Any update on TOT incident?

[tatooed goofy]

IMHO-----
We need to look at how many people ride the ride compared to the number of people getting hurt.
It is like riding a bike, how many accidents or car accidents do you hear about? Compare it to the number of people riding or driving.
My DD9and 7 rode it in 2003 and will again in Aug. 2005 at 11and9. I guess this is where I feel parents need to decide for themselves what is best for their own children and let everyone else worry about their own. I am not trying to start anything just stating an opinion!!!
Enjoy your trips when you go.

 

[peter11435]

Not true. First off, M:S keeps you at the sustained G's far longer than RnRC and jumping off a couch will not give you the G's that M:S will. Go ahead and land on the floor...my toddler does it all the time but I will NOT allow him to ride M:S at all...that's far too intense! (and he is tall for his age so I have no doubt that due to height restriction that within a year or so, he would be tall enough according to Disney)

Secondly, I recently saw a documentary on roller coasters and thrill rides. Experts predict that we will be seeing more deaths and people who are injured due to the G's. Even astronauts have to go through intensive health screenings to make sure that they are healthy enough to withstand a certain amount of G's whereas anyone can get on a thrill ride w/o a health screening. Most experts also agree that if theme parks were to post the REAL warning signs...most people would think twice about riding certain rides.

I'm not saying WDW is at fault for the 4y/o's death. But at the same time it's hard for me to assume that M:S had nothing to do with it. I guess I need to gather all the facts before we head back to WDW. I'm very curious where you go the info that he had several medical conditions.

One more thing...a CM did mention to us (this was a week before the child died) that M:S causes many people to be sent to First Aid and even to the hospital. That statement came from a CM who has seen, with his own eyes, people being led away by paramedics. After I heard that, I told my son "no more" M:S on this trip.

Yes the G's are sustained however it does not change the fact that you reach much higher G's on RnRC than on M: S. As for the couch check your facts. While it is only momentary, plopping down on the couch to watch TV puts the body under 8-10 G’s. That is 4 to 5 times the amount on M: S. Astronauts undergo those screenings because of the intense G’s on lift off. The G’s sustained on M: S are not even close to those on the shuttle and are only present for about 15-20 seconds at a time as opposed to 12 minutes in the shuttle. Some Roller Coasters put riders under up to 6 G’s. Those are the forces your experts are worried about, not the 2 G’s that is reached on M: S. Lets also not forget that we live are lives under 1 G, thus 2 G’s is very low.

As for your CM. That’s great, however as I stated earlier paramedics have also taken people out of Pirates and even Mickey’s PhilharMagic.

 

[peter11435]

Out of curiosity....if they don't know what CAUSED her to become ill ( her heart actually stopped BTW according to my paper) how can anyone PROVE that the ride wasn't at fault? Why MUST the 4yo boy who died after riding Mission Space have had pre-existing conditions? If you have info with details, please post the link so we can all be reassured.

I agree that every family should go have fun and not worry but the fact is, if you haven't ever experienced a certain ride you really have no idea what it will do to your body. There are parameters for rides but those parameters are based on averages, etc. Every body is different.

Because the ride has operated for 11 years with no problems. And this ride was no different. They have PROVEN that the ride operated as it was supposed to and how it has hundreds of times every day for the last 11 years. While the ride may have triggered her illness, it was not the direct cause as she must have has something wrong to begin with. Additionally the police report clearly states that the girl had complained of cramps and severe headaches for a few days before riding.

The same goes for M: S. 9 million guest have safely ridden the ride. Nothing went wrong or operated unusually that time, and everyone else on the ride was fine. Thus something had to be different about that situation, and thus the boy MUST have had a pre-existing medical problem, which was PROVEN by the statements of family and friends.

 

[QueenOfCelts]

Secondly, I recently saw a documentary on roller coasters and thrill rides. Experts predict that we will be seeing more deaths and people who are injured due to the G's. Even astronauts have to go through intensive health screenings to make sure that they are healthy enough to withstand a certain amount of G's whereas anyone can get on a thrill ride w/o a health screening. Most experts also agree that if theme parks were to post the REAL warning signs...most people would think twice about riding certain rides.

I agree with you. Spinning and sustained G's............. My son is not allowed on it and he won't be for awhile.

 

[QueenOfCelts]

Because the ride has operated for 11 years with no problems. And this ride was no different. They have PROVEN that the ride operated as it was supposed to and how it has hundreds of times every day for the last 11 years. While the ride may have triggered her illness, it was not the direct cause as she must have has something wrong to begin with. Additionally the police report clearly states that the girl had complained of cramps and severe headaches for a few days before riding.

