the young boy who died on mission space?

[goodferry]

As far as adequate warnings on MS, there are warnings every 6 inches leading to that ride, so much so that by the time I actually got on the ride, I was terrified. The warnings about the ride, for me, were far scarier than the ride itself

I have a daughter that begs to ride stuff and then cries the entire time and then begs to go back again, and then cries again. Once again, I think the anticipation is so much worse than the ride! This is especially true for Splash Mountain, she loves this ride, but if you could see her in line you would think we were abusing her! If I wait in line for 30 minutes because she begs to ride something, I am not going to jump out of line at the last minute because she gets anxious, especially since I know that she has a ball once we get going.

 

[bonnielynn]

We were just at WDW 9/10-16 and Fairy Godmother (at CRT) told us this little boy had been a premie. .

Premie as a premature child birth.. My son was born a premie, rode the ride last year and was fine.. there had to be something else that happened. An underlying problem that maybe the mom wasn't aware of. So sad!

 

[SueM in MN]

Does anyone think it is strange that the Fairy Godmother (at CRT) is talking about this?
Seems very much out of character for her?

 

[SnackyStacky]

Does anyone think it is strange that the Fairy Godmother (at CRT) is talking about this?
Seems very much out of character for her?

My thoughts exactly!!!!!

 

[klj27]

Does anyone think it is strange that the Fairy Godmother (at CRT) is talking about this?
Seems very much out of character for her?

I agree. I have never had a conversation with a character.

 

[GEM]

Just wanted to chime in on the "preemie" factor. As most of you know, the little guy in my sig picture was a preemie - 12 weeks early, 1lb and 7oz.

His heart, brain, lungs, etc. are all totally normal at 28 months old. He has no lingering problems at all. He's just like any other kid. All his scans and exams have shown that to be true. When he's tall enough, he will be no more at risk from riding Mission Space than any other child. And, sure, if he wants to ride it when he's big enough, I'll be fine with that.

A lot of preemies (especially very tiny ones) do have lingering problems related to thier prematurity that could be a factor - asthma, seizure disorders, heart problems, brain damage or shunts, etc.) However, it would still be the underlying medical problem, not just being a preemie, that caused his very sad death.

And, of course, it's all just still speculation at this point.

I just wanted to throw that out, in case any parents with totally healthy children who happened to be former preemies were worried about taking them on the ride.

 

[Skylarr29]

My DH and I have ridden mission space many times and we really liked it. This trip was different though. DH had been in a motorcycle accident and had to have a treach and massive throat and treachia surgery and had to be on a respirator for probably about 2 months total through all of it. WE will NEVER ride again as it is not worth the chance even though he is now completly healthy(that we know of). We just cant take that chance after going through such a tramatic experience.

I am very sorry for the lose of that child.

That being said I would let my child ride if they were tall enough and mature enough( with out their father of course).I have complete faith in Disney that they want and ensure there guests safety We are not scared of the ride per se but we know that there could be a complication although his many many doctors said he can go on it with out any problems and live his life normally. It is just not worth it for one ride.

 

[muffyn]

Muffyn I am one of those parents that drags my dd10 kicking & screaming on rides (okay just maybe a few tears and nausea), well actually only two TOT and RNR. The reason being that she has ridden both of these rides several times and loves them,I would caution those who have felt the need to chastise me every year during this first ride time that perhaps they should keep their comments to themselves because I am her mother and I am not imbedding terror in her.

