Lights, Motors, Action! accident yesterday.

sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Okay. This is my 2nd attempt at posting this. I don't think I heart the Contemporary so much anymore. No more computers in the room and have to pay for the internet. Ick! I have limited time here because we have dinner at LeCellier to go to. I'm suprised this hasn't been posted yet!

We were at the 1:20p LMA show at DHS yesterday and witnessed what appeared to be a pretty serious accident in the finale scene. The entire show felt "off" from the get-go. The red/hero car stalled during the Ballet Chase and the scene had to be reset. Then came the finale scene. Normally, if memory serves, you're supposed to be watching the "movie" on the big screen to see how all the stuff you've been watching plays into an actual movie. Then, when the movie shows the red/hero car bursting out of the building center stage the car comes bursting out for real. It then zooms down the landing ramp, up the 2nd ramp, pyrotechnics go off, jumps the water-bridge that raises up & down during the show, zooms thru the tunnel beneath the stadium, circles around, and parks back on top of the jump ramp so all the cars/drivers/cast can come out to take a bow & wave goodbye as the crowd roars with excitement. Well, not so yesterday. Red/hero car came bursting out of the building, down the landing ramp, pyro timing was not right, car goes up the jump ramp, but landed too short. He actually landed ON the water bridge thing. I know he landed short because the back end of the car slammed down hard 1st which caused the front end to slam down 2nd. The car then BOUNCED. The back end that hit 1st bounced 1st followed by the front end so when the car was fully back in the air it was in a nose-down position and tilted to the driver's left. When it came back up I promise you the nose of the car was at least 2 to 4 feet off the ground and the back was at least double that. When the car hit the ground again you could tell the driver was not in control because it veered to the driver's left as it disappeared into the tunnel beneath the stadium. As soon as all the cars were stopped the ground crew CMs came running and looking into the tunnel. Even CMs that were in the stands walked over to lean over to look into the tunnel. Immediately the "director" came over the PA thanking everyone for coming and wishing us a happy rest of the day. That's not a normal end to the show.

We were sitting in the top part of the stadium towards the right side (if you were standing facing the stadium). We got up and walked down the stairway that's nearest the Backlot Tour. When we got down to the mezzanine level beneath the stadium the same stairway was now blocked off to keep anyone from decending. Everyone was being pushed toward the other stairway which now had a huuuge bottleneck going on. This is when we saw the RCFD cart drive to the bottom level, unload a stretcher, load it with equipment, then rush off towards the tunnel. We decided to go back to the seats to sit and wait for the crowd at the stairs to subside. As we passed back into the front seating area we saw that the crowd was also being diverted down the stairs to both sides of the tunnel. We walked down the stairs to the right side of the tunnel (if you are facing the stadium). There were ropes on both sides of the tunnel and CMs standing there directing people to walk away. Those who knew that something was wrong were trying to see back into the tunnel. We looked, too. I have video footage of red streaks on the left tunnel wall where the car obviously impacted. I wasn't trying to shove my video camera out to be morbid or anything. Hubby actually saw down the tunnel. He said the car was resting on the drivers side. It had flipped or rolled on impact. We're sure the driver was still inside because of how the ground crew were still around the car looking in. I then video taped the crowd exiting out across the stage towards where the Backlot Tour vehicles circle at the end. I turned and also got video of a firetruck and ambulance arriving with lights on back by where Catastrophe Canyon is. In the next 1/2 hour to hour we saw 3 or 4 groups of "suits" and other important-looking people carrying clip-boards, radios, tape measures, etc. walking briskly towards LMA. I think we definitely witnessed a serious mishap.

I have no other info as to the driver's condition. We left the park very shortly after this so I don't even know if the 2nd/final performance went on. I don't know how to post video and don't really have time to anyway. I just wanted to get the info out. Hopefully someone will know more as to the driver's condition. I know the cars are built with a lot of safety features. With what we saw I'm thinking spinal compression would be a huuuge risk for the guy. It was a heck of a lick when he hit the ground...not to mention the impact with the wall and subsequent flip or roll.

No, I did not get footage of the accident itself. Just as the final scene was being started I thought to turn on the camera but didn't because we have the whole show on video with our high def camera from last year plus my battery was getting low. My youngest son had his camera and didn't film it either. Strange.

