Space Mountain Closed

[Cwoolboy]

Apparently Space mountain in Disneyland has been closed for an indefinite time for safety reasons. Certainly sobering news.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/state&id=9081168

What do you guys think? I have been on the one in Cali. several times, and I always enjoyed it... me and the fam agree that it seems more intense than the one at WDW. Either way, I hope they get this issue resolved soon.

 

[Hockeyman55]

Osha shut a few rides down a week or two ago and this was one of them. Does anyone know if this has anything to do with the same situation?

 

[JungleSkip]

It's the OSHA thing, and it has nothing to do with the ride. An employee fell when working on the outside of the building, which is why it was deemed unsafe.

 

[maxairmike]

Interesting...TouringPlans had it noted as re-opening on May 4th...certainly hope they abate/fix the issue enough for them to reopen within the next two weeks!

 

[Kevin38]

The safety issue was there are no tie downs on the building.They have to install tie downs.First a building engineer has to design out where the tie downs go.Cali building inspectors have to approve the plan.Then they can be installed.building inspectors check and sign off. Then osha has to sign off then they can reopen.

 

[hildyp0824]

The safety issue was there are no tie downs on the building.They have to install tie downs.First a building engineer has to design out where the tie downs go.Cali building inspectors have to approve the plan.Then they can be installed.building inspectors check and sign off. Then osha has to sign off then they can reopen.

That could take years

 

[natespf]

That could take years

The safety harness anchors was on the list, but there were several other violations. There are anchors present, but not OSHA approved and need replacing. It also includes expired fire extinguishers, and extinguishers in random places instead of in cabinets in specific locations (so an employee could actually find them when needed). As well as no gate at the tops of ladders and places where a handrail is required. And a few other issues ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand dollar fines each.

http://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/citation...any_DBA_Disneyland_Resort_ IMIS_315531715.pdf

From what I have been reading OSHA did not actually shut down the attractions, only issued penalties. The Walt Disney Co. then decided to voluntarily shut down the attractions so they can expedite the correction of these safety issues. On a side note if Disney abates any of the safety issues in a timely manor the respective fine can be reduced by 50%, and technically Disney would be able to re-open the rides without OSHA inspection. Some of the problems will probably need permits, but the process can be streamlined. So it is hard to say how long it will actually take at this point.

 

[JungleSkip]

The safety issue was there are no tie downs on the building.They have to install tie downs.First a building engineer has to design out where the tie downs go.Cali building inspectors have to approve the plan.Then they can be installed.building inspectors check and sign off. Then osha has to sign off then they can reopen.

They can reopen now. There was no OSHA mandated shutdown. Disney did that on their own.

 

[Nitro_230]

Thank you JungleSkip and Natespf for actually reading up on this instead of just freaking out like most of the internet has.

Disney shut it down on their own, they did get fined but not shut down. Issue is if you have outstanding OSHA violations and someone gets hurt thing about the liability that places you in, and think about how that would affect their insurance premiums.

The real question here is the contractor got hurt in November, how did it take until the fines were released for them to decided the need tie off points.

I understand if it was under active investigation they might not be able to change anything, but at least have the design and permits done so as soon as the investigation is over they can go to work installing.