A Lightning Strike Stranded Disney World Monorail Riders for 90 Minutes, and the Driver Talked Them Through Removing a Window
An hour and a half with no power, and a monorail driver talking passengers through how to take out a window. That is how one Walt Disney World guest describes her ride toward EPCOT on Tuesday, September 8, when, according to reports, a lightning strike cut power to the system.
The account comes from passenger Tanya Lee, who told the video agency Storyful about it. FOX Weather reported her account on Monday, September 14, and WDW News Today and Disney Food Blog followed on Tuesday, September 15, both citing Tampa TV station WFLA.
A frame from Tanya Lee's video inside the stalled train. Image: WFLA, courtesy of Tanya Lee via Storyful, as published by Disney Food Blog
What happened, by her account
- The stop: WDW News Today, citing WFLA, says a power outage halted Lee's EPCOT-bound train on September 8. Disney Food Blog says lightning struck nearby and the outage "took out the system entirely."
- The wait: Lee put it at an hour and a half. Disney Food Blog says riders sat through it with no AC. (Disney Food Blog's headline and FOX Weather's video caption say "nearly two hours," but Lee's own figure, repeated in FOX Weather's article, is an hour and a half.)
- The window: "We were on there for one and a half hours, and during that time the driver talked us through how to take out the window," Lee said, as quoted by WDW News Today. Disney Food Blog describes her video as showing three men removing the window while the conductor's overhead voice gives them directions.
- The way out: WDW News Today says Disney told passengers it was working on a fix and getting a tow to push the train. FOX Weather says authorities eventually got the power back on and towed the train to the closest station so riders could get off.
None of the reports we read name the train or say how many people were on board.
What Disney handed out
According to Lee, guest relations spoke with passengers once they were off the train and gave out water bottles, $50 Disney gift cards and Lightning Lane passes.
A Walt Disney World monorail in a file photo. This photo is not from the September 8 outage. Photo: WDW News Today
How riders took it
Lee said getting stuck on a monorail was something she had always worried about, but that the mood on board held up. "I was nervous as I do not like heights, and I have always been worried about being stuck on one of those [monorails] when I ride them," she told Storyful, per WDW News Today. "Everyone was in good spirits, as there is not much you can do at that point. The people in the car I was in were upbeat despite the situation."
No Disney statement found
FOX Weather says it reached out to Walt Disney World for more information and had not heard back as of its September 14 report. We have not found a Disney statement about the outage either, so the details above rest mainly on one passenger's account and on what those outlets reported.
A monorail on the EPCOT beam in a file photo. Photo: Disney Food Blog
Our take: if you are nervous about heights like Lee, it may help to know she says the people in her car stayed upbeat, and that guest relations handed out water, a $50 gift card and a Lightning Lane pass once riders were off the train. Disney Food Blog also points out that getting stuck can happen on any Disney World ride or transportation, not only in bad weather.
Sources
- WDW News Today, Walt Disney World Guests Stuck for 90 Minutes on Monorail After Lightning Strike, Given Gift Cards and Lightning Lane Passes
- Disney Food Blog, Lightning Strike Leaves Guests Stranded on Disney World Monorail For Nearly Two Hours
- FOX Weather, See it: Disney World visitors become stranded after lightning strike shuts down monorail
- WFLA report (cited by WDW News Today and Disney Food Blog)
Image credits: Video frame from WFLA, courtesy of Tanya Lee via Storyful, as published by Disney Food Blog; lime monorail file photo by WDW News Today; EPCOT monorail file photo by Disney Food Blog.
