Disney Cast Members express outrage over TV monorail crash re-creations using children's toys

As Disney World Cast Members struggle to cope with the loss of monorail pilot Austin Wuennenberg, who was killed in a July 5 crash, many are also expressing outrage over television news re-creations using children's toys similar to the one shown at right.

According to information received this morning from a Cast Member, Orlando stations WESH 2 and Local 6 both aired crash  simulations using monorail toys that are sold at Disney World. This move has prompted a letter-writing campaign among many Cast Members to protest what many see as distasteful and disrespectful. Here are excerpts from one letter sent to the stations:

While I understand the need for your news team to "explain" a series of events to the general public who may or may not have a grasp of how the monorail system works, I believe your anchors and reporters should be skilled enough to communicate the story and describe what happened. While the use of visual aids is helpful, I would hope that you would have had the ability to create something without having to resort to the use of toys, which seems to marginalize the accident. It seems that whomever came up with this idea never once stopped to think about what the family, friends, and fellow Cast Members might think of how the visual may actually be disrespectful to Austin. Beyond just devising the demonstration, I guess the hardest part for me to understand was how your anchor actually let the two toy monorails collide. I don't think that anyone who may have known Austin would want to see that. I can't see how anybody would feel comfortable with that if they knew his mother was watching.

When the Air France plane crashed did someone present the idea to use Legos, make an airplane, and demonstrate the tragedy in a pool or bathtub? In your morning traffic reports do you utilize Hot Wheels to give a better idea of how a traffic accident may have occurred? Then why this story? In my opinion, this decision was seriously not thought through and I'm confident I'm not the only person who thinks this. (In fact several of my other fellow Cast Members have commented on it, as well.)

In the meantime, Austin was honored at a service on July 8, and a July 11 vigil is being planned in Celebration, Florida. Click here to learn how he tried to avoid the crash by reversing his train just before the collision. Click here for footage of Austin with a family riding in the front cab. To read more of my articles, click here. Are you a theme park  fan and member of a military family? Click here for great tips from the Orlando Military Family Travel Examiner.