Fort Langhorn Escape Tunnel

[doctornick]

They did the paintbrush hunt but that's over now :/

Was the paintbrush hunt an advertised/published thing? I never knew about it until reading about it online (sadly, when it was being discontinued) -- Disney never seemed to make much of an effort to let people know it existed.

 

[wolf359]

Was the paintbrush hunt an advertised/published thing? I never knew about it until reading about it online (sadly, when it was being discontinued) -- Disney never seemed to make much of an effort to let people know it existed.

I think that was kind of the point. It was a leftover from a time when there were a lot of little things a guest could luck into discovering without being led by the nose from one to the next.

Today's average guest wants to know about everything and feel that they are in complete control of how, when, and what their Magical Walt Disney World Vacation includes, hence the explosive growth of Fastpass, structured meet and greets, dining reservations, and the like. And slowly (but surely) the discontinuation of of the smaller "flavor" experiences that cannot show high Guests Per Hour numbers or warrant a bullet point on a guide map.

 

[steve2wdw]

The paint brush hunt was a lot of fun and highly competitive. During a MK visit, my daughter and I just happened to be on the first raft of the day to TSI . Having heard about the paint brush hunt, we decided that we would give it a shot. Once on the raft, we realized that everyone on board was also in on the game. The minute we got to the dock, there was a mad scramble to start looking. We spent 45 minutes, all the while hearing people yell "got one", and figured we were out of luck. Much to our surprise, we actually found one in the support of a column at the secondary raft dock. True, this activity was not known to many, and with only a handful of paint brushes to find, not an activity that lasted all day long, but a new activity that involves finding, not collecting something on the island, might created the added experience to enhance the island that much more. Maybe something in the direction of the Pascal hunt in the new Tangled bathroom area or the recent Easter Egg hunt at Epcot, that was relevant to the island and Mark Twain's novels.

And back to the issue at hand.....has anyone noticed any type of "work" going on in or around the escape tunnel this week? It's still my hope that there is some regular maintenance that needs to happen and this "closure" is just temporary.

 

[Prototype82]

Next thing you know will be seeing pictures of TSI over in the thread of places that are gone

Nooooooooooo. We will not let it succumb to the lazy and sad fate of Disneyland's.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

And back to the issue at hand.....has anyone noticed any type of "work" going on in or around the escape tunnel this week? It's still my hope that there is some regular maintenance that needs to happen and this "closure" is just temporary.

I think the door looks too well themed for it to be meant temporary.

Anybody have a pic of the exit?

 

[awilliams4]

My question to WDW:

Please forward this to the most appropriate contact, thank you.

When will the Escape Tunnel at Fort Langhorn on Tom Sawyer's Island at
WDW reopen?

Thanks.

Their answer:

"We appreciate your interest in MAGIC KINGDOM® Attractions and in Tom
Sawyer Island's Fort Langhorne and we would be happy to assist you. At
times, due to weather conditions, the escape tunnels will not be
available. They will be closed without notice to accommodate existing
weather conditions whereas the safety of our Guests is concerned.

We would recommend asking the Cast Members in the raft area if the
tunnels have been closed due to weather in regard to visiting Tom
Sawyer's Island.

We apologize for any inconvenience, however, the safety of our Guests,
as always, is our concern at the WALT DISNEY WORLD® Resort.

Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance."

Obviously someone is not in the know.

 

[tnemgif]

At times, due to weather conditions, the escape tunnels will not be
available. They will be closed without notice to accommodate existing
weather conditions whereas the safety of our Guests is concerned.

Do you think there is any truth in this? This seems to imply flooding/water damage. Or maybe just a load of BS.

 

[awilliams4]

Do you think there is any truth in this? This seems to imply flooding/water damage. Or maybe just a load of BS.

My guess is that it is a copy and paste from someone who didn't look into it being actually closed. I suspect it is closed due to it being a liability. If that is the case, I blame my neighbor, my inlaws, my co-workers and any person that has the entitled sue happy mentality which is half the country right now.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Do you think there is any truth in this? This seems to imply flooding/water damage. Or maybe just a load of BS.

It's BS.

 

[mergatroid]

So it's closed because they're worried of a lawsuit? In't there a pc way of telling people who eat too much that it can't accommodate the clinically obese or such? And before people think I'm being cruel, I'm not (well maybe just a tad). I have dystonia effecting my leg, some days it's good whilst other days it' bad. However it's not Disney's fault I have dystonia and I'd hate to think that they're closing things down because disabled, overweight or clumsy people may find them ackward to navigate. Put a sign up warning them and let them make a reasoned choice whether they want to try it or not.

The world is full of natural areas where we can fall, slip or get hurt or killed such as mountains or forrests etc. If nobody owns them and we decide to explore them we do so knowing we could get hurt and taking reasonable precautions. As soon as somebody owns them though and allows us to use them we seem to become complete idiots unable to think for ourselves assuming we can jump off 30ft walls like Superman without being hurt and if we do get hurt it somebody elses' fault. The world has gone mad

 

[ToTBellHop]

So it's closed because they're worried of a lawsuit? In't there a pc way of telling people who eat too much that it can't accommodate the clinically obese or such? And before people think I'm being cruel, I'm not (well maybe just a tad). I have dystonia effecting my leg, some days it's good whilst other days it' bad. However it's not Disney's fault I have dystonia and I'd hate to think that they're closing things down because disabled, overweight or clumsy people may find them ackward to navigate. Put a sign up warning them and let them make a reasoned choice whether they want to try it or not.

