Welcome to Theme Park Insider! Join the community or log in
Theme Park Insider
Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube

Lightning strikes at SeaWorld's Discovery Cove

Written by
Published: August 16, 2011 at 8:35 PM
A lightning strike at Discovery Cove sent several people to Dr. Phillips Hospital in Orlando Tuesday. Three guests and up to five employees were affected by the strike, though none appear to have been hit directly.

Two employees are said to be at the hospital Tuesday night. The other individuals, all adults, have been released.

Lightning strikes are a daily occurrence in Orlando, and strike inside theme parks are not unknown, though strikes tend to hit high points on buildings, rarely affecting visitors or employees.

Update: Getting reports now of another visitor at Universal's Islands of Adventure being injured by being struck by something while riding Dragon Challenge. Details to come.

Readers' Opinions

From 82.9.115.58 on August 17, 2011 at 2:53 AM
Come on Robert, the news about Dragon Challenge is a week old already, and has been reported on numerous theme park sites in the past 7 days. You make it sound like new news.
From Robert Niles on August 17, 2011 at 9:17 AM
It's another incident.
From Adam Dodds on August 17, 2011 at 9:55 AM
When I worked at the Jungle Cruise, lightning struck one of the giraffes. They needed to replace the head, which they did quickly. When I was at Space Mountain, lightning struck the mountain and all of MK's Power is wired through there. Somehow, truly related or not, when the mountain was struck, we lost power as well as a lot of the park. On another note, while I was in costuming, a poor Cast Member was struck by lightning in the parking lot at West Clock.
From Mitchell Botwin on August 17, 2011 at 10:29 AM
There is an article in the Orlando Sentinel about the Dragon Challenge accident. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-universal-orlando-injuries-20110817,0,3480482.story
is the link to the article

This article has been archived and is no longer accepting comments.

More Theme Park News

Previous article: What's new on the discussion board: National roller coaster day, plus buying theme park tickets online

August 2011 Archive