Did anyone else see the accident? Does anyone else have any other info???
 

stitch2008

Member
We were at the 1:20p LMA show at DHS yesterday and witnessed what appeared to be a pretty serious accident in the finale scene. Then came the finale scene. Normally, if memory serves, you're supposed to be watching the "movie" on the big screen to see how all the stuff you've been watching plays into an actual movie. Then, when the movie shows the red/hero car bursting out of the building center stage the car comes bursting out for real. It then zooms down the landing ramp, up the 2nd ramp, pyrotechnics go off, jumps the water-bridge that raises up & down during the show, zooms thru the tunnel beneath the stadium, circles around, and parks back on top of the jump ramp so all the cars/drivers/cast can come out to take a bow & wave goodbye as the crowd roars with excitement. Well, not so yesterday. Red/hero car came bursting out of the building, down the landing ramp, pyro timing was not right, car goes up the jump ramp, but landed too short. He actually landed ON the water bridge thing. I know he landed short because the back end of the car slammed down hard 1st which caused the front end to slam down 2nd. The car then BOUNCED. The back end that hit 1st bounced 1st followed by the front end so when the car was fully back in the air it was in a nose-down position and tilted to the driver's left. When it came back up I promise you the nose of the car was at least 2 to 4 feet off the ground and the back was at least double that. When the car hit the ground again you could tell the driver was not in control because it veered to the driver's left as it disappeared into the tunnel beneath the stadium. As soon as all the cars were stopped the ground crew CMs came running and looking into the tunnel. Even CMs that were in the stands walked over to lean over to look into the tunnel. Immediately the "director" came over the PA thanking everyone for coming and wishing us a happy rest of the day. That's not a normal end to the show.

We were sitting in the top part of the stadium towards the right side (if you were standing facing the stadium). We got up and walked down the stairway that's nearest the Backlot Tour. When we got down to the mezzanine level beneath the stadium the same stairway was now blocked off to keep anyone from decending. Everyone was being pushed toward the other stairway which now had a huuuge bottleneck going on. This is when we saw the RCFD cart drive to the bottom level, unload a stretcher, load it with equipment, then rush off towards the tunnel. We decided to go back to the seats to sit and wait for the crowd at the stairs to subside. As we passed back into the front seating area we saw that the crowd was also being diverted down the stairs to both sides of the tunnel. We walked down the stairs to the right side of the tunnel (if you are facing the stadium). There were ropes on both sides of the tunnel and CMs standing there directing people to walk away. Those who knew that something was wrong were trying to see back into the tunnel. We looked, too. I have video footage of red streaks on the left tunnel wall where the car obviously impacted. I wasn't trying to shove my video camera out to be morbid or anything. Hubby actually saw down the tunnel. He said the car was resting on the drivers side. It had flipped or rolled on impact. We're sure the driver was still inside because of how the ground crew were still around the car looking in. I then video taped the crowd exiting out across the stage towards where the Backlot Tour vehicles circle at the end. I turned and also got video of a firetruck and ambulance arriving with lights on back by where Catastrophe Canyon is. In the next 1/2 hour to hour we saw 3 or 4 groups of "suits" and other important-looking people carrying clip-boards, radios, tape measures, etc. walking briskly towards LMA. I think we definitely witnessed a serious mishap.

I have no other info as to the driver's condition. We left the park very shortly after this so I don't even know if the 2nd/final performance went on. I don't know how to post video and don't really have time to anyway. I just wanted to get the info out. Hopefully someone will know more as to the driver's condition. I know the cars are built with a lot of safety features. With what we saw I'm thinking spinal compression would be a huuuge risk for the guy. It was a heck of a lick when he hit the ground...not to mention the impact with the wall and subsequent flip or roll.

No, I did not get footage of the accident itself. Just as the final scene was being started I thought to turn on the camera but didn't because we have the whole show on video with our high def camera from last year plus my battery was getting low. My youngest son had his camera and didn't film it either. Strange.

Did anyone else see the accident? Does anyone else have any other info???

