# Death At Disney **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 14, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-at-disney/308218 "2005-06-14T14:33:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![righto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@righto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/righto)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-at-disney/308218/21 "2005-06-15T05:31:52Z")
> [@Happy Lendervedder](#): > > Eisner, you scamp! Get outta here! Just the facts, baby. ---
**Author:** ![Large\_Marge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/50afbb/32.png) [@Large\_Marge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Large_Marge)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-at-disney/308218/22 "2005-06-15T07:54:35Z")
The state of Florida does not monitor safety at Epcot. Disneyland has its own inspectors. I find that concerning. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-at-disney/308218/23 "2005-06-15T10:17:33Z")
According to the article, the ride imposes 2 g’s. You know, that really isn’t that big a deal - if you’re healthy. Roller coasters go up to 3 or 4 g’s. One difference, though, is that on a roller coaster the force is very brief, a few seconds at most, where this ride seems to impose those forces for several minutes at a time. There are a number of medical conditions that would make riding this thing a bad idea - high blood pressure being one of them. It’s unlikely a kid’s been checked for most of those conditions, or he could have had some congenital thing that was silent until the ride made it manifest. If, say, he had some sort of undiagnosed cardiac problem he might simply have had a heart attack. Unfortunate, but sudden and unforeseen death does occur. I hope it’s something that simple, and not a matter of malice. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-at-disney/308218/24 "2005-06-15T12:38:21Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > According to the article, the ride imposes 2 g’s. You know, that really isn’t that big a deal - if you’re healthy. Roller coasters go up to 3 or 4 g’s. One difference, though, is that on a roller coaster the force is very brief, a few seconds at most, where this ride seems to impose those forces for several minutes at a time. While it’s definitely more intense than a rollercoaster in regard to the g’s, it definitely does not impose them for several minutes. The entire ride is about 4 minutes altogether - there are three portions that are particularly intense: the take-off (by far the most intense portion), the slingshot around the moon, and then the thrusters into the atmosphere of Mars. None last more than 30-45 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-at-disney/308218/25 "2005-06-15T14:47:16Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Am I the only one who thinks this will be the next media-manufactured “event” to fill the airwaves with? Now that Michael Jackson has been acquitted and there aren’t any runaway brides to fill the air time with, I mean. I don’t think so. Terry Schiavo’s autopsy results are supposed to be released today. > [@Large Marge](#): > > The state of Florida does not monitor safety at Epcot. Disneyland has its own inspectors. > > I find that concerning. Frankly, I think I’d trust Disney to be able to police itself better than the state could. After all carnival rides have to follow state standards and those things look like death traps. I think Disney goes a little beyond what the state would expect, they might be able to afford multi-millions lawsuits but they can’t afford the bad publicity. In the case of people dying on their rides, bad publicity is not better than no publicity. But it would be really cool if the Pirates of the Carribean broke down and the pirates started eating people. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-at-disney/308218/26 "2005-06-15T14:55:31Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > Am I the only one who thinks, “it’s probably a lame-o ride if it doesn’t kill someone from time to time?” Hate to say it, but I thought of this too. ---
**Author:** ![righto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@righto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/righto)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-at-disney/308218/27 "2005-06-15T15:09:27Z")
> [@Large Marge](#): > > The state of Florida does not monitor safety at Epcot. Disneyland has its own inspectors. > > I find that concerning. I actually find it to me more comforting. I concur with Wile E that Disney is better at it than the state could be. This accident was not due to a ride malfunction, so it wouldn’t have mattered if the state had been involved. Secondly, as I recall, there hasn’t been a single visitor death at Disney World that was the direct result of Disney (at least up to this point). You’re safer riding any ride at their theme parks than on the car trip to get there. ---
**Author:** ![Large\_Marge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/50afbb/32.png) [@Large\_Marge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Large_Marge)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-at-disney/308218/28 "2005-06-16T07:59:40Z")
According to the 911 tapes, no one knew how to do CPR and it was several minutes before someone arrived who did. So sad. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-at-disney/308218/29 "2005-06-16T09:23:01Z")
> [@righto](#): > > I actually find it to me more comforting. > > I concur with Wile E that Disney is better at it than the state could be. This accident was not due to a ride malfunction, so it wouldn’t have mattered if the state had been involved. Secondly, as I recall, there hasn’t been a single visitor death at Disney World that was the direct result of Disney (at least up to this point). > > You’re safer riding any ride at their theme parks than on the car trip to get there. Is that an assumption on your part, or does Disney regularly release data on deaths, injuries and other safety-related matters to the public? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-at-disney/308218/30 "2005-06-16T10:14:23Z")
I believe they do now. For the size of the place, and the numbers of guests it sees over the course of the year - including groups like terminally ill children - Disney really has remarkably _few_ deaths and injuries. I don’t know if it’s really the happiest place on Earth, but it’s probably one of the safer ones. That said, accidents happen and people die from time to time. Snopes lists deaths on Disney rides, and most of them involved the tourist doing something stupid, like climbing out of the vehicle while the ride is in motion. I can’t hold Disney responsible for the stupidity of its customers. I’m willing to wait to pass judgement on what happened here. It seems like the kid just up and died, which is a possibility because sudden death does occur. While the ride might generate motion sickness that doesn’t mean it’s deadly - spinning around on your front lawn can may you dizzy enough to puke, that doesn’t mean it’s a dangerous practice. If anything, amusement park operators tend to err on the side of caution when warning various groups off rides. Particularly for those in fixed locations, where the customers have to come to them and they can’t easily flee into another jurisdiction, they have incentives to NOT kill their customers. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-at-disney/308218/31 "2005-06-16T15:53:49Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Is that an assumption on your part, or does Disney regularly release data on deaths, injuries and other safety-related matters to the public? Carl Hiaasen’s mini-book _Team Rodent_ is very illuminating on the subject. It’s a few years old, so it may be somewhat out of date, and Hiaasen doesn’t hide his very strong point of view, but it’s still fairly informative. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-at-disney/308218/32 "2005-06-16T16:18:16Z")
