What was supposed to be a magical afternoon at Disneyland turned into a terrifying, hours-long ordeal for dozens of park guests when the iconic monorail suddenly broke down and left them trapped high above the ground.
According to local reports, around 60 riders were stuck on the Disneyland Monorail in California on Thursday after the system’s central beam abruptly lost power. The trains reportedly came to a halt near Space Mountain, freezing guests in place with no clear idea of what was happening or how long they’d be up there.
A Disneyland Resort spokesperson confirmed to Eyewitness News that the monorail suffered a power failure along its 2.5-mile route, bringing the entire transport system to an unexpected standstill. For visitors who thought they were just hopping on for a quick, scenic ride across the park, the situation quickly turned into a tense waiting game.
Emergency crews from the Anaheim Fire Department were called to the scene shortly before 5 p.m. Local outlet KTLA 5 reports that firefighters had to use ladders to physically reach the stranded trains and help people climb down from the elevated track. Guests were slowly escorted off the monorail car by car, step by nerve-wracking step.
NBC Los Angeles’ helicopter captured dramatic aerial footage showing not one but two monorail trains stuck on the track during the incident, underscoring just how widespread the shutdown was. From the ground, onlookers watched as first responders worked methodically to bring everyone down safely while the trains loomed overhead.
The rescue was not quick. Anaheim Police Department spokesperson Matt Sutter said that while no one was injured, it took until around 7 p.m. to fully evacuate all passengers — meaning some families were left stranded in the monorail cars for nearly two hours. For parents with young kids, anyone afraid of heights, or guests already exhausted from a long day at the park, it was a stressful and unsettling experience.
The monorail, a classic Disneyland symbol and a staple of the park’s transportation system, is designed to glide smoothly above the crowds, shuttling guests between different parts of the resort. But when that system fails, there’s no easy way down — hence the dramatic ladder evacuations and large emergency response.
As of now, there’s still no official explanation for the sudden power loss that brought the monorail to a dead stop. The cause of the outage along the central beam remains under investigation, and Disney has yet to release details on what went wrong or how they plan to prevent a repeat incident.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Disney for further information, but the silence so far is raising serious questions about safety, backup systems, and what kind of contingency plans are in place for one of the park’s most visible and heavily used attractions.
For guests, it was a harsh reminder that even at the “Happiest Place on Earth,” things can go very wrong, very fast — and there’s nothing magical about being trapped in the sky for hours while you wait to be rescued.
Bet most of em had to pee too.
This was an event that Disney should have foreseen and planed an alternate power source or self powered tug to resolve promptly .