Yesterday the news was flying fast and heavy from the Disneyland Resort. Fires, attraction closures, and long lines were the order of the day. Today, two major attractions remain unexpectedly closed while Disneyland completes safety inspections and upgrades. I’ve been piecing together the timeline and… Read More »Disneyland Closes Attractions After Internal Review Related to CAL/OSHA Report
Update: Sunday 4/14/13 12pm PT – Just spoke with our contact at Disneyland and have a new story with important updates to the below post:
Update: Sunday 4/14/13 9am PT– Disneyland opened today with the Matterhorn Bobsleds running. Space Mountain and Soarin’ over California remain closed, according to Disney PR. Yesterday’s Matterhorn closure may have been unrelated to CAL/OSHA inspection. I’m hearing more inspections could happen over the next few days. Still awaiting official statement from Disneyland PR.
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (CAL/OSHA) delivered seven safety violation citations to the Disneyland resort yesterday for Space Mountain. For some reason (update: the closures were made voluntarily by Disneyland after an internal safety review), this has resulted in three major attractions to be closed at the Disneyland Resort today. Those attractions are Space Mountain, The Matterhorn Bobsleds, and Soarin’ Over California. It’s not yet clear if the Matterhorn and Soarin’ are related to the same CAL/OSHA filing. I’ve asked Disneyland for clarification.
The citations were related a 2006 agreement to make improvements and to inspections following recent accidents such as the man who was seriously injured while cleaning the outside of Space Mountain in November 2012. The findings include simple failures like not having a charged fire extinguisher and more serious ones like failure to protect employees from unsafe ladders or lack of railings preventing a fall hazard. Serious fines of up to $70,000 for each infraction could be levied if Disneyland does not comply immediately with the requests (although appeal is also an option). Total penalties for just the Space Mountain citations could reach over $230,000.
These are the same sort of hazards that forced Disneyland to close Alice in Wonderland until temporary scaffolding could be erected with guardrails. The park still hasn’t made permanent fixes there.
A Walt Disney World cast member has died after falling from scaffolding at the Walt Disney World power plant. According to local news reports, the fall was from a height of approximately 5 feet and the cast member complained of non life-threatening injuries but went… Read More »Disney World Cast Member Dies After Fall from Scaffolding
Disney gets involved in a lot of lobbying within Florida and in D.C., but it’s usually related to travel or employment issues. Their latest outreach effort is a bit of a stretch, but there is a connection to safe driving and tourism in Central Florida.… Read More »Disney Asks State to Ban Texting and Driving
Walt Disney World is a gigantic place at nearly 27,000 acres. While guests are allowed to travel through many of the areas, there are a few areas where only official vehicles and cast members are supposed to drive. One of these is Bear Island Road which goes… Read More »One Killed in Backstage Roads Crash
A worker performing cleaning work on the exterior of Disneyland’s Space Mountain was injured last Wednesday. The worker was cleaning the roof of the iconic attraction when one of the worker’s ropes came loose and he slid 20 feet at a 45 degree angle down… Read More »Space Mountain Worker Injured in Fall at Disneyland
After an accident with a similar balloon in Hong Kong, the Downtown Disney Characters in Flight Balloon ride closed on July 1st of this year. The balloon had been scheduled for replacement soon, but they just took it off line out of precaution earlier. This… Read More »Characters In Flight Returns to Downtown Disney with New Balloon and New Look
One of the most popular portions of Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is the ride of the Headless Horseman. A new video reveals just why it’s important that the parade route be completely clear of legs and feet during the run. The cell phone… Read More »Horse Falls During Headless Horseman Run at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party