Injury Advice Needed

[danyoung56]

A few years ago I was riding Space Mountain when my lap bar flew open in the middle of the ride. I jammed it back into place, and then let the unload CM know what happened. I didn't even think of lawsuit, as I wasn't injured. But that's proof to me that those restraints can fail.

On the other hand, I was watching the Christmas fireworks at Epcot one year when I felt something bite me on top of my head. Turned out that a bit of falling ash had caught my hair on fire! I slapped it out, then stopped at Medical on the way out for some burn ointment for my forehead. Since it was documented that way, Disney called me a couple weeks later and asked what they could do for me. I didn't go to court, but I did make a few bucks out of it.

Disney is a funny company. They'll spend hundreds of thousands on one case where they think it's just a nuisance suit, and then go out of their way to settle another case if they think there could be some bad publicity for them. As others have said - get a lawyer!

 

[MrConbon]

Thank you to everyone who offered constructive advice.
Regardless of the restraint issue... I received a severe injury to a part of my body that has never been injured before... while riding a Disney ride. It very well may be just a 'freak accident,' but it DID happen. This is why I want to address the issue.

Don't understand your mentality of "oh I was in the military so I'm not a baby about these things" but then your proceed to pretty much say, "I injured myself on a ride because I don't know my own limits and want Disney to reimburse me for me injuring myself on a ride".

 

[lazyboy97o]

I mean I don't want to pry but the last time I did Mission Space Orange, I got sick and had to go back to the resort for a while. Should I file a claim against Disney cause I got lost park time, had to go buy a bottle of Pepto Bismol, and maybe some reading glasses because I failed to read the warning signs? I mean call me crazy.

Sorry that was rude and uncalled for. I'm usually a nice person.

Pepto Bismol is not exactly the same as a broken bone. And what Warning was allegedly ignored?

 

[21stamps]

Turned out that a bit of falling ash had caught my hair on fire!

Omg. This is crazy!!! And I apologize, but it’s also a little funny.. and horrible at the same time.

 

[21stamps]

Pepto Bismol is not exactly the same as a broken bone. And what Warning was allegedly ignored?

It sounds like the “sit back with head forward” was ignored, but I could be wrong. Just not sure how it’s physically possible otherwise, without any preexisting injury.

I’m hoping the OP will say what part of the ride he was on when it happened.

 

[BASS]

But there's a difference between not reading a warning sign and a malfunctioning harness. To use an extreme example, I'm pretty sure you get read the riot act before skydiving. But if the chute doesn't work, you can't say "A-ha! You knew that it was risky. Too bad. So sad."

Disney has an obligation to ensure that the harnesses are properly applied and functioning. I really don't know whether the harness malfunctioned or whether there was user error (and, if the latter, to what extent Disney can spot and rectify that before the ride starts). To add a layer of complexity to this, if, for example, multiple folks have repeated similar instances of being "pinballed" around in the seat, then perhaps there is a greater duty on Disney's part to ensure that each user has properly applied the harness.

 

[lazyboy97o]

But there's a difference between not reading a warning sign and a malfunctioning harness. To use an extreme example, I'm pretty sure you get read the riot act before skydiving. But if the chute doesn't work, you can't say "A-ha! You knew that it was risky. Too bad. So sad."

Disney has an obligation to ensure that the harnesses are properly applied and functioning. I really don't know whether the harness malfunctioned or whether there was user error (and, if the latter, to what extent Disney can spot and rectify that before the ride starts). To add a layer of complexity to this, if, for example, multiple folks have repeated similar instances of being "pinballed" around in the seat, then perhaps there is a greater duty on Disney's part to ensure that each user has properly applied the harness.

Arrow and Vekoma coasters with this restraint design are known for being “head knockers.” The restraint, when properly applied, does not hold down most persons across the restraint. There is room for movement which is why the determination of the restraint being to blame, as presented, is lacking. Around the shoulder there would not necessarily be a lot of difference in a loose restraint and a tight restraint.

