Mission: Space tragedy

[tigsmom]

It was reported that the child was born prematurely... many of these children suffer long term effects though we do not know if this is the case here.

There is also a chance that a pre existing condition was present that the family was not aware of. (yes that can happen)

I for one am stepping back from this thread. I have stated my opinion.
I do not blame the parents for the child's death. I do not blame WDW for the child's death. This is just a tragic occurrence. I have seen people walk of M:S and then faint. I have seen people taken off in wheelchairs and I have seen people run off to get in line again. Two members of my family have tried this ride and have decided to never ride again while two others had decided never to ride it at all. Our choices and you can second guess them if you want, but it really doesn't matter.

I am sure if that mom could do it all over again she would not get on that ride, she can't and now how to go thru life having experienced something I would not wish on my worst enemy... to have to bury one of her children.

 

[daveemtdave]

I agree with Tigsmom - as I said earlier, I do hope this family has a strong support system at home - they will never fully recover from this; but they need to stay strong for the other children in their family.

 

[shoppingnut]

Do you have kids? I know exactly what my daughter can and can not handle. As I said earlier, she is a 5 year old who loves fast rides. Even though, she is past the required height, I know that she would be able to tolerate the kind of motion that is simulated on MS.....

For you to say that it is peculiar for parents to have some ability to know what their kids can physically handle is outrageous.

I know exactly what my daughter can and can't handle in whatever she does, whether it be rides, eating, playing...etc

This is exactly right, when I took my nephew last year I knew exactly what he could or could not handle. Since he was little he would get motion sick, just like me and his father, it runs in the family, so I knew what rides to avoid and M:S was definitely one of them. Parents do know, or at least ones that pay attention to things.

 

[MKCustodial]

This isn't a case about being able to "handle the ride", the child died. Are you holding your kids off of rides because you are concerned that they are going to die on the ride? C'mon now be honest. To think that a parent "knows" the limits of his children's medical capability is pretty silly. People with years and years of medical school don't have that ability. Frankly, I find people's obsession on this thread to feel like superior parents to the parents of the deceased child, very offensive.

I don't think we're understanding eachother correctly. Maybe it's my use of the language... Lemme try to explain my point better.

I'm not saying I'm a superior parent to those involved. And I'm not saying people should be looking for death traps on theme park attractions and rides. Since many people have experienced the attraction without major problems, possibly it isn't the system's fault. Now, the child in question did meet the height requirement but was 4 years old. In my view, he has too frail of a body to stand the forces of a centrifuge. Of course, we don't know what that family was thinking when they decided they'd ride the attraction, but I suppose that mother knew her child well enough to know what he could and could not experience. Maybe she had no idea the attraction was so intense, but after getting in line and seeing and hearing all those warnings, one would assume she understood what was coming (unless they had the language barrier Scott theorized). So basically, what I've been doing since I joined this thread is giving my opinions on what could have happened. Maybe the boy had some condition his family didn't know of; maybe they knew about it but he whined so much they decided to go anyway; maybe they knew about it but thought he'd be fine; maybe he was perfectly fine and it was just all a terrible coincidence. After that, I simply mentioned that, when I have children, and when I take them to WDW, I'll be sure to take into account their limitations when letting them go on certain attractions. I'm not saying this boy's family didn't act like that, I'm just saying that's what I'd do.

Was that clearer?

 

[Miss Bell]

You and me both- I have a 6 year old who will not be going on that ride in November- I don't even let her ride the Tower of Terror, but that's just me MS isn't something I think small kids should go on, but that's my opinion.

It is trully sad and my heart goes out to the family.

I woudn't let my daughter ride Tower of Terror until she was 8--and it's been her favorite ever since.

Until they do the autopsy, no one will know anything for sure--I had a student who died a few years ago of a heart condition no one even had a clue he had. He just went to bed and died. His parents still second guess themselves, asking themselves if things would be different if they had gone in and checked on him and that kind of thing.

I think as parents we all question and re-question what we do. Four years old seems young to me, but on the other hand, if I had my way, I'd never let my daughter do anything that seems remotely dangerous--even if the danger is just in my head, or something I think could happen.

More than anything, I'm overwhelmed by what a sad, sad thing this is to have happened.

 

[pax_65]

Two Thoughts

First, I find this story frightening, because I do know my kids and would never have thought they could be killed, injured, sickened, or even significantly frightened on Mission Space. My son is 4 (like the child who died). He is not over the height limit yet (44 inches is pretty big for a 4-year-old) But he is very adventurous and has gone on Test Track, Tower of Terror, etc. I know Mission Space will one day be one of his favorite rides. So it's scary to think the ride could hurt a child like that.

Second, I expect that the autopsy will show some kind of internal problem that may not have been known to the parents, a clot or some weakness in an artery in the brain or something. In a strange way I HOPE this is what is found, because it reassures me that such a thing won't happen to my kids (assuming my kids are healthy, which I think and hope they are) and because it means Mission Space really can't hurt a healthy kid. I want to believe both of these things... I guess that's human nature.

We'll see what the truth is...

In the meantime, a very sad day. My prayers are with the family.

