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Disney employee killed in accident at Animal Kingdom

By Robert Niles
Published: March 14, 2011 at 8:52 AM
A Walt Disney World employee died this morning after suffering a head injury while working on the Primeval Whirl roller coaster at Disney's Animal Kingdom yesterday.

Primeval Whirl is currently down for refurbishment, and the employee was part of the refurbishment team.

No other information is available about the cast member yet. This is the second Disney cast member to die of head injuries while working on the spinning coaster.

Readers' Opinions

From 208.54.85.66 on March 14, 2011 at 9:35 AM
Disney needs.to get it together. SEems like.the.safety of thier guests has declined in the last few years. MAybe its time to spend some of the outrageous fee Money on common sense training.
From 99.141.202.20 on March 14, 2011 at 9:47 AM
It appears to be a construction accident, not a guest related accident. Sad as it is, construction accidents do happen, in spite of all the safety measures taken as well as imposed.
From Phil B. on March 14, 2011 at 9:51 AM
My condolences go out to the family and friends of the cast member.

It’s time to tear this stinker of an off-the-rack attraction out of this area of the park, and replace it with something actually designed by WDI.

From 173.238.6.99 on March 14, 2011 at 10:11 AM
A horrible horrible shame. 2 people dead for a theme park ride?
Construction accidents do happen. I just can't possibly imagine enjoying that ride ever again. I'd be happy to see it gone.
From Thomas Caselli on March 14, 2011 at 11:28 AM
What does the ride in some people's opinions not being a good ride have anything to do with a person dying?
From Phil B. on March 14, 2011 at 12:12 PM
Disney has already once had to add safety features to this ride that were not built into it when a cast member was killed. That's not to say that accidents don't happen with rides fully engineered by WDI, and deaths don't occur, because they have in the past and they will in the future. But the safety quality standards of a ride that you can find at an amusement pier should be vastly improved or the ride should be passed over completely before being installed into a world class Disney Resort Park. It’s no secret that this attraction was installed on the cheap to help beef up the offerings at DAK, instead of going with the more expensive, WDI conceived alternative that this current attractions land was earmarked for.
From James Rao on March 14, 2011 at 5:55 PM
It goes without saying that our heartfelt condolences are extended to the family and co-workers of the victim of this tragic accident.

But as Phil stated, remove this off-the-shelf yawner before anyone else gets hurt!

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