Chicago tourist allegedly punches Tower of Terror ride op for invalid FastPass

Does the person running the FastPass podium actually control the ride in any way? Not that a guest should EVER push button on ANY podium, nor should they punch someone in the face. I'm also surprised that no criminal charges are being pressed, but I've heard that Disney pressures their employees to keep things out of the public eye.

I think that's probably a fib. The FP panels seem to only tell the host the guest is good or not good, and what reservations they actually have. I think they can also grant in expiration or non-legit cases at their discretion. Honestly, we've been able to talk our way into non-premium attractions for benign reasons, like meeting up with someone who couldn't get the same pass as us. I think you have to be a serious dick to get to a hostile place with a Disney ride host.

Jeff said:

I think you have to be a serious dick to get to a hostile place with a Disney ride host.

In most cases, you could have stopped at "hostile place".

yawetag said:

In most cases, you could have stopped at "hostile place".

This comment makes me want to punch someone.

Assuming this occurred at the Fastpass/Standby “merge” point just before the pre-show, I’m 99% sure all that panel could do is open the doors for the preshow rooms.

Any “ride control” buttons would be nowhere near an area a guest could access.

Yeah, but the story is much more dramatic if buttons were violently pressed.

And I certainly don’t blame the op and/or the company line for saying “it could have created an unsafe condition.” You sure as hell don’t want to say “well, some panels really aren’t that dangerous to mash on.”

Does the ride op there have an e-stop button of any type? If so, that could be "dangerous" in some eyes.

The ride op there is nowhere near the boarding of the ride. Guests just go into a small room to watch a short video, then walk through a "basement" queue until they get to the actual ride boarding area.