Sounds like a terrible accident. I hope the driver is okay and my prayers are with the driver and family. The "water bridge thing" is there for just this purpose. If the bridge was not there, the car would have crashed into the moat in front of the stands. That actually happened with the show in Paris. I guess the car hit the bridge at an awkward angle, which caused the car to flip.
 
I'm sure the drivers' pay follows a higher grade for stunt work, so there's no way they didn't think of any liability or covering themselves in that sense. Obviously there was a rather irregular accident, but the stretcher may not have even been used other than to hold equipment, or simply take the driver in to be thoroughly checked out.

I really hope that the driver is OK, as it sounds like the car was having troubles from the beginning of the show, so it must have been an instance of malfuctioning equipment somewhere within the car. If anything truly crazy happened, I'm sure the Slantinel will have something about the occurence within the next few days.
 

disneypearl

Well-Known Member
I hope the driver didn't get hurt! I worry for them every time I watch the show and am in awe of how much talent these guys have.
 

stitch2008

Member
They need to close this attraction. I preferred seeing the Golden Girls house!

I disagree. I may be in the minority, but I love Lights Motors Action. To me, its a great representation of car action sequences that we see in the movies. The show is dynamic and anything can happen due to the physcial nature of the show.
 

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
You have to think at some point WDW will see this show as too much of a liability and rethink the entire deal.
How so? Up until this point they have had only a few minor accidents. It is an extreme stunt show and accidents are going to happen. Should we shut down NASCAR and NHRA as well? By my figures they have quite a few more fender benders than this show.
 

djpoore94

Well-Known Member
How so? Up until this point they have had only a few minor accidents. It is an extreme stunt show and accidents are going to happen. Should we shut down NASCAR and NHRA as well? By my figures they have quite a few more fender benders than this show.

:sohappy: My thoughts exactly!
 

aeroc33

New Member
I just can't believe there's not someone in management saying "maybe it would be easier to just throw in some characters from CARS and give the show a more comedic tone....get away from the extreme stunts"

BTW, are you really going to compare a theme park attraction to motorsports?
 

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
I just can't believe there's not someone in management saying "maybe it would be easier to just throw in some characters from CARS and give the show a more comedic tone....get away from the extreme stunts"

BTW, are you really going to compare a theme park attraction to motorsports?
Yes. Both involve cars, both are entertainment and both are dangerous. You are not going to shut down motorsports because there is an accident and by the same token they should not down LMA because there was one. All they need to do is find out what went wrong and take steps to prevent a reoccurrence.
 

jt04

Well-Known Member
Yes. Both involve cars, both are entertainment and both are dangerous. You are not going to shut down motorsports because there is an accident and by the same token they should not down LMA because there was one. All they need to do is find out what went wrong and take steps to prevent a reoccurrence.

I'm kinda doubting anything happen. There was an accident several weeks ago and it made the papers. Anyone actually seen a news story about this?
 

kcw

Member
Yes. Both involve cars, both are entertainment and both are dangerous. You are not going to shut down motorsports because there is an accident and by the same token they should not down LMA because there was one. All they need to do is find out what went wrong and take steps to prevent a reoccurrence.

Not to mention that these are professional stunt drivers, not just some front-line CMs they threw into cars.Obviously we all know that, but I think that gets overlooked too often. These guys know what they're doing, and they know the risk that is involved. And if they're not driving in LMA at Disney, they're going to go drive somewhere else.... where there's still a risk... that's just what they do! Disney should feel the need to "protect" them by shutting down their show- it wouldn't do any good. As long as they figure out what went wrong, and how they should change it in the future, I think it's fine. Hopefully the driver was alright though :)

I'm kinda doubting anything happen. There was an accident several weeks ago and it made the papers. Anyone actually seen a news story about this?

Wait, you're doubting the accident happened? or that any major injury or anything happened?..... because I'm pretty sure the OP wouldn't just make something like this up.... that's fairly morbid...:confused:
 

TakeMeThere81

Well-Known Member
I'm also a huge fan of LMA, it is such an important attraction in DHS. It's too important for them to close. It sounds like only a minor accident, something that I'm sure they'll be able to figure out.

Besides, hasn't this show been in DL Paris for quite a while now? If it wasn't working there, or was too dangerous, they would have closed it a long time ago and by no means would they have brought it to WDW.
 

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