Disney faced with lawsuit in Mission: Space death

[newfanatic]

sometimes and accident is just that--an accident. It is not always someone's fault. This lawsuit is an example having to find someone to blame. In my opinion, there is no one to blame. It is just a sad tragedy. Sometimes bad thngs just happen.

 

[dig8x]

Every ride at the parks have a warning. At least every ride i have gone on at any of the Disney Parks has a warning. They all say the same stuff, if your motion sick dont get on it, if your a pregnant woman dont get on it, if you have heart problems dont get on it.

I side with the family on this one. We dont know what they are sueing for, or their reasons, other than they have a dead 4 year old. Maybe they just want the ride shut down to try and help others from receiving the same fate? The truth of the matter is you and i, do not know why they opted to sue.

I beleive Disney uses the warnings to much, and they are overlooked. I was recently at Epcot and i did not ride this ride. the reason was not warning signs, it is because of what i read here about the sick people, and the deaths.

Everyone can believe what they want, but disney changed the ride, and they did it for a reason. they know the ride is too intense. Most of you will say its because they needed a way to get more riders to go on the ride, it wasnt making enough money. I will agree with you, and add people were not going on it, because they knew it was in fact a health risk. That is why it was toned down.

Disney is guilty, and i hope the parents get the money back to pay for their sons burial, and funeral costs. I do not feel they are entitled to anything more than that however. I also hope all the centerfuges are turned off.

 

[amykissangel]

This really is a terrible thing to happen, but when the ride first came out, my sister was 48 inches tall, she was five. My mom and dad said, No way, no how is she going on this. She's too little, it will scare her, and it could be dangerous.

There are warning signs EVERYWHERE. My mom was also recovering from cancer at this time, and even signs at RRC and ToT,as well as Test Track indicate that you shouldn't ride if you have health problems or back/neck problems.

She was intelligent enough to read the warning signs and decide that she didn't want to risk her health, or my sister's on one ride. I know the family is terribly upset right now, but sueing Disney for a fault of their own decision-making is ridiculous. I agree with many people who've posted already - they are trying to assuage their own guilt by blaming Disney for the boy's pre-existing condition. I don't know - if I saw that many warnings, I'd think twice about taking my child on that ride.

 

[bayoutinkbelle]

I really don't feel like there is even a case here...however, if you think about it for a moment, they lost a 4 year old child. He's gone, forever, never coming back. I have a 2 year old sister, and I don't know what I'd do if she up and died in 2 years. Sure, this family doesn't legally have a case, but at the same time, they've payed the ultimate price already. In our culture, we equate sueing with a ligitamate solution, and if a chunk of change is what it's going to take for this family to move on from this awful situation, well, it's not as if Disney can't afford it. If this were a case of, "Oh look, little Timmy didn't keep his arm inside the vehicle and he lost a couple of fingers", then I'd say take a hike. But a human life was lost, and a child's life at that, so I say, give the family a break. Sure, money isn't going to a replace the child, but being able to live more comfortably isn't going to hurt the process...

As a parent, I can say that any amount of money would never take away the pain of losing a child. I could live in the lap of luxury and still be miserable.

I do feel for this family's loss, but all the evidence points toward his death as being caused by a ticking timebomb. If it wasn't MS, it could have happened on a sports field or playground. Their claim about no warnings is baseless. I mean, come on!

I wish Disney would fight this suit, but my cynical side tells me it'll be settled out of court.

 

[fers31]

Of course the ride has warnings....but nobody in their right mind would have thought that it would cause death! People are very quick to attack this family. Realize they've lost someone as a direct result of this ride (accelerated the heart problem.) How can people not understand that the family lost a 4 year old child and blame the ride for causing the death. There is no doubt that this ride acted as a catalyst in this child's death. They will win in court or my guess is Disney will settle it out of court for several million dollars to try to avoid the publicity. Disney even ackowledges that this ride is causing health issues, hence the lighter version of the ride. I've stated this before, this is the one ride at Disney that my wife and I were not right after getting off of it. I saw many children sitting on the floor in the hallways with their heads between their knees. Just because YOU didn't have a problem with the ride, doesn't mean that it's not rough on others. I feel for the family and I hope this is not a dragged out court case. Just get it over with so everyone can try to move on.

