DIS home page article

[lowie]

Has anyone read the article on the DIS home page? It's called something like, yes virginia, death happens... I forget the whole title.. WTHeck was that about.. Why did the DIS and the author think it was appropriate to put an aricle up that pretty much poo-poos peoples deaths at disney.. I felt the whole thing was heartless and unnecessary. :::rant off:::

 

[bicker]

Without a link to what you're referring to (there is nothing on the DIS home page that resembles what you mentioned) it is hard to know what you're talking about. However, it is important to note that there has often been over-reactions to deaths at WDW here on the DIS and on other online forums. I believe for each of the recent incidents, there was a groundswell of people attacking the park for having such rides, only to have such attacks thoroughly discredited when it was later revealed that the cause of death was a pre-existing medical condition.

Those over-reactions truly denigrate the deaths. IMHO, what would be most respectful, in each case, would be to express sympathy for those who have lost a loved one, and leave it at that, rather than exploiting these deaths to express one's personal fears regarding certain types of rides.

 

[Boo'sMom]

Here's the article the OP is referring to. It is on the home page, under MOUSE MATTERS:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/MouseMatters/mousematters1.htm#hm-mousematters

I haven't read the article, but I assume it's Pete's editorial on the recent happenings at WDW and the subsequence outcry on the DIS.

His board, his content.

 

[Mermaid02]

I see nothing wrong with the artical. It's well written, factual and something that needed to be said.

 

[WDWLVR]

The article was written by a Pediatrician who also happens to be a DISer. Mike does a weekly column on his own website www.pediascribe.com .

I personally think the column is very well written and adresses an issue that needs to be addressed. Death unfortunately happens every day and everywhere but when it happens at Disney it makes news. I don't think the author was being heartless at all. Just practical that if any one of these deaths happened at the people's homes it would make local news and not national news. They would still be tragic deaths but because they have Disney's name attached to it they get more press time.

There is a feedback address of mousematters@wdwinfo.com so feel free to let them know what you think whether you are for or against it.

 

[bicker]

Thanks for the link. To be honest, I think I did read that article, but didn't make the connection that that was what the OP was referring to. It was a very well-written article, and very sensitive. I doubt any medical doctor would ever "poo-poo" a death.

 

[MushyMushy]

Did we even read the same article?

I don't see anything that poo-poos the deaths that happened at WDW. It's a good article.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

Of course death happens it is fact of life. I totally realize that with the size of the sample which makes up Disney's daily customer count death would inevitablly enter the picture. HOWEVER I think the rise in deaths is really a rise in REPORTING . That is the novelty. I guess a better question is...how is it that up until a few years ago very few deaths were ever reported on Disney property. Maybe if deaths at Disney were reported in the natural course of things just as they occur as a matter of nature people would not be so prone to even acknowlege what seems to be a large volume in the past months.

Just as Disney self monitors their own rides they also closely guarded the info which was allowed to be reported regarding these rides. Just as the statistics re: death are related to probabilty SO are accidents re: these rides. It would be naive to belive that no one was ever hurt on these rides in the past and yet what has ever been reported?

I think the phrase," No one dies on Disney property" pretty much exacerbated this new phenomenon . In other words we all knew people died but now reporters feel challenged to disprove that phrase because Disney controled all that is printed. If you went on Snopes.com you would find that the reported deaths and injurys are very few and far between( no, I am NOT using them as a credible reference but only a key to people's thinking).

I found the article a little to preachy and frankly a little bit "Doth protest too much"ish. Anyone who could not guess that people die or are hurt on Disney Property is not thinking logicall. HOWEVER, what is clear is that Disney is now under a microscope and cannot sweep things under the carpet.

 

[rayelias]

Excellent article.

My favorite part was "Should we blame President Bush? How about global warming?".

He makes a great point - putting blame where it belongs - or rather not putting blame where it doesn't belong.

These deaths were tragic, but not the fault of Disney.

 

[Disney Ella]

I thought the article was extremely well-written and not heartless at all. It's a shame those poor people died, but Disney or the rides had nothing to do with their deaths. Any time a teenage boy collapses and dies on the basketball court due to an undiagnosed heart problem, other parents don't get freaked out and claim that their child will never play basketball. It makes no sense to say "I'll never ride X ride again because someone with a pre-existing condition died on it."

 

[RNLUVSDISNEY]

I thought the article was excellent, well written, and very appropriate. I was actually very happy to see this. It's about time someone took the time to put things into perspective.

 

[CarolA]

Personally I hate to say this, but I agree "death does happen" If I die sitting at my local pool is that news... probably not, if I die at Disney it's a headline story and my family will sue. (And don't kid yourself ALL of those families have at least been contacted by numerous lawyers regarding thier loss)

I personally fail to see how the "tame" Mission Space will help for example. Disney had LOTS of warning signs up before but at least some folks seem to believe that "they mean everyone ELSE with high blood pressure" I have read posts on the Theme Park boards from folks who admitted that they had ALL the risk factors Disney listed and rode anyway.....