The same goes for M: S. 9 million guest have safely ridden the ride. Nothing went wrong or operated unusually that time, and everyone else on the ride was fine. Thus something had to be different about that situation, and thus the boy MUST have had a pre-existing medical problem, which was PROVEN by the statements of family and friends.

Again...please provide links if you can. I am sure we would all like to read the police report as well as other various reports or articles that you seem to have access to.

I questioned how it was PROVEN that TOT had nothing to do with the 16 year old girls illness.

I hear you loud and clear about the ride funtioning like it does all day every day but proving the ride worked properly is completely different than proving the ride had nothing to do with her ailment.

 

[peter11435]

Again...please provide links if you can. I am sure we would all like to read the police report as well as other various reports or articles that you seem to have access to.

I questioned how it was PROVEN that TOT had nothing to do with the 16 year old girls illness.

I hear you loud and clear about the ride funtioning like it does all day every day but proving the ride worked properly is completely different than proving the ride had nothing to do with her ailment.

I have read the Police Reports on both incidents as they are public records and were available on news agencies web sites. I have printed copies of each but the web versions have been removed. The fact is the ride may have triggered her ailment. However the ailment must have already been there as million have ridden the ride with no problems. Additionally as stated earlier she complained of severe headache before she even rode the ride. Regarding her heart stopping, that happened on the way to the hospital not on the ride. The girl had bleeding on the brain, and a large blood clot was removed from her brain. Thus the cause was most likely a rupture aneurysm. She most likely had an aneurysm that was ruptured by the ride, however that does not make the ride at fault.

 

[shelby_36]

Regardless of all the back and forth it seems obvious by safety standards that the ride did not malfunction and cause this boy to die. However, I think that it probably was a contributing factor and most likely aggravated a condition that may have nmot been known by his family. As a parent I will not allow my children to ride a ride that intense. Of course that is my choice and everyone else has their own choice to make. Untill a long term study comes out and says that these extreme rides are totally harmless my kids lives aren't worth saying "I rode it"
Its a ride for Gods sake. If I had to decide between driving and not... of course we have to take risks. My kids are not going to live in a bubble but it is a ride they can go one any of the countless others and never know they missed it.

 

[QueenOfCelts]

Regardless of all the back and forth it seems obvious by safety standards that the ride did not malfunction and cause this boy to die. However, I think that it probably was a contributing factor and most likely aggravated a condition that may have nmot been known by his family. As a parent I will not allow my children to ride a ride that intense. Of course that is my choice and everyone else has their own choice to make. Untill a long term study comes out and says that these extreme rides are totally harmless my kids lives aren't worth saying "I rode it"
Its a ride for Gods sake. If I had to decide between driving and not... of course we have to take risks. My kids are not going to live in a bubble but it is a ride they can go one any of the countless others and never know they missed it.

AMEN!

 

[Harmony]

This is the only link I found. And it was last updated on the 14th of this month. I hope they post newer information soon.

Sorry...the link wasn't working. Here is the article.

******************
Teen went on ride many times


The British girl enjoyed Tower of Terror repeatedly before suffering cardiac arrest.

By Willoughby Mariano and Jerry W. Jackson
Sentinel Staff Writers
Posted July 14 2005


No one saw it coming. Over and over again, Leanne Deacon rode the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror thrill ride without a hitch. The British teen had visited Disney-MGM Studios six times in a week.

Before Leanne, 16, suffered cardiac arrest Tuesday -- minutes after exiting the popular attraction -- Leanne's only recent health complaints were headaches and leg cramps, according to details released in an Orange County sheriff's report Wednesday.

Leanne remained in critical condition at Florida Hospital Orlando this morning, two days after doctors discovered blood on her brain and performed emergency surgery.

Meanwhile, Tower of Terror passed safety inspections, visitors resumed standing in the attraction's hourlong lines, and riders screamed their way up and down its steep climbs and drops. Disney said engineers and ride-system experts worked through early Wednesday morning to complete an inspection monitored by the Florida Department of Agriculture Bureau of Fair Rides Inspection.

While the sheriff's report notes that Leanne's car had a technical problem, investigators found the ride operated properly. State and Disney officials agree.

The attraction simulates five minutes in a hotel elevator gone amok. Giant 21-passenger cars shoot to the top of the tower -- Walt Disney World's second-tallest point -- and plunge and jerk down to earth.

