Originally Posted By Lake Nona Thanks to the AP. LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) - Five Walt Disney World visitors and an employee were injured Tuesday after a water ride that simulates a trip down a rain forest river malfunctioned, authorities said. Disney spokeswoman Jacquee Polak said the injuries were not life threatening, but she couldn't be more specific. Polak said it was not immediately clear what happened on the Kali River Rapids ride, but somehow it malfunctioned about the point that guests transfer from floats to a walkway. The ride simulates a river rapids trip through a rain forest in the Animal Kingdom part of Disney World. "Nothing like this has ever happened," she said. Disney closed the ride to investigate.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Hmmm....hopefully we can get more information soon. At least it sounds like everybody is doing pretty well (it seems that they only use non-life threatening when it's just scratches and bruises), which I'm very glad to hear. The only thing that I could think of happening is that the turntable and the rollers on the other side of the rafts got out of sync, so the people loading and unloading may have fallen. It seems like 5 and a CM is about the right number of people who would be in that position at any given moment on the ride. I'm glad to hear that the injuries aren't too serious.
Originally Posted By Labuda Yeah, I'm glad everyone will be ok, and hoping we can get more details soon.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 yes fingers crossed first everyone is OK -- and also that they figure out what happened real quickly and correct -- I really enjoy that ride.
Originally Posted By cswnow I hope everyone is ok. How long before someone blames George Bush? Or maybe Haliburton built the ride? You know it's coming.
Originally Posted By wangaroa Wait...aren't those Halliburton trucks up in the deforestation scene? Aren't the more wild portions of a land, not quite desert, not quite forest, called the "bush"? What they heck, y'all?
Originally Posted By RoadTrip ^^^ Yea, right... Anyone knows it was caused by DVC and the Disney Dining Plan. Sheesh!!
Originally Posted By trekkeruss It was some sort of platform malfunction when the guests were exiting the ride vehicle. <a href="http://www.kcbs.com/topic/ap_news.php?story=AP/APTV/National/a/a/Disney-RideAccident" target="_blank">http://www.kcbs.com/topic/ap_n ews.php?story=AP/APTV/National/a/a/Disney-RideAccident</a>
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 And a beautiful little birdie just flew in from Animal Kingdom to tell me that Disney spokeswoman Jacquee Polak was quite spirited in her disappoval of the AP story. Apparently, she objected to the statement the guests were injured ON the ride when in fact they were injured on the platform that you enter/exit the ride. To me, she should be more concerned about how and why the guests were injured, what Disney's going to do for them and how Disney will make sure this situation can't be repeated. But it's always good to take shots at the media when you can't handle the truth.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <Apparently, she objected to the statement the guests were injured ON the ride when in fact they were injured on the platform that you enter/exit the ride. < do we know how they were injured there - fell ? I agree they should treat all accidents the same way - on the ride or off - but also really would like to know if someone fell on the wheel and took down others etc... or if something malfunctioned - there is a difference to me
Originally Posted By xrayvision I'm concerned that a Disney park spokesperson referred to a Disney attraction as a "ride." Yes...I'm totally jesting as I amuse myself on Disney park semantics (which I remember from CM training)and the irrelevance of whether the accident happened while the vehicle was at the load/unload platform or on the actual ride circuit. Per Disney training, both the load/unload platform and the ride circuit are considered onstage and are part of that attraction's ride experience for the guests. Thus, I'm not sure that I understand the spokeperson's angle on why the media or the general public listening to a short story on their local news would care about the percise location on the attraction that the accident happened. The load/upload platform is part of the ride experience, and 6 people were injured on a ride on Disney's Animal Kingdom Kali River Rapids at Walt Disney World in Florida. That's all the info most the general public not affiliated with the incident or Disney would need to know, and would care to know, from their local newsource about the accident. The spokesperson focus on addressing the injuries and not semantics.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<I'm not sure that I understand the spokeperson's angle on why the media or the general public listening to a short story on their local news would care about the percise location on the attraction that the accident happened.>> My take on it is she has probably felt a little defensive in light of other incidents involving other Disney attractions. Not that an accident involving boarding or exiting a ride vehicle can't be bad, but I think most people would assume that one that took place out on the track/flume etc. would be more cause for worry.
