known Member
Metilinos
Member
Regardless, even if it was the beam, it still had an immediate effect and it caused an apparent panic.
But here's where I can't even take it seriously. The beam gets struck, the monorail stops and someone tweets "I'm convinced I'm going to die". How?! You're literally traveling at 0mph, you cannot collide with anything. The monorail is attached to the track, it's not gonna tumble over. No fires, no apparent damage. Literally overreaction. I'm laughing to death. I want to know this person.
But here's where I can't even take it seriously. The beam gets struck, the monorail stops and someone tweets "I'm convinced I'm going to die". How?! You're literally traveling at 0mph, you cannot collide with anything. The monorail is attached to the track, it's not gonna tumble over. No fires, no apparent damage. Literally overreaction. I'm laughing to death. I want to know this person.
Right. I worked in Monorails for several years and was a part of multiple evacuation drills and a live one myself.
I agree that a train being stopped because of a lightning strike is common. I remember piloting a 2 hour 43 minute lap on the Epcot beam in Monorail Black because all the MAPO transmitters were fried, meaning I had to be cleared point to point around the entire beam. Luckily I was deadheaded, so no guests were impacted.
However, evacuating guests via the ladder and having them climb on the roof of the train (if reports are to be believed) is fairly rare. I believe the last full evacuation was the power outage in December 2009, which I was involved in.
I'm not saying Disney is at fault in any way. But I believe that this is fairly interesting news, which is why I posted it into the news forum.
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That was the most wonderful, epic thing I've ever read, I'm pretty sure.
I wonder if I make up a crazy fake tweet about me being on the monorail just now if it'll make the news. "I swear I FELT the lightening thru the metal bar I was holding on to! #disneyburnedme #imsuing #morganandmorgan #Itselectricboogiewoogiewoogie"
PhotoDave219
Well-Known Member
Okay, good. Someone that can back up that lightning strikes on the are very common but this was slightly out of the ordinary but a general evac because of a power failure. Still doesnt warrant much newsworthy attention IMO
On a related note, if you ever want to have an interesting experience, while boarding a train, grab onto the pole that is just inside the door of the monorail, and grab one of the metal gates at MK/TTC Express at the same time. It's a unique sensation
Metilinos
Member
Well if it was the beam then the cart didn't get struck, which means they probably didn't hear anything unless a breaker or something short circuited and/or exploded. And that's if they were in the vicinity.
Imagine if they just went over the track and it was dead? It just stops and all of a sudden someone's tweeting "I'm gonna die!"
It most likely struck the beam, which then cut power to the train. Sometimes it can take a while to get power back, especially if a train is sitting on the switch like it was.
I haven't been in the department for a while so I don't have many details on this particular event. But I really can't recall a train itself being struck. It's always been the beam or a MAPO transmitter.
PhotoDave219
Well-Known Member
Its nice to have someone with a sense of first-hand experience as to these things.
I dont understand why people think that the train itself was actually struck.
Metilinos
Member
They weren't super clear on what was actually struck. Plus when people bring up the fact they they are going to DIE, I just assumed the train was struck.
psherman42
Well-Known Member
I don't know if you're joking or not so I apologize for taking this too seriously but my roommate worked at Coaster and I'm pretty sure she told me once that if the ride ever had to be stopped and a limo was going through the loop, gravity (or something) would force the limo to complete the loop and stop at the bottom. Or something along those lines.
