A Gun Found on DINOSAUR
Okay, this story will scare you to death, presuming you’ve never heard it before. It does have a kind of happy ending, though.
Back in May of 2013, a grandmother discovered something truly unexpected when she boarded DINOSAUR at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Her seat in the ride cart came with a free gun! And it was even loaded!
Yes, a person had left a loaded gun in their chair when he exited the ride. The horrified grandmother felt tremendous outrage since she was riding DINOSAUR with her young grandson. She handed the loaded weapon to what I presume was a deeply confused cast member.
The Disney employee notified her manager and the local authorities. Hilariously, the dude came back looking for his gun because those things aren’t cheap. When authorities questioned him about the INSANITY of bringing a loaded weapon into a Disney theme park, he indicated something weird. He didn’t know that the purpose of the security gates at the front of the park was to prevent guns and other weapons. He thought security officers were just looking for bombs.
The situation sounds ridiculous today. However, Disney didn’t employ metal detectors in 2013. We could speculate about whether he could enter the park with a gun today, but there’s no need. Late in 2019, a person tried to do this at Animal Kingdom. The individual tried to carry a backpack containing a 9 mm gun into the park. Disney’s security staff stopped him and kicked him off the campus. So, protective measures in place are working.
Fire at Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
We’ve now entered the final phase of the conversation. It’s the one where stuff catches fire at Disney theme parks. While it’s going to sound terrible at times, it could be worse. Disney utilizes complex mechanics in all of their attractions and many of their daily/nightly exhibitions. A lesser theme park operator would spend a lot of time putting out (literal) fires. Disney accidents are few and far between due to the skill of the professionals involved.
Still, accidents happen. A famous one occurred in 2014, back when Seven Dwarfs Mine Train was still in its infancy. Something happened that Disney couldn’t have tested or projected. Nobody could predict it until they watched it happen.
Embers from the Wishes fireworks presentation struck the outside of the ride building. These sparks ignited and caught fire, causing confused cast members to close the attraction. To the credit of Disney, its motivated employees quickly stopped the fire and restored order. The ride even opened the following day.
In case you’re wondering, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train had operated for more than five months before the incident. That’s 150 Wishes performances without a single hint of smoking embers on the man-made mountain. Disney was truly unlucky that particular evening.
Comments
Hey David, that was a very thoroughly researched and entertaining read. I had not heard about several of these incidents (gun on Dinosaur, Mine Train fire) and it really made me think about the challenges that Disney faces to make their parks safe and efficient. I think you had a date wrong in the Dinosaur one, I think you meant 2013, not 2019. Thanks for a great read on this Saturday morning!