Teenage girl dies on Disneyland ride

[dreamworld_rulz]

Teenage girl dies on Disneyland ride From correspondents in Paris June 26, 2007 09:31pm Article from: Reuters A ROLLERCOASTER at the Disneyland Resort Paris theme park was shut on Tuesday after a 14-year-old Spanish girl died on the ride. The girl lost consciousness on the RockNRoller Coaster ride yesterday and efforts to revive her failed, Pieter Boterman, a spokesman for the park operator said. He said checks on the ride had found that it was functioning normally but the rollercoaster would remain shut until the exact cause of the death was known. News link here

[Gold Coaster]

... another Disney death on the tally board. What's the bet saying she had a pre-existing heart condition she didn't know about or something like that? Sad that this happened to someone who only lived to 14... who knows what she might have achieved in her life...

[DisneyDoll]

Yes that's exactly right....Maybe Disney should start going back to the " family rides " that made the park famous. After all, that was what Walt built the park for in the first place....Less thrills & more imagination seems to be needed IMHO

[Richard]

Incidents like this at Disney parks almost invariably point to pre-existing conditions, often unknown to the rider. I don't think it's a result of more thrill rides as such, but rather the numbers of guests that their parks see through the gates. The odds are people will die at Disney parks. It's always very unfortunate when things like this happen. The families are there to have a good family time, which will now always be associated with something so tragic.

[Harrop]

Yes that's exactly right....Maybe Disney should start going back to the " family rides " that made the park famous. After all, that was what Walt built the park for in the first place....Less thrills & more imagination seems to be needed IMHO

You want them to get rid of 1 of 2 thrill rides because of this? Have you even been to DisneylandP? Do you have any idea how many family rides there are? I guess not. RnR'r is one of the best rollercoasters going around..... Edited June 27, 2007 by Harrop

[DisneyDoll]

[

You want them to get rid of 1 of 2 thrill rides because of this? Have you even been to DisneylandP? Do you have any idea how many family rides there are? I guess not. RnR'r is one of the best rollercoasters going around..... Well you guessed wrong. Just FYI Harrop.... I have been to every Disney park accept HKD...I have also been to DL in California more times than I can remember so your comment is really unwarranted. I am perfectly aware of how many family rides are in the park....This is WHY Walt built in the first place. I am NOT saying that they should close any thrill rides that they have already merely that Disneyland was originally built to be a place where " familes " could experience attractions together. In my opinion this idea does not include having minimum heights for rides because in doing this, it is no longer an attraction for families. As far as RnR being one of the best rollercoasters going...Well your entitled to your opinion

Edited June 28, 2007 by Diannasaurus

[Gazza]

Well, while Walt built the place for families, he also built it to make money, having a couple of thrill rides in there with higher height limits probably made more business sense for them. But the sorts of thrill rides Disney has don't actually have height limits that are that bad, you still see 5 year olds on them so there aren't that many guests that are being excluded.

[D.C.]

Yeah, as thrill rides go even the most intense rides at Disney parks have a family angle and are tamer than thrill rides at their rival parks. I don't think moving away from thrill rides is the way to go - considering these rides contribute to making the Disney parks awesome to all ages. It's a pity about all the deaths you hear about at these parks, but they're really unpreventable by the park itself. (Short of making a really drastic decision, that is in my opinion really unneccessary.) My thoughts are with the family though.

Edited June 28, 2007 by D.C.

[DisneyDoll]

I agree that the thrill rides at most Disney parks are tame by comparison to the rides at Six Flags etc. However I still believe that height restrictions limit some children from being able to enjoy certain attractions with their parents & I think that these type of attractions should be kept to a bare bone minimum at Disney parks. All the other parks cater almost & I said almost specifically for the thrill seekers & that's great...I love thrill rides too, but I expect something magical when I go to Disneyland, something that you just don't get at the other parks. One of the most popular rides ever built at Disneyland is Pirates Of The Caribbean...No white knuckles needed to enjoy this amazing feat of Imagineering & no height restrictions either. It stands the test of time & the recent movie additions to it just enhance it that little bit more. At the end of the day Disneyland will always change & evolve & that was Walt's plan, I just don't think that adding more "thrills" is necessarily the way to go. Imagineers can create wondrous adventures that the whole family can enjoy, adventures that make you ask..." How did they do that? "...This was Walt's aim after all &..he knew his stuff. This recent tragedy is beyond terrible & I truly feel for her family that expected a little bit more from the " Happiest Place On Earth "

[taronga]

After countless accidents and deaths how can they (Disney) still getaway with calling themselves "the happiest place on earth"?

