Originally Posted By Darkbeer <a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/columnists/orl-miket0406jun04" target="_blank">http://www.orlandosentinel.com /news/columnists/orl-miket0406jun04</a>,0,7383889.column?coll=orl-home-headlines >>I frantically looked around the cabin for a button to push to halt the ride, and found none . . . I was faint, breathless and have never felt sicker in my life. I honestly have never felt as close to death as I did when I was on M:S. This woman, writing about Disney's Mission: Space on a blog site, experienced a classic case of "fight or flight." Her adrenaline was flowing and heart banging. But pinned down in a small, dark cabin, she could not obey her body's demand to act. There was no way to release the stress. Although a rare event, this is where weak blood vessels or hearts can fail. That has happened twice at Mission: Space in the past year. A 4-year-old boy died of heart failure and a 49-year-old woman died from a stroke. Hence these green tickets my 7-year-old girl and I are holding. They are for admission to a wimped-out version of Mission: Space. Disney has turned off one of the centrifuges in the ride, so the capsules attached to it do not spin. It's part of Disney's ongoing effort to make its $100 million super-ride user-friendly and keep it out of the news. In 1999, I made this ironic observation while writing about Islands of Adventure: "Disney doesn't want people barfing on its rides and dying of heart attacks. Universal doesn't care." And so I was stunned after boarding Mission: Space when it opened in 2003. It turned my stomach more topsy-turvy than anything at Universal. I wasn't alone. So many people got sick that Disney had to put in distress bags. Ten people reported serious illness or injury and 130 others sought medical attention. In a word, Disney seriously screwed up. It miscalculated the intensity of a ride that was years in the planning. That kind of oversight for such a meticulous company is amazing. I can't prove it and Disney won't admit it, but I think the company toned down the ride by 2005. This literally is a gut feeling, backed up by data showing far fewer hospital visits by guests.<<
Originally Posted By Labuda What a load of crap. It is NOT Disney's fault the women and little boy died.
Originally Posted By CTXRover <<I can't prove it and Disney won't admit it, but I think the company toned down the ride by 2005. This literally is a gut feeling, backed up by data showing far fewer hospital visits by guests>> Since the ride previewed in the summer of 2003 to now the "intense version" has NOT been toned down as per Disney. From my many rides on Mission:Space since it opened, I personally believe it is the exact same ride now as it was then too. The reason for fewer "hospital visits" as this article claims is directly a result of making the warnings more apparent throughout the queue and pre-shows. Too many people who wouldn't dare step foot on a modest coaster were riding Mission:Space when it first opened not realizing what it really was. Hence Disney's decision to add more warning videos throughout the queue, verbal warnings on the overhead speakers that play rountinely throughout the queue and changes to the pre-shows to stress that the ride spins, motion sickness is possible and to keep your eyes open at all times. All of this plus the additional chance given to all guests to exit right before the second pre-show starts. The most recent change to Green vs Orange versions is about as far as they can go imo to warn guests of the intensity of this "Disney" ride.
Originally Posted By -em I havent ridden it yet this "trip" but I was amazed that almost everywhere you found the maps/times guides was a paper that detailed the changes (ie the green/orange team thing) I also noticed that by 2:30ish Sunday the only ride with FP left for the day (atleast the major rides that make it to the epcot tipboard) was M.Space... -em
Originally Posted By pixiedust1 <<Labuda Sun 6/4/2006 10:15a What a load of crap. It is NOT Disney's fault the women and little boy died.>> Wow... Labuda.. You go girl!! You shouldn't hold back, really tell us how you feel... LOL... : )
Originally Posted By LuLu ooookay... I'm a bit nervous about this ride now (yeah, I'm 49!). I realize nothing tragic could happen unless you had a rare, preexisting condition, but obviously you wouldn't know that! So someone enlighten me about green vs orange, please? Or how I might predict if this ride would make me sick? I've gone on everything at DL/DCA, but I don't like MaliBoomer, that's about it...
Originally Posted By Labuda Lulu - if you pay attention to the warnings and look straight ahead, do't turn your head, and don't close your eyes, I'm sure you (and Dr Frootloop) will be just fine on the Orange side of MS. I've been in the same pod as a 4-year old and his 60-something grandmother (I think she said she was 68, but don't recall for sure) ad they both LOVED the ride.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN LuLu.. read my post on the green version of Mission: Space. Trust me... there is no need to be concerned if you go on the green version... <a href="http://mb.laughingplace.com/default.asp?WCI=MsgBoard&WCE=T-76105-P-1&Refresh=0606004018" target="_blank">http://mb.laughingplace.com/de fault.asp?WCI=MsgBoard&WCE=T-76105-P-1&Refresh=0606004018</a>
Originally Posted By Darkbeer Here is a link to a photo of the Mission:Space warning signs.... <a href="http://www.miceage.com/kevinyee/ky060606b.htm" target="_blank">http://www.miceage.com/kevinye e/ky060606b.htm</a>
Originally Posted By LuLu Thanks TDL! So, if I go on green and feel 100% fine, should I try orange? I know DrFL will want to go orange - but she can go with her cousins, I'm sure my sis and BIL will choose green, if they go at all!
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>So, if I go on green and feel 100% fine, should I try orange?<< LuLu, if you do coasters and stuff like that... you should be able to ride Orange just fine.
Originally Posted By MrToadWildRider I went on Mission:Space a few summers ago and I actually thought it was pretty tame and couldn't understand any of the hype about the intensity. I get more neauseated on the teacups personally. Normally, that wouldn't be that great of an indicator because I have a very high tolerance to motion sickness and it takes extremeness to really make me the least bit queezy (spelling?) but my mother who has a hard time dealing with the drop on Splash Mountain also thought it was relatively weak of a ride. It's fun but I still don't get how people find this attraction to be this monsterous vomit comet.
Originally Posted By ChiMike ^^ I too think M:S is a very tame ride. I also think it is a waste of money for a variety of reasons. I have since day 1. One reason is that it makes a lot of coaster junkies yawn while at the same time causes many other people queasy. It's interesting to see, month by month, more negative comments regarding this ride on the various websites.
Originally Posted By LuLu Well, I'l let you know what I think. I'm not a thrill-ride seeker by any means, but I haven't had a problem with a Disney ride - yet! I do think people are wired differently and maybe some have inner ear issues or something that makes them prone to get sick on this. I have bad acrophobia and got really nervous on this dumb ski-lift type ride at the OC County Fair! About 5 minutes after we got off, it stopped while fully loaded with riders. I know I would have been in bad shape had I still been on!
Originally Posted By TDLFAN LuLu, I suffer from inner ear ringing noise (Tinnitus) and the spinning version of M:S does make me feel a bit yucky, but after a few seconds on it...the sensation passes.
Originally Posted By KarenCPA I just returned from WDW 6/18. I rode MS-orange on 6/17. I love fast coasters, Tower Terror, and thrill rides. I also loved MS-orange, but I did seriously think I was going to puke all over the place. Getting sick doesn't mean you didn't like it, it just means your stomach wasn't cooperative. The only other rides(?) that left me feeling this way are the China movie, the France movie, and other IMAX-ish movies. k
