Yes you read the post right. This past August my family and I were heading to one of our favorite attractions, WEDWAY. We got on the conveyor belt that takes you to the top of the platform where you board. When we reached the platform there was a blockage. Something happened on the platform that caused the queue to stop but the conveyor belt continued to pour people up into the mob on the platform. People started screaming for the ride operator to stop the conveyor belt but both workers looked like a deer in headlights. I was holding my 8 month old daughter when I saw two little arms lying under a pile of adults. I still don’t know how I did it but I reached down (still holding my 8 month old) and pulled the kids (who had to be 3 and 5) out from under the pile of adults. They were crying and visibly shaking but seemed unhurt. The conveyor continued to pour people up onto the platform as parents and kids screamed and cried. My brother and I were pulling kids out of the pile left and right and giving them to people behind us who were placing them out of harms way. It was like something out of a disaster film. All this while the workers stood there not knowing what to do. Once it was over the mother (of the children I pulled out) came to me crying and hugged me. There was a language barrier so I don’t know what she actually said.
After this happened we demanded to see a manager because if this happens again the cast members HAVE to know what to do. We spoke with a manager who apologized and told us to head to city hall to log a report. At City Hall the nice woman behind the desk tried to handle the situation by offering us fast passes. We informed her that we were not doing this to receive something but because there was a failure of the system. She kept using the term a “potential threat” and finally we demanded another manager because there was nothing “potential” about it. It happened. It was a threat. Maybe because no one was seriously injured or died they considered it a “potential threat”. We waited about 10 minutes and the senior manager in charge of all the attractions came to meet with us. He took down all the information and was very helpful. We assured him that we wanted nothing out of this and that our main concern was that it didn’t happen again. He assured us that steps would be taken but because of unions and rules he was not allowed to approach the cast members directly but will be allowed to once the incident was logged. We talked to him for over an hour as calls came across his radio that he ignored. We have no idea if anything was done or safeguards were put in place but I was a little upset about the way Disney handled it all. Until we got the senior manager we were being bought off as if that’s all the people want (unfortunately most do). In the end the manager seemed like he was on the ball and even offered to take us around the park as his guests the next day. We declined.
Has anyone seen anything like this? We are annual pass holders for the past 15 years and I have been to Disney World over 100 times (not bad for living in NY) and this was the first time I feel like they really dropped the ball. I was there on Sept. 11th and I was so amazed at how calmly they handled everything and I even found out about the safeguards they had in place in case it they were a target (room for every guest and cast member in the utilidors if needed, not sure if it could be done but I bet they would try). Something like this one of the most tame rides in the park was overwhelming. I have to say that it took me a couple of days to recover from the fear and adrenaline rush. We did ride WEDWAY during the trip again and the ride went off without a hitch. It is still one my favorite rides but I will never forget the screams of the parents as their kids were being squashed.
After this happened we demanded to see a manager because if this happens again the cast members HAVE to know what to do. We spoke with a manager who apologized and told us to head to city hall to log a report. At City Hall the nice woman behind the desk tried to handle the situation by offering us fast passes. We informed her that we were not doing this to receive something but because there was a failure of the system. She kept using the term a “potential threat” and finally we demanded another manager because there was nothing “potential” about it. It happened. It was a threat. Maybe because no one was seriously injured or died they considered it a “potential threat”. We waited about 10 minutes and the senior manager in charge of all the attractions came to meet with us. He took down all the information and was very helpful. We assured him that we wanted nothing out of this and that our main concern was that it didn’t happen again. He assured us that steps would be taken but because of unions and rules he was not allowed to approach the cast members directly but will be allowed to once the incident was logged. We talked to him for over an hour as calls came across his radio that he ignored. We have no idea if anything was done or safeguards were put in place but I was a little upset about the way Disney handled it all. Until we got the senior manager we were being bought off as if that’s all the people want (unfortunately most do). In the end the manager seemed like he was on the ball and even offered to take us around the park as his guests the next day. We declined.
Has anyone seen anything like this? We are annual pass holders for the past 15 years and I have been to Disney World over 100 times (not bad for living in NY) and this was the first time I feel like they really dropped the ball. I was there on Sept. 11th and I was so amazed at how calmly they handled everything and I even found out about the safeguards they had in place in case it they were a target (room for every guest and cast member in the utilidors if needed, not sure if it could be done but I bet they would try). Something like this one of the most tame rides in the park was overwhelming. I have to say that it took me a couple of days to recover from the fear and adrenaline rush. We did ride WEDWAY during the trip again and the ride went off without a hitch. It is still one my favorite rides but I will never forget the screams of the parents as their kids were being squashed.
