I never post in threads like this because I just hate reading them, but I am going to try and squeeze a post in here amongst this warzone. I just want to make a few personal points:
- I hate when this happens. I hate it for Disney, I hate it for the injured/deceased party, and I hate it for the family of that person.
- It's not fair to anyone. Disney sincerely tries to put on a good, safe show and the family is innocent and having a blast at Disney World. Not every child can come up to their parents and say "Mom and Dad, I have an enlarged heart and shouldn't ride this ride." Even so, how many parents would still take their kid on a ride?
- This child obviously met the height requirement and we can only determine if this was a ride-enduced thing or something that would have "eventually" happened with any heightened physical emotion. The last two on Mission:Space I absolutely hate people saying "Oh Mission Space is so terrible, close it down, 34252352 people have called the ambulance on it!" You know what a large faction of that is to me? People who refused to make an effort to read the warning signs. Look, I love any kind of Disney ride and I trust them not to throw something violent at me, but even my first time riding M:S I asked a zillion questions to the CM outside, paid attention to every warning, and did everything asked of me (i.e. "keep your head forward-facing the entire time"). Sometimes when you just can't leave things up to people. People can trust Disney, but Disney can't trust all people.
- While I offer my deepest condolences to the child's family, I cannot denounce ANY ride that is functioning properly and the victim was found to have some condition aggravated by the ride. This a lot of people will disagree with though. Some folks believe if 1 in 1000 gets sick on something, then the ride should be shut down and reviewed until it's 0 in 1000. I hate to break it to those people, but 1 in 1000 people (strictly a made up number) will die doing something considered "everyday" anyways. The woman with the high blood pressure, for example. Should she have "known" about her condition? Sure. But do we all run to a doctor every time we're feeling bad? The woman may have known of her condition but if she ignored it, how can you blame the ride or the CM's running it? Just the same when the deceased M:S child's parents are sueing Disney over his death. Hey, guys, Disney is only under an obligation to guarantee your child will be put onto this ride as safe as everyone else. If he/she has a pre-existing heart condition that would have reared its head on any everyday situation, then you'd have no one to blame!
I anxiously await for the results of the autopsy to see what's up. If it is proven that he had a pre-existing condition, then I don't think anyone has a right to call out Disney on this. (This includes the Orlando Sentinel or any other newspaper and their convenient alluring language use.) If it is proven he was perfectly healthy then the next step is to verify that he WANTED to go and was ABLE to go under his own power. If that checks out, THEN and only THEN can you start looking at the ride and its statistics.
1disneydood said:
With that said and with the most careful words I can come up with, I hope Disney does NOTHING to the ride to tame it down whatsoever, nomatter what is proven to be cause of death. I'd still ride it.
This is how I see things. I love these rides and I have no problem on them (nor do a markedly majority of people) and would hate to see them nerfed down or closed.