 

[disney.co.nr]

It really isn't the parents' fault, though. The boy had a dangerous condition that no one knew about. It was something that most likely would have got him whether he rode or not. 4-year-olds ride Space every day, and as long as they're healthy, they come off just fine.

no, no I wasnt saying that the condition was the parents fault... in the article it said that DISNEY shouldnt have let the boy on the ride, well that should be the parents responsibility before disney's... IMO

 

[hokielutz]

Thats the great USA for ya...

.... (NOT THAT THEY HAVE TO BE, BECAUSE, IF THEY DO THEIR HOMEWORK THEY WILL KNOW HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH)

I am not blaming Disney..

It sounds like you are putting the blame on Disney when you say that They(amusement park companies) need to do their homework and they will know when a ride is too much thrill to be put into production.

If I'm mistaken... please clarify

 

[wdwishes2005]

Of course the ride has warnings....but nobody in their right mind would have thought that it would cause death! People are very quick to attack this family. Realize they've lost someone as a direct result of this ride (accelerated the heart problem.) How can people not understand that the family lost a 4 year old child and blame the ride for causing the death. There is no doubt that this ride acted as a catalyst in this child's death. They will win in court or my guess is Disney will settle it out of court for several million dollars to try to avoid the publicity. Disney even ackowledges that this ride is causing health issues, hence the lighter version of the ride. I've stated this before, this is the one ride at Disney that my wife and I were not right after getting off of it. I saw many children sitting on the floor in the hallways with their heads between their knees. Just because YOU didn't have a problem with the ride, doesn't mean that it's not rough on others. I feel for the family and I hope this is not a dragged out court case. Just get it over with so everyone can try to move on.

Either that person is not anchored in reality or can't read. I believe the signs do warn you about death and every time im on a ride i think about it....

 

[Shaman]

I think the majority of the people blasting the family would do the same if they were in the family's position.

I'm a fan of M:S...and obviously of Disney...but I think the family has a case...and that the odds of them convincing a jury are really good (I mean a child died, others have died because of/or after experiencing this ride, lots of people are made ill because of M:S, plus Disney changed the format to incorporate a lite version while modifying the way they inform guests of the risks; does the family need anything else to prove their point?). Whether they are right to sue or not who am I to say...I really think that Disney will eventually settle to avoid bad publicity and further damage to the reputation of M:S.

I just hope the true original version of M:S survives all this....

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Every ride at the parks have a warning. At least every ride i have gone on at any of the Disney Parks has a warning. They all say the same stuff, if your motion sick dont get on it, if your a pregnant woman dont get on it, if you have heart problems dont get on it.

I side with the family on this one. We dont know what they are sueing for, or their reasons, other than they have a dead 4 year old. Maybe they just want the ride shut down to try and help others from receiving the same fate? The truth of the matter is you and i, do not know why they opted to sue.

I beleive Disney uses the warnings to much, and they are overlooked. I was recently at Epcot and i did not ride this ride. the reason was not warning signs, it is because of what i read here about the sick people, and the deaths.

Everyone can believe what they want, but disney changed the ride, and they did it for a reason. they know the ride is too intense. Most of you will say its because they needed a way to get more riders to go on the ride, it wasnt making enough money. I will agree with you, and add people were not going on it, because they knew it was in fact a health risk. That is why it was toned down.

Disney is guilty, and i hope the parents get the money back to pay for their sons burial, and funeral costs. I do not feel they are entitled to anything more than that however. I also hope all the centerfuges are turned off.

WHA?!?!?!?!?!?!? :brick: :brick: :brick:

Let's take your points one by one:

1. You say "every ride has a warning", and because of that they get overlooked. How in the WORLD is that Disney's fault??? It's their jobs to make people aware of the risks involved with certain attractions, and that they ride it at their own risk. If someone overlooks those warnings, it is NO ONE'S FAULT BUT THEIR OWN.

2. You say we don't know the reasons the family is suing??? Their lawyer clearly stated the basis of the case in the story in the newspaper. He said there wasn't ample warning. Well, there's 13 (I believe) warnings before you get on the ride. And not just signs, but video and audio as well. IF this goes to court, the first time the jury walks through the que, this portion of the argument will be shot down. Next, he said height was a factor, that kids should have to be 48 inches to ride. This is something governed by insurance companies as well as laws of physics and their relation to the human body. I'm quite sure this won't stand either. Then he made the ridiculous statement that the engineers of the ride didn't understand the forces of the attraction. Again. Physics. They didn't stick metal boxes on the end of poles, spin them around, and guess how it would make people feel. With the YEARS this attraction was in development, something tells me they covered the topic more than once.

