Disney Cast Member injured on Primeval Whirl at Animal Kingdom

Update: Unfortunately the Cast Member has now died from her injuries.

Heard some sad news on the local TV last night. A Walt Disney World Cast Member working the Primeval Whirl roller coaster at Disney’s Animal Kingdom was struck and injured by a passing attraction vehicle after she entered an unsafe area of the attraction. The injury happened almost a week ago, but is just making the news now because Disney reported that the cast member has taken a turn for the worse.

Primeval Whirl is essentially a lightly themed ‘Mad Mouse’ style coaster with large cars that rotate and spin when on the track. To keep attraction capacity high, the cars never completely stop when in the unloading and loading area, which can make it complicated for guests to exit and enter if they’re not paying attention. Likewise, there are some areas of the loading and unloading zone that are narrow or unsafe to be in even for Cast Members.

I don’t know the specifics of this injury other than what the news mentioned, which is that the Cast Member fell and hit her head on the track after being struck by a vehicle. It sounds like the attraction was operating within its normal function and won’t be shut down for inspection.

The Disney Blog team hopes for the best and wishes this CM a complete and swift recovery.

 (Image courtesy Josh McConnell via Flickr creative commons license)