Space Mountain coaster derails in Tokyo Disneyland

[Jens]

Roller coaster derails at Tokyo Disneyland

CHIBA -- A roller coaster derailed Friday at Tokyo Disneyland's (TDL) "Space Mountain," but no injuries were reported as it luckily occurred as the vehicle was coming to a halt, officials said.

Officials at Oriental Land Co., which operates TDL in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, said that the Space Mountain roller coaster derailed about 10 meters from its final destination shortly after 10 a.m.

As the coaster was running at a slow speed, no major damage was reported.

A rear wheel on the second car of the two-car roller coaster derailed, they explained. Other cars running on the same rail came to a halt automatically following the accident. Passengers riding in the other cars and those waiting for a ride were evacuated from the site, the officials said.

One of the top attractions at TDL, Space Mountain is a roller coaster that runs inside a 60-meter-diameter domed building. It runs at a maximum speed of 50 kilometers per hour.

On Friday, about 18,000 people visited TDL, and 2,200 of them took a ride on Space Mountain prior to the accident. (Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, Dec. 5, 2003)

Source: The Mainichi Newspapers Co.

I'm not sure if anyone knew about this, but I didn't saw a topic about it here so I figured I would post this. Anyway, this proves that Disney is also going down in the themepark industry. First Big Thunder Mountain, now Space Mountain. Better management is needed, and wasn't it all going so well according to Eisner?

[rnrlesnar]

Don't be ridiculous. How can you blame Eisner for this? Ride accidents rarely happen at Disney Parks.

I think some people in here (not you necessarily) are turning this Eisner mess into a witch hunt.

[Jens]

I'm not blaming Eisner specificly. But he said that everything was going fine with the parks in his letter. With in the mean time it wasn't. I mean, the coasters should be checked everyday and they should be checked thoroughly. As I saw with Big Thunder Mountain and now Space Mountain, they weren't. Accidents can happen indeed, but this is the fault of bad management. I'm not talking about Eisner here because he doesn't directly lead the staff at Tokyo Disneyland. The one that should be blamed is the one that leads the technical staff at the Space Mountain. But we actually shouldn't blame anyone at this moment, the cause is being investigated.

[Maerj]

Its snowing too much here, oh I know! It's Eisner's fault! My sister had a car accident a few months ago, must have been Eisner's fault too!



Look, seriously, this accident was no one's fault. Yes, these things DO happen at every park in the world. At least no one was injured or killed. Tokyo Disneyland as far as I understand is run by the Oriental Land Company, so Eisner actually has nothing to do with it. Disney is liscensing tokyo Disney to the Oriental Land Company, who in turn runs the park. They are also known to have very strict saftey standards there. This ride will most likely be shut down and the accident will be heavily investigated.

[Jens]

Yes I was wrong in saying Eisner's name. But I only did that because he said in his letter to the cast members that everything was going well with the parks. Many people think that Disney Parks and Disney Movies are led by the same company. And the reputation of Disney themeparks will affect the Disney Movies too I'm sure. I was only saying that Eisner was wrong, not that he caused this. That's just ridiculous. I just hope this will not make things any worser for the Disney Corporation.

[Maerj]

I believe that Eisner meant that things were going better with the parks monetarily. An accident here and there is bound to happen, just like it did earlier this year at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in Disneyland. (I was just having a lil fun with ya there in the last post Jens! )

[MickeyMouseboy]

ahhh! the sky is fallin!! damn Eisner!

[MAH4546]

You guys are forgetting that The Walt Disney Company does not own nor operate Tokyo Disneyland. It is owned and operated by the Oriental Land Company, who has a license agreement with Disney to use thier rides, characters, etc. WDI also designs the rides, but OLC maintains and operates them.

[rnrlesnar]

Yes I was wrong in saying Eisner's name. But I only did that because he said in his letter to the cast members that everything was going well with the parks. Many people think that Disney Parks and Disney Movies are led by the same company. And the reputation of Disney themeparks will affect the Disney Movies too I'm sure. I was only saying that Eisner was wrong, not that he caused this. That's just ridiculous. I just hope this will not make things any worser for the Disney Corporation.

It was an accident. All the inspections and safey procedures in the world aren't going to prevent accidents from ever happening.

[ArtOfDisney]

It was an accident. They happen. No one is to blame, and if there is someone to it is the crew that checked it that night or morning.