Woman dies a day after Disney World ride

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida (AP) -- A woman died Wednesday after going on a ride at Walt Disney World so intense that it has motion sickness bags.

The 49-year-old woman became ill after riding "Mission: Space" on Tuesday. She was taken to a hospital, and died a day later, park spokeswoman Kim Prunty said in a statement.

No more information on the woman was available Wednesday, Prunty said. Nor was the cause of death immediately known. The ride was closed Wednesday, but reopened Thursday, a statement from the theme park said.

"Walt Disney World engineers and ride system experts completed a thorough inspection of the attraction overnight and found it to be operating properly," Prunty said in the statement. "A representative from the state Bureau of Fair Rides Inspection monitored the ride inspection and testing."

Disney officials told state inspectors Wednesday that the woman felt dizzy and nauseated after the ride and may have had high blood pressure and other health problems, said Terence McElroy, a spokesman for the department that oversees the ride-monitoring agency.

The $100 million ride, one of Disney World's most popular, was also closed in June after the death of a 4-year-old boy who passed out while aboard. An autopsy concluded he died of a heart condition that a medical examiner said can cause sudden death in stressful situations.

The ride reopened after company engineers concluded it was operating normally.

"Mission: Space" spins riders in a centrifuge that subjects them to twice the normal force of gravity. Some riders have been taken to the hospital with chest pain.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/04/13/disney ... index.html

Disney do keep getting the bad things happening to them lately dont they? Its a real shame to hear about this. I feel sorry for the womans family and their loss.

Its a shame when things like this happen.

[hyyyper]

it's not disney, it's ppl with health conditions who ride

Yeah, it's really sad to hear, but as it stands, I don't think it's disney's fault in any way.

Yes its not disneys fault. Its just people getting on with health conditions that mean they shouldnt ride. Some probably just dont know they have these conditions yet. So its nobodies fault. It just happens.

Actually it's the people with the health conditions fault. They're completely responsible for keeping themselves healthy and slim. They're the only one's to blame for their death.

You dont have to be slim to be healthy.

Plus alot of conditions can go completely unnoticed and undetectable.


Its just the risks you take. You dont want it too happen, but, you could die a worse way. If I die on a ride, I wouldnt care. Id probably be happy. As long as I had my girl with me too - though it would be horrible for her at least she would know I went out on top.

[coolbeans326]

They're completely responsible for keeping themselves healthy and slim.

Dude! I'm slim, and I'm totally not healthy!

That's really sad. But I can't understand why if she had high blood pressure and other health problems that she would get on a ride like that. Hell, I don't even think that I would get on a ride like that.

I have high blood pressure and I did EVERYTHING they tell you not to do.

I looked out the cabin window to see the world spinning.
I didnt focus on the screen
I did everything backwards - and loved it!

I got mildly dizzy (been far dizzier on spinning mouse coasters) and the g's are only about 3.5 to which I have a very high tolerance to G's as well.


Im starting to think theres serious mental aspects. Most people tend to fall into these lapses when they overreact mentally. They become anxious, hyper ventilate and overall become too nervous which can be quite a negative effect on your body.

I say this because most rides, minus that factor, are well within the human tolerance even with alot of medical conditions. Its when you mix in the brain that things really go awry.


Not that that is new to anyone, but its the only thing I can see that can cause adverse effects. First time my mother rode Millennium Force she got SO worked up before we even got to the top that she tensed up and pulled muscles in her stomach. How do you do that without really freaking out mentally?!!

She had to sit down for close to a half hour and it hurt to walk...

The key isnt all their body's condition, its how they react mentally that really brings out those medical conditions.

[jayman]

so it's like one of those rotating drum rides? sounds fun.. unless a ride malfunctions somehow, and it freaks out and kills someone( like that cleat form the sailing ship killed that dude when it broke loose out here in disneyland, or more recently the casualty on big thumder) disney's rides obviously don't kill anyone as a result of their normal operation. ehat bugs me is how this affects public opinion , and in return starts to affect policy, and we get those crappy ass bolt on shoulder things on the revolution...

[coolbeans326]

WEll, who knows what they'll do with this. They might have to retune it since it does not go well with people who do not meet the recomended physical health, and you have to have a safe zone where it won't kill you the first time, or w/e. Anyways, I hope that they'll leave it open the way it is until they figure out something to do with it.

The ride is complete BS, its a saucer ride just with good scenery, the g 's get to 1.5 MAYBE

^ Yeah, once you been on it for the first time, the other seem like "meh"...

