Credit: Hong Kong Disneyland Resort
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.”
Credit: Disney
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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.”
Credit: chris czlapka, Flickr
Disney park fans weren’t immune to the chaos. As airlines were forced to severely delay or cancel flights, some guests flying in or out of Walt Disney World Resort faced significant disruption to their vacations. Orlando International Airport (MCO) announced on X (formerly known as Twitter) that it is experiencing flight delays and cancellations, urging travelers to contact their airlines directly for updates.
Tampa International Airport also reported notable disruptions, with 10 flights canceled and 27 delayed.
Things weren’t entirely stress-free in the parks, either. At Disneyland Paris, guests had trouble entering the parks as the turnstiles went down at the entrances to Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park. This forced Disney cast members to check each guest’s ticket manually, causing crowds to gather outside the parks. Fortunately, this issue has since been rectified.
Credit: Lee (myfrozenlife), Flickr
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Screens showing ride wait times, as well as those involved in shows such as TOGETHER: a Pixar Musical Adventure, were also unavailable.
Even further afield, Hong Kong Disneyland also experienced issues with its entry process. Guests were also forced to wait to check into its three hotels (Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel, Disney Explorers Lodge, and Disney’s Hollywood Hotel) as cast members could not process their reservations.
Credit: Hong Kong Disneyland
While the park has experienced fewer issues today, it’s not totally disruption-free. As it tries to resolve its computer issues, the resort has axed all performances of its show, Festival of the Lion King.
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.
Credit: Disney
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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.
The park also has plenty of attractions to enjoy in the meantime, including Mystic Manor (its magical, ghost-free take on the classic Haunted Mansion in Mystic Point), Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs (the new short-and-sweet family coaster in World of Frozen), Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars (its equivalent of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad), and two unique Marvel rides in the Stark Expo section of Tomorrowland: the Iron Man Experience and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Nano Battle!
Was your Disney park experience impacted by the Microsoft outages?
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