Would you put your 4 year old on Mission Space

[donnabc]

We were there when my son was 5 1/2 and NO I did not even consider putting him on this ride. I didn't even look to see if he met the height requirement...but then DD says I am way over protective. DD went on the ride by himself.
I DO wish that Disney would put some age limits on rides for those parents who are not as protective as some of us are. Perhaps this little four year old boy would still be alive today if there WAS an age limit...

 

[tazdeb]

I can never understand how an age limit can stop anything bad from happening. Say they put a 5 year age limit on the ride. Does that mean at 4 years and 364 days you are NOT big enough/mature enough/competent enough/to go on it BUT A DAY LATER you are? This logic for age limits also applies for being able to drive a car or purchase liquor. It also baffels me. Age is not a determing factor in anything. I know 35 year olds who should'nt be able to buy alcohol and 75 year old grandma's who should'nt drive. The engineers who designed this ride along with the company that insures it determined the stress factors, height and weight limits to ride it safely and came up with the limit. This child met those requirements. Unfortunately something bad happened to him. That doesn't mean every 5 year old will meet the same fate. My DD is tall for her age and has been going (actually begging to go) on every thrill ride since she was 4. If it's a thrill ride, shes rode it and loved it. At age 7 she finally hit 56 inches and could ride the Hulk. She loved it. I havent seen any adverse effects. How would an arbitrary age limit help solve this problem?

 

[Bama mom to 3]

Prayers going out for the family.

My sone who will be 4 on Sunday is almost 43 inches tall. But even if her were tall enough he wouldnt go on this ride. Why? Because he doesn't like these types of rides. Now my DD is another story. Im not sure if at 4 she would have been ready for this ride, but at almost 8, she is a thrill seeker and is already talking about going on Tower of Terror. I honestly don't think the ride was to blame. I think there was an unknown underlying health problem mixed with the Florida heat and the ride may have been all it needed to surface. I am really sorry for the family and I can not even imagine how they are feeling.

 

[savs]

I think it all depends on the individual child. The age has no bearings on whether they can handle it or not!!!

My 2 ds ages 7 and 5 were just on this ride last month and both walked off it saying "Big deal". So would I have let them ride it when they were 4 yrs old....you bet.

My ds5 has been going on TOT since he was 2yrs old. It all depends on the child!!! Both of his parents and brother love thrill rides, so he really doesn't know any different.

 

[Meezers]

I haven't and won't put my 43 year old self on that thing!

Good thing the kitties don't bug me for things like that!

If I had kids I would have to take along another person to do some of those rides...I don't even do the teacups!

 

[Laurajean1014]

Yes.

 

[rt2dz]

I think age has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not a child should be allowed to ride a ride he/she wants to ride. Each parent knows their child best.

It is most likely that this tragedy didn't have anything to do with age, but the health restrictions (probably unknown to the parents) that were violated (possibly). I would let my 4yo ride, knowing he can handle just about anything, but Haunted Mansion, at Disney provided he knows what the ride is about and wants to ride.

My heart goes out to the family and they are in my prayers, but I will not assume at this point it was the ride.

 

[all4fun]

to the OP:
L~John's wife here. What do you think? Will you put your 4-year old on M:S when you go in December and do you think there should be an age requirment? I think you should share your opinion on this with all of us since you started the thread!

I personally don't think an age requirement is practical because it's not something that a CM can easily identify. I agree that people should use their own best judgement with what their children can handle. Also I do believe it will be found that this child had an undetected condition which contributed to his untimely passing. My heart goes out to his family.

p.s. John says Brennan can handle it when he's 12 ;-) John also wants me to post some other sarcastic comments but I think people who don't know him personally might be offended so I'll just leave it at that.


Cheryl

 

[DiscoverWDW]

We have a 7 and 10 year old. Last year I went on it for the first time and enjoyed it. But once was enough for me. The kids saw myself and my wife get off the ride (we took turns) and they said "no thanks, not today". Even if my kids wanted to go on the ride, I would wait till they were teenagers. If anyone in my family had any type of medical condition, I would never let them go on it.

 

[ktink]

I've never rode MS but can say I wouldn't let my DD's 4 & 9 ride simply because they have very weak stomachs and it would be ugly. As for the ride itself I have no idea as to the intensity of it but I've heard several adults say how bad it is.

I just feel so sad for the parents of this child and will keep them in my prayers.

 

[lmhall2000]

No. No.

 

[hokiefan33]

M:S is way more intense than all of the rides you mentioned. Even RnRC which has a higher height requirement. The combination of the spinning, the consistant 2G's and the visuals make it very, very intense.