[coolbeans326]

Originally posted by Pernicious544

The ride is complete BS, its a saucer ride just with good scenery, the g 's get to 1.5 MAYBE

It's a simulator... IE Star Tours Xtreme!*rolls eyes*

No its BS for BULL S**T

Posted by RJHolla at CS:

http://tinyurl.com/pgb26

Disney World reopens ride after woman's death

BY SCOTT POWERS AND BETH KASSAB
The Orlando Sentinel

ORLANDO, Fla. - Even before a second tourist died this week, Mission: Space was emerging as Walt Disney World's most hazardous ride, with more than twice as many reported illnesses and injuries as any other Disney attraction.

Tragedy struck the Epcot ride for the second time when Hiltrud Bleumel, 49, of Schmitten, Germany, died Wednesday, a day after she fell ill following a spin on the space-flight simulator. A 4-year-old boy, Daudi Bamuwamye, died in June after the ride.

Bleumel's death renewed questions about the safety of the $100 million attraction that simulates a rocket blastoff and landing.

But plenty of people were eager to experience the ride, which reopened Thursday morning following an inspection late Wednesday by Disney and state officials. Many of the visitors did not know a tourist had died the day before.

Alex Espinoza, 17, rode Mission: Space four times and wasn't worried.

"My voice is destroyed from yelling all day," said Espinoza, who was on a trip with his high school band from Ohio. "It was really, really fun. They warn you numerous times before you get on the ride. We even had a lady step out before we got on because she was just like, `I can't do this.'"

In addition to the two deaths in the past 10 months, 10 people reported serious illnesses or injuries since the ride opened in the summer of 2003, according to reports Disney filed with the Florida Bureau of Fair Ride Inspections. That's the worst record of all the Disney attractions and doesn't include more than 130 other Mission: Space riders who sought medical attention, according to ambulance records.

Second worst were Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom and the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon. Each had reported one death and four serious injuries or illnesses since 2003, according to state records.

On Mission: Space, riders are met with 13 signs warning of motion sickness, dark and enclosed spaces and spinning.

Just before people are loaded into the ride capsules, they are shown a video explaining the ride and are again given a chance to exit the line.

All of the warning signs and the video are in English, though Epcot brochures are available in multiple languages at the park's entrance. The brochures briefly describe Mission: Space as the "most thrilling attraction in Disney history" and warn that it may cause motion sickness.

"As with any thrill attraction, Mission: Space is not for all guests," said Disney spokeswoman Kim Prunty.

Prunty said Thursday that no changes have been made to the ride since the Pennsylvania boy's death last summer, and no further review is planned.

There also has been no move to post the warning signs in different languages, she said, but those issues are often reviewed.

A ride worker first called 911 to report Bleumel's illness at 1:19 p.m. Tuesday, saying that "she seems pretty bad" but was alert. The ambulance arrived 12 minutes later, and she reached Florida Hospital Celebration Health at 2:04. She died Wednesday.

The Orange County Medical Examiner is expected to perform an autopsy Friday on Bleumel.

The woman's family asked Disney not to release any information, though Disney reportedly told state authorities that she may have suffered from high blood pressure and other health problems, according to one state source.

Robert A. Samartin, an attorney representing Daudi's family, said their "hearts go out to the family" of Bleumel.

"They certainly understand how they can go from having a wonderful family vacation to just horror," Samartin said. "It's very tragic."

Daudi's death was eventually attributed to a previously undetected heart condition.

Since the start, Mission: Space developed a troubling reputation for making some people sick. A few months after it opened, it became the only Disney ride offering motion-sickness bags.

The nonfatal incidents reported to the state included three men and a woman who all complained of chest pains and one man who fainted.

Still, millions of people have ridden Mission: Space in three years, and many rave about it as one of the park's top thrills.

Not everyone who gets sick makes a formal complaint.

Paul Borne, 57, a Norfolk, Mass., sales representative, didn't but said he wished he had, after getting sick following a Feb. 28 spin on Mission: Space.

He said he left dizzy, then developed a bad headache that night. The next morning, on the plane home he got sick, tried to head for the lavatory and passed out in the aisle. The flight crew put him on oxygen. When he tried to get up later, he passed out again, and after they landed an ambulance took him straight to a hospital, he said.

After two days of tests the doctors agreed with his assumption that the ride probably was to blame, he said.

