The Truth about Mission Space

[Meezers]

This incident had nothing to do with my decision.

Used my 38 yoa brother when it first opend as a test subject for myself.

He said to me....no way...not unless you want to use the barf bag and have a migraine. Which means of course he uses my ticket to get 2 fast passes for himself!

So....since I don't do circle rides (even teacups make me yack) I have put this down on my "do not do" list. But has nothing to do witht the unexpected death of the child.

 

[NerdDad]

JMHO but I think that ride is too intense for a 4 year old. I know they have the height restrictions but 4 just seems too young to me. Sometimes it's easy to think if it's no big deal for you the same should follow for everyone else including small children. I can't tell you how many times I have seen little kids traumatized by HM, TOT, Bugs Life ect.

One of the dis blogs called Tower of Terror WDW's most intense ride. dd4 went on it. Loved it.

But I don't think that I'd let her on mission space. Even though she seems to be a little thrillseeker, she's just so little and I would just worry about 3 gees of acceleration on her little body.

I am an engineer by trade, and if I were at WDW, I would definitely raise the height restriction. They tested their limits and found out that there are some people out there with undetected conditions who are endangered from this ride. Any safety conscious engineer (and all engineers should be safety conscious) would want to put a margin of error between themselves and the danger of this happening to someone else.

The lawyers should want it to.

 

[peter11435]

I am an engineer by trade, and if I were at WDW, I would definitely raise the height restriction. They tested their limits and found out that there are some people out there with undetected conditions who are endangered from this ride. Any safety conscious engineer (and all engineers should be safety conscious) would want to put a margin of error between themselves and the danger of this happening to someone else.

The thing is that raising the height restriction would not prevent this from happening again. The boy did not die because he was too young or too short. The boy had an undetected condition and his death was not caused by the ride. People of any height or age could have a pre-existing condition also.

 

[traci]

I love love love thrill rides, but hated Mission Space! I focused on the screen the entire time and didn't turn my head, and I still walked off that ride with a headache and dizzy. Not fun for me.

 

[DebbieB]

I've been on many intense rides. I have rode ToT 2 or 3 times in a row. Hated Mission Space. I was disoriented for 3 hours afterwards.

Many people blame the parents for allowing a 4 year old to ride, even though he was above the height restriction. I feel that if the ride is not appropriate for a 4 year old, then there needs to be an age restriction on it or a taller height limit.

 

[CleveRocks]

I love thrill rides. I live for roller coasters, the faster and twistier and upside-downier the better. But spinning makes me nauseous. I don't like small enclosed spaces. I was warned many, many times while in line for Mission:Space in May, and in addition I read about it for many months before riding it. I didn't barf on the ride but I might have if it was one or two minutes longer. I felt dizzy for about another hour or so, and a few hours later had a "flashback" while on the stupid hydrolater at Living Seas! Even with all of this, I'm glad I rode it, and will do it again when I go back in about two years -- I'm pretty sure I'll feel better by then.

I rode it with my 63 year old father-in-law. He won't go on Splash Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad because they seem too wild to him. He wasn't thrilled about Goofy's Barnstormer but went on it with my 5 year old, then complained about it afterward. He LOVED Mission:Space. No dizziness, no nausea. He couldn't figure out why I didn't feel well, and made fun of me the rest of the trip. He even refused to believe it was spinning and we experienced G-forces -- he thought it was all special effects and a big psych out.

Also, my 73 year old father rode it last year. In between chemotherapy cycles. He loved it, too, and had ZERO problems.

You can also try to do the math. I'm TOTALLY guessing at numbers here, so please don't jump on me if my estimates are totally off. Let's say 800 people an hour ride it. 10 hours a day, that makes 8000 people a day. Let's say it's been open, what 3 years? 365 days a year times 3 years is 1095 days. 1095 (days it's been open) times 8000 (riders per day) equals 8,765,000. Over EIGHT MILLION RIDERS. One death associated with it (not even that the ride caused it, just that a death occurred in close proximity and time). One out of eight million tells me there's no design flaw with the ride. Let's say one out of every hundred riders is a child the size and age of that poor boy who died. That would mean 80,000 kids his size and age rode it before him. One out of 80,000 still tells me there's nothing inherently dangerous about the ride itself.

In other words ... GO FOR IT!!!

-- Eric

 

[jann1033]

Used my 38 yoa brother when it first opend as a test subject for myself.

He said to me....no way...not unless you want to use the barf bag and have a migraine. Which means of course he uses my ticket to get 2 fast passes for himself!

.

hmm and just how trustworthy is this brother of yours??? could he just be trying to acquire yet more and more rides for himself...the plot thickens

 

[NerdDad]

The thing is that raising the height restriction would not prevent this from happening again. The boy did not die because he was too young or too short.

You sound so certain. How do you know? If you have seen an article since the incident that discloses that this boy is known to have a pre-existing condition, I would love you to link it for me.

AFAIK, we don't know. I seriously doubt that the effects of increased gee forces on youngsters has been scientifically studied. It's unknown territories and they need to err on the side of safety IMHO.

 

[ppony]

JMHO but I think that ride is too intense for a 4 year old. I know they have the height restrictions but 4 just seems too young to me. Sometimes it's easy to think if it's no big deal for you the same should follow for everyone else including small children. I can't tell you how many times I have seen little kids traumatized by HM, TOT, Bugs Life ect.

Agreed! Just because the height restriction allows for some 4 year olds to get one doens't mean they should. We made the mistake of taking our then 3 1/2 year old on Dinosaur. I didn't do my homework before that trip unfortunately and it was WAY to scarey for him and he loves thrill rides. Having been on Mission Space I would NEVER take a young child on it. In my opinion is is VERY intense for an adult! A child? I couldn't imagine. I personally have susceptibility to g-forces that on some rollercoasters cause my vision to gray out for a bit so when going on this ride I had found out a little about how pilots in the military deal with them (g-forces) from my dad prior to going and I used those tips and did just fine. If I had a child tall enough to go on, but saw that many warning you can BET I woulnd't take him on it, especially without having tried it first but even then, having doen so I wouldn't take him on.

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

I'll guess I'm an oddball. DFi and I loved MS and rode it mutliple times, even 3 in a row and never had a problem. I am a thrill ride lover and MS is my #1 all time favorite.

 

[Meezers]

hmm and just how trustworthy is this brother of yours??? could he just be trying to acquire yet more and more rides for himself...the plot thickens

In this case TOTALLY trustworthy...he is 38 and I am 43 and he knows what a migraine does to me.

Plus we have a cool setup....he is 6"4' and whenever we need fast passes..he takes DM and my tickets and can beat feet in about 1/2 the time it takes us! Leaving DM and myself time for the all important shopping and chocolate search!