Tarzan's Treehouse Emergency Closes

[HiddenMickey87]

“Breaking” being the operative word. . . Tonight, around 4:45 pm, an incident occurred at Tarzan’s Treehouse in Adventureland at Disneyland, causing the attraction to close and Cast Members to respond urgently. The attraction was evacuated and guests kept away from the entry to the Treehouse.



It appears that someone jumped on the rope bridge with enough force to break a slat, causing a dangerous fall potential. Guests in the area could hear the snapping of the board, which is how we became aware of the situation.

And Micechat is also noting that a former CM thinks this is a staffing (or lack of) issue.
Hmm... Here we go again!

C'mon, Disney! Matterhorn, now this? Peeling paint in Toontown, Buzz Lightyear, and Nemo? These things, up until recently, ran smoothly for decades with hardly an issue. Why now, given your massive budgets and revenues and technology?

(And if you read the comments, apparently some "CMs" on this board are wishing death on the "stupid" customer.)

https://www.micechat.com/242072-brea...at-disneyland/

[HiddenMickey87]

PS: Let me say why I think this is Disney's fault and not the guests, at least based on the information we have so far.

There's no reason to believe the guest was acting inappropriately or dangerously. When you have a walk-through treehouse designed for climbing and exploring, naturally you expect people to be physical on it, similar to on Tom Sawyer's Island. Yes, the dad jumped to show his child that it was safe, but the bridge should expect to feel some force. If you don't want adults jumping on it, fine, but you need staff there to tell them so. Otherwise this is just natural and to be expected.

Yes, I agree that adults shouldn't behave stupidly, but it happens. Besides, do we know this adult's weight? What's the difference if a 200-lb 13-year-old breaks it and a 180-lb adult doesn't? Does the teen get to slide because he's a kid?

The bridge should be build to withstand EXTRA force than it gets. That's just common sense. You always need to budget for cushion. Otherwise, get some CMs up there to control how many people can be on it at the same time and monitor their behavior.

[denyuntilcaught]

I'm split on placing the blame. Half of me says yes, a CM should be staffed there for this exact reason. Another half of me says that the guest, whomever they may be, are also to blame for a clearly idiotic move. Hundreds of thousands of people have crossed that bridge without issue.

[HiddenMickey87]

I'm split on placing the blame. Half of me says yes, a CM should be staffed there for this exact reason. Another half of me says that the guest, whomever they may be, are also to blame for a clearly idiotic move. Hundreds of thousands of people have crossed that bridge without issue.

But was the move idiotic?
We don't know what the "jumping" entailed. A simple harmless jump? Repeated, obnoxious and deliberately forceful jumping?

It could have been totally innocent. But again, Disney should expect that people will jump and run across, and build in cushion for extra weight.

[sailor310]

I try to make any rope bridge I'm on swing.

[biggsworth]

My first thought is they probably have cut back on maintenance to save money. With the multiple issues we actually see that just means hundreds now are not seen by us. This could just be a one off but I still have reservations about how the current management is maintaining the park.

[DisLanCm]

It was actually larger male guest(s) purposely jumping hard on the wooden slat bridge. Could've been avoided if the guests simply weren't being stupid/jerks. If they weren't trying (hard) to break it, it wouldn't have. Doesn't mean there aren't other considerations that could have prevented this from happening, but it really was completely the fault of a guest(s)...it's not a "It broke as someone was running/walking on it", it's a "It broke because a guest was trying to break it"

[Pips]

Gosh, if I were in the theme park business, I would definitely assume that some large person would jump on my bridge. Someone out of the thousands is going to do it. Gotta be built to last.

[parrity1]

It was actually larger male guest(s) purposely jumping hard on the wooden slat bridge. Could've been avoided if the guests simply weren't being stupid/jerks. If they weren't trying (hard) to break it, it wouldn't have.

First of all, who and where has it been claimed it's a "larger male guest(s)" plural?

I've seen multiple people say it was a parent trying to show it was safe to their child. To me at least, jumping to show it's safe to your child is well within normal bounds of what I would think a parent would do.

Based on a lot of averages a person should only ever reach about 2-3x their weight when landing from a normal jump. So this depends on the weight of the guest a lot, was it a 200lb person exerting 600lbs of force? Maybe, but that's not an unheard of amount of force for a bridge to need to support.

[biggsworth]

Gosh, if I were in the theme park business, I would definitely assume that some large person would jump on my bridge. Someone out of the thousands is going to do it. Gotta be built to last.

Exactly this you need to prepare and maintain for the worst.

[IndianWarCanoe]

This attraction was made a long time ago, it would not be made this way today for obvious reasons. I find it disappointing when adults act silly and try to ruin things for everyone else. The rope bridge is designed to walk across it is not a trampoline.

[Starcade]

If you build a rope bridge there will be a huge percentage that will naturally jump up and down on it. ( I have done so myself on that very bridge when I was a kid with my friends.) The whole reason they put them in playgrounds is it is fun to jump and teeter totter on them with friends. It's human nature, nothing foolish, or wrong or misbehaving about it. If you dangle a rope somebody within the first hour will hang on it or swing from it. If an overhang is within touching distance you will find finger and hand prints on it within 24hrs. Some things are just basic behavior that is to be expected. If these are the same wooden slats from the 70's then well they should have been replaced as well as the rope used on a fairly often basis. I can't remember is there a sign that says "Do Not Jump"

[Spongeocto4]

First, I'm glad no one was hurt(either above or below the bridge).

Second, we don't know all the facts. Was the wood rotting? Was the guest applying too much force? We don't know.

Even though we live in the age of Social Media, we still shouldn't rush to judgment and guess what happened.

[DisneyIPresume]

This attraction was made a long time ago, it would not be made this way today for obvious reasons. I find it disappointing when adults act silly and try to ruin things for everyone else. The rope bridge is designed to walk across it is not a trampoline.

The part of the attraction that was damaged was added on in 1999.

[DisneySpaceAce]

The part of the attraction that was damaged was added on in 1999.

I mean, that's still 20 years ago. Kind of a long time in theme park years.

[Eagleman]

First, I'm glad no one was hurt(either above or below the bridge).

Second, we don't know all the facts. Was the wood rotting? Was the guest applying too much force? We don't know.

Even though we live in the age of Social Media, we still shouldn't rush to judgment and guess what happened.

Agree with you.......
#1........I'm glad no one was hurt(either above or below the bridge).

and myself ,I like more facts what was going on......
But....I do think there should be Cast Member ,

staffed there for this exact reason-

on every ride and attraction, keeping there eyes open....for such this kind of activity

which it should be part of management maintaining the park.
IMO

[F ticket]

Unfortunate that it seems like it takes a death for things to really change at Disney.

[Mr Wiggins]

My first thought is they probably have cut back on maintenance to save money. With the multiple issues we actually see that just means hundreds now are not seen by us. This could just be a one off but I still have reservations about how the current management is maintaining the park.

Exactly. And two facts are certain -- first, that since the Pressler regime Disney has accumulated a record of accidents caused by cutbacks in maintenance and staffing to increase profits; and second, that DLR staffing has been cut (again) this year to increase profits.

[TLand2055]

The part of the attraction that was damaged was added on in 1999.

Was this during the Pressler regime? That might explain

[TLand2055]

With the multiple issues we actually see that just means hundreds now are not seen by us.

Unrelated to the thread, but another maintenance issue I saw.
Back in August when I rode the Nemo subs, water was slowly dripping on top of my back, and many effects in there turned off too soon (I was in the rear). I'm sure there's even more issues throughout the park.