Disneyland guests turned away from Big Thunder Mountain
Sunday didn’t hear the real reason for the popular coaster’s closure
the night before it had been one guest’s final ride.
The loading area of Big Thunder
Mountain Railroad. Photo by Al Lutz.
Just before midnight Saturday, 50-year-old James Margolin
and his son took one last trip on Big Thunder. After exiting the ride,
the two walked about 500 feet, when Margolin complained of chest pains.
He collapsed, losing consciousness, according to Susan Gard, spokeswoman
for the Division of Occupational Safety & Health (DOSH).
Disneyland emergency personnel quickly responded and administered
CPR. Margolin was rushed to Western Medical Center in Anaheim, where
he arrived at 12:20 a.m. Unfortunately, 35 minutes later, he was dead.
Deputy Cullen Ellinburgh, of the Orange County Coroner’s Office, attributed
cause of death to advanced coronary arteriosclerosis, or heart disease.
DOSH, meanwhile, wanted to make sure there was no correlation
between the death and the ride. The agency closed Big Thunder all day
Sunday to investigate. “The comprehensive inspection revealed no problems
or violations, and we gave Disneyland permission to reopen ride [late
Monday morning],” said DOSH’s Gard. “The man died of natural causes.”
Spaced
Out
Cast members continue to receive conflicting information
on when Space Mountain will go down for—or return from—its
mega-rehab. At this point, the rehab is to include rebuilding the track
after “totally gutting the entire building… nothing inside the Space
Mountain Complex will be the same when it returns.” Possible timelines
include closing as early as Labor Day 2003 or as late as January 2004,
until reopening 12 months to two years later.
One ride operator is convinced that “this is your last
Christmas season to be able to ride Space Mountain as we know it.”
Another joked: “One thing is for sure, though, the station
will have station gates!”
[Ed. note: See David’s article, “Idiot-Proofing
the Parks” for more information on station gates.]
Costume
Gloom
Enough is enough. Disneyland’s Wardrobe Department is
determined to stem its losses that it has been racking up since the
division went self-serve (Costume Shopping) and began allowing cast
members to take costumes home with them (FasTrack). For background,
see “Costume Foolery.”
Last week a memo went out revealing the losses. Said one
cast member: “What [the memo] basically says is that cast members are
not turning in costumes or costume pieces. That we should look in our
lockers or at home and return extra pieces because wardrobe is experiencing
a shortage. The memo also states that the number of missing costume
pieces is easily in the thousands, and the value lost is in the tens
of thousands of dollars. It has also been reported that if a cast member
FasTracks a costume and quits, the company does not take an effort to
get the costume back.”
Unfortunately, the two-year-old systems have made theft
and mistakes easier. “It’s fairly easy for cast members to walk out
of the costuming building without having their costumes checked out,”
admits one worker. “There are stories of cast members with more than
10 costumes out at one time. In most cases, cast members can only have
three costumes out, but that policy was fairly lax, and most of the
costuming cast members would issue costumes even if one already had
more than three out. Basically it is easy to walk out with a costume
without it being checked out; just put it in your bag and no one knows
the difference. This became practice with some cast members who were
unable to check out costumes due to a large number of outstanding ones.
It was also easy to grab an extra hat or jacket and just put it on as
if you already checked it out, and the costuming cast members would
not think twice about it.
“Even with security religiously checking bags upon entering
and exiting back stage areas, if they saw an extra costume in the bag,
nothing would be said because many did check out an extra costume to
take home to avoid the costuming trip the next day. I saw that in most
cases cast members just failed to return the pile of costumes in the
trunk of their car which would cause them to ‘sneak’ the costumes out.
I never directly heard of anyone taking costumes for the specific reason
of selling them, though I am aware that there are bad apples out there
that will take advantage of the relative ease in removing extra costumes
to sell them for their own gain.”
In addition, another employee noted, “Cast members who
quit rarely turn in their costumes. The company is supposed to withhold
the final pay check in that case, but usually the high turnover cast
members never worked much to begin with and there isn’t much to withhold.”
Earlier, the department tried to solve the problem of
cast members who steal small articles such as belts and ties by placing
those items on the wall behind the checkout counters. Previously, the
little pieces were in a back corner, unsupervised, making it too easy
for klepto-inclined cast members to slip them into their pockets or
backpacks.
