Wednesday, June 01, 2005
At around 2:30am when Marissa Mayer's birthday party (see below) ended, we headed over to the elevators to leave. There were a lot of people in the elevator and we decided to wait for the next one. Nik insisted that we could all fit so we all crammed in. Someone leaned on the elevator buttons and a bunch of them got pressed. Many times we stopped on a floor, the door opened, closed, and continued. At around the fifth floor I noticed that no more lights were on so we would be going all the way to the Lobby.
Just before the elevator got to the botton, it stopped. The screen said 'L' for lobby, but the doors didn't open. A few seconds passed before someone realized the elevator wasn't going anywhere and we needed help. Someone hit the call button but we got a busy signal! Some people in the elevator started calling the fire department directly. Eventually we got through to the hotel lobby and they contacted the elevator company.
There were 18 people in this stuck elevator. All were from Marissa's party. None were hotel guests. There were two sets of twins. There was a hotel employee, but she freaked out first and just sat on the floor while other people handled all the communication. The elevator company (or hotel staff) had us try various things like hitting different buttons, making sure the stop buttons weren't pressed, the doors were fully closed, etc, but nothing changed. The elevator didn't move.
The windows started fogging up and it got a little uncomfortable. Some people made jokes about the elevator falling and how it was only 1 floor down, and others yelled at them that it wasn't funny and they shouldn't be joking around. Someone opened the elevator doors from the inside and we got some fresh air. We were staring at a wall but at least some air got in. It was surprising how easy it was to open those doors. I guess it makes sense since there's no where bad you can go.
The fire department showed up and we heard them opening the doors from the outside. There's no manual crank to get the elevator door, no manual lever to open the doors. They literally pried the doors open with sheer force. Some pieces of the tile around the elevator broke off. They used large blocks to hold the doors open as they pulled them apart.
The elevetor was still 8 or 10 feet too high, so there was only a two foot overlap beteen the inner and outer elevator doors. The firemen wanted to put stairs down for us, but there wasn't enough room. One by one we went down the little hole, feet first, into the arms of the firemen. It was a very crazy experience. Unfortuntely, it killed all thoughts of going to the afterparty.
Pictures from Marissa's birthday party
Just before the elevator got to the botton, it stopped. The screen said 'L' for lobby, but the doors didn't open. A few seconds passed before someone realized the elevator wasn't going anywhere and we needed help. Someone hit the call button but we got a busy signal! Some people in the elevator started calling the fire department directly. Eventually we got through to the hotel lobby and they contacted the elevator company.
There were 18 people in this stuck elevator. All were from Marissa's party. None were hotel guests. There were two sets of twins. There was a hotel employee, but she freaked out first and just sat on the floor while other people handled all the communication. The elevator company (or hotel staff) had us try various things like hitting different buttons, making sure the stop buttons weren't pressed, the doors were fully closed, etc, but nothing changed. The elevator didn't move.
The windows started fogging up and it got a little uncomfortable. Some people made jokes about the elevator falling and how it was only 1 floor down, and others yelled at them that it wasn't funny and they shouldn't be joking around. Someone opened the elevator doors from the inside and we got some fresh air. We were staring at a wall but at least some air got in. It was surprising how easy it was to open those doors. I guess it makes sense since there's no where bad you can go.
The fire department showed up and we heard them opening the doors from the outside. There's no manual crank to get the elevator door, no manual lever to open the doors. They literally pried the doors open with sheer force. Some pieces of the tile around the elevator broke off. They used large blocks to hold the doors open as they pulled them apart.
The elevetor was still 8 or 10 feet too high, so there was only a two foot overlap beteen the inner and outer elevator doors. The firemen wanted to put stairs down for us, but there wasn't enough room. One by one we went down the little hole, feet first, into the arms of the firemen. It was a very crazy experience. Unfortuntely, it killed all thoughts of going to the afterparty.
Pictures from Marissa's birthday party