Originally Posted By wolfchild Well, after reading through this entire I thread I certainly have a lot of thoughts. But I will limit it to this one point. And it's on the Scott Powers of the Sentinal aspect of it all. Yes, Scott Powers may be an actual reporter for the Sentinal and that may be his actual e-mail at the paper. But what else is there to it? I mean, my uncle is a writer and photographer for a local paper by me. And I know several other reporters in the area for various papers and media. And at least one of them is close enough to me and good enough friends that if I were trying to dupe, or have fun with a group of people, he would totally go along with it with me. (though I would never do anything that was this particularly malicious) So, my honest theory is that Scott Powers is just a friend of the OP who thought that it was funny and decided to go along or something else along those lines. That is why there has only been one post by him and that is why it was oddly deemed un-newsworthy when it involved serious injuries on a WDW ride. That could also attest for some of the differences in the stories there. The OP went to her buddy Scott and let him in on this funny joke that she was pulling on LPers to get them all riled up. She told him what she needed him to post-that there was an incident that occured on the date she said and that it had not been reported. He, being a reporter typed it up making it sound like it had truly been investigated and handled as Disney may handle it. The worst part about telling lies is trying to keep them all straight. My theory may be as hard to follow as the OP's story but I understand it and like it. So I'm sticking with it ;D So, I offer no apologies to the OP because I don't believe that it ever happened to begin with.
Originally Posted By LuvDatDisney Kimrue, people will do anything for attention and/or money. And wolfchild, if your scenario was correct Scott Powers would be out of a job. Period. His superiors wouldn't allow him to participate in a massive online 'joke' that involved the major corporation he covers on a daily basis. You're way off.
Originally Posted By Fe Maiden It seems to me that the lap bar did come up but that it did not happen to anyone associated with the OP. My guess is the OP was there when it happened, or may have overheard a discussion about it, or was told by a friend who is a CM. Then they come here and pretend like they're a long time poster to gain credibilty, which in fact backfires raising the greatest amount of doubt in the story.
Originally Posted By DyGDisney I just read through this whole thing and wanted to say a couple of things. First, even though I don't post much anymore (except under trip countdown's), it wasn't me. Haven't been to WDW since 1983 (Boy, I'm getting old). Speaking of getting old, how can the OP have been a fan for generations, and have young daughters? Late in life motherhood? Third, anyone remember GrandmaToad, or BringBackToad, as she was once called? Was she our OT? (Original Troll). Back in her day, there weren't near as many trolls on this site. Fourth, maybe the WitchesofMorva are the original poster!!!
Originally Posted By wolfchild Well, he never implicates the paper in any way. He only states it as what he has personally done and decided. Which, actually, in and of itself should raise an eyebrow or two. Unless this is a seasoned reporter that has been with a paper for years and years and years, it would be odd for him to making decisions on items like this that may or may not be newsworthy. Most of my friends that write for papers find and research as many different topics and stories as they can and then present them to their boss or the editor depending on the size of the publication. And then whoever the superior is makes the decisions from the stories presented. A reporter can present upwards of a dozen stories or events just to get one deemed right for the publication. And many new reporters don't even get a story chosen from what they present. So for this guy to do that much research into a story and then not even present it to a superior for _them_ to deem it newsworthy or not is kind of ridiculous in itself. My uncle has worked at the paper for as long as I can remember (and I'm 26) and even he still gets plenty of stories turned down. But, is a very easy way for the Sentinal to not actually be involved in any kind of onlne joke. Because, by reading his post, they never even heard about it before he axed the story.
Originally Posted By LuvDatDisney Scott never said he didn't present it to superiors. He did say he didn't find it worthy of a story ... doesn't mean it was his choice and his alone. And whether he had the decision-making power or not, I can guarantee you that he wasn't involved in any kind of joke. Not if he valued his job, which I'm sure he does.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 Anytime you post anywhere ( or send an email from your work ID ) - you are representing the company you work for...and liability begins immediately. I was surprised he posted at all as I would never on any site using my work ID -- it's just not very prudent...regardless of whether whatever you post is correct or not. Lots of precedents being set out in cyberspace these days on laibility -- especially in blogs etc
Originally Posted By ssWEDguy By the way, this incident is reported to have happened on Jan 26, right? Jan 26-29 was CM preview weekend. Most all riders were CM's, family and friends.
Originally Posted By ssWEDguy You know what, you're right. The CM weekend was the weekend before. My bad.
Originally Posted By AuroraRose i've tried to abstain but...my thought is if this really is a long time poster, they would know that there is NO REASON to hide their identity--while i dont post much, i have been around a couple years, and I know for a fact while everyone doesn't always agree, something like this would be taken seriously. AND using a name everyone knows would lend credibility to the story, unless you actually had something to hide.
