Tokyo Parade Float Topples

[disneyorvegas]

I just saw on CNN Headline News that the 600+ pound top of a parade float at Disneyland Tokyo toppled to the ground. It looked like a Toy Story themed float. They were lucky that no one got injured. If it had fallen into the audience it would have been bad.

[Mufasa]

A pillar at the top of the Buzz Lightyear float in Tokyo Disneyland's Disney Dreams on Parade "Moving On" fell Tuesday afternoon and all parades at the Tokyo Resort have been cancelled pending complete safety inspections and a full investigation.

Part falls off Disneyland parade float

The Yomiuri Shimbun
CHIBA--A 300-kilogram part of a parade float fell off in front of spectators at Tokyo Disneyland in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, on Tuesday.

No injuries were reported, and the parade resumed after five minutes.

According to Oriental Land Co., Tokyo Disneyland's operator, this was the first time since the amusement park's opening in 1983 for a parade float to have such a malfunction.

The float was the 11th of 17 in the parade.

When the parade was about halfway through its 730-meter course, near Cinderella's Castle, at about 2:20 p.m., the metal pipe supporting the ornament began to buckle, Oriental Land said. The plastic ornament was an artistic rendering of planets.

The accident occurred in front of many visitors who were watching the parade.

Katsutoshi Matsumoto, 39, a company employee, said: "The ornament leaned to the right on the pipe, and remained there for about 10 seconds. Then it broke and fell."

"The audience gasped. Characters paused for a few seconds, but soon began dancing again," Matsumoto added.

An Oriental Land spokesman said: "It's not known exactly why the accident happened. We'll conduct an investigation to find out the reason."

Oriental Land on Wednesday canceled all parades at Tokyo Disneyland after the accident.

The company said it would conduct emergency checks on all 46 floats, and that it would resume parades after safety has been confirmed.

It is the first time in the amusement park's history for parades to be canceled for a reason other than bad weather, the company said.

[Melanie]

I saw video of this on YouTube. How scary, although the CMs seemed to really handle the situation well.

[diz_girl]

I'm glad that no one was injured.

You know, I sometimes transpose numbers and letters and when I first read the title of the float, I thought that it stated 'Tokyo Parade Float Topless'. Now that would have been an interesting article to read.