*An update to this story with clarification about a Cast Member-led rescue can be read here.
More than two dozen guests trapped at the Tower of Terror ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studios have since been evacuated, and thankfully, no injuries were reported.
On Friday afternoon, a group of 28 guests who boarded the Tower of Terror attraction at Disney World’s Hollywood Studios theme park became trapped in one of the ride vehicles that resemble huge elevator cars. Inspired by The Twilight Zone television show from decades gone by, the attraction tells the fictional–but spooky–story of a group of five people who boarded an elevator car at the Hollywood Tower Hotel in October 1939. No sooner did the doors of the elevator car close than a massive flash of lighting–part of a sudden freak thunderstorm that evening–crashed, striking the hotel.
As the story goes, none of the five people were ever seen again.
But thanks to firefighters with the Reedy Creek fire department, the same is not true of a group of 28 who eagerly boarded the ride vehicle to experience the attraction firsthand. WFTV reports that guests became trapped while enjoying the attraction, and cast members were forced to seek emergency assistance from the first responders.
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The ride was immediately closed to guests as cast members called 911 and waited for guests to be rescued. Reedy Creek firefighters were dispatched following an urgent 911 call about the trapped guests, who were unable to escape for nearly an hour.
**Although WFTV initially said that the guests were rescued by firefighters from Reedy Creek Fire Department, they have since said that it is unknown if the fire department ever responded to the ride to help with the evacuation.