Jon

 

[imagineer boy]

This story really is all over the news - heard a report about it on the radio today in Montreal... The big thing that they focused on was the fact that this ride has induced many other people to get sick.

*sigh* Too bad that's the angle that they're taking - instead of focusing on the people affected by this horrible event, they're looking to sensationalize the ride. One commentator said that it should be shut down if it was so dangerous and then commented on TWDC's troubles of late. I nearly punched my car radio (instead, I just changed the channel in anger).

Can't say I'm surprised, but I'm still disappointed.

Gaah! Right wing biased media! M:S isn't dangerouse, its a perfectly safe ride. There are litterally a BILLION warnings in front. If you have medical conditions, then its dangerouse. I hate it when they go for the throat like that. I know it wasn't the family's fault, it was probably pre existing conditions that they didn't know about. Things like this happen all the time at Disney rides, or any theme parks for that matter. Several people have suffered heart attacks and died on the Matterhorn ride at DL, some people have gotten brain tumors in Space Mountain, ect. Can't the news just use common sense for once!?!?!?!? :brick: :brick: :brick: :brick: :brick:

 

[GSpiff]

First I want to say that I had jumped on the bandwagon of blaming the parents, and apologize should anyone have been offended. It was more a gut reaction, and not one seeking to aim blame and cast judgement.

But, having read the OrlandoSentinel's article, particularly "her son's body was rigid and his legs were extended straight out", this sounds like the child had a tonic seizure. Tonic seizures are different from regular seizures where the muscles become rigid, particularly in the back, legs and arms, withouth the normal jerkiness associated with seizures. Tonic seizures can cause a person to stop breathing due to the rigidity of the diaphragm. It's also possible that the child vomited and aspirated it after seizing. Tonic seizures can many times be unrelated from epilepsy, and thus may never have been an issue prior in the child's life.

Again, this is speculatory but one possible theory as to what may have happened, particularly based on what the media is reporting (but who knows how accurate what they say is).

 

[Snapper Bean]

I don't think we're understanding eachother correctly. Maybe it's my use of the language... Lemme try to explain my point better.

I'm not saying I'm a superior parent to those involved. And I'm not saying people should be looking for death traps on theme park attractions and rides. Since many people have experienced the attraction without major problems, possibly it isn't the system's fault. Now, the child in question did meet the height requirement but was 4 years old. In my view, he has too frail of a body to stand the forces of a centrifuge. Of course, we don't know what that family was thinking when they decided they'd ride the attraction, but I suppose that mother knew her child well enough to know what he could and could not experience. Maybe she had no idea the attraction was so intense, but after getting in line and seeing and hearing all those warnings, one would assume she understood what was coming (unless they had the language barrier Scott theorized). So basically, what I've been doing since I joined this thread is giving my opinions on what could have happened. Maybe the boy had some condition his family didn't know of; maybe they knew about it but he whined so much they decided to go anyway; maybe they knew about it but thought he'd be fine; maybe he was perfectly fine and it was just all a terrible coincidence. After that, I simply mentioned that, when I have children, and when I take them to WDW, I'll be sure to take into account their limitations when letting them go on certain attractions. I'm not saying this boy's family didn't act like that, I'm just saying that's what I'd do.

Was that clearer?

That was clearer. Thanks. However, If I may be so presumptuous, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that there has never been a ride in a Disney theme park where despite your child satisfying the height requirement, you've come to the independent conclusion that to allow the child to ride would result in a reasonable likelihood of the child's death. Accordingly, all of the discussion about "knowing your child" or "how could anyone let a 4 year old ride Mission:Space" to me is irrelevant at best and at worst somewhat offensive in that it leads to the obvious position that a "better" parent would have save the boy's life by preventing him from riding a ride that Disney (the people who have the most and best information) informed them he was eligible to safely ride. You may have the last word if you like, as this will be my last post in the thread.

 

[Disneygirl86]

Here's the cnn.com article

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/06/14/disney.death.ap/index.html

 

[ssidiouss@mac.c]

The news is totally biased towards being "BIG NEWS".. I stopped watching regular news like 10 years ago and I am a better person for it. Use the internet to get your news.. its much more staight to the point because they arent trying to grab your attention with "HEY LOOK!! THE BIGGEST BLIZZARD EVER IS COMMING IN 2 DAYS!!" You can find great news/weather etc sources on the net.. and it just gives u the facts.. not bogus rating grabbing reports. For a recent example.. the michael jackson trial. I read everyday the internet reports during the trial.. and it was clear from early on that the prosecution had no evidence and the witnesses had a history of fraud. Anyway.. people I talked to on the street that have only watching "BIG RATING TV NEWS" coverage of the trial all thought he was guilty because all they heard were the prosecution highlights and not the defense stuff because michaels defense doesnt sell ratings. Anyway.. needless to say I have actually won over 500 dollars from betting people at work etc on the outcome of that trial. Bottom line is.. if u want real news.. DO NOT WATCH TV newscasts.. ever. I can just imagine how they are gonna spin this epcot story lol.

