Monorail Yellow Emergency Hatch and Space Mountain Issues

[BSikor]

I took a ride on Monorail Yellow this morning from Epcot to the TTC and as we approached the station there was a loud "bang" and the emergency evacuation hatches opened and dropped a bit. Note, the hatches were directly over my head. I was one of three people in the cab. The woman across from me was startled as much as I. Needless to say, I moved to the other side of the car. When we arrived at the TTC there was a CM on the other side of the door. I flagged his attention and pointed to the hatch. He seemed unfased and when the door opened, he just pushed it back up into place. As I left, I noticed that the hatches were open in every cabin. Has this ever happened to anyone else? I must have ridden the monorails hundreds of times in the since 1979 and I have never had something like this happen to me.

Here's some pics.

Has anything like this happened to anyone else? The CM's acted like this was a normal occurrence.

Also, I tried to ride Space Mountain a couple times today and had no luck as it was 101 every time I tried. I did snap a couple of interior pics with the lights on.

It was just an "off" day for me and the parks so I tucked tail and went home after only an couple hours.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Odd,I wonder what happened with the Monorail...Perhaps a power surge?

I've seen SM with the lights on too,wierd huh?Perhaps there sizing it up for rehab...*Crosses Fingers*

 

[Jheyman]

I was there last week and I think on the 8th ( not sure what day exactly) SM was 101 first thing in the morning during EMH and then agian later that afternoon around 12:30 it went 101, My understanding though is there were some power issues as well as Splash and BTMR both went down for power issues later that day.

 

[raven]

Very strange. I wonder if it has omething to do with a safety feature that was accidently set off.

 

[the-reason14]

Wow, Ive never seen anything like that happened. But I have been one to get stuck on SM twice, it was kinda weird but cool at the same time, I didnt realize how much track that was intertwined almost with each other. Hopefully the refurb will concentrate solely on fixing the bugs to were it wont break down as often and not totoly screw the ride over.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I saw SM with the lights on when I was a kid when they had it down for rehab (obviously this was a very very very long time ago...LOL). It was so interesting to see it when riding thru on the Wedway People Mover. I always describe it as a really big building with a big ball of twisted metal in the middle.

Cool pics!

That hatch thingy on Monorail Yellow woulda scared the bejeezus outta me. I've been on monorails more times than I can count over the many years and never had that one happen. I've noticed in recent years that the monorails more often than not seem kinda worn inside. I was under the impression that the Monorails in service are not that old. Can anyone tell me when this fleet went into service???

 

[wdwfanatic2004]

A child from another group was playing with the hatch once and it opened. It just snapped back(with a little force ) in place. Although I have never seen thm open by themselves.

 

[Hummer1676]

All I can say this is even more reason that they need to bring out the new MARK monorails. Its been a while since we heard anything about them coing out with new ones.

 

[adam75081]

Wow. I didn't know that could happen.

 

[Champion]

Some prankster pulled a 'pull in case of emergency' lever (or button, I forget what they are now).

But yeah, thats what happened.

 

[daverube]

Is "101" Disney code for closed?? When I used to wait tables, we'd say stuff was 86, but I've never heard of 101...

thanks,

dave

 

[t3techcom18]

Is "101" Disney code for closed?? When I used to wait tables, we'd say stuff was 86, but I've never heard of 101...

thanks,

dave

Indeed it is. It isn't used for anything (I don't think) other than Attractions. 101 is the signal for when a ride is down, for weather inclements, or the normal reason, it being technically.

 

[Slowjack]

I've noticed in recent years that the monorails more often than not seem kinda worn inside. I was under the impression that the Monorails in service are not that old. Can anyone tell me when this fleet went into service???

The current Mark VI models (second model at WDW; all others at Disneyland) came into service in Spring 1989. So they are now as old as the original Mark IVs were they were retired.

 

[WDW Monorail]

Yep, sounds like someone declared a fake emergency.

To the poster who inquired, the M VI fleet was fully operational by 1991.


*EDIT*
Is there a reason why I cannot view the pictures that you posted?

 

[marni1971]

^ yep - the MK IV to VI handover was a long and sometimes painful experience; even after they sorted out the platforms, power supply and hurricane doors. There was something like an 18 month transition period where both versions were running. It was strange being at the T&TC and seeing a MK IV coming in on the express line, with a MK VI waiting on the EPCOT line.

 

[WDWEric]

Great pics, Thank for posting!

 

[BSikor]

Yep, sounds like someone declared a fake emergency.

To the poster who inquired, the M VI fleet was fully operational by 1991.


*EDIT*
Is there a reason why I cannot view the pictures that you posted?

As to the fake emergency... If one person presses the emergency button in any cab does every emergency hatch drop? This seems a little odd. I would assume that the only way that the hatches would drop would be if the pilot hit the evac button on the control board.

As for the pictures, I don't know. They are hosted through Flickr. Click on the link in my signature and you can get to my account. The pics are in my feed.

Indeed it is. It isn't used for anything (I don't think) other than Attractions. 101 is the signal for when a ride is down, for weather inclements, or the normal reason, it being technically.

Yep. I worked for Disney 10 years ago and I still use the lingo. Sorry. It is actually a variation on CB Lingo 10-1 means "poor quality" or something. So 101 is not operating. 10-2 in CB lingo is something like "working fine" and in Disney 102 is fully operational. Other common operational codes "Call an Alpha Unit" means to call 9-1-1 (something you normally wouldn't want to scream out in a theme park) "Code V" is for vomit or Voban (the sawdust-like substance to clean up the icky-go-pukey) There's more (some more adult and non S.O.P.) but I can't remember them off the top of my head.

 

[Champion]

As to the fake emergency... If one person presses the emergency button in any cab does every emergency hatch drop? This seems a little odd. I would assume that the only way that the hatches would drop would be if the pilot hit the evac button on the control board.

No, it has to be every one that opens if a button is pushed. If something happened in the cab and the button there couldn't be pushed, there would need to be another way to open them all.

 

[WDW Monorail]

/\

Flickr... I see. That iste happens tobe blocked on my computer. That's why I am having trouble viewing your wand pics as well.

As for the emergency button, I'm really not sure if all of the hatches open. What may have occured is that the pilot may have hit a button which opened all of the hatches. ALthough, I'm still sticking with Champion's opinion.

 

[BSikor]

True. True. I guess one of the other surprising things is how dirty the hatch looked. You would think that they would at least maintain it since it seems very easy to get them opened and from what I assume by the look of the CM's something that happens often.

Who am I kidding they haven't really been taking care of the insides of the cabin let alone the inside of an escape hatch. The train I was on this morning was dirty and it was only 8:30AM!