36 stranded in mid-air at HK Disneyland

Some 36 visitors were stuck at the Toy Soldier Parachute Drop in Hong Kong Disneyland on Sunday.

The incident took place at around 1.30pm when a safety halt mechanism was activated automatically by a signal from the data processing system.

That left six, six-person para capsules immobilised, reported Hong Kong's The Standard.

It was the third glitch to hit the ride in 10 days, with an identical problem each time. The Toy Soldier Parachute Drop is a 25m tower that is a feature in the park's Toy Story Land.

The ride, situated between the Slinky Dog Spin and Explorer's Club Restaurant, sees visitors, or "paratroopers", board a six-person parachute jump vehicle canopied in camouflage green.

It floats up and down the tower for a sweeping view of Toy Story Land and a "parachute-drop experience".

But Hong Kong Disneyland executives assured that there was no reason to worry about safety on the ride, one of its top thrill rides.

SYSTEM 'FAULTLESS'

A Disneyland spokesman said: "The incident did not concern safety problems. The operating system has proven safe and faultless."

All the visitors were returned to the ground safely within 20 minutes and the ride was reopened an hour later following checks.

The spokesman said that such glitches are "infrequent" and it was merely "coincidental" that there were three in 10 days.

But there was a similar problem involving a safety-halt signal on another Disneyland ride, the Mystic Point, on Sunday.

This ride was also out of action for an hour while checks were carried out.

The spokesman said there was no link between the two suspensions.

The Toy Soldier Parachute Drop was set up in Hong Kong a year after it was first introduced in France's Walt Disney Studios Park in 2011.

It is based on a scene in the first Toy Story film in 1995 when two green army soldiers parachute down a staircase to help a group of toys investigate their owner' new birthday presents.

All passengers must be taller than 81cm to board the ride and minors under the age of seven must be accompanied by someone aged at least 16.

This article was first published on Feb 24, 2015.
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