Boy, 4, Dies After Riding Epcot Ride @ Walt Disney World — Page 2

How can you blame a park if its warnings are dismissed? I haven't been to Disney World, but in my experience, the signs and other warnings are given in earnest and are very clear.

Namo, certainly everyone shares some responsibility, but surely you can't be suggesting this was some form of criminal negligence on Disney's part. Again, parental responsibility does come into play here, people need to know not to put their children on certain rides.
I, for one, know of MANY rides in Disney that my child (should I ever be fortunate enough to have one) will not ride until they are beyond the minimum requirements.
For the remainder of that time, Snow WHite and Peter Pan ad nauseum it is.

"I, for one, know of MANY rides in Disney that my child (should I ever be fortunate enough to have one) will not ride until they are beyond the minimum requirements."

Yes, because Disney is the American Mecca and you, like many, have been there many times. Let's say this woman hadn't been. Let's say she knew her kid met the height requirements.

I just think it's interesting that more people are siding with the "mother's responsibility" argument rather than the constant need of theme parks to manufacture more and more dangerous thrill rides. Let's face it, Walt would HATE the rides that are capable of making people sick and that they are in his parks.

But, most people want to side with the happiest place on earth, and the only way to do that is to blame the mother who went to all the expense of taking her son to Disney World so she could kill him.

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It's not the mother's fault and it's not Disney's fault. It's no one's fault. It was an accident.

However, the mother was irresponsible in taking the child onto the ride. Again, my heart goes out to her, but she shouldn't have brought him onto the ride.

If she dismissed the warning signs, then I do partly blame her. The signs are there for a reason. Just because it is a Disney theme park doesn't mean everything is for children.

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I was just athis ride last week. And the signs do say there is a height requirement and they also have the disclaimers about high blood pressure, heart condiotions, back conditions, etc..

Even with all that.. I had no idea what I was in store for. In my opinion. this is a stupid ride that just makes one sick to their stomach and makes one feel like they have been hit by a truck when you are done. They should just close it down.

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Namo, I think people tend to think that if fair warning is given...well, fair warning has been given. Has this ride produced anything more than serious nausea before? How long has it been around? Regardless, it just doesn't seem like a good idea to take a preschooler onto a ride that has warnings for people with heart conditions, etc.

To me, this doesn't even seem like a blame situation. But why pass up the chance to fight about something?

I am still baffled by the fact that the hospital is called Celebration Hospital. I have yet to meet someone who makes a celebration out of visiting a hospital.

And I had read a few years back how this need for thrill rides to be more and more "thrilling" was going to start creating rides that are more and more dangerous for the general public. I hadn't heard about this ride, but as someone who has never been to Disney (I know, the horror!!!), I would've never thought such a thrill ride would exist in their park. Six Flags or Paramount? Yes. Not Disney. It just doesn't fit that image in my mind.

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Disney's a theme park like any other, and in order to compete on that level it needs thrill rides. Even with its name, it wouldn't last long if all its rides were like "Small World."

ETA- I have the sudden urge to play Roller Coaster Tycoon. I'm a bad, bad person.

Updated On: 6/14/05 at 12:50 PM

I always thought they should rename it

DEADLY LAND!

Such a shame that a family vacation turned into disaster.

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I have to agree with Namo that Disney was never about "intensity". I thought Space Mountain was about as risky as it should get. I was actually shocked when I did the Alien Encounter. I loved it, but I thought it was much too frightening for children, which I always thought was the real target for Disney in the first place. It was just so out of place. It seemed like something that really belonged at Universal Studios.

Six Flags and Paramount and other such parks are designed for thrills, the Disney parks were not. I understand that it was a strategic move on their part to bring in more American tourists when competing with parks with multiple locations, cheaper admission and higher thrills, but it seems they lost sight of their purpose. I don't see the educational value in a ride that has so many warnings half the guests can't experience it. What do they learn? How to vomit in a bag.

I always loved the Disney parks, but I noticed a huge change during my last visit in 1995 when many attractions had changed to be more stimulating and less educational (The Communicores and Journey to Imagination) and most of the new attractions were the same motion simulators with different films. It was disappointing. I've been wanting to go back to Disneyworld, but I'm so afraid of being disappointed.

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This is terrible... but anytime you go on a ride of this or any nature there is a serious risk, and an even bigger risk if you're four years old. I do feel terrible for his family.

And Mister Matt, Alien Encounter scared the living SH*T out of me as a seven year old. I wasn't able to sleep for a week and I shook for days. We thought it was the line to the whole little rockets that fly around. Nope... we got Alien Encounter, wrong ride.

No wonder I stuck with 'It's a Small World' ever since...

Alien encounter was closed and revamped to be a Stich themed ride. It was still a little scary for kids. AND NO WARNINGS ANYWHERE.

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I might be beating a dead horse here, but I think that Disney is the LEAST to blame. They pasted those warning signs up there, as they do with almost every other ride. It's the rider's fault if they disregard these warning labels because they're so used to seeing them. The boy could've very well had health problems, but because visitors tend to quickly go on the ride, ignoring these warning labels, the boy's health problem may have been overlooked.

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