ENDANGERED SPECIES
Posted on 06/21/2005 1:51:49 PM PDT by LouAvul
NEW YORK — Last year, more than 328 million people worldwide visited amusement parks but the death this week of one 4-year-old boy at Walt Disney World has led some to question whether more needs to be done to improve theme park safety.
Daudi Bamuwamye (search) died on a popular ride at Walt Disney World's Epcot Center. Since the "Mission: Space" attraction opened in 2003, seven people have been taken to the hospital for chest pains, fainting or nausea. The intense attraction simulates a rocket and spins riders around in a centrifuge.
"We believe the ride is safe in its current configuration," Disney spokeswoman Jacquee Polak said.
Bamuwamye died despite meeting the proper height requirements and reportedly had none of the previously existing conditions that would be aggravated by such a ride. Although the official cause of death may not be known for several weeks, the accident has alarmed some parents and lawmakers.
"What raises my concern is the lack of an ethical public safety response," Kathy Fackler, president of Saferparks, told FOX News.
Fackler's son was injured on an amusement park ride when he was 5 years old. The accident drove Fackler to form Saferparks, an organization that aims to be a consumer's guide to safety at amusement parks and carnivals. The organization provides amusement park ride statistics and tips for preventing injuries as it pushes for industry sponsored research towards making safer rides.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I am no longer fond of Disney myself, but, I must comment that consumer groups are ALWAYS concerned about something, and when they are executives should hide their pocketbooks.
Good keywords hah.
Consumer groups would have us sitting at home on our hands. But then again they'd find a reason why that isn't a good idea either.
Agreed about the lack of respect for Disney, but these consumer groups need to find ANY other venue visited byt 328 million people per year where there was no deaths.
Good points!
Nerf Worlders.
I would suggest not only a height requirement, but also an age requirement as well. Children's bodies are still developing and obviously can't endure the physical punishment(amusement?) these particular rides produce.
My heart goes out to the child's parents.
"Satistics are CLear; 10 out of 10 people die."
And Mel Gibson as William Wallace:
"Every Man dies, not Every man lives."
And as a fan of Mission Space, I ain't skeered t' go on it agin', 'een if it takes mah lGod-Given life frum me.
Disclaimer: I couldn't resist a little "hill-billy" dialect.
This happens more often that people realize. People's bodies are not all perfect, and many have anatomical anomalies that may cause problems under stress.
A friend of mine told me years ago they had a church member who was paralyzed on a roller coaster of some kind. She "stroked out" while on the ride and suffered severe brain damage.
A brain aneuyrism can be a silent bomb. You don't know when they will go off.
I agree. 4 years old is much too young for this attraction, regardless of being 44" tall... I question the mother's judgment here a bit.
Also, the name of the theme park is Epcot; the name was changed from EPCOT Center many years ago.
More people die in bath tubs each year than in theme parks. But then there's no one to sue.
Liberals always need a "crisis" to justify their phoney jobs.
When my aunt was a kid, she was once in one of those rides. Another rider was a very large woman (about 400 lb). When the ride started up, the obese woman initially stuck to the wall, but soon fell off! As far as my aunt knows, that was the end of the incident - no one sued or filed charges. I guess 30 yrs ago people had more common sense - if you were that size and went on a ride like that anyways and subsequently got hurt, it was your own freakin' fault.
Elitches and Lakeside! I loved those parks and that ride. My mom used to drop us off in the morning every day in the summer and pick us up after work. Yearly pass made for cheap day care. Still gives me good memories.
As a coaster fanatic...this is scary stuff.
How 'bout the spinning disc and you try to be the last one on? That was fun. That laughing fat lady was the sound of summer for me.
It's always epcot center to me
A number of Water Theme parks in CA -- same thing. Heavy boot of Government and "protectionists" groups came in to dictate the terms of the operation. Newer contracts for the upgrades? More than likely to "friends" of the group bringing the complaint..
Translation: "We have no idea what in the hell happened here, but that isn't going to slow us down one bit in ramming through stupid, ineffective, and unbelievably expensive legislation."
Interesting. I don't disagree with you, but Mrs. Fackler is the wife of an acquaintance of mine, and I remember them going through h-ll after their 5-year old son lost a foot on a ride. Her husband made a pile before the dot.come collapse so this is clearly a mission for them that is not dedicated to making money. Hmmm ...
Yep, it was Lakeside I was talking about. I loved that fun house...it kept you on your toes.
Without any cause/effect the "consumer" group is shopping for another defendant.
I see where they get their drive. Its emotional. By the way, since you know the Hackleys, what exactly was were the circumstances of their son's injury??
I recently visited the elementary school I went to. The playground was unrecognizable. Two extremely fun spinning-contraptions were gone and the tall slide was gone. It looked pathetic.