> [@Large Marge](#): > > The state of Florida does not monitor safety at Epcot. Disneyland has its own inspectors… Probably because in the deal WD cut with Florida literally made Disney World its’ own sovereign nation. I can’t find a great cite, but [this](http://www.hiddenmickeys.org/WDW/Property/Secrets/Secrets.html) may do [quote] [ul][li]Lake Buena Vista, along with its sister city of Bay Lake, is part of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a _quasi-governmental entity created by The Walt Disney World Co_. The district and the two cities were authorized by the Florida Legislature in May 1967 after the Disney company presented lawmakers with a set of requests to give it _unprecedented administrative jurisdiction over zoning, road construction, utilities, building codes, drainage and environmental protection._[_]By the time plans for the park were revealed 18 months later, Disney’s lawyers had purchased 27,400 acres straddling the Orange-Osceola county line at an average price of only $182 per acre.[_]Walt Disney World is in the city limits of Lake Buena Vista. This also eliminated Orlando from obtaining income from property taxes - a continuing local political football. A number of Disney Cast Members (employees) live in Lake Buena Vista. The mayor and the city government are all Disney Cast Members. Disney security is actually a defacto police force! Also, originally, Walt wanted to put in a nuclear power generator to provide electricity. Remember back then nuclear power was considered environmentally friendly. Now they are doing some great work on environmentally safe processing of sewage for removal of heavy metals. Incidentally, Walt Disney World also has its own airstrip.[/ul][/li][/quote] ---
**Author:** ![righto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@righto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/righto)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-at-disney/308218/33 "2005-06-16T17:51:20Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Is that an assumption on your part, or does Disney regularly release data on deaths, injuries and other safety-related matters to the public? Not so much as assumption as an opinion I’ve formed based on years of research and my personal experience at the parks. The safety features they have in effect on some of the rides is amazing; there are features that one wouldn’t even think needed to be in place, yet they are anyway. Now I’m not so blind as to say Disney’s perfect, but their track record is really quite impressive, considering how long they’ve been in operation and the amount of visitors they have annually. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-at-disney/308218/34 "2005-06-20T17:11:08Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > While it’s definitely more intense than a rollercoaster in regard to the g’s, it definitely does not impose them for several minutes. The entire ride is about 4 minutes altogether - there are three portions that are particularly intense: the take-off (by far the most intense portion), the slingshot around the moon, and then the thrusters into the atmosphere of Mars. None last more than 30-45 seconds. We just went on this over the weekend. It’s a pretty visually and physically intense ride. I’d be pretty hesitant to let a four year old ride the thing, even though that kid sounds big for four years old. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-at-disney/308218/35 "2005-06-20T21:19:42Z")
> [@JohnBckWLD](#): > > Probably because in the deal WD cut with Florida literally made Disney World its’ own sovereign nation. > > I can’t find a great cite, but [this](http://www.hiddenmickeys.org/WDW/Property/Secrets/Secrets.html) may do Re: the airstrip Doesn’t EVERYBODY have their own airstrip nowadays though? I know Texas A&M has an airport, the Philmont Scout Ranch has an airstrip, the town of Cache, Oklahoma has an airport, though since it consists only of a grass airstrip that is bordered on two sides by trees and the third side by a set of high-tension powerlines, I’m wondering if that one wasn’t meant as a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2005, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-at-disney/308218/36 "2005-06-21T00:26:13Z")
I’ve flown in and out of airstrips bordered by trees with powerlines at _both_ ends - provided there is adequate runway and a competant pilot it’s not a problem. Also, in many cases, when the airstrips were originally built there were neither trees nor powerlines nearby. Civilization has a bad habit of sneaking up on airports and trying to consume them. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2005, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-at-disney/308218/37 "2005-06-21T01:28:23Z")
Re: The article. Isn’t 44 inches kinda tall for a 4-year old? I’m pretty sure neither of my kids was nearly 4 feet tall when they were 4. Just wondering if the youngster had some type of condition prior to the ride? Maybe one of those syndromes which accelerates development? I might be off in left field, but 44 inches tall at 4? That’s a little shy of shoulder high to an average adult. Has this fact been covered in any news stories? ---
**Author:** ![Lillith\_Fair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@Lillith\_Fair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lillith_Fair)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2005, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-at-disney/308218/38 "2005-06-21T02:23:50Z")
My friend (age @52) rode the ride in September and then had to spend three hours sitting on a grassy knoll nearby. She threw up and generally felt awful. I don’t know if she had any medical reasons not to go on it. The area where she rested is now referred to as “Sharon’s Knoll.” Well, that part is a joke, but the rest is true. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2005, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-at-disney/308218/39 "2005-06-21T04:31:42Z")
The article I read said something about the child being rigid when his mom took him on the ride; she thought he was nervous. Has anyone else heard about that aspect? It seemed as if he might have been sick or seizing when he got on. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2005, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-at-disney/308218/40 "2005-06-21T04:51:52Z")
They don’t pull any punches, but the ride isn’t going to kill anyone by itself. My father rode on it in testing, when it was going even faster. And he just passed away; he wasn’t exactly hale and hearty. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-at-disney/308218.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-at-disney/308218.md?page=3)