Lightning Strike on Epcot Monorail Line

[Buttercup]

Just saw some photos online. Looks like the Epcot Line Monorail Gold was struck by lightning tonight. People are being evacuated through the roof hatch and down a fire truck's ladder. Scary! Hope that everyone climbs out safely!

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

From WESH.com:

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. —A Disney World monorail train on the Epcot line had to be evacuated Sunday night after what passengers said was a possible lightning strike.

A Disney World monorail train had to be evacuated Sunday night after what passengers said was a possible lightning strike.
More

About 120 people were evacuated, and there were no injuries, according to Reedy Creek fire officials.

Some were evacuated through the emergency hatch on the roof of the train, and they had to walk across the train cars while secured to a safety line.

Fire officials confirmed the monorail lost power due to a weather-related issue, and Disney was unable to restart the monorail so it had to be evacuated.

Several Twitter users reported the evacuation just after 6 p.m.

"Literally stuck on a monorail at Disney, lighting struck and we immediately stopped. I'm convinced that I'm going to die," said Twitter user @nnaaatttalliiie at 6:07 p.m.

“We're going to have to evacuate the monorail," @lilymock said.

WDWNT.com tweeted a photo of the monorail stopped near the Wilderness Lodge with multiple emergency vehicles nearby.

All riders were evacuated by 8 p.m., but the monorail remained stalled late into the night.

A Disney World spokesperson said there was bad weather in the area at the time but could not confirm if lightning caused the power outage.

It does sound pretty freaky, but it sounds like everyone is safe!

[BrerGnat]

So scary! My kids would have probably passed out if we had to evacuate out of a monorail roof hatch. That is very nerve wracking. Hope everyone is okay and not too shaken up!

[Puppy Mom]

"Literally stuck on a monorail at Disney, lighting struck and we immediately stopped. I'm convinced that I'm going to die," said Twitter user @nnaaatttalliiie at 6:07 p.m.

What would a Disney mishap be if there weren't at least one drama queen.

[Dulcee]

According to CNN the vast majority of guests were actually lowered on lifts from the doors of their cars. Guests were also offered free park passes as an apology for the inconvenience.

[Mfarquar]

Yes, I just read about this on CNN as well. They are reporting all lifts were used to evacuate the passengers, although the hatches were considered but the fire department determined the lifts would work better. One teenager actually said she was disappointed they didn't get to crawl through the hatch :)

CNN is also reporting that it was not hit by lightning, but rather the stoppage was due to a loss of power that was weather related.

It seems like the passengers were unphased (except that one Tweeter!!) and that Disney handled it very well. Reports even say that it wasn't a sudden stop - rather, a quick glide to a stop.

Thank goodness, it will just be great story for those passengers to tell!

[Tekneek]

"Literally stuck on a monorail at Disney, lighting struck and we immediately stopped. I'm convinced that I'm going to die," said Twitter user @nnaaatttalliiie at 6:07 p.m.

What would a Disney mishap be if there weren't at least one drama queen.

I love it. This is the fun we could never have had before connectivity and social media were ubiquitous.

[vallerii]

Guests were also offered free park passes as an apology for the inconvenience.

Reason #1000 why Disney is better than Universal.
Universal traps you on rides for hours (since they don't know how to keep their rides from breaking) and offers nothing to guests.

Disney has guests stuck on rides due to an act of nature (out of their control) and they're a class act about it.

That is pretty crazy though. Had to be quite an experience.

[minnie04]

Guests were also offered free park passes as an apology for the inconvenience.

It's nice of Disney to offer a park pass, but I think I would have been fine with the apology. That was an act of God. So no need to give me a pass ya know. It was a nice gesture though. :mickey:

[Tekneek]

Disney has guests stuck on rides due to an act of nature (out of their control) and they're a class act about it.

Glad they handled that well. When I was at WDW back in October/November, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster broke down and CMs said we would all get a FastPass to return. At the exit, there was a CM standing there saying, "Sorry, we're all out of FastPasses."

