Monday - June 11, 2007

The Day the Music Died

Via Wizbang, I found this fascinating account from Laura Lee Donoho of how an amuzement park dealt with a power failure. Apparently, one of the coasters was at the top of its apogee when the failure hit, leaving this:

Photo by Laura Lee Donoho

She says:

Suddenly, the music stopped and everyone was instructed by the lifeguards to get out of the pool. I heard someone say that the power in the park was gone. There was no electricity whatsoever. I looked over to the giant rollercoaster, the X-Coaster and there were riders hanging upside down right at the very top of the coaster. The crowd got quiet, everyone pointing up to the coaster.

Many of the people in the park started to leave. Others milled around, just watching the riders on the coaster dangling upside down, strapped only at their shoulders and feet. My daughter-in-law’s sisters had gone to ride on the Plummet Summit but turned around to come find us when the power went off.

We went up to a high point in the park to have ice cream and employees were emptying the ice machines of ice. Many people were talking about the frightening scene but I overheard some women talking about, of all things, Paris Hilton. I had escaped that non-stop coverage being too busy to watch the news.

After about forty-five minutes, (I checked my cell phone and it took more than thirty-two minutes to get those folks down) the crowd with us cheered when the twelve riders and their rides were finally released. But the coaster still had no power and the only way that they could stop the ride was to let “the cat die”, that is, to let the coaster go back and forth until it lost momentum and stopped.

Only one person was taken to the hospital but the park officials had been prepared for more injured riders because there were many ambulances and firetrucks waiting.

We all wondered what caused the power failure. The weather couldn’t have caused it. The day was cloudy but we had no rain. I admit to having a few disquieting thoughts about the situation. The park officials told us nothing and the employees dashed around talking on walkie-talkies, ignoring any visitor questions. What would happen if there were a terrorist attack? How would the park officials react to that? What about the people running around barefoot in their bathing suits? Would they mob the lockers or the changing rooms?

I used to work at Disney in Orlando, and we frequently talked about what it would look like if some neer-do-well came in and tried something.  It would not be pretty.

Posted by Drew458     on 06/11/2007 at 06:40 AM   
Filed Under: • Insanity •  
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