At Disney, Mission: Space spurs most complaints

[hokielutz]

...Just have a camera installed from inside the ride bays so people can see exactly what they're getting themselves into. It won't ruin the theming because it's theming is that it is a simulator. If more people can see that they're strapping you into a contraption that's similar to a dryer on spin cycle, they may "opt out" more than they do now.

Strange... I seem to like the idea that wdwfreak53 has proposed. I am not for changing the ride itself because of recent events. Keep it as it is. If the ride system itself becomes unsafe and fails mechanically, then some adjustments would need to be made. But if it is running at specs, then maybe the video is the thing that could move some people out of the queue who are more likely to get sick. :hurl:

 

[spoodles]

At this pace...there'll be approx. 6-7 deaths by 2012.

Here's the thing, there is no "pace" to be read from 2 in 9 million. In order to project statistically you need a large enough sample. With just 2, you add 1 or take away 1 and you've changed your percentage by 50%. I'm all for preventing injuries (and deaths to be sure), I'm just saying that we have no evidence that suggests there will be any deaths in the next 9 million riders.

 

[Since1976]

I think the ride will soon have this revised script:

"Mission: SPACE is a slow-moving journey to Mars. During the journey, your ride vehicle will slowly rotate around a central hub and rock a little bit as you gently land on the red planet."

 

[Pete C]

Think about this way...

You walk on M:S thinking you're in perfect health; you read the warning signs, but feel great and the doctors agree, after all you just visited the doc last week he gave you a clean bill of health. So, you ride M:S, and as soon as you get out, start to feel terribly ill. You are rushed to the hospital where they find that a difficult to detect, pre-existing condition has been aggravated by the attraction. And then you die....

You see, M:S is perhaps the only attraction on property with the ability to aggravate a hard to detect, pre-existing conditions--to the point of killing riders. Should Disney not look into this a little more? If not to save a life, at least to save the park and attraction from another PR nightmare?

In the end, like I've said, better warnings will help...but if you go in thinking you're healthy and this ride has the ability to aggravate certain conditions you don't know about (more so than any other ride on property) ..then the warnings are useless....

Disney has to decide whether they want to leave it to chance...or take control and dumb down the ride, or do away with it.

Well put.

The fact is that they should do something, I am just wondering what that is. I've seen the countless warnings, but like others have said most people are desensitized due to similar warnings on other rides that are less than half as intense as MS. Perhaps they need to replace the pre-ride video with a live CM who talks about the attraction and explains the health risks. Any non-English speaking guests can then have specific flyers handed to them that can explain the hazards. I don't know...do they already have a CM there that talks about this? I went on it a few years ago so I don't know if they are doing that now already.

 

[LaughingGravy]

The headline in the Original Post read:
At Disney, Mission: Space spurs most complaints

I thought that was describing the Tiki Room "Under New Management".

 

[SpongeScott]

Scott...

If you weren't a Disney aficianado...and knew nothing about Mission:Space, would you know what your body was about to go through?

Aside from that little CG video loop, there is nowhere that tells you what the ride system is like. Most people know if they can handle a rollercoaster...if they can't...they can see that it's a rollercoaster and steer clear. Tower of Terror has the opening doors and you can physically see the car drop. Soarin' isn't an issue because it doesn't put any stress or forces on the body.

Maybe if the guests were actually aware and could see what they were about to strap their bodies into...they'd be able to make a more educated decision on whether they should ride it or not.

Also...videos and images break down the language barrier.

I am an aficianado. :king: Cool! :lol:

Seriously? If I was visiting Epcot like the average person, I wouldn't ride it because I am usually prone to motion sickness, especially with things that spin. But because it's Disney and all the hype the ride has gotten, I knew I had to ride it at least once just to see what it was like--and I've never gotten sick on about 1/2 dozen rides. Go figure. So, the warning signs would have kept me off of it. They certainly keep my wife off of it. No way will she ride it.

 

[dxwwf3]

Recommending M:S is a tricky thing to do. I tend to say that people should try it because it's not nearly as intense as the warnings say it is, but at the same time it does tend to have different effects on different people and people should pay attention to the warnings for this attraction specificily.

 

[Captain Chaos]

:brick: :brick: :brick:

How is 12 "far above" 5?? Especially with the volume that is pumped through M:S and SM. The point would be valid if only 20 people had gone on M:S and a million on SM...but that is not the case.