The trouble with an age requirement is, how do you prove it? Remember, WDW considers 10 year olds as "adults" for their ticket prices... LOL!
I think it's a little soon for groups to start screaming about this incident.
From what I've heard there was no trauma to the little boy - leading one to believe that is was something physically wrong ..
The whole thing is so very sad.. I just can't imagine the horror of it.
It's the result of personal lawsuits against deep pockets; coupled with special interest groups activism, then politicians using such to award contracts using "deep pockets" money.
As an aside, for 3 years I worked for the company that designed and built Mission Space, during the years they actually designed it.
Luckily, I wasn't in that division. They're primary product was centrifuges for the Navy and Air Force, not public amusement parks. The people that utilize the centrifuges are properly trained and go through many health tests and exams to make sure they are fit enough to handle the G's. Sure Mission Space isn't made to re-create what those guys feel but from what I understand it even makes Naval pilots uneasy.
I would never allow my children to ride Mission Space until they're 18 and they can make their own decision.
Aw, Gee: I'll just have to go back to spinning around in those cups and saucers in Fantasy-Land, so I can puke, without getting my spue on the high priced suit of a personal injury lawyer, waiting at the exit to give my Mom his business card!
My son, while being a rather timid child in terms of risk taking rode his first Roller Coaster at the age of 2 or 3, the "Rollo Coaster" at Idlewild Park in Latrobe PA (AN ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL FAMILY PARK BTW)... a relatively tame 900 ft out and back wooden coaster and he absolutely loved it!! In fact he wanted to ride the thing many more times... think we rode it 5 times that day.. and he's loved coasters ever since.
He has been rejected over the years for coasters he was too short for... but takes it in stride, after all.. next year he'll be big enough.
I don't have any of the usual health problems that warnings for rides give... no heart problems, no back problems, no high blood pressure.... but I do have borderline LOW bloodpressure... needless to say, I would never voluntarily subject myself to high G's for extended periods of time without a flight suit..... I know my likelihood of passing out is greater due to the low blood pressure... but have you ever seen a low blood pressure warning?
It is often the case where a tragic accident must occur before parents seriously consider whether or not an activity is appropriate for their child to participate in depending upon their size and age. I hope this was the reason behind your short wait in line.
I trust the VRWinger family had fun. :^)
As you probably read, my child was not as amused as your son when he was that age. He is much older now. We have gone to Six Flaggs, and he's tried several rides there. I can't say he loved the experience, but he did enjoy himself.
Hats off to your son, and to you. You've taught him well if the lad can show such patience.
Won't happen.
Former Majority Leader democrat George Mitchell is chairman of Disney now. Mitchell has also just thrown his weight behind the Dim's Supreme Court obstruction efforts.
Edwards would be committing political suicide. What am I saying? He'd be committing real suicide, or more precisely, arkancide.
Well coasters aren't for everyone... me pesonally I'm perfectly happy with a good old fashioned out and back wooden coaster... In fact the absolute best coaster there is as far as I'm concerned is the "Jack Rabbit" at Kennywood Park, Pittsburgh PA.... and the best seat is the BACK seat, not the front. You can always tell the rookies on this one... they are the ones rushing for the front seat... when its the rear seat that is undoubtably the better ride. I don't care for the hyper agressive wooden and the modern steel coasters do little for me.. in fact family just went to Geagua Lake recently and rode the "Raging Wolf Bobs" a wooden coaster, but way way too agressive.... wound up with bruises on both my thighs from the lap bar.. "The Big Dipper" there was more my speed.
On the wait a year, I'm not going to say my kids always happy about having to wait a year, but his disappointment is usually forgotten as soon as he sees the next ride he can ride on the fairway... of course now being 8, there are fewer and fewer rides he can't go on.
Got him on the Geagua Lake version of the Deamon Drop (mr hydes terrible fall" or something.... wasn't sure how he would handle it, but while admitting being scared, and in no rush to do it again.. he did it... Those rides never look that high from the ground.......... but its a totally different perspective when you are about to plumit straight down that "not so high" fall.
I must admit that I am no fan of rollercoasters. As a matter of fact, when we last visited Six Flaggs with another family, my friends son wanted to ride the kiddie roller coaster. You know the type; just goes around in a big circle with mini dips on the straight ways.
Well, the lads father was at another ride, and his mother did not enjoy rollercoasters as well, and so I decided to be brave and take the boy for a spin.
Well, after the first round the operator was feeling a bit generous(there was no line to wait in due to the lack of patrons) and asked if we'd like to go for another trip. I already knew what was in that childs eyes before looking down at him. How could I refuse such a look of excitement. As we began that "amusement" ride I gently caught the childs attention and kindly informed him that this would be the last time we'd ride that rollercoaster for the day.
He had a blast. I had a stomach ache. :^)
Tower of Terror!?! Oh my.
You really should bump it up a notch and seek some excitement in your life. :^)
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