[ChipNDale79]

Doesn't Disney have a Diesel cab they use to tow monorails when they breakdown.

I'm curious as to why they wouldnt do that in a situation like this?

I guess they can't tow a fully loaded train?

[joonyer]

Doesn't Disney have a Diesel cab they use to tow monorails when they breakdown.

I'm curious as to why they wouldnt do that in a situation like this?

I guess they can't tow a fully loaded train?

If power was lost to the whole system, there may have been other trains in stations that they couldn't move out of the way in order to get the diesel engine to the stranded train.

[RBrooksC]

It's nice of Disney to offer a park pass, but I think I would have been fine with the apology. That was an act of God. So no need to give me a pass ya know. It was a nice gesture though. :mickey:

No, I think they really needed to offer the passes. If they didn't, you would have heard a big stink about "we were stuck in a hot monorail cars for blah, blah, blah and Disney didn't do anything about it." Instead, you don't hear anything negative about Disney. Just about the story.

Good move on their part.

[minnie04]

No, I think they really needed to offer the passes. If they didn't, you would have heard a big stink about "we were stuck in a hot monorail cars for blah, blah, blah and Disney didn't do anything about it." Instead, you don't hear anything negative about Disney. Just about the story.

Good move on their part.

I do agree with you, but it’s sad that it comes to that. It wasn't really their fault. But I get it...I just hate that when the lights blink for a second people think Disney owes them something..:ack: I wonder how many people complain when it rains and they can't ride...lol

[ChipNDale79]

If power was lost to the whole system, there may have been other trains in stations that they couldn't move out of the way in order to get the diesel engine to the stranded train.

I just heard that it was system wide, they were able to restart the rest of the monorails but were unable to restart monorail gold.

They werent able to get the tug because Gold was stuck on the switch to the EPCOT line. Talk about worst case scenario.

[Main Street Jim]

I wonder how many people complain when it rains and they can't ride...lolYou shohlda been there *Christmas Day* 2005 when it *rained* ALL...DAY....LONG. All four parades (both MVMCP's and both Spectro's), all Castle shows, all outdoor attractions were down about half the day due to lightning....we had to post Orange County Sheriff's Deputies at City Hall because guests were literally breaking the doors off the hinges....imagine about half of the park's guests that day (36,000 or so) trying to all get into City Hall demanding their money back....read the back of your park ticket, kids...

[kakn7294]

It's really great that Disney offered them all free passes but as someone who has been stuck on a monorail for 45 minutes, an apology and being able to keep our dining reservation (which we were late to) WAS enough. It's ridiculous that people were tweeting that they thought they were going to die. Really?!? It's an elevated train that won't move, not the Titanic.

[DizneyRox]

You shohlda been there *Christmas Day* 2005 when it *rained* ALL...DAY....LONG. All four parades (both MVMCP's and both Spectro's), all Castle shows, all outdoor attractions were down about half the day due to lightning....we had to post Orange County Sheriff's Deputies at City Hall because guests were literally breaking the doors off the hinges....imagine about half of the park's guests that day (36,000 or so) trying to all get into City Hall demanding their money back....read the back of your park ticket, kids...
Surprised it was so civil. People are... well... people...

[Terra]

"Literally stuck on a monorail at Disney, lighting struck and we immediately stopped. I'm convinced that I'm going to die," said Twitter user @nnaaatttalliiie at 6:07 p.m.

What would a Disney mishap be if there weren't at least one drama queen.

:blush: I thought that too. I hardly think death was imminent.

But I agree Brergnat, mine would have freaked too!

[waymickey]

I would have had a panic attack if I had to go out a hatch and walk on the trains. I am terrified of heights. Even the lift would have caused some anxiety. But as long as I got down safe and was transported to where I was trying to get to I would have been fine.
We were trapped up there once for a long time in a storm and we watched deer, armadillos and other animals below us. We got fastpasses for all the rides at EPCOT (that had fast pass) when we finally arrived.