Posted on 06/14/2005 4:45:25 AM PDT by 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."
Me too - I rode it last month. I *never* get sick on rides, but another minute on that thing and I would have used one of the barf bags they provide. My head hurt and I felt nauseous for a few hours. It was like being seasick.
and global warming.
I recognize the impulse, and share it. Twenty minutes of listening to little mechanical people sing "Small World" will drive any reasonable adult into a tequila bottle.
Also I would like to blame illegal aliens also.
The g forces are real. I have read this ride. You get into little rooms and are spun around by an arm like the ones nasa uses to test astronauts. However, you don't see the arm or spinning device, you are instead given a 'window' which looks like you are leaving the earth. It is extremely scary because it felt so realistic. I was literally terrified. I did not let my 5 year old ride two years ago and will not let him ride next month when we are going back to disney and he will be 7. You can certainly feel the g forces.
My 4-year old meets that height requirement. We would have ridden this ride on our Disney trip a month ago, but the line was out of hand. She did ride Splash Mountain, as well as the Dinosaur ride at the Animal Kingdom - same height requirement.
Well, if he was closer to 5 than 4, 44 inches isn't that big. My daughter is 4 1/2 and 42 1/2" tall.
My daughter just turned 5 2 weeks ago and she is 48" tall. She is excited about going to the roller coasters at six flags. (until she gets on them, I'm sure!)
There's a certain ex-Senator from North Carolina who's probably already in Orlando as we speak. After all, he needs the work.
I recently went on this ride and got sick as it was still going. I am 38 and in good health. Others getting off were also pucking their guts out. The motion on this ride was constant spinning worse then any rollar coaster I have ever been on. Frankly no comparison. This ride was the most intense ride I have ever went on and I wish I didnt go on it. Others in our group spoke about the intensity. It was the closest one could get to taking off into space while staying on earth.
BTW barf bags were provided at every seat in the capsule. Clearly many get sick on this ride.
I also didn't like the ride... made be feel really bad and sick for the rest of the day... but my son rode it twice...
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Good decision. From what I've read I think four is too young regardless of the height requirements. I want to keep my 12 & 16 year olds off when we go next month. Fat chance I'm sure. I see they need 4 people but they will have to do without me.
I'm guessing he thought the little kids were real, and it freaked him!....they were about his size
..or maybe you're right, he couldn't take hearing It's A Small World Afterall...over and over and over and over :)
I rode out Hurricane David at sea off of Charleston in 1979 in a frigate. After 24 hours of constant up, down, left, right, and diagonal, every "thrill" ride is pretty tame.
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)
#54..Would you mind providing the link to where you got this chart, thanks :)
A friend of mine took his daughter on that ride some years ago. By the time they came out the other end, they were both singing:
"We've all died and gone to hell,
We've all died and gone to hell,
We've all died and gone to hell,
We've all gone...to...hell!"
Is the Space ride also called Space Mountain?
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