Disney monorail 'incident' prompts firefighter response

Chunk of metal flew off monorail, witness says

ORLANDO, Fla. – An unspecified "incident" involving Disney World's monorail prompted the Reedy Creek Fire Department to respond to the theme park Friday afternoon, fire officials said.

The department said there were no injuries or evacuations. The monorail was able to return to a station and passengers were taken off within 30 minutes of the department's response, officials said.

A Disney World spokeswoman said there was no damage to the monorail that operates between the Ticket and Transportation Center and Epcot. Officials have not yet determined the cause of the malfunction. It's unclear how long guests were stuck on the monorail.

Guests at the resort said they were stuck in Monorail Blue while officials investigated the issue. One woman described the monorail as "smoking" and "sparking." 

"Once again, I want to go ahead and inform you that we are going to be holding you in for just a little bit due to a certain technical difficulty that we're having on board Monorail Blue," a cast member said over the monorail's PA system.

The Walt Disney World Guest Services account tweeted at that user, thanking her for her patience and asking her to go to guest relations at Epcot for further assistance.

Jim Parker posted a picture holding what appears to be a chunk of metal. Parker told News 6 that the metal flew off the monorail at Epcot and land about 10 feet away from him in the parking lot below around 12:55 p.m.

Before the piece fell Parker said he saw something dangling from the monorail as it approached and heard a swish, then clicking sound.

"(The monorail) is making its normal swoosh sound, and we heard a couple clicks and then some other louder noise," he said. "This part dangled for a couple seconds, and I think it hit the pole."

Parker said Disney security retrieved the part from him, but didn't ask him for a statement on what he saw.

A Disney spokeswoman said the theme park is looking into Parker's claim. Officials said they hope to have the Blue Line monorail functioning by Friday evening, although cast members inside Epcot told some guests the monorail was down for the rest of the night.

Check back with ClickOrlando.com for more on this developing story.


About the Authors:

Erik Sandoval joined the News 6 team as a reporter in May 2013 and became an Investigator in 2020. During his time at News 6, Erik has covered several major stories, including the 2016 Presidential campaign. He was also one of the first reporters live on the air at the Pulse Nightclub shooting.

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