The recent tragic death of a 4-year old after riding Walt Disney World’s Mission: Space attraction at Epcot has highlighted the lack of oversight by local, state, or federal agencies for the Florida tourists destination. Now California’s Disneyland theme park, which operates under some of the strictest state oversight in the nation, has just been… Read More »Judges Rule for higher safety standards in California
It is difficult to speculate exactly what happened yesterday to cause the sad death of a young boy at Walt Disney World. Eventually the autopsy will reveal whether the attraction had anything to do with the death. It may not have. I do not mean to accuse the family or Disney Management of misdeeds, but I do wonder what a 4-year old was doing on Mission Space (M:S) at Epcot.
M:S is one of the most intense experiences available to guests visiting Walt Disney World. So what would lead a family to want to take their young child on it? Which warnings did they see and which did they miss? How can we give a family more information before they make their decision to join the queue? All questions that need to be answered to make the Disney World experience as safe as possible for all guests.
Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror probably qualifies as the most intense experience availabe to guests at the four Walt Disney World themeparks. Not only does the name imply its intensity, but as you approach the attraction to ride you can see exactly what happens to guests already on board as they plummet faster than gravity and then are jerked back up only to be pulled back down again repeated times. If the visual clues aren’t enough, the screams of terror is another signal. Those with weak constitutions know by these indicators to stay away. Parents with questions can see what happens during the ride and can judge if their child is appropriate for the attraction. At least that should work in theory.
Read More »Blink before riding: Steps to better decision making at Disney World
Gone are the old visuals and conscientiously French theme based on Jules Verne’s novel "From the Earth to the Moon." Instead, the ride tours the solar system before hurtling out through asteroid showers to skim past supernovas and other astronomical phenomena, portrayed with high-definition video and a host of other new effects. Paris Disneyland unveiled… Read More »Space Mountain II???
With Spring Break officially in the record books now, I can report that we survived. Mostly by avoiding the parks when we could and by avoiding any of the major throughfares. A good idea, as Ken pointed out earlier in the comments: Disney World – Magic Kingdom was closed at least 3 days in a… Read More »A Break from Spring Break
Although LaughingPlace.com had the news on this last week, The Orlando Sentinel posts some additional details on Typhoon Lagoon’s next attraction – a Water Coaster. What’s a water coaster you ask? To really know you have to go to the waterpark that started them all – Schlitterbahn. Their premier ride, the Master Blaster, uses water… Read More »New Coaster at a Waterpark?
While watching the video, the one memory that was brought back to life was that of Communicore. I had forgotten how fun that area was with its cheesy (but cute) touch screen computer games like the roller coaster builder and the American flag assembly line game. And SMRT-1, the talking robot! I remember the first… Read More »Extinct EPCOT
Don’t know if you’ve read about the next big roller coaster to open at a Disney Themepark, but it’s going to be very exciting. Mt. Everest will feature speeds of over 70MPH while going forwards and backwards. Under construction in the Asia section of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Mt Everest is scheduled to open in late… Read More »The next big Disney Coaster
The on again off again relationship of Pixar and Disney has had more twists and turns than a theme park roller coaster. For now it appears to be back on track with the departure of Eisner next year. This does not bode well for Bob Iger’s chances at succession as Pixar likely would not sign… Read More »Disney and Pixar Sitting in a Tree