UPDATE: WDW Pooh Rehab - For TWO MONTHS!!??

[DisneyKidds]

A very busy day on Screamscape, indeed.......................................

Park News - (4/7/03) Screamscape has heard that Pooh will be closed down for nearly the entire month of May to perform rehab and add some kind of new safety equipment.

I hope Pooh is up by the end of May or my kids will be very disappointed .

UPDATE: Someone posted on the Theme Parks board that their daughter worked the Pooh ride at WDW and said the attraction would be going down for TWO MONTHS starting April 24. I can only hope this isn't true - but I'm not getting a good feeling.

 

[raidermatt]

Maybe they need to add over the shoulder restraints due to the bouncing effect... See, that would allow them to spin the lack of a bouncing effect at DL into a positive!

Also, life jackets might be needed due to the "rain scene".


Seriously, I know rehabs need to be done, but it would seem that they could be done at slower times of the year. I think GMR will still be down, and SO FAR, no Spectros either.

We went last May/June, and other than Timekeeper/CoP, I can't remember anything being closed.

 

[mcnuss]

We were there last May, and that ride looked worn out!

 

[Planogirl]

Isn't Pooh a more recent ride? And it already needs an overhaul?

 

[HB2K]

We were there in December, and I'll tell you this....Buzz needs a Rehab MUCH worse than Pooh.

And the saftey equipment thing is hilarious.....next you'll need to have a lap bar on the monorails & ferrys.....

And let's not forget the busses. The way some of those are driven, let's install over the head restraints.

Jeesh...

 

[wdwguide]

I don't know why you all are crying about the safety equipment - Pooh more than most rides needs air gates installed. That's probably what they will be doing.

 

[mcnuss]

I have absolutely no idea what air gates are! LOL.

Anyway, yes, Buzz needs help too. The "paint" or whatever the coating is on both rides is chipped and worn. Is it me, or does everything look less well maintained in MK than the other parks? I have often wondered if it's because there are so many very young children in MK...To my eyes, MGM and Epcot always look nicer.

 

[Another Voice]

This is the post-Roger Rabbit world for Disney. Basic safety standards now call for moving ride vehicles to have: a) locking doors, b) a seat restraint device (lapbar or seatbelt), c) a skirt around the underside of the vehicle, d) automatic braking should something touch that skirt and e) gates at the load area.

All of these devices are already on Disneyland's 'Rabbit' and 'Pooh' attractions and will gradually make their way to all other attractions. With limited dollars, the company is "rumored" to be focusing on the heavy capacity rides first ('Pirates', 'Big Thunder', etc.). Some concern still exists about putting seat restraints on water based rides and the lawyers are still bickering about it. Some attractions will be deemed simply not worth the investment and will be closed (which is why DCA's 'SuperStar Limo' remains dark).

And yes, there are rumors about putting doors and sear belts on all the parking lot trams. The rumors say that only a few of the trams may be retrofitted; service will be dropped at several of the parks. Busses and monorails seem to fall under federal transportation guidelines rather than amusement park legislation so they are probably safe from changes.

 

[dsanner106]

My daughter and niece were trapped on Pooh last week for over 20 minutes while repairs were made , so maybe it is more than a scheduled overhaul.

Dsanner106

 

[raidermatt]

You will always have morons who do moronic things. Further, you will always have morons who look for others to pay for their own moronic mistakes.

But they can only be successful if there is a legal system that supports them.

Another story, I guess...

With regard to Disney, they have to do what they have to do, given the way the system works. Its the timing and execution that they have control over.

 

[mcnuss]

But they can only be successful if there is a legal system that supports them.

I agree with every bit of your post except this tidbit. In this case, when people settle out of court under confidential terms, then the legal system had nothing to do with it. Had the matter gone to a jury, there is every chance the legal system would have worked and the guy would have gotten what he deserved: nada. However, by settling, companies create a terrible precedent. People know that they would rather pay than air their dirty laundry, so they sue (or threaten to, alot of times they never even have to file the papers....) and then get their extortion money. IMHO, companies should fight back more often; that would put a stop to the nonsense.

Our legal system works pretty well. Most of the cases you hear about are aberrations. You don't hear about the "just regular" cases, only the newsworthy ones.

A theme park should only have to create safeguards for the "reasonable person" -- unfortunately, people have gotten both stupider and more unreasonable!!!!

 

[All Aboard]

In this case, when people settle out of court under confidential terms, then the legal system had nothing to do with it. Had the matter gone to a jury, there is every chance the legal system would have worked and the guy would have gotten what he deserved: nada.