"The ride itself? It was wild. It was dizzy. They had puke bags. I would never have gotten on it if I knew it had puke bags. They give you warnings and stuff, but all the rides have warnings," Borne said. "This thing; they gotta close it down."

Mission: Space uses centrifugal force, video and other special effects to make riders feel as if they are in a spaceship blasting off, traveling to Mars and landing. Riders experience four periods, of up to 20 seconds each, when the G-force ranges between 1.6 and 2.3. A G-force of 2 is twice that of gravity.

Under Florida law, Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay are responsible for their own ride safety, with no direct state oversight. Bureau of Fair Rides inspectors confer with the theme park ride officials annually but only inspect rides when invited.

Terence McElroy, spokesman for the state bureau, described Wednesday night's inspection as "top to bottom."

"Now understand, we don't regulate them. We're not experts on that ride. We don't routinely look at it. So their engineers and safety personnel and inspectors were the ones who actually did it. We did observe that. There did not appear to be anything, to us, that appeared to be out of the ordinary," McElroy said.

Disney officials pride themselves on having what they consider the best ride engineers, inspectors and safety authorities in the country.

However, that doesn't bring much comfort to advocates of public ride inspections such as Kathy Fackler, founder and president of an organization called SaferParks, which pushed for and got California oversight of theme park ride safety in 1999.

"All we're asking for is someone who doesn't have huge liability to step in and conduct an independent investigation, and let the public know," she said.

The lines for Mission: Space on Thursday - in the midst of the busy Easter vacation season - were much shorter than those at Epcot's other two big rides, Soarin' and Test Track.

One family debated whether to go on.

"We knew it was one of the most popular rides, and I heard about one person who died on it," said Darrell Lipski, who was vacationing from Peoria, Ill., with his wife, Lynette, and their three sons.

Lynette Lipski added, "One person we know went on it and was sick all day."

The couple were unsure whether they would let their family ride, especially their 7-year-old.

"I don't think we want to put him on it," Lynette Lipski said of her youngest son.


=================
Check out this snippit from about mid way down:

"The ride itself? It was wild. It was dizzy. They had puke bags. I would never have gotten on it if I knew it had puke bags. They give you warnings and stuff, but all the rides have warnings," Borne said. "This thing; they gotta close it down."


LMAO!
What an idiot! First he says "It has warnings all over." then follows it with "But all rides have warnings" so right there we know he doesnt look at anything.

Plus is BLATENTLY obvious when you get in that there are puke bags. Plus, they give you a moment or two once inside to get out.


The kind of mentality that gets things shut down for no reason.


Morons...

Even better, read the bold print at:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/guides/e ... ission.htm

After more than anticipated "protein spills", Mission Space now has Motion Sickness bags handy for riders. Even if you usually don't have a problem with this, you may find that this attraction makes you queasy.

Riders of Mission Space in the age 55 plus bracket take note. Enough guests in this age group have been taken to the hospital after experiencing Mission Space that it's become a concern.

The guests requiring medical attention had all complained of chest pain and nausea. The majority of them had pre-existing conditions, which are specifically mentioned in the posted warning notices.

With age being the common denominator of those taken to the hospital, adding warnings specifically for older riders may become necessary.

While there are no less than 13 warning signs addressing pregnancy, height minimums, motion sickness, high blood pressure, heart, back or neck problems, and a recommendation that you be in good health, none of the cautions specifically address riders who are over 55 years of age.

Starting in 2001, Florida theme parks began sharing information regarding the safety of their attractions. With six guests requiring a trip to the hospital over the past eight months, ?????????Mission Space????????? has eclipsed Universal?????????s ?????????Ripsaw Falls????????? which reported three injuries in 2002.

Over assessment IMO, not Disney's fault, next riders in the queue please.

[hyyyper]

and disney hasn't got the only centrifuge, disney is just so big media want's to kill them with every thing that comes up

i dont see how anyone with that condition could not know it only has about 400,000,000,000,000,000 warnings about having high blood pressure and blah

Not that this topic is over two years old or anything...

Originally posted by hyyyper

it's not disney, it's ppl with health conditions who ride

No, It's Disney for not enforcing the rules of riding and allowing people with health conditions to ride

Aha!but this topic is an old grandpa that some person brought back from the dead and you people shouldn't add on to.

but i will! disney cannot enforce people with health conditions not to ride if they are unaware of that very condition so disney are not liable, go suck a dong and shuttup!

[Oscar]

They should check everyone's blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and sugar levels and full physical before each ride.