Disney's Spider-Man Robot Crashes Into Building After Malfunction
Even superheroes have off days. Fans visiting Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure were left in a state of dismay when Spider-Man seemed to have some trouble using his spidey senses, a malfunction causing the park's animatronic Spider-Man to crash into a building during a live show for guests.
The mishap went down Thursday afternoon as parkgoers gathered to watch the Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure attraction. During the attraction, which invites guests to "embark on an action-packed adventure alongside the amazing Spider-Man," Spider-Man, aka Peter Parker, is meant to fly high above the crowd, using his web-slinging powers to swing from building to building. However, video shared by guests showed that the beloved superhero appeared to be experiencing some difficulties with his powers, with the Spider-Man animatronic seen going rigid and veering off course before it eventually crashed into the side of the Web Slingers building, which during a normal show it would land atop of. The crash shocked fans, with a collective and loud "Ooooooooh" heard in the video from watchers.
Immediately following the crash, Spider-Man could be heard addressing the mishap, a voice heard stating, "The Web facility is not equipped with airbags." Per Deadline, it appears the narration for the animatronic is pre-programmed for accidents. In a statement to Deadline, a Disneyland spokesperson confirmed the malfunction, sharing, "As with any flight, there can be some bumps along the way, but Spider-Man was back in action in time for his afternoon adventures in Avengers Campus!"
According to park-goers, the malfunction ground the popular attraction to a halt for "several hours." The Disney theme park website WDWNT.com reported that by the time they were on site a short while after a Cast Member at the park "confirmed the incident," the damage caused by the malfunction had been repaired and "it looked like the incident never happened." The attraction now appears to be operating as normal, with no further malfunctions reported at this time.
Per the official Disneyland website, the Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure attraction sees Spider-Man's "Spider-Bots get stuck in replication mode and escape from a WEB Workshop," forcing the superhero stop the rampaging robots before they wreak total techno-havoc across Avengers Campus." Guests, meanwhile, are tasked to "hop aboard a WEB Slinger vehicle and help weave a frenzied web to trap these friendly neighborhood sidekicks in true Spidey style."