You have to remember, "way more intense" is not a fact, it is only YOUR perception of those rides as they relate to each other. In MY opinion, SM is much more intense than M:S, b/c of all the herky-jerky movements and sudden directional changes, but that's b/c those affect me more than just spinning around in an expensive Gravitron with a movie screen in front of me. The fact that I feel SM is more intense doesn't MAKE it more intense, it's just my opinion. Just like it's your opinion that M:S is more intense than the others. For you, I'm sure that's true, but for me and I'm sure for many others, that's probably not the case.

 

[DDreamer]

I have a 4yr old and I know she would want to ride it, she LOVES big scary rides. However, even before all this came out with the little boy dying, I would not let her ride it. Mainly because she is too young to understand the difference between reality and "pretend". When we brought my other kids to DW when they were 6, I wouldn't let them on the Alien ride (now Stitch I think) because I knew they would freak out. They REALLY wanted to ride it, but we wouldn't let them. I think it's just personal preference. Just because they are tall enough and they want to ride it, in the end it's our job as parents to make that decision. I know that if I was to let my 4yr old ride it,and she got really scared, she wouldn't want to go on any other rides for the day and would probably be scared the rest of the trip.

 

[ADisneygirl]

My personal opinion? - No, I most definitely would not put my 4yo on MS. For that matter, I don't think 4yo's belong on ToT or RnR or any rides which carries health/fitness warnings. There will be time enough when they are older to enjoy the intensity of those types of rides.

 

[nana2tots]

No way, I don't care whether he/she met the height requirements or not!!!!They are just Kids, for God's sake!!!!!!

 

[melaniemiller2002]

I have two stepchildren I've been raising since they were babies. The oldest is 8, but is much more reserved than his 5 year old sister. My 5 year old SD went on all the rides at Disneyland, including Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain with no problems when she was 3. She met all the height requirements (she's only in Kindergarten but already the size of a 2nd grader) and was fine. My SS went on all the rides, including the coaster at California Adventure and the one that drops you hundreds of feet...he was 6 at the time. I'm uncertain how my SS may react to M:S because he does tend to get a little carsick. My SD would probably be fine and laugh.

On the subject of the child who died: I will not be surprised if they discover he had an underlying heart condition. It sounds a LOT like Long QT syndrome, which is where the person's heart has a longer than average electrical conduction. Everything works fine UNLESS that person is startled, surprised, or scared during a certain point in the heart's conduction. What results is the heart stopping and the person going into cardiac arrest. It's almost always fatal, although it CAN be prevented by simply putting them on medication. My good friend has this and I've known 2 middle school children who died. We were taught about it in nursing school and it's not something they test for upon birth unless it's requested. It's also hereditary and chances are very high someone else in the family would have it.

If I were the family, I would be getting EKG's done to see if anyone else has this. There was a mom on television a while back who was playing with her toddler son at home. She ran around one way while he went the other, then she jumped out at him and said, "Boo". His heart stopped and he died before paramedics could get him to the hospital. He had Long QT syndrome and mom never knew. They tested the rest of the family and discovered that mom had it in her family. Sorry to make this so lengthy, but I wanted people to be aware of it since it's something that can be treated if diagnosed but if not found, is almost always fatal. I feel for this little boy's family because I know I would be carrying around HUGE amounts of guilt should something like this have happened to one my stepkids.

I don't think putting an age requirement on the ride is reasonable because as another poster mentioned, how are you going to prove that? Bring birth certificates with you? And considering over 8 million people have ridden the ride without being unharmed (seriously injured anyway), it seems to be a safe ride. Unfortunately, bad things happen. The person that was killed on Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland a few years back died just a day after we had ridden the ride. It kind of scared me to think I had my kids on that ride, but I know there is a risk with anything in life.

Melanie

 

[LindsayDunn228]

No way, I don't care whether he/she met the height requirements or not!!!!They are just Kids, for God's sake!!!!!!

My sentiments exactly!!!!

 

[marcyinPA]

Absolutely NOT. Of course, my 6 y/o doesn't even meet the height requirement. He's tiny!

I feel bad about what happened to that family, but my guess is that there was a health problem to begin with that they weren't aware of.

However, I still think that 4 is too young to sit still and focused. I even had problems focusing and not turning my head when I rode it!

 

[robinb]

I don't think putting an age requirement on the ride is reasonable because as another poster mentioned, how are you going to prove that? Bring birth certificates with you?

Disney can put an age suggestion along with all the other warnings and it would be up to the parents to follow that suggestion. They suggest that people who are pregnant and have certain medical problems do not ride, but women don't need to take a pregnancy test before they get into Space Mountain .

 

[lillygator]

When my girl's turn four they will not be riding on it, heck who knows when we'll let them....

Goofy's Barnstormer is enough for them for now....but that is just us - now I asked DH if he would have taken DD on MS and he said sure I'd take her on everything...TOT RNRC....so it's a good thing I brought this to his attention!!