Originally Posted By FerretAfros First the Tiki Room and now the Astro Orbiter. Looks like all the cool rides are doing it now. And don't you want to be one of the cool rides too? So much peer pressure! Sounds like it was essentially a non-event, but the ride has been closed all day. I read a different article that said they closed TL for about an hour to deal with the situation, but everything else was reopened (presumably including the PeopleMover and Lunching Pad, located directly under the location of the fire). Unlike the Tiki Room, for this one I wouldn't expect them to really change anything as a result of the fire. Hopefully this doesn't lead to the removal of some of the neat planets and lights on the ride at night. And I also suspect that this means it will be even longer before DL has a chance of moving its Astro Orbitor out of the TL entrance walkway. >>>>A melted light started a small fire on the Astro Orbiter ride at the Magic Kingdom on Sunday morning, shutting down the Walt Disney World attraction for the day, officials said. No one was injured or on the ride when the fire began, shortly after the park opened on a rainy morning. The fire was in one of the decorative rings at the very top of the ride, said Bo Jones, an assistant chief at the Reedy Creek Emergency Services. One of the lights in the rings shorted out, melted and started smoldering. "We had it out in no time," Jones said, calling it a "very minor" incident. "It was a hot light bulb." The ride was kept closed for the rest of the day, though visitors could access the rest of Tomorrowland, where the Astro Orbiter ride is located, said spokesman Zoraya Suarez. It was not clear Sunday evening when the ride would re-open. The Astro Orbiter is billed as a rocket ride around a "retro-sci-fi central structure full of brightly-colored planets." The fire occurred in the tall, ringed structure that is the centerpiece of the ride, Jones said.<<<< <a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-astro-orbiter-fire-at-walt-disney-world-101011-20111009,0,2039631.story" target="_blank">http://www.orlandosentinel.com...31.story</a>
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Later on in the day, the firefighter who extinguished the flames, went to lunch at a nearby McDonalds. He had a #6 combo -- which consisted of a Big Mac, medium fries, and a soft drink. The firefighter, a three-year veteran of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, upgraded his beverage to include a chocolate milk shake. When asked about the meal, he said that it was 'good.'
Originally Posted By matthewdort A better newspaper would have played up the people angle and jazzed up the headline for full effect: "Disney visitors stunned, evacuated after Tomorrowland blaze". Journalistic standards in this country are truly slipping, I'm afraid.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 " Light bulb has cataclysmic melt-down, disaster narrowly avoided " film at 10
Originally Posted By SuperDry I'm shocked and disappointed that there wasn't an immediate Tomorrowland-wide announcement made in a frantic voice urging everyone to immediately evacuate. Plus, shouldn't there have been some sort of automatic fire extinguishing system in place, plus airbags of some sort that instantly inflated in case someone in a panic jumped off the Astro Orbiter platform? Even a 26-second delay in response could have been deadly. It is beyond irresponsible that Disney shut down the attraction in an orderly fashion and waited for competent responders to take care of the situation rather than incite a panic.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Sounds like you don't know that the emergency evacuation procedures for most attractions are to simply let them keep running. : ) It makes sense that it is the quickest way to safely get all guests out of the building, but it's a little scary to think how long you could be riding through a burning building on some attractions (DL's POTC and iasw come to mind) if you're one of the last ones out. Obviously, it takes longer than that to unload guests via backstage walkways, but it just seems strange to keep the rides cycling for an emergency.
Originally Posted By Manfried The fastest way to get people out of the rides is to let them ride out. If you hit the e-stop it takes a lot longer to get them out, because the guests don't know their way around in an inherently unsafe environment even with no emergency.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer Heard about this over the weekend... A big nothing, right? At least they were safe about it. I would imagine that a indication of fire, in a land like Tomorrowland, where all the buildings are connected might be a issue.