 

[danyoung56]

Omg. This is crazy!!! And I apologize, but it’s also a little funny.. and horrible at the same time.

It actually was kinda funny. After I had slapped out the flames, I turned to the guy next to me and asked "Umm, was my head on fire?" He said "Dude, you had like 3 foot flames shooting up!"

 

[21stamps]

But there's a difference between not reading a warning sign and a malfunctioning harness. To use an extreme example, I'm pretty sure you get read the riot act before skydiving. But if the chute doesn't work, you can't say "A-ha! You knew that it was risky. Too bad. So sad."

Disney has an obligation to ensure that the harnesses are properly applied and functioning. I really don't know whether the harness malfunctioned or whether there was user error (and, if the latter, to what extent Disney can spot and rectify that before the ride starts). To add a layer of complexity to this, if, for example, multiple folks have repeated similar instances of being "pinballed" around in the seat, then perhaps there is a greater duty on Disney's part to ensure that each user has properly applied the harness.

A poster above gave a good answer. I’ll also add to it, my 6 year old (at the first time riding) and any other skinny kid would not have the restraints tightly against them, not would many adults.

I was on a ride called Invertigo this past Sunday.. riders are placed with their back to each other. The first hill half of the riders will go backwards, the other half facing forward, and vice versa on the second lift.




We went on two consecutive times. The first time my restraint was relatively tight, the second time it wasn’t. I was scared when my entire body weight is pushed against the restraint while having more space than usual between my back and the seat back.

BUT- I wasn’t in danger and it doesn’t mean that the restraint was faulty.

 

[TideFan]

I guess the amount of room between me and the restraint allowed for me to slam forward into the restraint hard enough to fracture the clavicle. The ER doctor also said there was a "stage 1" AC joint separation with torn ligaments in addition to the fracture. - Again, I've never injured my shoulder before this incident.

 

[GVentola]

It's good that TideFan has medical records. I fell on an airplane and my leg hurt so much I took the next flight home instead of onward to my vacation destination. I had got insurance in case I had to cancel the trip, but they wanted medical proof that my leg was injured. My family doctor and a local clinic refused to look at it once they knew it was a trip insurance issue. I didn't know where else to turn, so I ended up not getting compensated. Lost over six hundred dollars for that aborted vacation. My friend also had trouble after a vehicle ran into her car. Her doctor would not work with her to provide her the proof she needed to sue, since it was a personal injury case.

 

[DisAl]

Hard to prove something like this. Could have just as easily happened falling out of bed.....
Had an employee once who claimed he injured his shoulder picking up something heavy. A little investigation brought to light that he had fallen out of a deer stand a few weeks earlier, but he wanted workmen's comp claiming it was on the job, not the deer stand accident.

 

[note2001]

I guess the amount of room between me and the restraint allowed for me to slam forward into the restraint hard enough to fracture the clavicle. The ER doctor also said there was a "stage 1" AC joint separation with torn ligaments in addition to the fracture. - Again, I've never injured my shoulder before this incident.

I do hope your collar bone and shoulder can come back to 99.9% of what they were before the injury. That is a painful one to be sure.

I was talking with my sister, not so much about your injury, but her own where she had to have surgery on her shoulder from seperation from merely reaching into the back seat to fetch her purse. (New, giant SUV, different angle than she was used to.) Keep in mind she's one of the healthiest people I know, but the 40s can be cruel as we learn new limits. It can be an aging thing, and bones can be easier to break with certain conditions, never say "But I don't have....".

That said, have you contacted Disney at all about this? I'm still really worried about other injuries happening, it's not too late to point out a possible problem in the system.

 

[TwilightZone]

That said, have you contacted Disney at all about this? I'm still really worried about other injuries happening, it's not too late to point out a possible problem in the system.