And let me tell you... This is ALL about money. Don't be so naive as to think that "maybe all they want to do is shut the ride down". Please. Come on. If that's the case, I'll be your personal butler for the rest of your life.

3. You say Disney changed the ride. THEY DID NOT CHANGE THE RIDE!!!!! The developed a "tamer" version of the ride to provide an alternate experince for those that READ THE WARNINGS and didn't feel comfortable riding something that extreme. The orange version of the ride is the same as the day it opened. The green version is an alternate, to open the attraction to a larger audience, thereby increasing it's capacity and ROI, or "return on investment".

4. Lastly, you say you believe Disney is guilty... But that all the family should get is burial costs. Needless to say, this won't be the case. Either Disney will be guilty and will owe MILLIONS to this family, or Disney will be cleared and the family won't get a penny.

OR...

They'll settle out of court and no one will ever know. Which is probable, but I wish they'd fight it out. It's stuff like this that drives me nuts. Obviously.

/rant

 

[hokielutz]

...I feel for the family and I hope this is not a dragged out court case. Just get it over with so everyone can try to move on.

I feel for the family too. Its terrible that something like this could happen in a place of magic and wonder. But as others have said... there really isn't a place to put the blame in this case.
Disney has posted 13 or more warnings for those with conditions that may be affected. Since this child was not in perfect health, whether or not he or the parents were aware of it, it isn't the fault of Disney. If someone of normal health died because of a documented fault with the ride performance, then their suit would have merit.

This is just very unfortunate luck. I'm sorry for the family, and I hope that Disney has helped with any direct expenses they incurred as a result of his death. But a lawsuit is unnecessary and without merit in their case. If Disney settles for some undisclosed punitive damages, I fear that more suits will follow with a snowball effect... building on the previous.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Of course the ride has warnings....but nobody in their right mind would have thought that it would cause death! People are very quick to attack this family. Realize they've lost someone as a direct result of this ride (accelerated the heart problem.) How can people not understand that the family lost a 4 year old child and blame the ride for causing the death. There is no doubt that this ride acted as a catalyst in this child's death. They will win in court or my guess is Disney will settle it out of court for several million dollars to try to avoid the publicity. Disney even ackowledges that this ride is causing health issues, hence the lighter version of the ride. I've stated this before, this is the one ride at Disney that my wife and I were not right after getting off of it. I saw many children sitting on the floor in the hallways with their heads between their knees. Just because YOU didn't have a problem with the ride, doesn't mean that it's not rough on others. I feel for the family and I hope this is not a dragged out court case. Just get it over with so everyone can try to move on.

You have GOT to be kidding me.

Disney says 11 million people (and counting) have ridden this ride. TWO have, very unfortunately, passed away after it. That means that 99.9999999% (it would be more but that's where my calculator stops) have safely ridden this attraction. The chances are much better that you die in a car crash than on M:S.

I'm tired of people not taking responsibility for their actions.

And you know what?? Sometimes accidents happen. Sometimes accidents happen without fault to any one person. No one knew this kid had a heart defect. It was an accident. Grieve for the loss and move on. Don't try to extort a major company for whatever you can get out of them.

I had respect for this family, but have lost a great deal of it at this point.

 

[Rayray]

Of course the ride has warnings....but nobody in their right mind would have thought that it would cause death! People are very quick to attack this family. Realize they've lost someone as a direct result of this ride (accelerated the heart problem.) How can people not understand that the family lost a 4 year old child and blame the ride for causing the death. There is no doubt that this ride acted as a catalyst in this child's death. They will win in court or my guess is Disney will settle it out of court for several million dollars to try to avoid the publicity. Disney even ackowledges that this ride is causing health issues, hence the lighter version of the ride. I've stated this before, this is the one ride at Disney that my wife and I were not right after getting off of it. I saw many children sitting on the floor in the hallways with their heads between their knees. Just because YOU didn't have a problem with the ride, doesn't mean that it's not rough on others. I feel for the family and I hope this is not a dragged out court case. Just get it over with so everyone can try to move on.

