The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is one of the most popular attractions at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World. At least it will be until Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge opens. The ride is so popular that apparently guests feel the need to fight over entry to the attraction, as an altercation earlier this month led to a guest punching a cast member in the face and reaching over to press all the buttons on her console, all because of an issue with FastPasses.
It seems that a group of tourists found themselves at the front of the FastPass+ line, which gives quicker entry to an attraction, at the Tower of Terror on July 13, but without valid FastPasses. The group got angry over this and while a 23-year-old Walt Disney World cast member offered to help the group out with their FastPass issue, tempers only flared more.
At some point an angry 23-year-old Chicago tourist began to reach over and press buttons on the cast member's podium in frustration. The cast member warned her those actions could affect the ride, but the tourist did not stop. The cast member then attempted to remove the tourists hands from the podium, and it was at that point that the cast member got a punch to the face for her trouble.
The group left the Tower of Terror but was found by Walt Disney World security a short time later. No charges were filed in the incident because the cast member declined to file them, though apparently the cast member's eye was swelling from the punch. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the woman who threw the punch has received a lifetime ban from Walt Disney World. The worst punishment I can imagine.
All of this happened at the entry to the Tower of Terror pre-show area, where guests view a short Twilight Zone style film before getting on the actual ride. The thing is that this point is actually the second place where FastPasses are scanned. It happens first at the entry of the attraction itself.
If these guests did not have valid FastPasses, they shouldn't have made it to the podium in that line. It seems likely that they hopped the fence between the two queues and knew full well they didn't have valid FastPasses, which makes the entire thing make even less sense then punching somebody over a theme park attraction does in the first place.
This is the second high profile altercation to take place at a Disney theme park this month. Earlier in July a domestic dispute turned into a multi-person fist fight in the middle of Mickey's Toontown at Disneyland. That incident went viral when another guest filmed the altercation. Interestingly, it seems members of this tourist group may have also filmed this incident, though those videos have clearly not been published.
Hopefully the Walt Disney World cast member is ok following being sucker punched by a guest. Hopefully the guest wasn't planning to ever return to Walt Disney World, because now that's no longer an option.
Image Courtesy WDWnews.com/Disney
