I heard very disturbing news today. I am a big Disney fan and I was appalled to hear that first time in the history of Disney monorail project, a crash had been reported by the Orlando Sentinel.
The crash proved not so lucky as the driver of the Disney monorail could not make it and became a fatal tragedy.
The Disney monorail collided with another monorail according to the Park officials. It is equally disheartening to read that this happened when visitors were leaving the Park following the July 4th independence Day fireworks.
The driver was not able to survive when he rear ended the train into another one behind him. The operator of the second monorail was taken to the hospital but was basically uninjured.
The scene was quite ghastly as the driver of the train that got rear ended had to be cut out of his cab because the metal had become totally disentangled.
Have you had a chance to visit Disney Theme parks and take a ride on their monorail? How has been your experience and what do you think about this tragedy. Use the form below.
I’ve been going to the Walt Disney World Resort since I was two years old, and I have never once felt in danger on the monorail system. I am now fifteen, and I had just visited the resort in June of this year, staying at Disney’s Contemporary Resort (which has monorail transportation). It seemed as though Disney was having troubles with the monorails, like something wasn’t up to par. My brother and I waiting for about fifteen to twenty minutes in the air outside of the Magic Kingdom waiting for a broken-down train to leave the track. Now, I am also a huge Walt Disney World fan and I know that Disney takes their monorail system seriously and with great importance, so this story came as a huge surprise to me. As I stated before, never once did I feel unsafe on the “highway in the sky”.
I have also been visiting Disney World since I was 5 years old, and plan on honeymooning there when I get married in 2 years. I am an avid Disney fan and have watched tons of documentaries, read books, etc. and I know that the monorail system is completely safe but not perfect – nothing is perfect. This seems to have been just what the reports say – an accident. Accidents do happen and even though WDW is the happiest place on earth and a great vacation destination, it isn’t immune to human and/or computer error. Flying has been noted to be the safest form of travel, yet people die in plane crashes every year. (Quite honestly with the amount of busses and highway systems within the resort complex I would have expected to hear about a traffic accident before a monorail accident.) But, like I said, things like this happen in the world, and it does not change my opinion of Disney World – I’m still a Disney fanatic.
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I’ve never been to disney world but do visit disneyland twice a month and never did I think that could happen , I think ill stay away from the monorails.
That is a scary thought, my family and I just returned from Disney World in June 2009 and we were able to sit in the front with the driver on our last day. Can you imagine if someone was up there with the driver? Scary!
The WDW monorails are SUPER safe, this was a fluke. something went very wrong. If you examine the pictures, and as accounts are starting to confirm, monorail Pink was actually going in reverse and hit the stationery Purple train while it was holding and awaiting clearance into the Concourse station. I was a monorail pilot for 2 summers. It is ALL about safety, safety and more safety. WDW will find out what went wrong and will do everything possible to make sure it never happens again.
I’ve been riding WDW monorails for some 30 years. We often sit up front with the driver. I am so sorry for this young man’s family. But this accident would not make me stop riding. Now the monorails are probably safer than ever.
I actually got to drive the Blue line in WDW when I was alot younger! I always sat up front, and when we would stay there I would often just ride the Monorails for hours while my family hung out in the hotels, doing the resort loop over and over and over. I just don’t see how, going slow enough for a track change maneuver as they state was happening, would get one cab that far into another to cause a fatality. The drivers seat is pretty far from the nose and windscreen, isn’t it?
wtf????? i was there when the 2 crashed!!! this artical is bull sh.it. the driver that died was 21 and didnt have good judgment! i went on the monorail 30 minutes before the crash it was fine. its not our faults that some people dont know how to fu.cking drive!!!! the other drive that is alive wasnt hurrt at all but when to the hospitle for stress thinking that he just killed the bone head that drove into him monorail! i nwent on the monorail the next day is fn fine all good.
its articles like this that people get fu.cked up facts that are no where near true. find a hobby that is worth your time and dont play with peoples minds. i honestly think you were high when you wrote this crap. if you wernt you could have written it better high. so get some weed and find out the fn truth
Get your story correct. Olivia the 21 year was not at fault, it was a combination of three other people including the other monorail driver who was in his 60’s.
Your language makes you out to look like a fool too. Take a breath, stop cussing, then read the ntsb report.
Wow, Olivia, you couldn’t be more wrong. The driver that was killed was not at fault. It seems that he had actually tried to get his monorail into reverse to avoid the accident. The driver who survived was backing up, but was on the wrong beam, and backed into the younger driver’s monorail.
I’m not at all certain how you could have ridden the monorail the “next day” because it was closed the next day. The wrong facts are the ones you have supplied. As Scott said, perhaps YOU should read the NTSB report, and get your facts straight before posting.