I was not speaking 'of' parents like you. sorry you took it that way. I have a grandson who is the same as your daughter,, (same age also) who seems to act like a basket case, but loves the rides! (although there was no way in 'god's green earth' that he was going to step on snowwhite... for some reason it scared the bejeejuss outta him just standing in line.) there are a lot of parents who DO know their children & what they can handle.
note i said "which will forever imbed terror in them"... the kids who do NOT & do NOT want to go on a ride *ever* that are being forced to , is who I was addressing this about. there have been so many threads where people have seen this, where they end up being a puddle of 'shakes' after the ride, if someone doesn't pull them off first. (if we would have forced out grandson on snow white, i bet he woudl have never ever ridden anything else) oh... this can also work for adults....... my daughter in law, for some reason didn't like the 4-d type movies... we 1st took her to honey I shrunk the audience, & she freaks with snakes........ I totally FORGOT about the snake........ wellll she freaked,,,,,,,, took off the glasses & never put them on again in any of the other shows,,, we tried to explain that the muppets was *NICE*,, but she would NOT believe us,,,,,,, so she sat there without glasses.
anyway,you have to agree there are some clueless parents out there! which I was trying to say in my original post.

 

[Bjarni]

This thread is amazing.
People need to take a deep breath, and give this a reality check.
Ask yourself these questions. How many people have died on MS since it opened?
How many people have ridden this ride since it opened?
Now to put that into perspective, do you know how many people die every day from riding in cars, or crossing the street?
Don't get me wrong, I feel terrible for that poor boy and his family. I also have kids and would be devastated to lose one, but the chance of losing one of my kids on the MS ride is far less than the odds of losing them to just everyday living.

 

[muffyn]

Also - I do remember hearing the the mom said right BEFORE the ride started, when they were in their seats and secure, that his arms and legs were out straight and stiff - sounds like a seizure to me and not triggered by Mission Space. .

this reminded me of something.
isn't there some type of epilepsy that is caused by a certain rythym of flashing lights? I also recall many years ago that certain video games , some kids were playing had caused seizures.
I don't think this is related, since the 'lights' probably weren't on at the time.. but hey stranger things have happened.
certain things start asthma attacks or things like that. even certain smells can trigger things.
( I wonder about those poor kids with peanut allergys..... if you didn't know they had an allergy like that, would they know something happened??)

 

[henrylovespooh]

muffyn -

My SIL is one of those people who drags their kids kicking and screaming on rides. She calls them wusses if they say they don't want to go on it as if she's a Marine sergeant. Even worse, she also takes them on rides that they have no idea about and doesn't tell them what it's about until they're strapped in and there's no way out. They just got back from WDW and she took my very shy, not adventurous 6 year old niece on TOT in that very fashion and took her son on Dinosaur doing the same. You can tell when the kids tell the story they are not happy about it, especially the girl. She's not one of those kids who are afraid at first and then love it. She hates to be scared.

Big Fat Disney Mama - you know your children and you do the right thing by them because you know they love it and they just need a nudge. Of course no one should give you bad looks for what you do because you are doing the right thing for your children. That's why I would never judge anyone based on what I see - you just never know what's going on. But I also know there are people out there like my SIL who seem to enjoy terrifying their kids for whatever reason and I think that's irresponsible.

My opinions stem from my dislike of "wild" rides like roller coasters and MS. I hate them, but I encourage anyone I'm with to go on them and offer to hold drinks and other personal items while they go on them. I have spent my whole life telling people who try to convince me that certain rides are "not that bad" and show me all the kids going on it to make their point. I have tried two roller coasters (Matterhorn in DL and one in NJ) and I know for sure I don't like them. I'm a control freak and if I can't control the ride, I want no part of it. So if my kids say they don't want to ride a ride, they don't have to. If DH wants to ask them to go with him when he thinks they can handle it and they want to try it, that's fine by me.

I think Disney gives you the opportunity to decide if a ride is suitable for you and your child, and it's up to you to do what you think is best for your kids. Some folks will do that, some won't.

 

[BluesTravlr00]

This thread is amazing.
People need to take a deep breath, and give this a reality check.
Ask yourself these questions. How many people have died on MS since it opened?
How many people have ridden this ride since it opened?

wow... just wow. your POST is amazing. way to completely generalize and overstretch the situation.

plus, even under your incredible argument>>
take into account how long MS has been open. if someone is going to die on the ride once every couple years, is that an acceptable risk? would you ride it ever again if you knew that was a fact? i sure wouldn't take the chance that i'd be that person.

don't really even know what else to say to that post...

