[carowindsfreak13]

<a href='http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&e=1&u=/ap/disney_world_death' target='_blank'>Yahoo news</a>. Man this is something never knew this until now. Rumors are that the ride will be shut down.

COMMENTS?

[Trev32]

The ride isn't being shut down, they opened it again a day after it happened. Why would they shut it down??


Anyway, that's really sad. Imagine having a fun vacation with your family at Disney and your 4 year old son dies....

I think there should be an age limit on the ride; height doesn’t mean anything on a ride like this.

[coasterdude89]

Yep...I read that in my local paper...all it does is give ya g-forces...but I want to ride it so badly since it sounds really fun!

[coastermom2]

I think there should be an AGE limit and a height requirement for that ride.
Agree with you, I do, Trev.
(a healthy/average 10 years of age and at least 52")
As a child development specialist, I know that as resilient as a
child's body usually is, it should not be subjected to stresses like
unnatural G forces. Even astronaut trainees have to have physicals
before being placed in the centrifuge/G-force simulators (which is
what the ride basically is). Everyone I know that has ridden it says
it is pretty intense. I know there are warnings posted at the entrance
and the ultimate decision to ride lies with the rider (or the PARENT of
a rider), but I feel that a 4-yr-old should have never been permitted
to experience it.
My heart goes out to the family and I can't bear to think of how frightened
that baby must have been before he died.

[Slappified]

How would you enforce a ride age restriction? Check birth certificates? I think an age reference on the sign for the ride may be good, but the final decision should be left to the parent/guardian if the youngster is above the minimum size. Is there really a difference if one person is 10, is 44", and weighs 70lbs and a 7 year old that is 44" and weighs 70 lbs? (numbers made up and may have no real correlation.)

[coasterholic14]

^actually yes, a 4 y/o's body is not developed in the same way as someone who is say 10, even if they are the same size. Even forces like 2G's can cause much different results on the body

[KenB]

I rode this ride back in April and found the forces very impressive in how they were applied, but certainly less than the 3.5-4.5 G's you pull on a Gravitron. It does push you back in the seat quite a bit, but it's very smooth during the higher G-force moments. It does have a few parts where it shakes you a bit near the end but it's certainly nothing violent.

I was somewhat surprised that a 4-year-old rode, as I never saw any kids that looked that young getting on, nor did I see any that were close enough to the height limit to be measured - maybe those got intercepted by the screener at the head of the line, though. I thought the height requirement was higher than what it was, but I really didn't pay attention to it. Still, I think that many other things that someone meeting the 44-inch height requirement could ride at Disney parks -or Carowinds - would be somewhat more likely to cause someone injury.

The media has hyped up the fact that the ride has air-sickness bags in front of you and that there have been "several injuries". From what I've been able to dig up, since the ride has opened about 7 people have suffered from severe nausea, dizzyness or chest pains that required some attention from the staff. Certainly there are a good number of people who felt queasy after riding it and wouldn't ride it again, but that's a far cry from actually being injured on the ride. The ride is more likely to make someone feel like throwing up than anything, and that's why the bags are there.

KenB

[Carowinds44]

At a certain point, it all lies on the shoulders of the parents. I have 4 year old triplets in my family, and I would never, in my wildest dreams imagine them being able to ride that. No you don't expect the consequences to be that extreme, and gosh it sucks, but the parents are responsible for it. My prayers go out...