Robert Niles
Editor
Robert Niles

Decor rock falls on Disneyland Paris' Big Thunder Mountain roller coaster; five hurt

April 25, 2011, 10:10 AM · A report from France says that five riders were hurt today on Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland Paris. A decorative rock fell from the mountain onto a train, hurting one guest seriously. That individual was taken to a local hospital with a head injury.

Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland Paris
Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland Paris occupies the place in the middle of the Rivers of America given to Tom Sawyer Island at the U.S. Magic Kingdom theme parks.

If you've not been on one of the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coasters before (there are ones at Disneyland and Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, as well as at Tokyo Disneyland.), there is an effect on the final lift where the rocks from the mountain appear to be about to cave in on the train. I haven't been on the Paris version so I don't know it well enough to speculate where on the ride this incident could have happened.

Replies (13)

anonymous
108.20.24.245
April 25, 2011 at 10:42 AM · just rode th mtn rail on saturday, 4/23/11,in wdw fl. i noticed that there was no moving rock which i didnt give much thought to, untill i read this article. chris
robert
Editor
Robert Niles
April 25, 2011 at 10:46 AM · The rock effect has been broken for some time in Florida, from what I've heard. The had a black tarp over the thing for a while.
Universallover
Universallover
April 25, 2011 at 10:48 AM · When I rode this 3 years ago at MK, I always knew those rocks would fall on me. Thankfull, they didnt. Feel bad for the injured people.Hope they are alright. :(
anonymous
67.8.112.167
April 25, 2011 at 10:55 AM · the rock effect has been disabled at WDW because the same thing happened there several months ago. one of the rocks on the left fell out (the space is now covered with a black tarp.) you think they would've learned.
duckbrett11
Brett Munyon
April 25, 2011 at 2:03 PM · The Disneyland CA version of big thunder is closing for a brief refurbishment at the end of may. Will it maybe shut down for a few more weeks now that this has happened? You would think that the rock effect will now be removed from the remaining big thunder rides.
dionneoliver72
Dionne Oliver
April 25, 2011 at 2:20 PM · The Big thunder mountain at DLParis,is alot better than Florida. They should get rid of the moving rocks,as it looks rubbish.
tstover
Tyler Stover
April 25, 2011 at 6:24 PM · It sounds like there's the assumption this was from the "falling rock" effect. Do we know for sure that's the case? There are a lot of rocks around Big Thunder...
MONEYCONA01
chris cona
April 25, 2011 at 6:58 PM · I really didn't ever think those rocks would fall on me when riding Big Thunder Mountain but know you know you can never be to safe at an Amusent Park
tonyperkins
Tony Perkins
April 25, 2011 at 7:24 PM · Considering the poor state of maintenance at DLP, this is, unfortunately, not surprising.
coasterdude
Writer
Anthony Murphy
April 25, 2011 at 8:12 PM · Thunder Mountain at DLP is the best one that I have been on (really!). Its longer, cooler, and on an island where Tom Sayer would be.

Its really too bad that rock fell. I am actually surpised that its never happened before.

Also, is there something up with Thunder Mountain? If I am not mistaken, the last big accident involving guests in the park was Thunder Mountain at DL. Whats up with that??

Reddog
Brian Bauer
April 26, 2011 at 6:23 AM · According to this article, it did happen in the final "earthquake" section of the ride.

http://www.dlp.info/News/2011/04/big-thunder-mountain-accident-breaking-news/

anonymous
65.204.201.226
April 26, 2011 at 10:03 AM · This is just a small pet peeve of mine, but it always irks me when people call it just Thunder Mtn. Do we call it just Thunder Trail, Thunder BBQ, or Thunder Ranch? No. The Big in Big Thunder plays a major role in the name. We should strive to keep it that way. ;-)

This is in response to the person some posts above that claims that we should get rid of the earthquake scene altogether. I felt that the MK's version paled in comparison to Disneyland's, due to the fact that the earthquake scene really adds to the chaotic nature of the ride. We get rid of that, we are further taking away from the overall "magic" of the parks. Keep it, but figure out how to stop the rocks from falling on guests.

anonymous
82.36.73.17
April 29, 2011 at 10:33 AM · i agree with the person that said about the poor state of maitinence at dlp. when i went a few years ago, big thunder mountain stayed closed for a lot of the time, and always broke down. it's a pity the rock fell- those poor people

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