10 Serious illnesses which means 10 other people could have died but were lucky enough not to... If these 10 people perished too, then that would be 12deaths in 2 years WAY MORE THAN ANY OTHER ATTRACTION IN DISNEY in 30 years... And just yesterday it was reported that 143-200 people sought medical attention, calling an ambulance.. out of that 143, 10 were serious, 2 died...

 

[SpongeScott]

Think about this way...

You walk on M:S thinking you're in perfect health; you read the warning signs, but feel great and the doctors agree, after all you just visited the doc last week he gave you a clean bill of health. So, you ride M:S, and as soon as you get out, start to feel terribly ill. You are rushed to the hospital where they find that a difficult to detect, pre-existing condition has been aggravated by the attraction. And then you die....

You see, M:S is perhaps the only attraction on property with the ability to aggravate a hard to detect, pre-existing conditions--to the point of killing riders. Should Disney not look into this a little more? If not to save a life, at least to save the park and attraction from another PR nightmare?

In the end, like I've said, better warnings will help...but if you go in thinking you're healthy and this ride has the ability to aggravate certain conditions you don't know about (more so than any other ride on property) ..then the warnings are useless....

Disney has to decide whether they want to leave it to chance...or take control and dumb down the ride, or do away with it.

But how can they look into it more? The ride functions as designed, it's an intense ride, the rider, to the best of their knowledge is in "perfect" health. What more can be done? Couldn't the same thing happen on EE? With the force you feel on it, is it not a matter of time before a tragedy takes place there?

 

[Captain Chaos]

Think about this way...

You walk on M:S thinking you're in perfect health; you read the warning signs, but feel great and the doctors agree, after all you just visited the doc last week he gave you a clean bill of health. So, you ride M:S, and as soon as you get out, start to feel terribly ill. You are rushed to the hospital where they find that a difficult to detect, pre-existing condition has been aggravated by the attraction. And then you die....

You see, M:S is perhaps the only attraction on property with the ability to aggravate a hard to detect, pre-existing conditions--to the point of killing riders. Should Disney not look into this a little more? If not to save a life, at least to save the park and attraction from another PR nightmare?

In the end, like I've said, better warnings will help...but if you go in thinking you're healthy and this ride has the ability to aggravate certain conditions you don't know about (more so than any other ride on property) ..then the warnings are useless....

Disney has to decide whether they want to leave it to chance...or take control and dumb down the ride, or do away with it.

Shaman, that was said perfectly... This is what other people have been trying to say but not as great as you did.

 

[SpongeScott]

And if you want to see how frequently mishaps happen at parks, look here.

http://www.rideaccidents.com/

 

[PlaneJane]

I personally don't let my parents ride b/c of health concerns, but Mission: Space is very gentle compared to a fair gravitron that I once went on. That said proposing 1 gentle centrifuge might be the solution that families can get on without much fear of injury.

 

[Captain Chaos]

This is the thing a lot of you people are forgetting that you need to keep in mind. The warning are in your face.. I have seen them, I knew what the ride consisted of, and still went on it... Did not get sick, thankfully, and I cannot even fly on a plane without getting sick. I just didn't care for it....

You forget though that there are millions of people with undetected medical conditions... There is a safe bet a lot of those millions will visit WDW and want to go on M:S thinking they are in perfect health. So, yes they will disregard the warning cause the warnings do not apply to them. However, as Shaman posted above, they go on M:S, the condition becomes aggravated, are rushed to the hospital, and die. The Medical Examiner finds the undetected condition... My question.. Are these people stupid as so many of you right away claim these people to be? Then I guess the doctors who could not find the undetectable condition must be stupid too... Your comments are stupid, not these people...

Take another instance.. You go to the doctor and your doctor detects a heart problem.... You goto WDW, go to M:S and read the warning that you shouldn't ride if you have a heart condition. You choose to ride anyway. You get sick then die.. The ride aggravated your condition, that you know you had, which leads you do perish. At this point the ride cannot be blamed because the warning are there for these people with KNOWN conditions. Would this person be considered stupid? I don't know... but obviously they made a bad decision putting their life in their hands...