Tuesday's incident took place less than a month after a Pennsylvania boy, Daudi Bamuwamye, 4, collapsed on Epcot's Mission: Space ride June 13 and later died. Inspections showed no signs of ride malfunction, and officials await a medical examiner's report on the cause of death.

Moments before falling ill, Leanne smiled, as revealed in a souvenir snapshot taken by a Tower of Terror camera and released by the Sheriff's Office. At 9:49 a.m. Tuesday, as the ride took its final plunge, Leanne's eyes closed and her mouth grinned wide.

Leanne exited at 9:50 a.m., shaking and lightheaded. She drifted in and out of consciousness and her arm fell limp, the report states.

By the time she arrived in an ambulance at Florida Hospital Celebration Health, her heart had stopped beating. Emergency workers had to revive her, Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Solomons said.

A CT scan showed the teen had bleeding in her brain and required emergency surgery, the report states. She was later transferred to the Orlando hospital.

Leanne's sudden illness shocked her mother, June Deacon, 54, who rode Tower of Terror with her daughter Tuesday morning, according to the sheriff's report.

Leanne Deacon "is very active, athletic, jogs regularly, and is in great health," June Deacon told investigators. The girl "had been complaining of headaches and leg cramps for several days," the report states.

Leanne's family declined requests for an interview through Florida Hospital spokeswoman Samantha O'Lenick. The spokeswoman said she was not authorized to release further information about the teen's health.

No one was in the Tower of Terror car when a computer recorded a technical glitch. The glitch concerned the speed of the car while it moves horizontally, not as it travels through the vertical shaft, Disney spokeswoman Kim Prunty said.

The readings were "totally irrelevant" to the incident, Prunty said. A Disney maintenance employee told investigators in a sworn statement that the glitch was "in no way a safety concern or could in no way cause injury," according to the sheriff's report.

Disney invited the state inspectors to check out the ride, even though the park is not required to do so by Florida law, agency spokesman Terry McElroy said.

Isadore "Izzy" Rommes, chief of the Tallahassee-based inspection agency, and his top investigator, Allan Harrison, worked alongside Disney engineers from Tuesday until nearly 4 a.m. Wednesday.

"We observed their testing of the equipment, backwards and forwards, numerous times," McElroy said.

State inspectors have examined the ride in the past, McElroy said. Reports show Tower of Terror has fewer reported incidents requiring hospital checkups than Mission: Space.

 

[Harmony]

Here is the rest of the article. (sorry for having to 'cut it up' like that)

**********************

Ken Martin, an independent ride-safety consultant in Virginia, said he thinks the latest incident at Disney reinforces the need for national "standards of operation" that apply to all parks large and small, and the need for outside investigations.

"There are just too many little things happening" with thrill rides nationwide, Martin said.

Tower of Terror is among the most popular rides at Disney-MGM Studios. By 10 a.m. Wednesday, the wait time was the park's longest. Most visitors to Tower of Terror hadn't heard about the British teen's sudden trip to the hospital.

Derenda Davila, a chaperone for a Lubbock, Texas, church group, said the news didn't worry her.

"It's awesome. I would ride it again," Davila said of the ride.

"It's not too scary," said Nick Watts, another chaperone.

Willoughby Mariano can be reached

at wmariano@orlandosentinel.com

 

[QueenOfCelts]

Thanks for the article Harmony!

 

[peter11435]

Thanks for the article Harmony!

The aticle backs up everything I have said.

 

[chipscinderelly]

Here is a link to the thread that includes the Official Report http://130.94.75.33/showthread.php?t=861739

 

[QueenOfCelts]

Thanks for that article too Chipscinderelly!

 

[QueenOfCelts]

I also found an interesting read......

http://www.keralanext.com/news/readnext,1.asp?id=231730&pg=1

Very interesting indeed.

 

[peter11435]

I also found an interesting read......

http://www.keralanext.com/news/readnext,1.asp?id=231730&pg=1

Very interesting indeed.

The judge threw out ETC's case because they did not have one. Disney broke the contract with ETC because the company was acting irresponsibly and delivering late parts, coming in over budget and not doing things properly. ETC was mad their contract was cancelled and tried everyway including attacking the attractions safety to get more money. The fact is Disney had every right to abandon ETC based on there actions during the project and thus did the safety tests on there own. There is no reason to believe based on that article that the ride is unsafe. It is important to point out that while the judge throw out ETC’s case against Disney, he did not throw out Disney’s case against ETC.

