Child Dies On Epcot Ride

Local10.com ^ | June 14, 2005 | none named

[texas_mrs]

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A 4-year-old boy on a family vacation died Monday afternoon after he passed out on an Epcot Center ride.

Officials said the accident happened on the Mission: SPACE ride.

The incident happened around 3:30 p.m. on the Mission: SPACE ride, according to Disney officials. The ride simulates a launch into space by exerting g-forces on occupants.

The child reportedly passed out on the ride and paramedics responded. Witnesses reported seeing the child's mother carry him outside to a nearby bench, where paramedics were able to briefly revive him. But the child died on the way to the hospital, according to officials.

Officials shut down the ride for the rest of the day. It's not certain whether it will reopen today. Mission: SPACE opened in October 2003.

The ride has a minimum height requirement of 44 inches. The local sheriff's department said the boy met the height restriction.

The boy was on vacation from Pennsylvania with his family.

Disney released a statement saying, "We are providing support to the family and doing everything we can help them at this time."

[texas_mrs]

The child was within the height restrictions. Scary. I don't do those kind of things myself anymore.

[Jeff Blogworthy]

I find it very hard to believe it was the ride that killed him - it seems more likely that the ride aggravated some kind of preexisting medical condition. Tragic, but not Disney's fault.

[NTegraT]

44 inches for a 4 year old? That seems a little tall for 4, or am I still asleep.

[Guenevere]

#2...Some kids are plain scared of rides....and parents should be sensitive to this.

I'm not saying this was the case....

...but our 4 yr.old was scared of Small World...and crawled under the bow of the boat!

Perhaps the ride frightened him, and he already had a pre-existing condition.

[GungaLaGunga]

Every guy with a law degree and a cheap suit will be sniffing after this case like rabid dogs.

[LonePalm]

I know this ride VERY well. There really isn't a lot of motion. The roller coasters over at Magic Kingdom move you around alot more. Shoot, the Magic Teacups move you around more.

I would look for some other pre-existing medical condition.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[Old Grumpy]

Exactly! They're probably hounding the parents of the child at this moment.

[Doc Savage]

Kareem Jr?

[squirt-gun]

Re # 5...Every guy with a law degree and a cheap suit will be sniffing after this case like rabid dogs.

The largest self-interest group in America.

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

Every guy with a law degree and a cheap suit will be sniffing after this case like rabid dogs.

My thoughts exactly. Expect the Kerry/Clinton/Edwards types to swoop in and take advantage of a child's death to try and get wealthy. Then MASSIVE new regulation of the amusement park industry. No tragedy is too small or large for lawyer scum to take advantage of it...

[tiredoflaundry]

My 17 yr old twins were on this same ride this past Saturday!

[Desdemona]

44 inches for a 4 year old? That seems a little tall for 4, or am I still asleep.

That is a little tall. He probably wasn't heavy enough to withstand the g-forces. That's part of it, too. No 4 year old should be in that sort of a linear propeltion (sp?)ride. The G's are pretty intense. Chalk this one up to the stupidity of the parents.

[GraceCoolidge]

I thought I'd been on this ride also, but maybe not? The one I was on had tremendous force. It was based on a movie, the theme of the ride is that you are taking a mission, you get roles as certain crew members, is that the one? There are four people to a small compartment and there are a lot of visuals. It made my husband and me very sick, we were sorry we went on it. I do think, though, that there must have been some special circumstances related to this child's health.

[gbaker]

I hate heights but shoot I'll take a roller coaster ride over those tea cups from hell any day.

[ARCADIA]

The ride simulates a launch into space by exerting g-forces on occupants.

Does anyone know what level of G-forces are exerted by this ride?

[redheadtoo]

but our 4 yr.old was scared of Small World

I was 5 years old when my parents took me on my first trip to Disneyland. But they left my 3 year old sister behind with the grandparents. They felt she was too young. I still recall the trip rather vividly. I was scared silly on the Snow White ride but could have spent the entire day riding the teacups.

[ARCADIA]

"The unconfirmed buzz around Mission: SPACE is that the ride doesn't surpass a relatively benign 3Gs. Again, it's the duration that makes the difference."

from this story: http://themeparks.about.com/cs/disneyparks/a/mspace_3.htm

[Woodman]

This ride is a VR ride IIRC. There are no real G forges anymore than there is weightlessness (another one of the special effects) it is real a ride that tricks the senses with slight motions and visual effects. I don't think the ride could kill anyone unless it scared them to death or had a major mechanical malfunction.

[A Ruckus of Dogs]

I've been on that ride. It is awful. You're spun around at a really high speeds in a tight claustrophobic cage. It would be very easy for someone to pass out.

That said, I agree with a previous poster. The kid probably had some unknown medical condition.

[A Ruckus of Dogs]

That's the one.