The point is there may be 17-26 warnings about M:S, but the warnings apply to those people who know they are prone to the conditions listed in the warnings. You people say riders should heed the warning.. I agree.. THE PEOPLE WHO KNOW THEY HAVE THOSE CONDITIONS SHOULD HEED THE WARNINGS!!!!! If a condition is not detected by your doctor, should you heed the warning? According you all of you who want M:S left alone, YES... Then what happens is EVERYONE heeded the warnings?? No one would ride M:S and your precious attraction would be torn down and something new would be built..

Oh and to the CMs on here who say the guests are stupid, that is un-Disney-like...

 

[DisneyCane]

Speck, I know the stats...but my question is...when do we stop looking at stats and saying "You're more likely to die in a car" blah blah and start looking at trying to resolve the issue?

Resolve what issue? People get sick on intense rides all the time. If I don't take dramamine, I feel sick on tower of terror. The claustrophobia probably intensifies the feeling as people panic.

MISSION SPACE IS NOT KILLING PEOPLE. If the same people went on Expedition Everest (which has some pretty good forces) or Rock 'n Rollercoaster (which has the most intense G force of any ride in Florida) and then died should we close those too?

There are 8 zillion warnings. People getting sick is not an "issue" to resolve. People who can't take that type of ride should listen to the warnings and not ride. If 12 million people have ridden so far and even lets say 2000 have gotten sick that is still only 0.017%.

 

[spoodles]

I hope we all understand it wasn't rider stupidity.

You simply can't draw the conclusion that M:S is the only WDW ride that can aggravate a pre-existing condition, not from 2 in 9 million. I suspect that more people, who think they are in perfect health, will drop dead walking down the sidewalk today. Should we tear up the sidewalks?

 

[tirian]

Point 1. Mission:Space is basically a high-capacity version of the simulators NASA uses to train astronauts.

Point 2. Astronauts undergo rigorous medical testing to make sure they're physically able to handle the simulator.

Point 3. Disney obviously can't perform the same tests for every Guest that chooses to ride M:S.

Conclusion: There's no way that Disney can ensure that everyone who rides any of their attractions is physically able to do so; but consider this: NASA won't allow just "anybody" to ride their space simulator without a medical exam, but Disney allows anyone who reads the signs to experience the exact same type of simulation.

Just stating the facts without screaming like a Disney fanboy. :wave:

Now for my opinion... It's also ridiculous to say that people could die by eating bread, drinking water, or taking a bath and compare it to an attraction that involves prolonged periods of intense G-forces. That's called stupidity. It's true that you can't blame Disney for all the deaths at WDW; but it's also true that someone in the Company should have thought, "Hey, if NASA won't even allow people on this thing without a check-up, how can we operate it and not expect someone to get hurt or die?" Even though the odds of death are greater on I-4 than on M:S, the attraction still causes intense motion sickness for the many people who don't experience motion sickness on anything else.

Oh and to the CMs on here who say the guests are stupid, that is un-Disney-like...

Well, this CM thinks that Disney is stupid to think that every Guest will know whether or not they have an undetected condition that prevents them from riding M:S. And you know why? 'Cause Guests are too stupid to find out! :wave: (just trying to inject humor into this dire subject)

 

[peter11435]

Point 1. Mission:Space is basically a high-capacity version of the simulators NASA uses to train astronauts.

Nasa's centrifuge trainer achieves G-forces far higher than Mission: Space.

 

[tirian]

I know; that's why I was careful to point out that it's the same "type of simulator" that experiences "similar G-forces."

I personally don't think that M:S should be shut down. I think that Disney needs to acknowledge that the attraction presents a serious risk to some riders, and should do a better job of communicating that risk, rather than posting a bunch of signs that are either ignored or forgotten.

 

[spoodles]

It's also ridiculous to say that people could die by eating bread, drinking water, or taking a bath and compare it to an attraction that involves prolonged periods of intense G-forces. That's called stupidity.

Why? Do you have the statistics on the percentage of people who've died from exposure to G-forces and the percentage who've died from eating bread? I'm not saying you're wrong (you probably aren't), I just don't have the stats.

 

[tirian]

Ha, ha. No, I don't. I'm just pointing out that plenty more people eating bread doesn't involve the same forces as M:S. If it did...well, that would be some Wonderbread!

Stats aren't needed to make my point; I'm not comparing them.