Assuming this happened march 10 and it doesn't seem like there were more incidents like this, I think it is safe, and just a case of gap like others have said, or leaning too forward.

 

[21stamps]

I guess the amount of room between me and the restraint allowed for me to slam forward into the restraint hard enough to fracture the clavicle. The ER doctor also said there was a "stage 1" AC joint separation with torn ligaments in addition to the fracture. - Again, I've never injured my shoulder before this incident.

I’m trying to follow you... Where on the ride did this happen? You slammed forward? The ligaments are even more shocking, are you positive that you didn’t have a fall at some point, not on the ride?

 

[willtravel]

"Head-knockers". I like that. Unfortunately, my last 3 visits to WDW I skipped this attraction permanently for that very reason. There is/was a ride at Kings Island that is/was indoor coaster. I want to call it Outer Limits but not sure, Had the same problem there. One time was enough. We left early that day. Haven't been back since then. I always thought it was because I was short and sat low in seat...

 

[21stamps]

"Head-knockers". I like that. Unfortunately, my last 3 visits to WDW I skipped this attraction permanently for that very reason. There is/was a ride at Kings Island that is/was indoor coaster. I want to call it Outer Limits but not sure, Had the same problem there. One time was enough. We left early that day. Haven't been back since then. I always thought it was because I was short and sat low in seat...

It’s still there! It’s called Flight of Fear now.. kiddo was finally tall enough to ride it for the first time this past Sunday! After riding, he said- “ That was like a cross between Space Mountain and Rockin Rollercoaster, but scarier. Let’s do it again!”

I’ll add that I have been in pain after a couple of coasters, and I flew up here to ride Son of Beast when it opened.. that ride beat the heck out of me. Insta-headache.

What's crazy to me is this happened on Rockin Rollercoaster which is probably THE smoothest rollercoaster I've ever been on, and I've been to multiple Six Flags theme parks, both Universal and IoA and I've also been to Cedar Point as well. The hardest point of "force" is at the launch and at the first inversion which is actually a smooth inversion and higher G force, but in both cases, the force is put on your back...not your front area where your clavicle is.

I mean did the ride come to a complete stop suddenly?

This is why I keep asking.

I too have been on many rollercoasters.. I live literally a few minutes away from a Cedar Fair Park. You haven’t known “beat up” until you ride a wooden coaster called The Beast. I could actually understand an injury on that, or even a shoulder harness steel ride called The Vortex, which is also very rough.. or the old Mean Streak at Cedar Point..

But Rockin Rollercoaster? There’s not any major airtime that I can think of, the forces are continually pushing you back against your seat.

 

[correcaminos]

"Head-knockers". I like that. Unfortunately, my last 3 visits to WDW I skipped this attraction permanently for that very reason. There is/was a ride at Kings Island that is/was indoor coaster. I want to call it Outer Limits but not sure, Had the same problem there. One time was enough. We left early that day. Haven't been back since then. I always thought it was because I was short and sat low in seat...

Shorter people do deal with that on this ride. But once you get to average height it isn't an issue. That said is not at all like what the OP was talking about either. My ears get it if I don't sit back further with my head back. Hurt more due to 10 piercings too, but after a ride or two I figured or how to ride without issues

 

[willtravel]

Shorter people do deal with that on this ride. But once you get to average height it isn't an issue. That said is not at all like what the OP was talking about either. My ears get it if I don't sit back further with my head back. Hurt more due to 10 piercings too, but after a ride or two I figured or how to ride without issues

I am 5' 2in tall. I am of average height and it bothered me. I am aware of what the OP is talking about but prior to my post "head knockers" was mentioned and that is what I felt on the ride. Glad to read you have no problems.

 

[wagner1225]

In those type of claims they need to be reported instantly, as the claim would be for negligence as you would have to prove it, I have rode that ride over the years and it is very fast and the G Forces keep you pinned to the seat until the end, its not as bouncy as Space Mountain, Good luck