Firefighters Evacuate Guests Off Ride At Animal Kingdom In Walt Disney World
An interesting situation came about on Thursday afternoon at Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World. Guests were stranded on one of the park’s attractions that malfunctioned, and it led to firefighters needing to be brought in to evacuate all of them from it.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, firefighters from the Reedy Creek Emergency Services had to head out to Disney’s Animal Kingdom on Thursday afternoon to rescue 12 guests from the Kali River Rapids attraction.
Reedy Creek Assistant Fire Chief Bo Jones said that none of the passengers on the attraction ended up being ill or injured in any way. They still aren’t sure what caused the attraction to malfunction and stall for so long.
“No one was in jeopardy or in a dangerous situation,” Jones said.
At 1:21 p.m. on Thursday, firefighters were called to the scene at Animal Kingdom so that the guests could be helped. By 2 p.m., all guests were taken off the ride. It’s good that the firefighters worked quickly, as temperatures topped out over 90 degrees.
Kali River Rapids is a family raft ride in which Walt Disney World guests are taken “on a tour through a lush jungle landscape ravaged by illegal logging.” The main point of the attraction is that guests usually end up getting soaking wet by the end of the ride.
Click Orlando reported that the Kali River Rapids attraction was shut down after the guests were evacuated. Once it was shut down, the water was drained from it and Disney staffers went about making sure the ride was safe for guests and reset it before reopening it for others.
Like all theme parks around the world, Walt Disney World attractions experience breakdowns and mechanical issues.
Most park attractions have evacuation protocols and systems in case of emergencies or breakdowns.
In the case of Kali River Rapids, the attraction has guests in a big raft that takes them up and down conveyor belts surrounded and covered in water. It’s not the easiest or most convenient thing to leave from unless you’re at the specific loading and unloading areas.
Officials at Walt Disney World did state that the safety of their guests is most important, so whatever would need to be done for them was done. Later in the day after the evacuation, Kali River Rapids did reopen at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and was open as of Friday morning as well.
[Images via Disney/Twitter – @Lacey_at_Disney]
