Disneyland "Safety" & other debaucheries

[D3COY]

I have read recently about a lot of idiot proofing going on at the Disneyland Resort. The "safety nets" on the jungle cruise boats, the supposed rails going on the bridge in Indiana Jones Adventure to protect guests, etc. Now its happening to the Disneyland Railroad of all things! The Safety Department feels that the conductors should be inside the train cars, in specially designed booths instead of standing on the little platform on the side of the car. Why? Why must they do this? The main reason for conductors to stand on the platform IS FOR SAFETY!!! Ugghh we live in such a litigative society nowadays. It sucks.

Also another issue is the parking for cast members. The executives keep predicting these extremely crowded days and send the cast members father and farther away for parking (even to the Honda Center!) only to find out that there is still plenty of room for CM's to park in their normal parking lot.

Anyone else feel it's getting out of hand?


Steamed (Mouse Tales' David Koenig) by David Koenig
Indiana Jones Goes Under the Knife (Mouse Tales' David Koenig) by David Koenig
Disneyland Resort Update (Disneyland Resort Update) by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix

[calsig31]

The "safety nets" on the jungle cruise boats, the supposed rails going on the bridge in Indiana Jones Adventure to protect guests, etc.

When it comes to safety over theme, I always err on the side of safety. There is less of a gap between the Jungle Cruise dock and the boats now. It is much easier to get a crushing injury than ever before. The nets are a necessary evil and don’t really detract from theme or view.

Now its happening to the Disneyland Railroad of all things! The Safety Department feels that the conductors should be inside the train cars, in specially designed booths instead of standing on the little platform on the side of the car. Why? Why must they do this? The main reason for conductors to stand on the platform IS FOR SAFETY!!!

I haven’t heard anything about this yet. I will reserve judgment until I hear more facts.

Also another issue is the parking for cast members. The executives keep predicting these extremely crowded days and send the cast members father and farther away for parking (even to the Honda Center!) only to find out that there is still plenty of room for CM's to park in their normal parking lot.

Wouldn’t it be better to make a few employees park a little further away than to force paying customers to do so?

[D3COY]

I haven’t heard anything about this yet. I will reserve judgment until I hear more facts.

Did you click on the first link? It talks about it right there.

---------- Post added 09-12-2012 at 01:04 PM ----------

Wouldn’t it be better to make a few employees park a little further away than to force paying customers to do so?

Well yes, but the matter is that there is plenty of available parking for CM's and its not being utilized because of overzealous predictions about crowds.

[calsig31]

Did you click on the first link? It talks about it right there.

Not really. It doesn't say anything about what type of injury they are trying to avoid. Without that, there is no way to weigh the prevented harm against the loss of theme.

Well yes, but the matter is that there is plenty of available parking for CM's and its not being utilized because of overzealous predictions about crowds.

Yes, they overestimated the parking situation, but it is better to overestimate than underestimate it. If they underestimated parking and had to turn away customers, it would be far worse than the minor inconvenience to a few employees having to park a little further away.

[ShelbyH]

Yes, they overestimated the parking situation, but it is better to overestimate than underestimate it. If they underestimated parking and had to turn away customers, it would be far worse than the minor inconvenience to a few employees having to park a little further away.

Agreed. So Disney is not psychic. They WAY underestimated for One More Disney Day and that was a fiasco. They overestimated for a few days this summer and some CMs were forced to leave a little earlier than normal for their work shift. It's not like they had to walk from the Honda Center.

I empathize. I was a DTD CM and my parking was the brown lot on Ball. That required us to park in the lot, climb the back stairs of M&F to the second floor, cross all the way through M&F, come back down the escalator (or stairs), and then board the parking lot tram or walk into DTD. On crowded days, we would have to either arrive way early to allow time for a few tram loads to go before we got a seat (always a risk), or we could walk it in, which is a half mile. Depending on where I parked in the Ball lot, I would walk 3/4 of a mile to get to my work station if I chose not to come extra-early to allow for tram traffic. It wasn't a big deal. Not all CMs get to park in the lot and hop on the first bus that comes along. Crowded days always take extra time for CM parking. Temporarily relocating parking to further offsite is inconvenient, but it's hardly a federal crime.

[alphabassetgrrl]

Depends on how much effort and how much danger. I get cranky when they go (or make someone else go) to a lot of effort for a miniscule danger.

Unfortunately, it seems there's a lot of that going on lately. And not just at Disney.

[TCadillac]

All these changes are most likely preventative measures so CAL OSHA doesn't come down and cite the beejeziz out of them. Check this article out, I had no idea the reason for the changes at the loading dock for the Jungle Cruise was a result of a 5 year old kid falling in the water went attempting to enter the boat. Disney made the changes before CAL OSHA could finish their investigation. Fall into Disney river prompts ride changes | cruise, jungle, state - News - The Orange County Register ... if you check out osha.gov you can check out a list of all reported accidents at Disneyland and there is quite a few.

[lunarsongbird]

I think Disney has relatively good safety records- and it's because they react appropriately to incidents. I feel comfort knowing that Disney cares quite a bit about my safety inside the park.

I've read a lot of the OSHA Reports coming out of Disney; it is pretty interesting some of the items they need to report.

[Garthilk]

I'm sorry, but this reeks of what I call the "lowest common denominator" culture.

[PetiteMortKvsh]

Safety takes all the wonder and imagination out, just to be on the safe side. Bubble wrap people as they walk in the gates! it safe. =+P
I dont mind some changes....but some of it is abit to much.

[calsig31]

I'm sorry, but this reeks of what I call the "lowest common denominator" culture.

Safety takes all the wonder and imagination out, just to be on the safe side. Bubble wrap people as they walk in the gates! it safe. =+P
I dont mind some changes....but some of it is abit to much.

Do you feel the same about the break-away walls on the Carousel Theater?

[PetiteMortKvsh]

Do you feel the same about the break-away walls on the Carousel Theater?

No. I like to see railings that are hidden until needed....safety is a good thing, but the way they are over protecting and taking away from theme and beauty of some rides by over doing it.

[Disneytwins]

Safety is always required. I don't feel like safety is getting out of hand at all. They're making sure that everyone who is on property is as safe as they can be on property. Unlike most things, they can't wait for things to happen to fix an issue. They aren't only looking after their own butts, they're looking after yours too.

As for the transportation thing, a company has to do what they have to do. I'm sure they don't like it, but given how much limited room there is at Disneyland, there's not much they can do to avoid it. As long as they aren't making you walk from the Honda Center to Disneyland, I don't see what the big deal is.

[Mr Wiggins]

Do you feel the same about the break-away walls on the Carousel Theater?

Exactly. How about inspection regulations for theme park rides? Collapsible steering columns on vehicles? Mandatory lap-and-shoulder belts? Regulations prohibiting lead-based paints on toys? Food inspection regulations? Pharmaceutical safety regulations? Railroad safety regulations? They all come from the same process of identifying repeated hazards and taking action to mitigate them.

And all of them were scorned as ridiculous over-zealousness when they were first introduced.

....safety is a good thing, but the way they are over protecting and taking away from theme and beauty of some rides by over doing it.

Safety doesn't take away from the theme and beauty. Poor design, poor imagination and poor funding do.

[calsig31]

No. I like to see railings that are hidden until needed....safety is a good thing, but the way they are over protecting and taking away from theme and beauty of some rides by over doing it.

Maybe there is no creativity left at Disney any more. They should be able to make things safer and preserve aesthetics. However if it was a choice between someone getting injured or making something look a little "less nice" I would choose safety every time.