Do we live in a society that really thinks that the proprietor of a location of untimely death must compensate for the loss. I hope not. This is a frivolous lawsuit. I could understand compensation if the ride malfuctioned in some way, but the blatant fact is that it didn't. This is a simple case of greed. If the boy hadn't had a previous condition, the death would have never happened. The family voluntarily took their son on the ride despite the warning sign. No doubt that the situation is unfortunate and tragic, but please, science wins in this case. There was no incompetence in design. There is no magical force (other than Disney's impeccable craftsmenship). There will be no case.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Do we live in a society that really thinks that the proprietor of a location of untimely death must compensate for the loss. I hope not. This is a frivolous lawsuit. I could understand compensation if the ride malfuctioned in some way, but the blatant fact is that it didn't. This is a simple case of greed. If the boy hadn't had a previous condition, the death would have never happened. The family voluntarily took their son on the ride despite the warning sign. No doubt that the situation is unfortunate and tragic, but please, science wins in this case. There was no incompetence in design. There is no magical force (other than Disney's impeccable craftsmenship). There will be no case.

Well said. :sohappy: :wave:

 

[PurpleDragon]

Its pretty sad that these people have the gall to say Disney does not warn the public about the ride. When there are tons of signs thruout the queue, it is repeated on every video, and there is also audio piped thruout the attraction that repeats the warning again. I'm sure a person riding this attraction sees/hears at least 8 different warnings before boarding the attraction.

These people are gonna end up losing money, cause they have no case. They are gonna spend all this money on this lawsuit, and they are gonna end up losing. Whats sad is they were probably approached by the lawyer and encouraged to sue. Its really sad what people will do for money. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if Disney ends up settling out of court. Either out of sympathy for the family, or just to avoid the negative media.

 

[executivechef]

My opinion is very easy.
It's money. Nothing more nothing less.
We have a very sad story of a young boy who's life was cut short by health reasons. But we have a family who now that their son is gone needs to place blame on someone rather than themself. Being a parent, I can't imagine the pain they must have gone through, but guilt has turned to greed. Although the healing has begun. I don't think money is going to speed up any healing process. However, it took less time to find a lawyer and sue than to heal.
A lawyer mind you that I bet will settle out of court rather than take a chance with a jury or judge with the childs medical history.
So we have a greedy lawyer who wishes to have Mickey's head on a plaque over his his fireplace in his law office for bragging rights of how he "Took down Disney and won the battle".
Shame on the parents. They are not trying to set a precedent in Florida law to protect other kids in the name of theirs.
Shame!
Then again, this is just my opinion.
Guy

 

[gatordoc]

It is lawsuits like this that make me want to leave the legal profession. Such a fraud. Companies have to waste so much money every year on frivilous lawsuits like this one.

Unfortunately, the state courts in Florida are so ridiculously biased in favor of plaintiffs, that if Disney does the right thing and fights this instead of settling, a jury will ultimately get to decide the case. The trial court will not dismiss the case before trial. I just hope the jurors are smart enough to do the right thing, but since the trend in this country (especially Florida) is "absolute liability" and to compensate plaintiffs for everything, I am actually not optimistic.

Absolutely correct. If this case goes to a jury trial, fault will not be an issue. The issue will be how much sympathy can be generated for a family with a dead child, and who has the deepest pockets to provide some compensation. No, it won't bring their child back, but it's all that the jury will be able to do for the "poor family". And please don't think that I don't have sympathy for their loss, because I do. It's just that, as a pediatrician, I have seen too many cases where everything possible was done to save a child, but the child died, and regardless of any fault, a jury felt compelled to award the family large amounts of money.

 

[Captain Chaos]

It sounds like you are putting the blame on Disney when you say that They(amusement park companies) need to do their homework and they will know when a ride is too much thrill to be put into production.

If I'm mistaken... please clarify

Ok, let me explain...

1. I am not advocating this lawsuit.. believe me I am not.. I am never in favor of suing for huge amounts of money after losing a loved one.. Of course, it depends on the situation... if there was obvious negligent on Disney's part then I would advocate this.. but, as much as I hate M:S, I don't see negligent on Disney's side... The CMs letting the child ride is not an issue.. he met the height requirement.. therefore they had to let him ride...

