When will an overhaul of Disneyworld Transportation system occur? There needs to be some serious changes at WDW. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
Initial Report from WESH:
A boy hit by a bus Thursday afternoon at Walt Disney World’s Fort Wilderness has died.
The accident happened in front of Fort Wilderness.Authorities said the child hit was a 10-year-old boy, and the vehicle was a Disney bus.An investigation into the incident is under way.
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More information from the Orlando Sentinel:
A 10-year-old boy was killed this afternoon after he was struck by a bus near Fort Wilderness on Walt Disney World property, the Florida Highway Patrol confirmed.
FHP and Reedy Creek Fire Rescue are investigating.
Disney had no immediate comment.
About six months ago, a 4-year-old girl was seriously hurt at Fort Wilderness when a golf cart in which she was riding overturned.
She was riding with her father in their personal cart when the accident happened. The driver told officers that he swerved to avoid another cart driving toward them without lights, Orange County sheriff’s reports show.
The girl was partially pinned. She suffered injuries to her neck, head and face, reports show. She was flown to Arnold Palmer Hospital for surgery.
This is the third bus-related incident at Disney in six months.
Last week, one bus rear-ended a second bus near Epcot, sending eight people to area hospitals. Seven injuries were minor, one was serious.
In July, two Walt Disney World buses crashed in front of the Contemporary Resort. It sent 12 people to four hospitals with minor injuries.
The rear-end crash happened when one bus stopped to merge as World Drive narrowed from three to two lanes and a second bus did not stop in time.
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More information from WFTV, note the time of the accident:
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a 10-year-old child was hit and killed by a Disney bus Thursday near Disney’s Fort Wilderness.Emergency crews received calls of the incident around 1:50pm.
According to the dispatch report, the incident happened at Fort Wilderness Trail and Big Pine Trail (see map).
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Report from the Sun Sentinel:
A 10-year-old boy was killed this afternoon after he was struck by a bus near Fort Wilderness on Walt Disney World property, the Florida Highway Patrol confirmed.
FHP and Reedy Creek Fire Rescue are investigating.
Disney had no immediate comment about the latest fatal accident on the company’s sprawling property.
Initial reports show the address of the accident is Fort Wilderness Trail and Vista Boulevard, which is the entrance to the roughly 750-acre resort.
This is the second fatality involving Disney’s transportation network within the last year. Last summer, a 21-year-old monorail driver was killed when another train backed into his during a botched track switch.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration ultimately fined Disney $35,200 for workplace-safety violations discovered during a review of that accident. The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to release the results of its own investigation into the crash later this year
It also comes during one of the busiest weeks of the year at Disney World, with many schools around the country out for spring break and the Easter holiday weekend approaching.
Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort is a wooded campground near the Magic Kingdom theme park. The facility includes about 800 campsites and 400 cabins. It is the only camping and RV accommodation at Disney World.
The campground, like Disney’s other hotels, is served by a fleet of company buses that take guests to the resort’s theme parks, water parks and Downtown Disney shopping-and-dining district.
This is such a busy time for Disney, that the Magic Kingdom has neared capacity at several points during the week.
It marks the second recent accident involving a child at Fort Wilderness.
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I will continue to update this post as I receive more information.