 

[durangojim]

It's very unfortunate what happened to this child. Our thoughts and prayers go out ot his family. As some have stated before this child most likely had a pre-existing condition. As a physician I'm going to go out on a limb and state that in my best estimate this child probably had a coronary artery anomaly. In layman's terms this means that the blood vessels that supply blood to the heart probably were not developed proberly. Exertion and force from things such as sports or in this case M:S can cause a change in blood flow to the heart resulting in an abnormal heart rate, most likely ventricular fibrillation. This is most likely what caused the child to become syncopal (pass out). Unfortunately unless CPR was performed soon after he passed out, there was little chance of recussitating him. I would be interested to find out if he did have a pulse after leaving the ride itself (probably not). Another thing to note is that if indeed the autopsy shows that this child did have an anomaly, he may very well have died as a child still when playing in sports or some other strenuous activity. This is one of the main causes of sudden cardiac death in children. Sorry if this had been mentioned before, I just didn't have time to read all of the posts. Basically we won't know what happened until the ME's report is finished, hopefully the paid special attention to the coronary anatomy.

 

[MKCustodial]

That was clearer. Thanks. However, If I may be so presumptuous, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that there has never been a ride in a Disney theme park where despite your child satisfying the height requirement, you've come to the independent conclusion that to allow the child to ride would result in a reasonable likelihood of the child's death. Accordingly, all of the discussion about "knowing your child" or "how could anyone let a 4 year old ride Mission:Space" to me is irrelevant at best and at worst somewhat offensive in that it leads to the obvious position that a "better" parent would have save the boy's life by preventing him from riding a ride that Disney (the people who have the most and best information) informed them he was eligible to safely ride. You may have the last word if you like, as this will be my last post in the thread.

You gave your opinion, I gave you mine. Let's agree to disagree. And it's not about "the last word", really. I'm glad we could have a polite discussing without resorting to the name calling that have plagued many other threads. :wave:

 

[Yukinon]

This is so sad. I am a preschool teacher, all the children in my care are 3, 4, and 5 years old so it really saddens me to see such a young child die so suddenly.

Some of you have said that 44 in. is tall for a 4-yr-old, actually its not that far-fetched. I have to do heights and weights on the children 3 times a year, and most children that are 4-5 yrs old are over 40 in tall (I even had a 4-yr-old this past year who was 55 in!!) and the weights vary incredibly.

Its just sad, I never felt that a ride like Mission:Space would be appropriate for kids of that age. I'm thinking of the reasoning kids at this age have, and their inability to sit still for extended amounts of time, the crazy things they say... however there are some advanced kids that could handle it...

I was so pathetic as a kid, I was 10 yrs old and scared to death on Snow White's ride that I haven't been on it to this day!!

 

[CTXRover]

UPDATE: Autopsy finds no apparent cause of death

Recently updated from the Orlando Sentinel:

..." An autopsy this afternoon did not reveal any obvious cause of death, such as trauma. The office now will do more tests on the boy to determine exactly what caused the death -- a process that could take four to 12 weeks."

My thoughts continue to go out to the family.

 

[peter11435]

The kid was 3'10". That is two inches over the height requirement.

 

[DisneyInTN]

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of this terrible tragedy.

Just something I was thinking about... would it really be worth creating a ride in an amusement park that requires SO MUCH warning and caution before riding? Many of the previous posters acknowledged how many warning signs are visible through out the queue line.

Food for thought: If you were Walt Disney for a day and imagineers came to you and said "We have designed a ride so intense that it requires extensive warnings and barf-bags" would you (as Walt) approve this ride to be created?
Just curious.

:wave:

 

[peter11435]

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of this terrible tragedy.

Just something I was thinking about... would it really be worth creating a ride in an amusement park that requires SO MUCH warning and caution before riding? Many of the previous posters acknowledged how many warning signs are visible through out the queue line.

Food for thought: If you were Walt Disney for a day and imagineers came to you and said "We have designed a ride so intense that it requires extensive warnings and barf-bags" would you (as Walt) approve this ride to be created?
Just curious.

:wave:

Well the thing is that M:S is very similar to and far less intense than the Gravitron ride which has been operating at traveling carnivals for decades, and M:S is far more impressive a ride. That being said yes I probably would have approved the construction of the ride.

 

[M:SpilotISTC12]

How unfounate. My prayers to the family. That is why they have warning signs.

 

[SirNim]

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of this terrible tragedy.

Just something I was thinking about... would it really be worth creating a ride in an amusement park that requires SO MUCH warning and caution before riding? Many of the previous posters acknowledged how many warning signs are visible through out the queue line.

Food for thought: If you were Walt Disney for a day and imagineers came to you and said "We have designed a ride so intense that it requires extensive warnings and barf-bags" would you (as Walt) approve this ride to be created?
Just curious.

:wave:

Starting with Disneyland, even with Black Sunday, there have been spaceflight-themed attractions in the Disney empire. The "Tomorrowland" television series also focused on spaceflight. It's obvious that Walt had a passion for the future possibilities of spaceflight. So, would he have greenlighted as authentic an experience as was possible if he could? Tough to speculate. The authenticity brings with it the drawbacks of the necessity for cautionary warnings. We can never know what Walt would have done.