Disney World Monorail Gets Stuck, Fire Departments Aids in Evacuation

A Disney World monorail got stuck in transit, requiring the local fire department to intervene and rescue the trapped riders. Reddy Creek, the Orlando, Florida, county where Walt Disney World is located, confirmed to the press that the monorail malfunction occurred and that both the Reedy Creek Fire Department and Orange County Fire Department were dispatched to mount a rescue effort. 

An update from a Disney spokesperson revealed that the cause of the monorail malfunction was a flat tire, and that the transport unit came to a stop when the tire malfunction occurred. According to Disney, “No one was injured and everyone was safely evacuated” from the monorail. 

Disney parks have been open and operating for so long that malfunctions are all but inevitable. The difference these days is that social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, have turned Disney’s worst or most embarrassing theme park mishaps into an entire trend of viral hits.

Even before Disney World suffered prolonged closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the theme park was making headlines in 2020 for some high-profile malfunctions. The Jungle Cruise ride broke down in February 2020, causing one of its boats to come off the track and sink, with some panicked riders stuck onboard. Just a day later, the Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland PeopleMover attraction malfunctioned when two of its trains collided on the track, each holding passengers. Soon after that, in early March 2020, Disney’s Haunted Mansion attraction went viral for multiple days of malfunctions that were captured on video and posted to social media. And again: this was all BEFORE the pandemic swept through and kept Disney World and all the other Disney theme parks closed for a considerable portion of the year. 

To be fair, Disney has invested a lot or new effort and money in building out its parks, since the pandemic. In a statement back in September, Disney Parks division revealed a new 10-year, $60 billion budget plan for expanding its park attractions, as, “there is still enormous untaped potential for reaching more consumers.” Current plans for new additions to Disney parks inlcude a  Cars Land at Disney California Adventure and the Frozen-themed attractions for Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris. Increased investment in Marvel’s Avengers Campus at the various Disney Parks is also expected. Disney has pledged that it, “will explore even more characters and franchises, including some that haven’t been leveraged extensively to date, as it  embarks on a new period of significant growth domestically and internationally in its parks and resorts.”

They might want to add revamping the monorail system to that list – right next to plans for a high-speed rail system in and out of Orlando.