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Credit: DisneyThe Walt Disney World Resort is renowned for making magic come true. The Orlando destination’s unparalleled theming, characters, and attractions make the Disney experience hard to forget, and many a vacation is littered with memorable moments that make Guests want to revisit year after year.
However, for one family visiting Magic Kingdom Park this past weekend, their vacation would become derailed when a classic Disney attraction shut down, leaving them suspended on an incline, and chaos ensued.
Related: Estimated 150 Guests Evacuated as Disney Attraction “Struggles to Stay In Motion”
Danielle C. reached out to Inside the Magic to detail her experience at Central Florida’s Walt Disney World Resort this past weekend. On the incident which happened on the evening of July 24, she says:
My young children went through the most horrific experience of their life when Splash Mountain cast members failed to follow protocol. My family were on the ride when our log jolted at a complete stop at the top of vertical slope seconds before the drop. My children are ages 9, 7, 6, and 5. After 10 minutes of being trapped on the vertical incline, my husband and I reach the conclusion that the ride was down.
The Guest describes how there was no announcement via the tannoy system inside Splash Mountain (one of the Disney Resort’s three “Mountains” at Magic Kingdom which also includes Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain) directed at those riding, but a repeated instruction to those in the standby line and Lightning Lane to leave the queue could be heard. Danielle continues her account:
My 5 year old was shaking uncontrollably and crying in fear as I held him. My 6 year old daughter was crying from fear and I couldn’t hold her because I’m trapped in the back of the log. My 7 year old son was having a full blown panic attack and triggered an asthma [attack]. He was screaming he didn’t want to die and [screaming] to call 911.
Related: Disney Guest “Sees Everything” After Being Evacuated Off EPCOT Attraction
Danielle recalls her distress at not being able to comfort her child and after 20 minutes and apparently, no intervention from Cast Members, Danielle’s husband decided the best way to protect his family was to exit the ride vehicle. The incident report continues:
Security and cast members were outside the ride hearing my frantic call to my mom and sister and still no cast members helped. I spent over an hour consoling my children who were begging to go home. I was furious at all cast members I spoke with because all they offered was a fastpass. Not one cast member cared about the trauma my young child lived due to their negligence to help trapped guest.
This Walt Disney World Resort Guest eventually found themselves confronting an attraction manager at Splash Mountain, who proceeded to send them to Guest Services. Danielle claims that her family was passed between various Cast Members, with, allegedly, no one knowing what to do. She says:
I am left with very serious aftermath emotional trauma because of how they kept blaming us. My son was having a panic attack and the beginning of an asthma attack and they said we should have stayed put. No [one] was coming for any guest in our area of the ride. Outside the ride were other children clinging to their parents who cast members neglected to help.
Related: Splash Mountain Cast Member Reports Getting Yelled at Daily
The Walt Disney Company has strict rules when it comes to its health and safety policies, including what a Guest should do when an attraction breaks down, which is generally waiting for Cast Member instruction. However, Danielle’s account of the incident states there was no Cast Member intervention during this time.
Have you ever been trapped on an attraction at a Disney Park? Let us know in the comments down below!
Walt Disney World Resort boasts four theme parks: Magic Kingdom Park, EPCOT Park, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios Theme Park. It also features two Disney water parks, Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park and Disney’s Blizzard Beach Water Park, and the retail and recreation area, Disney Springs. A valid ticket and Park Pass are needed to enter each Park and Park Hopper hours begin at 2 p.m. daily.