Monorail Accident

MadEye · Post by **MadEye** » Jul Fri 17, 2009 8:29 am

The manager was acting as Monorail Central while off property telling pink he was clear to MK. Regardless of where pinks pilot was, front or back, when directing CMs what they should do and not being there in person is stupid.

Mr.ToadWildRider · Post by **Mr.ToadWildRider** » Jul Fri 17, 2009 8:30 am

agingerbugg wrote: Of course, everyone who thinks they can get something out of this will do so...its unfortunate how our society thinks they can sue for any little thing (hot coffee anyone?)

Well to be fair there sure seems to be a lot of people liable in this case. You've got system wide failures on the parts of at least 2 employees. Whether they can get to the deep pockets in the case (Disney) or go after the nitwits who weren't doing their job for significantly less in a wrongful death suit is in question; but someone can and should be sued in this case. I don't think this is in the same league as the hot coffee people or the numbskull who broke into some guy's house to rob it but the owner had his house booby-trapped because of frequent burglaries and the burglar got maimed (he won by the way). Those people were dumb and it was largely (or entirely) their own fault. This case was a kid getting killed because some other dullards were being lazy all at the same time.

rknrlrcstr · Post by **rknrlrcstr** » Jul Fri 17, 2009 8:34 am

It sounds like it could be a case similar to back when Domino's had their 30-minute delivery policy. Generally, depending upon the state, if a Domino's driver caused an accident, they could be sued and the franchise owner as well as the Domino's corporation could have been included as defendants. Essentially, bigger business = bigger $$ , hence deep pockets.

PureDisney · Post by **PureDisney** » Jul Fri 17, 2009 11:08 am

My heart goes out to Austin's family and friends. I also feel horrid for the pilot of the other monorail.

bamafan19 · Post by **bamafan19** » Jul Fri 17, 2009 3:31 pm

rknrlrcstr wrote:As stated by MadEye on Saturday July 11, guests weren't being allowed to travel in the driver's cabins as of that time. I am wondering if in light of the accident and seeing how such a low speed accident can cause such damage and injury, will Disney stop allowing riders in the front cabins?

I would think, after the thorough investigation, they would allow guests back in the cabin. But maybe that's just wishful thinking.

99Soulz · Post by **99Soulz** » Jul Fri 17, 2009 3:39 pm

I don't think we are going to see guests in the front cab for quite a while, if ever again. Just my opinion.

Also, I am not in the know about the structural integrity of the nose of the monorail but it doesn't look like there was much support up there. Granted, it was thousands of pounds of force but there wasn't any crumbling, just sliced right through. Does anyone know (perhaps Madeye) how solid it is or if it's basically just molded plastic?

MadEye · Post by **MadEye** » Jul Fri 17, 2009 3:53 pm

^Fiberglass with no metal frame.

GhostHost · Post by **GhostHost** » Jul Sat 18, 2009 8:59 am

Well, if they never let guests ride up front again it will be a sad thing but safety has to come first. I'm sure the trains were built to be lite weight and quick which would explain the lack of reinforced body structure, crumple zones, etc. I'm sure they never expected a collision to be a possibility or at least not one above a bump here and there. A tubular aluminum cage of some sort built into the train pilot cabins might have saved his life and I think it probably could have been done while still maintaining the clean aesthetic look of the trains. I'm glad I got to ride up front a few times should the policy change permanently. It is a great ride and there is no other view like seeing MK and Epcot through that bubble like window riding at tree height above the ground. I have to admit that this accident has taken some of the innocence of the experience away. I didn't know Austin but I suspect he would be most disappointed if people felt that way.

Post by **horizons1** » Jul Sat 18, 2009 1:06 pm

They only need to keep guests out of the cab at time when a switch is happening. This can easily be managed. Other times, with MAPO active, there should be no risk to guests.

Figment of Imagination · Post by **Figment of Imagination** » Jul Mon 20, 2009 1:19 am

It was a sad accident. I feel bad for the young mans family, and I feel very sad for Austin Wuennenberg who lost his life in such a tragic event. I think will we all have wait to find out what truly happened when the report is released. I try not to put too much stock in news reports cause now a days they are often soiled with spin, especially the reports on the web. Even though it was nice to have this link shared with us, its is not without contradictions even within its own pages of writing. I have felt for too long that Disney has taking to many risks with the monorails safety. By using the fact that the definition of use for the vehicles is floating somewhere between Amusement Ride and Public transportation, It has allowed Disney to not include some major elements of safety that real trains have. It is very sad to think that a vestibule would have saved that young mans life. The ability for passengers and train operators to be able to move from any car to the another in the case of an emergency is something that real trains have. I have noticed it before and I have mentioned to others and even mentioned other monorail safety issues on this site. The fact that the Monorail is without vestibules is not the only safety item missing from that train that other real trains are equipped with. I hope Disney will work hard to correct these problems.

