4 Year old dies after riding Epcot Ride

[tech4all]

Very sad story. Especially when it involves a small child. And the description from the mother of grabbing her child's hand during the ride because she thought he was scared makes it even more heart touching

R.I.P.

 

[dotdotdot]

That ride is NOT intense at all which is odd that people got so sick...

I was there the week it opened and all you do is spin around really fast so you stick to the chair and the chair moves up and down and wind goes on you while you push buttons and stare at a screen

 

[Inspector Lee]

So it seems Disney could be found liable for this unfortunate incident. Not to be morbid or anything but here is a list of Disneyland (not world) accidents and most of these are the result of ignorance on the part of the guests.

For a second there, I thought he died on 'Space Mountain', at which point, I would be forced to laugh - having been on that ride about 30,000 times as a kid.

I believe a kid from Farmington, MI was paralyzed on this ride back in the early 80s. I don't have details but I remember reading about it.

I recall that a few years ago there was a case in California where an otherwise healthy woman had a brain aneurysm on a roller coaster.

Was this at Magic Mountain back in '01? A buddy of mine went there and told me the rides have gotten a little rougher in recent years. He basically said it was reaching the stage of not being fun.

All in all, the odds of an accident have to be in the millions.

 

[MongoTheGeek]

Its a tragedy that the boy died.

Speaking as a cold B*****d engineer, it was inevitable. You set restrictions to make the ride safe 999 out of 1000 people. Of the 1 in 1000 you expect 990 out of 1000 to come out of something like that feeling unpleasant but essentially unharmed, sore or nauseous pain which goes away in a few minutes. 9 of the 1000(of the 1000) which will have more lingering pain and be sore the next day and then 1 in a million will require medical treatment. 1:1000 of those will die.

I wouldn't be surprised if Disney doesn't even have a budgeted line item for dead customers. Its probably not to the point of a full time position. They probably even have a written plan. Comp the vacation. Comp a 7 day vacation some time in the next year or two. (Perhaps a cruise) Explain how Disney loves children and that is what the whole thing is about. Then if pressed do the used car salesman thing with a lawyer and VP and if asked offer 100,000-250,000. Negotiate up to 1,000,000

 

[ziwi]

Very sad indeed. Have a trip there in the near future and was hoping my 4 year old son would go with me on that ride, but obviously will not be allowing it. No need to make him grow up too fast - there is always the next trip.

 

[wdlove]

Its a tragedy that the boy died.

I wouldn't be surprised if Disney doesn't even have a budgeted line item for dead customers. Its probably not to the point of a full time position. They probably even have a written plan. Comp the vacation. Comp a 7 day vacation some time in the next year or two. (Perhaps a cruise) Explain how Disney loves children and that is what the whole thing is about. Then if pressed do the used car salesman thing with a lawyer and VP and if asked offer 100,000-250,000. Negotiate up to 1,000,000

That seems like such a terrible thing. But our country is so ready to sue. Companies must have plans in place ahead of time.

 

[Mr. Durden]

Yes, so your child can enjoy all of the zany cartoon chracters he didn't grow up with.

Man, I feel bad for kids today. No good cartoons for them - especially on the weekends.

I can imagine how fun it would be to take your kid to a place where he doesn't recognize any of the characters...

'And when I was a boy, this cartoon was really popular! Let's go on the ride based on it!'

'Dad, this is gay. I want to go home and play Tony Hawk.'

On topic of the dead kid

For a second there, I thought he died on 'Space Mountain', at which point, I would be forced to laugh - having been on that ride about 30,000 times as a kid.

Never had a chance to be on this new Mars one. Sounds pretty cool though. As for his death? Nothing to say really. I'm sure it all fits into some 'plan' and that he's in a 'better place' now, right (sarcasm)?

It could've been a combination of things, but I'm not about to guess...

Why you shouldn't take your kid to Disney World

From what I remember, all of the rides at Disney / Epcot were pretty pussed out. The only real rollercoaster they had was 'Splash Mountain'. If you wanted to ride something intense, your best bet was to stick with Cedar Point. Either way, you're making your kid stand in line all day, sweating his ass off and hating his life, only to make up for it for sixty seconds of fun.

Really, that kid stood a better chance of dying from heat stroke or dehydration, waiting four hours to get onto one of those dumpy, overhyped rides, without anything to drink. I remember how terrible it was, having to stand out there in that delicious Florida heat, day after day.

Do your kids a favor - don't make them stand out in that crappy heat unless you plan on buying them about $200 worth of fluids, an electric fan and at least fifty of those wax-coated strawberry popsicles. And remember, everything costs an 'arm and a leg' there.

To be honest, Disney World wasn't all that great. I went there practically every summer as a child - not once was I 'blown away' by it. It was almost a punishment. You had to wake up early, cover your body in sun-tan lotion, take a frozen bottle of water. drive there, leave your walk-man in the car to melt, park - walk a mile to the parking lot tram - get dropped off somewhere within a two mile radius of the booth, walk thirty miles under the Saharan sun, increase your chances of skin cancer, get to the 'stamp-your-hand' booth - drink all of your water within the first two minutes - commit to a religion in hopes of A/C, wait in line for at least 45 minutes per ride. And then? You got to do all of that over again, in reversed order...

The only things that made up for it were the Star Wars ride at MGM (gone, apparently?), the Muppets 4D movie, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (which they got rid of! bastards!) and Splash Mountain. Everything else was just dumb, but my parents insisted that we loved it (e.g. 'Pirates of the Caribbean'). The only reason we went on the crappy rides so often (e.g. 'Haunted Mansion') is because the lines were short, and they had A/C.

In the end, we always went home, wishing we could've just stayed at the house, out of the heat, either swimming, playing video games or watching movies.

The first time I went, I was maybe five or six - the Dumbo ride was fun. But, of course, that was partially because I had watched Disney cartoons growing up.

If your kid doesn't watch Disney Cartoons (which I don't think is even possible anymore), they aren't really going to love it as much. I'd suggest taking them to the water park instead. It's not as hot, and they have this big artificial river thing that goes around the 'island' - it was a lot more fun than the crappy coasters. However, the simulated 'tsunami' or whatever? Bad idea. It's this big, crashing wave, right? Only the ground is concrete. So when the wave hits you, you grind into the concrete. Not so much fun.

Just put yourself in your kids' shoes (something that parents can't seem to ever do, for whatever reason).

Where oh where to begin. The whole point of Disney Land/World is that they immerse you in the world of the timeless classics of Disney. Now, I've got a 5 year old and a two year old, and they both know and love many of the classics that you dont think people can even watch any more. In fact, my 5 year olds favorite (one of his favorites, any way) is Peter Pan. Followed closely by The Fox and The Hound and Lady and the Tramp and Aristocats, and I could go on.

We make it a point to go to Disneyland once a year and every single year he absolutely loves it. The two year old likes it too, although he is not big enough to ride most of the rides. Its a great atmosphere and he likes the characters and seeing things you dont normally get to see. Just because you think it sucks and the rides are "pussed out" dosent mean its a bad experience for everyone else. And by "pussed out" do you mean that you think they should kill MORE people? Lighten up. The Disney parks arent for thrill seakers.

Seeing as how DisneyWorld is pretty darn expensive, though, I think we'll wait a couple more years to take that trip. By then, at least the younger one will be old enough to have a more exciting experience.

And one more thing. If the child had died on Space Mountain, and you laughed, you'd be an *******.