[BNErider]

I don't agree. If you get on a ride, it's your responsibility to know if you are able, or not able to ride. This could still happen at Six Flags. It's not like Disney are hiding the fact that it's a scary ride. It's sad that this happened, but it's not Disney's responsibility. It's the person who is riding. I'm sure people like her go to Six Flags, and other parks, and this happens. It's not the park, but the person riding. And any person, at any park, must only go on a ride, if they know they're able to. I don't feel Disney should close their thrill rides. If so, then shouldn't all the other parks? Disney should be able to have some scary rides, and people should think first, before going on them. Again, This is very sad, but, It's not the parks' fault. And I don't want Disney to close down their thrill rides.

[Gold Coaster]

Exactly. That's why they have those signs posted. The park has performed its duty of care through doing that as well as ride ops observing that people coming on don't have obvious health difficulties which might affect their ability to ride.

[friendsarama]

I'm sorry, but as a huge fan of the Disney parks I don't really think that shutting down the 'thrill' rides is going to do it. Most of the deaths that have occured in Disney parks over the years have come from non thrill rides anyway. And are those people saying that Walt didn't like 'thrill' rides forgetting that the Matterhorn was designed as a family thrill ride. A ride, which I might add, is actually responsible for several Disney fatalaties. Lets not also forget that someone has died waiting for the Sailing Ship Columbia to dock. Would removing all the thrill rides have prevented that death? I can understand where people are coming from on this one, but I'm sorry to say, it's just not the answer. I spent last year doing a 10 000 word thesis on the issue of theme park ride safety. Trust me, cutting back on the number of thrill rides is going to do nothing. Which is basically why no ones been able to do anything about reinstating federal legislation of theme park rides in the US. There's not enough of a problem to justify it. You're more likely to be killed by a vending machine falling on you, than you are on a theme park ride. But, sadly, every now and again, accidents happen. It's truly a terrible thing, but life's full of risk. That's what makes it worth living.

Edited June 29, 2007 by friendsarama

[joz]

As Richard said, its all a volume thing. When you have that many people going through the parks, unfortunate things will happen, and more often then not these things have nothing to do with thrill rides. In fact, browsing through www.rideaccidents.com reveals a couple of examples:

(Sunday, January 21, 2001) - A 6-year-old girl lost a portion of her left index finger in an accident on the Tom Sawyer Island playground attraction at Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California. The girl's finger was severed as she was playing with a toy rifle, slipped, and fell to the ground. Her finger got caught and severed by the trigger mechanism of the gun she was holding. She was taken to a local hospital, where she was told that doctors would not be able to reattach her finger. Park officials have inspected the equipment and say that everything was operating properly at the time of the accident.

(Tuesday, January 30, 2001) - A woman was injured at Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California when she fell and struck her head on the park's Pirates of the Carribean ride. The woman's boat lurched forward suddenly as she was exiting the ride. She fell and hit her head on a bench. The victim was taken to an area hospital where she was treated for head and neck pain, and possibly a concussion. Disneyland has reported the accident to the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, and the ride has been shut down pending a safety evaluation.

(Wednesday, March 17, 2005) - At Disneyland in Anaheim, California, a four-year-old boy broke a finger and severed the tip of his thumb after an accident on the Storybook Land Canal Boats ride. Reports indicate that the boy's fingers got caught between his boat and the dock. State inspectors ordered that Disneyland lower and repair the rubber bumpers along the dock's edge, and to reinsure that ride operators tell passengers to keep their hands in the boat while it docks.

[ILUV SUPERMAN ESCAPE]

You know what.... I'll be very carefull if I go to disneyland an i'll make sure that rollercoaster scenario from Final Destination 3 doesn't happen to me!!

[BNErider]

This shouldn't be taken as a joke. Don't forget a little girl died on that ride.