Post by **Len90** » Jul Tue 21, 2009 11:42 pm

It is very interesting to see all the information here. I was at WDW while this whole event happened. Immediately following the accident, Disney built a quick blocking wall using towel carts (The big carts seen at the resort pools). By that afternoon a temporary construction wall had been built. You were able to see both monorails as they were but there was no possible way to view the damaged sections of both trains. Both monorails were towed back to the monorail shop by the tow vehicles at approximately 3AM on July 6, 2009. This was about an hour following the closing of Magic Kingdom. In order to make sure that nobody would be able to see this, Disney closed down all roads that would give you a view of the damaged monorails. Also, to ensure that no guests would be able to view the damaged monorails from a hotel room or while walking around a hotel, the damaged ends of the monorails were tarped up. They were parked at the far end of the monorail shop and they have reportedly taken up three beams inside the shop. There are also reports that a tarp wall was built within the monorail shop to prevent CM's from even seeing the damage until at least all the investigations were over. The monorails resumed operation around 3PM on July 6, 2009 approximately 37 hours following the incident. Nobody knew the monorails were resuming service until aboout an hour before they started running.

Disney had to put some contingency plans into place in order to transport all the guests. There were Disney Transport buses that were providing service from the Magic Kingdom to all three hotels serviced by the monorail and did stop off at the TTC. There were also hired buses from Mears Motor Coach, Pegasus Bus, and some other companies that I can't remeber. These buses were used to be the express buses from TTC to MK and from each resort to MK. We ended up on one of these buses since we had a dinner reservation at the Grand Floridian Cafe. The bus took us behind the MK so we got to see a glimpse of the behind the scenes, monorail shop (all 10 doors were closed), and facilities. Also, all three ferries were running to shuffle guests beween MK and TTC. It was very interesting to see how disney worked it with all three running all day since it involved a lot of precise timing.

After the monorails started running again, I noticed a lot of changes. The first one being nobody being allowed up front. They clain that they will resume allowing people to ride up front in a couple of weeks. They wanted the pilots to get comfortable driving again and felt it would be best if they were alone up front for some time (I am pretty sure that is not 100% truthful though). I found the monorails were running a lot slower than usual both in time between trains and speed alone. On July 10, 2009 there were only three trains running on the Epcot line as opposed to 4 running the line on the day the incident happened (Purple, Pink, Blue, Coral).

In response to figment of immaginations post. The monorails do have two escape hatches to the roof in each vehicle. Once outside there is a handle bar that runs the length of the monorail that will allow you to safely crawl away from the car with the incident. Each car does have it's own firewall so if a fire breaks out in one car, in theory, it should not spread to the next car. I do have a picture that somewhat shows these features of Monorail Yellow as it pulls into the platform.

boilerbabe · Post by **boilerbabe** » Jul Wed 22, 2009 6:19 pm

WOW! Thanks for sharing Len! I was thinking about you and your family b/c I knew you were there during the time of the accident. Very sad situation. Interesting how Disney handled it though.

Post by **Len90** » Jul Wed 22, 2009 6:53 pm

boilerbabe wrote:WOW! Thanks for sharing Len! I was thinking about you and your family b/c I knew you were there during the time of the accident. Very sad situation. Interesting how Disney handled it though.

It was indeed a very sad situation. You could feel a very somber mood on July 5 in WDW. It was just very awkward to not see or hear any monorails running on that day and to then see hired buses stopping at the Magic Kingdom bus stops. It really felt like a major part of Disney World was missing without the monorails. Also no monorails were moved to the shop following the incident as the entire monorail system was shut down since it was all considered evidence. There were monorails parked at all the resort stops. I do believe all the express monorails running that day had already been brought to the shop. But, Lime was left at the GF and Black was at MK. I did hear that there were others left at both the Poly and Contemporary.

boilerbabe · Post by **boilerbabe** » Jul Wed 22, 2009 7:49 pm

Where exactly is the Monorail shop?! I can imagine that would a really odd feeling to have no monorailsl running, like a big part of the puzzle is missing.

Post by **Len90** » Jul Wed 22, 2009 8:11 pm

boilerbabe wrote:Where exactly is the Monorail shop?! I can imagine that would a really odd feeling to have no monorailsl running, like a big part of the puzzle is missing.

Monorail shop is located behind the Magic Kingdom. It is on Center Drive just past the World Drive/Floridian Way intersection. On the top floor 10 monorails can be housed. On the bottom floor all the Walt Disney World Railroad trains are all parked. To the east of this is the where all the Magic Kingdom area ferries/boats are housed. If you want, I can include a picture of the building that I took during our journey on the bus behind the MK. Also there is a spare spire for Cinderella Castle in the lot at around 5082 World Drive.