It has EVERYTHING to do with what the expectations of outcome are if it were to enter the legal system.

Oh Scoop, who are those non-lawyers sitting in that box listening to? Who is being paid mult-millions year to influence their decision? You guys talk about it in terms of "winning" and "losing" cases don't you? Come on, the most influential factor in the courtroom is the ability of the attorney.

 

[mcnuss]

It has EVERYTHING to do with what the expectations of outcome are if it were to enter the legal system.

I would beg to differ. The corporation is not going to pay on those terms, the corporation is going to pay the least it can get away with. The majority of the cases are settled for extremely nominal amounts.

who are those non-lawyers sitting in that box listening to? Who is being paid mult-millions year to influence their decision? You

Mostly, they listen to witnesses. And most lawyers are not nearly as persuasive as you would think. Every trial I have attended has been boring as hell. And there are not that many lawyers making "multi-millions". Most lawyers are your basic "Main St" attorneys, handling small cases for small sums of money. The big wigs are few and far between, but bc they get covered by the media, the public generalizes them as "typical". I assure you that the person who did your will, or handled your friend's divorce, or got your neighbor's kid out of the pickle with the local cops, that person doesn't come close to making "multi-millions". (But, oh, how I wish it were true...)

 

[DisneyKidds]

It has EVERYTHING to do with what the expectations of outcome are if it were to enter the legal system.

I have to throw my hat in with juror gcurling on this decisions. If companies were so sure the outcome of a trial jury would be nada you wouldn't have the settlements.

Settlements are all about weighing risk. Risk that you will lose. Risk that the cost of winning (legal fees) will be greater than what you could have settled for. If none of these risks existed there would be no reason to settle. So, the expected outcome of a trial very much comes into play. If you expect to be tied up in court for a long time and think you could lose, you consider settlement. For a company to consider settleing they must make the assessment that the law, if only a little bit, might possibly go against them. Sometimes it may seem rediculous, but the law is a very complicated thing.

Oh Scoop......................for a lawyer you don't sound all that enamoured with our system of juris prudence .

 

[mcnuss]

For a company to consider settling they must make the assessment that the law, if only a little bit, might possibly go against them. Sometimes it may seem rediculous, but the law is a very complicated thing.

I don't disagree. When I said that the "legal system" did not come into play in a settlement, I should have been more clear as I meant the "court system". There are many, many factors involved in settling a case...if you're Disney, negative PR is one of the biggest.

Yes, the law is a very complicated thing. That's why recent legislative efforts to "simplify" it scare me.

The reality is that if you have a 2 year old who is now in a vegetative state, juries are inclined to compensate that child and his family, even if the doctor did not screw up.

And we have to remember that for every person who gets compensation when the doctor/company/fill-in-the-blank did not screw up, there is someone who got nothing or not enough, even though they did.

 

[mcnuss]

Now, this all ties back into Disney because, like any corporation, Disney causes some of its own legal problems, but also is hit with many completely baseless (often alleged personal injury) claims that usually are settled for nuisance value and with a confidentiality clause, even if baseless, and then chalked up to a cost of doing business.

Go onto Lexis or Westlaw sometime and look in the database of settlements (I think the source is JVR). Use "Disney" as your search term, you'll then see just how many there are

 

[wtg2000]

And the saftey equipment thing is hilarious.....next you'll need to have a lap bar on the monorails & ferrys.....

We were getting on People Mover and a woman and kid jumped out of the car to go get more from their party. The CM had a fit. I said it must be the weirdest thing he'd seen today but he said that earlier he had to grab a kid who had lept out of the car and onto the track - and almost got run over.

 

[YoHo]

There is more then enough evidence on Lexis and Westlaw to show how silly the whole thing can be. Common sense is assumed not to exist in Torts. Plain and simple. A company like Disney is expected to spell things out as if everyone is a moron and even then it may not be enough.

 

[raidermatt]

Hey Scoop, you know what's kind of funny? This is all I said:

But they can only be successful if there is a legal system that supports them.

I didn't say anything about what part of the legal system was to blame. No mention of lawyers, judges, or juries, all of which are part of the legal system.

Little "defensive", counselor?

 

[DisneyKidds]

Updated my original post, but thought I'd throw one on at the end here to bump this up.

Responding to a Pooh rehab thread on the Theme Parks board, someone said that their daughter works the Pooh ride at WDW and told them that the attraction would be going down for a TWO MONTH rehab starting April 24. Can anyone confirm? I can only hope this isn't true, but I'm not getting a good feeling for our May trip .