One Disney park has been forced to cancel its shows en masse after the world was struck by massive computer outages.
Computer problems come and go, but what happened yesterday was a whole new level of technical drama. Chaos broke out worldwide as Microsoft computers and systems crashed due to a faulty software update from the computer threat checker Crowdstrike Falcon. As a result, flights were grounded, card machines crashed, and broadcasts abandoned as businesses were faced with what is known as the “blue screen of death.”
Fortunately, the company’s president and chief executive, George Kurtz, has since announced that a “fix has been deployed.” This requires each user to individually reboot their computer – which can obviously take some time, depending on the number of computers involved in certain scenarios or settings.
“I want to sincerely apologize directly to all of you for today’s outage,” Kurtz wrote in a public statement on the outage. “All of CrowdStrike understands the gravity and impact of the situation.”
When it is performed, Festival of the Lion King is similar to the show of the same name at Walt Disney World Resort’s Animal Kingdom and Disneyland Paris. Hosted in Theater in the Wild, it encourages guests to “swing into jungle fun with acrobats and fire dancers as Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa come to life in a musical extravaganza” that retells the moving story of the Walt Disney Animation classic.
Disappointing though that may be for fans of The Lion King (1994), the good news is that the Lantau Island park’s other shows – including “Adventure is Out There!” and Playhouse in the Woods, the interactive entertainment experience in World of Frozen – are going ahead as usual, as is its nightly fireworks display, “Momentous” Nighttime Spectacular.
Chloë is a theme park addict and self-proclaimed novelty hunter. She's obsessed with all things Star Wars, loves roller coasters (but hates Pixar Pal-A-Round), and lives for Disney's next Muppets project.