 

[QueenOfCelts]

The judge threw out ETC's case because they did not have one. Disney broke the contract with ETC because the company was acting irresponsibly and delivering late parts, coming in over budget and not doing things properly. ETC was mad their contract was cancelled and tried everyway including attacking the attractions safety to get more money. The fact is Disney had every right to abandon ETC based on there actions during the project and thus did the safety tests on there own. There is no reason to believe based on that article that the ride is unsafe. It is important to point out that while the judge throw out ETC’s case against Disney, he did not throw out Disney’s case against ETC.[/QUOTE

I noticed you must have skipped ALOT of the article so here are the points I found interesting:

US News, LOS ANGELES - Days after a young boy died on a space ride at Walt Disney World, the California Supreme Court opened a new avenue to sue Disney and other theme park operators, ruling the parks have a duty to keep customers safe, even when they seek the thrill of danger.

The ruling, released on Thursday, was a victory for the family of a 23-year-old Spanish woman who suffered a fatal brain injury aboard the Indiana Jones ride during her 2000 honeymoon at Disneyland in southern California.

The court said the family could sue Walt Disney Co . under a state law usually applied to transportation companies. Disney declined to comment on the ruling. The case now returns to Los Angeles Superior Court for trial.



The decision comes days after a 4-year-old boy died of unknown causes after riding Disney's Mission:Space ride at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. No cause of death has been identified.

The California court ruled that Walt Disney Co was required to provide vehicles that are "safe and fit for the purposes to which they are put."

An autopsy found no trauma but was inconclusive about the cause of his death. Further test results are expected in about a month.


The boy's death has renewed calls by California-based consumer group Saferparks for federal oversight of theme parks, which are exempted in Florida and other states from ride regulation and inspection laws that govern mobile carnivals.


Peter, I notice you spend alot of time defending Disney and you seem to have a large amount of information regarding their policies, addresses of specific attractions, legal troubles, etc. I can barely find the time to read interesting threads on here let alone do all that research......what's your secret?

 

[peter11435]

Peter, I notice you spend alot of time defending Disney and you seem to have a large amount of information regarding their policies, addresses of specific attractions, legal troubles, etc. I can barely find the time to read interesting threads on here let alone do all that research......what's your secret?

Actually I did miss that part of the article. However as it stands now that only pertains to California, and will face a huge amount of opposition as while theme parks need to be made safe, this law is somewhat laughable in that it compares a theme park attraction to a form of mass transit. The problem is that transportation by law must be as safe as humanly possible i.e. not to fast, no sudden movements, smooth ride. While at the same time theme park attractions (the thrill rides anyway) are designed to do the things that transit can't. The problem is where does it end, a roller coaster can always been made slower, with less turns, and more docile, before you know it, what was a roller coaster is now simply a slow journey on a straight track.

As for myself, I don't always defend Disney (trust me) however I do try and stop misconceptions and rumors from becoming too widespread on these boards. When someone posts something that I have evidence to dispute I have to point that out, so others don't get the wrong idea. As for how I do it, I really don't know. However I can tell you that as sick as it sounds I spend a good 4-5 hours each day (and have been for about 7 years) researching theme parks, theme park news, and theme park law. Theme parks are my life and love gathering as much information as possible about them.

 

[QueenOfCelts]

However I can tell you that as sick as it sounds I spend a good 4-5 hours each day (and have been for about 7 years) researching theme parks, theme park news, and theme park law.

Any reason you invest so much time? With those hours it seems almost like a job.

BTW, in response to an earlier post of yours, I believe you said ToT had been operating safely for 11 years, however while nosing around for info on the most recent accidents, I stumpled upon this:

In September 1998, one of the elevator ride cars malfunctioned, and seven people were treated at hospitals for back and neck pain.

An inspection by Reedy Creek found that two of three bolts that guide the elevator cables broke, allowing the car to drop one floor before an emergency brake stopped the descent.

Park workers replaced all of the bolts on the attraction's four elevator cars. The incident showed that the emergency braking system worked as designed, inspectors said.

What I find odd is the reports said the emergency breaking system worked fine...but no mention of how recently the bolts had last been inspected.

I am not afraid of any of the rides (although I don't like ToT) but I do think that alot of people have the idea that if the ride is available it is completely safe. What people need to keep in mind is that different rides have different effects on different bodies. I think that is the point of the warnings all over the place before getting on an attraction. If the rides were completely safe with absolutely no chance of anyone ever being injured, I doubt they would have the signs everywhere.

BTW, my family are big theme park fans also...we do have a nice selection of them down here don't we?

 

[QueenOfCelts]

This has to do with theme park safety issues for the entire State of Florida:

http://www.saferparks.org/safety_regulation/state/florida_exemption.htm