The world is full of natural areas where we can fall, slip or get hurt or killed such as mountains or forrests etc. If nobody owns them and we decide to explore them we do so knowing we could get hurt and taking reasonable precautions. As soon as somebody owns them though and allows us to use them we seem to become complete idiots unable to think for ourselves assuming we can jump off 30ft walls like Superman without being hurt and if we do get hurt it somebody elses' fault. The world has gone mad

Unfortunately, no. Disney routinely gets absurd lawsuits and they settle (for lots of $$) to keep things away from the press, even if the fault is truly the guest's. A $200,000 settlement is surely better than bad publicity. See Carnival Corp.

Unfortunately, moves like this are the only way to prevent frivolous lawsuits (until folks find another way to be stupid).

 

[PhilharMagician]

Random Unkadug Fact...I played Tom Sawyer in an elementary school play.


Too bad it was before they had invented camcorders or this constant need to rehash the movie would not be necessary!

Had they invented the wheel yet?

 

[mergatroid]

Unfortunately, no. Disney routinely gets absurd lawsuits and they settle (for lots of $$) to keep things away from the press, even if the fault is truly the guest's. A $200,000 settlement is surely better than bad publicity. See Carnival Corp.

Unfortunately, moves like this are the only way to prevent frivolous lawsuits (until folks find another way to be stupid).

It really makes me angry stuff like this. I had a car crash a few years back here in England and it wasn't my fault, somebody (rear ended me) I think you call it? Anyhow I was fine but the calls I got from an insurance company after trying to convince me I wasn't was ridiculous. The guy must have got commission or something but he kept asking how I knew I was ok? "Have you had any pain, maybe you just haven't noticed it yet?" was his favourite line.

One year when I was in America I remember the story of a bus crashing with old people on it. A heroic passer by stopped his car and went aboard to rescue the people from the bus as it had smoke coming from it and he was worried it would set on fire (fortunately it didn't). A passing lawyer also stopped and tried to 'persuade' the old people that this guy could have hurt them in moving them as he wasn't properly trained or authorised to move people. The world had truly gone mad

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

My guess is that it is a copy and paste from someone who didn't look into it being actually closed. I suspect it is closed due to it being a liability. If that is the case, I blame my neighbor, my inlaws, my co-workers and any person that has the entitled sue happy mentality which is half the country right now.

Kinda over the sue-happy mentality this country has. Scratch that, very much over it. What ever happened to falling, getting up, dusting your butt off, and move along?

Pretty sure I was born in the wrong time period.

 

[Killnme]

I was on Tom's Island yesterday and the escape was still closed. I asked a CM why it was closed and she said that Tom and Huck were messing around and broke one of the stairs. I asked her if it would be fixed and reopened and she said yes, BUT the island is usually forgotten about so don't look for it anytime soon.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Kinda over the sue-happy mentality this country has. Scratch that, very much over it. What ever happened to falling, getting up, dusting your butt off, and move along?

Pretty sure I was born in the wrong time period.

Now, it's go to WDW, fall, call your atty., get an ambulance/stretcher to pick you up, go to hospital, whine about how much your neck hurts, go through 6 months of physical therapy, get litigious for a couple of years, get a payout, and book more WDW trips.

 

[PhilharMagician]

Such a shame, but I would not be surprised that all the tunnels get closed. They have warning signs at all tunnel entrances, but people do not realize how tight they really are in some places. We ran into a rather large woman on the escape tunnel that was basically in a panic. It was a tight squeeze for her, a very tight squeeze. The other two tunnels do not give much more space either.

On our last trip my daughter took a fall on the barrel bridge and cut open her knee pretty good and we had to go to first aid to clean and bandage it, but $hit happens.

Aunt Polly's was always a nice place to stop and get a lemonade, ice cream or snack. Unfortunately the management feels that there is no reason to reopen the counter service and table service locations that used to be open in the past in MK even though attendance is high and the current open locations can typically see lines out the door and guests struggling to find seating.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

<rant>

I think it starts at home with parents that over-coddle their precious little kids. Followed by schools, parks and playgrounds that rubber coat everything that has already passed the survivability assessment. These kids then grow up to be undereducated, overweight, hugely self-entitled and generally litigious mooks. I cannot stand what modern (American) society has become.

What happened to the old days INDEED. You bruised your knee, cried a little and MOVED ON with your life!

Lawyers can _)(#%*)#$.

</rant>

 

[DJMoore2011]

When we went to TSI back in 2011, my daughter fell too because she was running and not watching what she was doing. While she is Special Needs I try hard not to baby her. I asked her 3 questions: Can you stand? Yes but it hurts a little, Is there blood? A little on my leg where I hit the rock. Think your gonna die? No and she laughed it off. We keep a small first aid kit in our backpack so we cleaned her up. Had her sit on a rock till the pain went away and she was fine. While we were waiting on my daughter out of no where this lady comes up to us saying she knows an attorney that we could call so we could sue Disney. When I asked her why I would want to sue Disney when it wasn't their fault her reply was, well they were at fault some how. We walked away but it was a sad reminder how quickly people sue for no reason at all. So what my daughter fell, it's no big deal. After a bit she was up and we were off again but you know what, she didn't RUN any more.

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

<rant>

I think it starts at home with parents that over-coddle their precious little kids. Followed by schools, parks and playgrounds that rubber coat everything that has already passed the survivability assessment. These kids then grow up to be undereducated, overweight, hugely self-entitled and generally litigious mooks. I cannot stand what modern (American) society has become.

What happened to the old days INDEED. You bruised your knee, cried a little and MOVED ON with your life!

Lawyers can _)(#%*)#$.

</rant>

Off topic but I distinctly remember falling OFF the spiral slide at one of our city parks. Why? Because I was being a jackass and was talking to another kid instead of sitting, sliding down the slide, then repeating. I fell over the side. I hit the pavement, cried and cried... and my Mom came over, scooped me up and said "now what did you learn? dont be an idiot" and walked back over to the bench.

Tough love? You betcha. Did I ever do that again? Nope.