2. When I said theme parks/amusement parks need to do their homework.. i meant that to outdue one another, they come up with more and more thrilling rides.. The rides just continue to get more massive, more thrilling.. more pushing the edge... Sooner or later they are going to go over the edge..

Whether it be Disney, universal, Six Flags, Cedar Point, Busch Gardens, whatever.. They need to know just how much the human body can take... The human body, a normal human body, is not made to withstand certain forces.. And these parks continue to push their rides to the brink... When is thrilling too thrilling?? How many people are going to have to get sick or die before these parks realize the new aged thrill rides are too much on the human body????

No, I am not blaming Disney.. And I am not syaing not to build thrill rides because I love thilss rides as much as the next person.. i am sure they did their studies to see how much G's a body can take... I'm just saying the day is going to come when these parks are going to have to say enough is enough with how much thrill they can put in a ride without the ride being dangerous... There is only so much "pushing the envelope" that these parks can do...

 

[ScrapIron]

Observation #1: The suit says one of the problems was that the height limit should be higher. I've seen dozens of people on these boards state that exact same point since this incident, but they are all remakably quiet this morning, nearly 100 posts into this thread. BTW, I don't agree.

Observation #2: At least in California, Disney has historically settled if they expect to lose, and gone to court if they expect to win.

Cheers.

 

[DDuck1974]

Its pretty sad that these people have the gall to say Disney does not warn the public about the ride. When there are tons of signs thruout the queue, it is repeated on every video, and there is also audio piped thruout the attraction that repeats the warning again. I'm sure a person riding this attraction sees/hears at least 8 different warnings before boarding the attraction.

These people are gonna end up losing money, cause they have no case. They are gonna spend all this money on this lawsuit, and they are gonna end up losing. Whats sad is they were probably approached by the lawyer and encouraged to sue. Its really sad what people will do for money. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if Disney ends up settling out of court. Either out of sympathy for the family, or just to avoid the negative media.

I would be very interested to see the actual complaint that has been filed by the attorney. He claims that the lawsuit is based on a failure to warn. If that is the case, the issue for the jury will be whether the warnings were adequate to inform the plaintiffs of the risk. I cannot recall whether the warnings say 'death' or not (or how many warnings there are), but if they do, case over (in theory anyway). However, even if they do warn of 'death', dismissal before trial is highly unlikely in Florida because the trend is to make every issue an issue of fact for a jury, not judge, to decide.

Someone previously suggested that there are too many warnings, but there has to be in our current litigious landscape. Manufacturers and companies like Disney are forced to go way over the top on warnings because failure to warn claims are so prevalent. I do not disagree that too many warnings may lead to information overload, and people start to ignore them. That is a societal issue, however, not Disney's problem.

I wouldn't be surprised if the lawsuit also included a claim for design defect, claiming that the design of the ride is unreasonably dangerous because either (1) the risks of the design outweigh benefits or (2) the risks were worse than consumers would have expected. Given the overall safety of this ride (2 out of 11+ million has been reported), the huge benefit (i.e. enjoyment) gained by guests, and the number of warning labels, such a design defect claim should also fail.

By the way, subsequent remedial measures (i.e., the change of the ride by adding the Green team), is generally not admissible because of the public policy to encourage improvements that might make a product/ride safer. Does not mean that it would not come into evidence at trial, but it should not.

As for the family losing money, its likely that the lawyer has taken the case on a contingent fee basis, which in Florida would allow him to recover anywhere between 35-45% of the verdict at trial or of a settlement. If the family gets $0, the lawyer gets $0.

The above is definitely an over-simplification (especially since I have not seen the complaint), but I hope it helps.

I sympathesize with the family for losing their child, and I have lost respect for them for filing this lawsuit. But it is just an example of a bigger problem in the legal system in this country. Unfortunately, I don't think the majority of people see the problem companies are facing. No question, there are definitely valid lawsuits and people who need to be compensated. But entitlement, absolute liability and blaming someone for every problem has taken over. We need to get a better handle on friviolous lawsuits and "strike suits" filed against companies in the hope of settlement to avoid bad publicity, and soon.

(And a technical p.s. -- Disney would not be "guilty" because this is not a criminal lawsuit. They could merely be found "liable.")