The department also formed a “garment recovery team” to
track down cast members with too many costumes and look after damaged
and tampered costumes. “So far,” says a Costumer, “they have been doing
in excellent job in taking action now it’s up to area management to
take disciplinary action.”
Yet, some loss is accidental. “I’ve lost a jacket or two
that have yet to ever be found,” admitted a ride operator. “I like the
take-it-home system, but from a company standpoint, it was a dumb idea
to begin with. What did the company expect to happen?”
To save money, wardrobe’s Main Issue has also begun closing
on Wednesdays and leaving only one window open for “emergency service.”
Explained one pessimistic source: “They are forcing cast members to
go to Window 1 to get ’emergency costume replacements.’ To encourage
cast members to get two sets of costumes on Tuesdays, they close the
entire building on Wednesdays, and have the slowest costuming cast members
work Window 1 to annoy people into getting two costumes on Tuesdays.
It does take about 10 to 15 minutes to get through a line five people
deep. Slow.”
Photo by Al Lutz.
In fact, several cast members pointed fingers at the workers
in Costuming. “I’m not surprised costuming has experienced huge losses,”
said an employee. “They can blame a lack of consistency among their
cast members, in part. Those of us who still hold permanent lockers
can expect a variety of experiences each time we visit H-5. Some cast
members automatically assume you are on FasTrack and will issue you
the moon if you ask them to. If your account shows more than your limit
of pieces and they mention it to you, you need only state you have turned
the items in and they take them off of your record, no questions asked.
Other cast members assume the role of Costume Nazi, refusing a belt
or a pair of socks to someone who has faithfully turned in every piece
ever issued to them because they are ‘over the limit.’ They instituted
the return bin system to save time and labor, yet it doesn’t work and
they blame the on-stage cast for their problems. One never knows what
to expect. I always grit my teeth while costume shopping, half expecting
pleasant banter with a costuming cast member while I pick up the costume
I am well entitled to, half expecting a fight to the death for it. I
have diligently followed every rule and procedure they have inflicted
on us, yet I am harassed and believed to be a liar at least once a week.”
Added a co-worker: “The computer system that Costuming
uses is a complete travesty and really needs to be updated. Either that
or the Costuming cast members need to pay attention to what they are
doing. I turn in my costumes every night after my shift. For the past
six months or so, the computer has said that I have multiple costume
pieces out. That’s impossible because I turn in all my costumes. The
Costuming computer control can’t even keep track of its own inventory,
and it’s really sad. No wonder articles are walking away.”
He suggested, “A perfect solution would be to abolish
FasTrack all together. However, I do not think that will happen in the
near future. All the trainers are teaching the new cast members to use
FasTrack and the new cast members do not know any other way. The cast
members who use FasTrack now will probably gripe or quit altogether
because they are inconvenienced. I would also like to see all cast members
assigned a locker, like in the old days. There are more than enough
‘day lockers’ on the second floor of Costuming. Most of them are never
used. Why build lockers and not use them?”
Yet, the majority of employees seem to prefer the new
system. “The Costume shopping is actually a good idea, in some respects,”
said one worker. “Since I’m the one that picks out my costume pieces,
I’m the one that makes sure that the shirts aren’t stained or ripped
(which a few of them are, despite me bringing it to their attention)
or that the trousers are well-pressed, neat and tidy, and still have
their buttons, zippers, etc. It’s a way to get a quality costume for
myself, and for the guests.”
Agreed a co-worker: “I feel bad for the cast members who
are honest, because the one thing I can see resulting from this is going
back to the old method of not allowing any costumes off Disney property,
and forcing cast members to change at work everyday.”
Concluded another: “Unfortunately, I think this mess was
a long time coming.”
Bye
Al
Starting yesterday, co-founder and former editor-in-chief
Al Lutz has left MousePlanet to form his own Web site (www.miceage.com).
The parting was amicable and the decision was Al’s.
MousePlanet owes Al a great deal for his years of hard
work and I, in particular, thank him for all the wonderful layouts he
created for my articles – 61 articles, 38 mailbags: that’s 99 layouts
over two-plus years. I appreciate it.
Love him or hate him, Al and his Disneyland Information
Guide could always spark a lively conversation. He will be missed.
Hopefully, I and the rest of the staff will pick up the slack to continue
earning your readership on a daily basis.
