LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (June 14) - A 4-year-old boy died after a spin on a Walt Disney World spaceship ride so intense that some riders have been taken to the hospital with chest pain.

 

 

 

 

 

Daudi Bamuwamye lost consciousness Monday aboard ''Mission: Space,'' which spins riders in a giant centrifuge that subjects them to twice the normal force of gravity. The boy's mother carried him off the ride, and paramedics and a theme park worker tried to revive him, but he died at a hospital.

 

An autopsy was scheduled Tuesday to determine the cause of death.

 

The sheriff's office said the boy met the minimum 44-inch height requirement for the ride.

 

The $100 million ride, one of Disney World's most popular, was closed after the death but reopened Tuesday after company engineers concluded that it was operating normally.

 

 

Disney officials said in a statement that they were ''providing support to the family and are doing everything we can to help them during this difficult time.''

 

The ride recreates a rocket launch and a trip to Mars. A clock counts down before a simulated blastoff that includes smoke and flame and the sound of roaring rocket engines. The G-forces twist and distort riders' faces.

 

An audio recording and a video warn of the risks. Signs advise pregnant women not to go on the ride. Motion sickness bags are offered to riders. One warning sign posted last year read: ''For safety you should be in good health, and free from high blood pressure, heart, back or neck problems, motion sickness or other conditions that can be aggravated by this adventure.''

 

Since the attraction opened in 2003, seven people have been taken to the hospital for chest pains, fainting or nausea. That is the most hospital visits for a single ride since Florida's major theme parks agreed in 2001 to report any serious incidents to the state. The most recent case was last summer, when a 40-year-old woman was taken to a hospital after fainting.

 

''Two Gs is not that big a deal,'' said Houston-based theme park consultant Randy King, a former safety director at Six Flags, which operates 30 amusement parks.

 

The boy from Sellersville, Pa., was on the ride with his mother and a sister. During the ride, the mother noticed that Daudi's body was rigid and his legs were stretched straight out. She told detectives that she thought he was frightened, so she took his hand. When the ride was over, he had gone limp.

 

One other death was reported at Disney World this year. A 77-year-old woman who was in poor health from diabetes and several ministrokes died in February after going on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. A medical examiner's report said her death ''was not unexpected.''

 

Florida's major theme parks not directly regulated by the state, and instead have their own inspectors.

 

Source

Freaky.

They shouldn't have let that four-year old on a ride that intense.

I never go on rides like that...all it does is get me dizzy.

 

Tough loss for the family.

This really sucks. I feel so bad for the family. Imagine going on vacation thinking tha nothing could go wrong and something like this happens. Personally, I wouldn't take a 4 year old on a ride like that. Many people are saying the same. Unfortunately, something that some people don't realize is that people think that just because it's Disney that it's kid-safe as long as the kid meets the height requirements, even if there are warning signs at every corner. Someone mentioned on a Disney message board I visit that Disney should start using a rating system, like they do with movies.

This is 100 percent the parents fault.

 

NO 4 year old should be on a ride like that ever.....but with that said, I feel horrible for the family, it's a tragic accident.

I wouldn't jump to put the entire blame on the parents. It could have been a condition that wasn't known. Could be anything.

Wow, I don't get how a ride like that could possibly have height requirements that low. The ride is just as intense possibly more than most Coaster's.

This is 100 percent the parents fault.

 

NO 4 year old should be on a ride like that ever.....but with that said, I feel horrible for the family, it's a tragic accident.

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I agree.

 

*Waits for parents to sue Disney for $50 million*

The parents are idiots for thinking their child could go on the ride, but it's probably the ultimate legal responsibility of Disney for allowing someone who I doubt meets height requirements to go on the ride.

The parents are idiots for thinking their child could go on the ride, but it's probably the ultimate legal responsibility of Disney for allowing someone who I doubt meets height requirements to go on the ride.

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Did you read the article? Every article on this says that the child did meet the height requirements. Also, I don't think the parents are idiots. Millions of children ride this all the time and this happened to just one child. We don't know what happened medically, so we are no one to place the blame on anyone right now.

It's all still a mystery...

 

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I ride like that should also have an age requirement as well as a height requirement.

I was on that ride a few months back and there is noway a 4 year old should have been let in......

I was on that ride a few months back and there is noway a 4 year old should have been let in......

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It doesn't matter whether he was 4 or not. Every time I have gone I see many little kids about his age riding it and coming out all excited and everything enjoying the ride. I am pretty sure the kid had a medical condition that was unknown. And since it was unknown the parents thought it was safe for him to ride.

That's really sad

I think they should close this ride. It is way too intense. The force placed upon your body is way too much in such an enclosed space.

I think they should close this ride. It is way too intense. The force placed upon your body is way too much in such an enclosed space.

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i havent been on it. i need to experience it before they do anything. and it wont be closed me thinks. at least not at this point.

This is one lawsuit that would be warranted

I think they should close this ride. It is way too intense. The force placed upon your body is way too much in such an enclosed space.

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I doubt it's gonna close anytime soon.

I went on it and was dizzy and nauseous for about 30 minutes after it was over. I did'nt request hospital time.

 

Probably a hidden medical condition.

 

I wonder if there's a disclaimer on the back of Disney tickets holding them harmless in situations such as these.

I went on it and was dizzy and nauseous for about 30 minutes after it was over. I did'nt request hospital time.

 

Probably a hidden medical condition.

 

I wonder if there's a disclaimer on the back of Disney tickets holding them harmless in situations such as these.

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There are so many disclaimers nowadays that most have become pretty much irrelevant, any good attorney can make a case these days even if their client completely went against a disclaimer or warning.

Mission Space kicked ass. I had a blast riding it. But it is pretty intense, and they tell you that a million times. It isn't for everyone, that's for sure.

I think they should close this ride. It is way too intense. The force placed upon your body is way too much in such an enclosed space.

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There is no need for the ride to be closed. The purpose of the ride is to experience the feeling astronauts do at a safe level. Apparently the kid had an unknown medical condition. It is nobody's fault he died.

un defendable by disney, they need an age, not just hight requirement