 

[DutchsMommy]

Wow - I think everyone needs to take a deep breath and hold it.........until this thread gets locked - LOL

 

[Big Fat Disney MaMa]

I was not speaking 'of' parents like you. sorry you took it that way. anyway,you have to agree there are some clueless parents out there! which I was trying to say in my original post.

I was not offended by your quote, if you re-read my post you should see that most of it was tongue-in-cheek. However, my reference to people that have chastised me are actual people who have bawled me out while I was in line because I was mistreating my child. I wasn't referring to anyone on this site. I just wanted to point out from the other side that just because some of us wait in lines with kids who are silently crying or anxious does not mean that we are being cruel - a lot of times there is a lot of background that people don't understand. I keep hoping that every year she will grow out of it as all she has talked about for weeks is the awesome RNR, but I know that once we are in the alley and she sees it take off, she will start to get upset again.

 

[muffyn]

muffyn - I'm a control freak and if I can't control the ride, I want no part of it. So if my kids say they don't want to ride a ride, they don't have to. .

myself I love coasters,, & yet I don't.
I grew up going to cedar point, with their wood coasters.. scared the out of me!.. I HATE heights.. only in the past few years have I even started opening my eyes on one! the ones that scare me the most are the ones with ONLY a lap bar. I do NOT feel secure in them, & have to make sure Hubby is holding me down . I LOVE the ones with the shoulder harness, makes me feel real secure & I can enjoy the ride! (I love the sensation of the coasters,, just don't want to see the ride) its quite fun to see my grandson just love coasters.. no fear..... but I can relate to all those kids who do NOT want to get on one!.. ahhh but then WDW really doesn't have anything too scary , ( from my viewpoint). but I can get anxious about space mountain......
(again,, my grandson would go on ANY coaster,,, but snow white....uh uh. )

 

[Big Fat Disney MaMa]

wow... just wow. your POST is amazing. way to completely generalize and overstretch the situation.

plus, even under your incredible argument>>
take into account how long MS has been open. if someone is going to die on the ride once every couple years, is that an acceptable risk? would you ride it ever again if you knew that was a fact? i sure wouldn't take the chance that i'd be that person.

don't really even know what else to say to that post...

I think you really need to go back to the facts that at this point there is no proof that this ride caused the death. It is heart-breaking, yes, but it was also a parent's choice to take a 4-year old on the ride. I personally didn't allow my dd to ride it until she was 9, but that was me.

Another thing to consider is that such as the case of the elderly individual who passed away on POC of natural causes - sometimes these things happen - when it is your time, God is waiting whether you are on a ride or home in bed.

There is no way to know at this time if MS contributed to the child's death. If the time comes that there is proof that Disney was negligent then it should be addressed, until then people need to take responsibility for their own actions and not point fingers or lay blame.

 

[safetymom]

I think everyone needs to wait for the results before they start debating or placing blame.

 

[Big Fat Disney MaMa]

Wow - I think everyone needs to take a deep breath and hold it.........until this thread gets locked - LOL

Why would the thread get locked? At this point I have just seen healthy disagreement and civil discourse. I haven't seen people calling each other names or getting nasty. Do they lock threads just because people are disagreeing with each other?

 

[safetymom]

If it turns into a debate the thread can be locked. Also if it no longer pertains to the purpose of the board it is posted on the thread can be moved to another board.

You might want to ask the moderators of the theme park board what they think.

 

[jann1033]

what don't I understand??why do some feel respiratory problems are worse on Ms( i have asthma and had no problems..don't recall signs about such things just the usual heart , back ect ...am i missing something? personally i thought the ride was pretty tame afew mins of "g force" then nothing...i can't imagine it "damaging" something that wasn't already damaged.