Originally Posted By tampabrad I am finally going to chime in. I have been reading these boards for quite some time and post every so often. No, I am not the OP, but I was at DAK on the 26, spending 10:30ish to 3:00is at Everest. I find this story to lack a lot of credibility. 1. The OP not using her regular name, long time posters seem to have more credibility. 2. I was at EE for a good 4 hours and the ride went down once for about 5 minutes. I was using single rider line and was literally getting off the ride and going back around to reride. Single rider line was empty so I was only away from the load/unload area for about 2 minutes each trip. I never saw trains being removed from the ride. Yes, I could have missed this as I was away from the ride to eat and drink. 3. If I had gotten off a ride where the lap bar opened, I would have made a BIG deal out of it. Especially if I was injured. I would have demanded attention then and there. 4. I used to work at WDW, and safety is a HUGE deal. If a guest were to get off a ride with any discomfort, medical attention would have been provided immediately. CMs come out of the woodwork if a guests trips on something. 5. A lap bar opening while a rollercoaster is in operation is Newsworthy. 6. Disney or any company would never put in writing that the lap bar is not a safety measurement. A lap bar IS a safety measurement. The copy of the email the OP posted is hard to believe. I would assume if there was an injury, this mail would have come from "legal" and not Guest Relations. 7. If this did happen, the ride would have been shut down for at least a day. Disney would never comprimise the safety of their guests. If they did, I think that would be newsworthy and Scott from the Sentinal would have a big story. 8. Preview days are not there for guests, CMs to be ride safety testers. The attraction has been running empty, and with water dummies long before people ride it. Some tests are for 24 hours straight. 9. From riding coasters for many years, I was under the assumption that there are sensors that will alert ride operators if a lap bar or seat belt is opened. Especially on newer rides. Actually on one trip on EE, the woman behind me was of larger size and ride ops told her she had to have the bar down one "click" or the ride could not move. She was concerned about it popping up and they told her that if it did, the ride would stop at the next break run. It didn't and she loved the ride. 10. I don't know how anyone could get a picture of the inside of the vehicle from the viewing areas of the ride. The only place I would imagine this possible would be the big drop, and personally, I think it would be close to impossible given that the train is angled away from the viewing area. You could possible get on as the train is decending the hill, but how would you know if the bar is up? Just my $.02. I have a hard time believing this story. If it is true, there are some serious issues that WDW needs to address, and I do apologise for being a doubting thomas, but that is just the society we live in.
Originally Posted By danyoung >7. If this did happen, the ride would have been shut down for at least a day. Disney would never comprimise the safety of their guests. If they did, I think that would be newsworthy and Scott from the Sentinal would have a big story.< Again, from my own experience on Space Mountain where this happened TWICE (on 2 different visits), there was no major fallout, the ride wasn't shut down as far as I know (although I'd hope that the offending vehicle would have been taken off line), and no reporter as far as I know got the story. I didn't stick around to push the issue beyond telling the unload CM's about it, so I don't know what or if was done about it. My point is that it is possible for something like this to be dealt with under the radar, especially with Disney. But I don't believe the OP's story, either. Too many other holes.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <The copy of the email the OP posted is hard to believe. I would assume if there was an injury, this mail would have come from "legal" and not Guest Relations. < this was a red flag for me -- any major corporation, once you move past a minor concern and something that can move to litigation or the media -- customer relations turns that baby over immediately and is then out of the loop. Only specified people allowed to release statements that can be used to represent the company. So I agree with this hole in the story...
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>from my own experience on Space Mountain where this happened TWICE (on 2 different visits)<< Could it be that your body size didn't allow the lap bar to go down enough to lock in the first "clicking" point as you lower it?? Then again, a CM should be there to manually feel if the lap bar did lock. I just don't know what to believe anymore.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper Again, I worked for three different amusement parks and I have first hand knowledge of lap bars opening so I'm not saying it is impossible. It isn't. Would it cause injury? I never witnessed that but I won't say it is impossible. But, I never heard of a coaster that had trains that could self diagnose and send signals back to the operator when a lap bar malfunctioned. It might be possible now but I've not heard of it.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN True.. Only simulator rides such as Star Tour cabins, can they do a visual search on a panel.. Not sure if they can see if one seat belt comes loose during the ride, but..they do lock in place before the ride starts...
Originally Posted By alisserae ^^^The email puzzled me more than anything else. Susan Shiver is indeed a a WDW Cast Member, she works in Guest Claims. And while I don't doubt that she may have responded to their claim, I do doubt what her response was. I find it interesting that rather than copying over the entire email from her, guineapig chose to copy a small portion and then paraphrase the rest. Seems to me someone may have embelished on what happened in the initial incident as well as what has happened since that time.
Originally Posted By danyoung >Could it be that your body size didn't allow the lap bar to go down enough to lock in the first "clicking" point as you lower it?< This is basically what happened. I'm a big guy, and with claustrophobia I hate a tight lap bar. So I always pull it down to where it's solid but not crushing into me. The CM did indeed to the traditional pull on the bar, but I guess there's a place on the restraint where it's locked but not locked, y'know?
Originally Posted By Kimrue ^^ This is a serious question..if you had yanked hard on the lapbar would it have popped up before the ride began?
