Fire on MK Monorail???

[empkuzco]

I originally posted this on the theme park forum but someone suggestion trying here for an answer. My post was:

We went to MK on Oct 8 (Tuesday). We first tried to get there by boat from WL but a dense fog kept the boats from running (no one at WL bothered telling anyone this. A large crowd waited a long time at the dock before giving up). We caught the bus to TTC and found out the boats weren't running there either (they told us it was due to the fog). When we tried to get on the monorail to the MK, they said there was a problem and it was shutdown. The fog finally broke and we made it there by paddleboat (~9:20am). At the MK entrance were several fire engines and ambulances. Anyone know what happened??? We asked at the WL desk later but they hadn't even heard about it.

 

[sgtdisney]

Aren't firetrucks called to the scene when they request paramedics? Maybe someone got injured or had a health problem or something. If one of the monorails had a fire, we would have probably have heard something about it. Maybe Chip'N Dale Express knows?

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

The monorail was not on fire.

As you may be aware, the MK Monorail Station is currently getting a new roof. (It's about time!) I don't know the exact cause, but there was a very MINOR fire on the roof of the station, I'm tempted to say Electrical. However, I do not have details on the cause... but I do know that it was very minor. Of course, to the average guest... it wouldn't seem that way. Damage to the station was negligable... It was on the old section which is getting replaced anyway. And even still, you can't really see any damage at all.

 

[reveric]

Hi empkuzco! We were at the MK on the 8th. We took the monorail from GF to get there before the park opened. As soon as we got past the security bag check my MIL realized she had forgotten her KTTW card. She left to return to the GF and get it and we figured we'd see her before the park even opened up. Once they finally opened the park we ran to Fantasy Land and had the area to ourselves for over an hour with no sign of MIL! Finally we called her on her cell phone and found out that she was stuck at the entrance gate! She told us that when she went back to the monorail and got on the train stopped right outside of the MK station. They announced that there was a fire and the train kept moving but really, really slowly until it got to the TTC where it stopped and no other trains were going. She then walked all the way to GF, picked up her key, and took the boat to the MK. When she got to the MK the line was backed up past the monorail station because the entrance scanners were broken! She finally met up with us about 2 hours after we got into the park.

For what it's worth those of us in the park were having the time of our lives! I did wonder why the park seemed so empty! We didn't have to wait to ride anything and by 11:00 we had done everything we had hoped to do that day.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

If I am guessing correctly, they had to cut power to the turnstiles because of the electrical fire at the MK Station...

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

OK, I am going off topic here, but, I simply have to know, what is a KTTW card?

 

[Potbelly]

KTTW CARD="KEY TO THE WORLD" CARD.

 

[empkuzco]

I think we must have made it through the turnstiles before they cut power. I was very suprised how 'uncrowded' the park was before 11 am. I thought it was just low attendence and late sleepers, but maybe the slow entrance had more to do with it.

Chip 'n Dale Express: I know you said the fire itself was very minor, but it sure created some major problems. Stopping the monorail service for some time (1hr or more?) and then requiring power to be cut to the turnstiles sounds very serious. I'm sure to those who were stuck at the TTC or in front of MK it was a major problem. Throw in the fog stopping boat traffic until almost 9am and you must of had one of the worst mornings at MK that have occurred in quite some time.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Originally posted by empkuzco
Chip 'n Dale Express: I know you said the fire itself was very minor, but it sure created some major problems. Stopping the monorail service for some time (1hr or more?) and then requiring power to be cut to the turnstiles sounds very serious. I'm sure to those who were stuck at the TTC or in front of MK it was a major problem. Throw in the fog stopping boat traffic until almost 9am and you must of had one of the worst mornings at MK that have occurred in quite some time.

As crazy as it sounds, stopping the monorail service really isn't as uncommon as everyone things... in fact, sadly enough, it's almost frequent. Thankfully, most of the time it's only down for like 5 mins or so before they can fix the problem. I am glad though that this time it wasn't the train's fault. I remember 2 Easters ago... (Now, remember Easter Week is a VERY VERY busy week for us) we went the entire Easter Week without nighttime monorail service. Every night, something would happen, and the Express monorail would die. One night, when MK and Epcot were both closing at 9pm... the Epcot, Resort, and MK Express monorails all died simoultaneously at 9:05pm, completely shutting us down for the night. If you ever want to see a riot at Disney... check out the Express platform during an exit when a train dies... that's the only time I have ever been fearful of my safety at Disney.

 

[empkuzco]

Funny story! Only funny though because I didn't have to deal with the disgruntled crowd. One day someone should write up all the unusual incidents that happen at Disney.