Disney Cast Member Killed in Monorail Crash

When I worked at Disneyland in 1975 the job I always wanted but never got was monorail driver. To a guy walking around in the heat pickup up trash the job of gliding above the park in an air-conditioned train looked pretty good.

In Florida one of those monorail employees died in a collision between trains:

A Disney World monorail driver was killed after colliding with another train at the Orlando, Fla., park, according to officials.

The driver died early Sunday when he rear-ended another train at about 2 a.m. EDT.

The operator of the other monorail train was taken to the hospital, but was uninjured, according to a statement from the Reedy Creek Fire Department.

The first driver, who was not identified, had to be cut out of his cab and was pronounced dead at the scene, CFNews13.com reported.

Two employees and five guests on both trains were not injured.

Witnesses said the crash took place on the EPCOT track near the Disney World parking lot as people were leaving the park following a Fourth of July fireworks show.

"Today, we mourn the loss of our fellow cast member. Our hearts go out to his family and to those who have lost a friend and co-worker," Mike Griffin, Disney World's vice president of public affairs, said in a statement.

"The safety of our guests and cast members is always our top priority. The monorail is out of service as we continue to work closely with law enforcement to determine what happened and the appropriate next steps," Griffin said.

It was the first fatal accident in the Disney World monorail's 38-year history, according to CFNews13.com,.

It's been quite awhile since a Disney cast member was killed in one of their parks. The summer before I started a girl was crushed in the "Carousel of Progress" attraction in Tomorrowland, but I'm having a hard time remembering the last time a cast member died on the job. (Correction - Laura points out that the attraction had recently been converted to "America Sings" when the accident involving the employee happened in 1974.)

This is going to put a real crimp Disney World's transportation plans around the park. With two trains badly damaged, they'll be out of service for quite awhile and you can't just go buy new ones. They're specially built and it will probably take months to years to replace them if it comes to that. They may be able to get the system up and running again in a few days once they finish their investigation, but being down two trains will really hurt their ability to move guests around.