posted June 14, 2005 12:32 PM              

Intense Ride Includes Motion Sickness Bags
By MIKE SCHNEIDER, AP

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (June 14) - A 4-year-old boy died after passing out aboard Walt Disney World's ''Mission: Space,'' a ride so intense that it has motion sickness bags and several riders have been treated for chest pain.

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Disney's "Mission: Space" simulates a rocket launch and trip to Mars.

Daudi Bamuwamye passed out Monday afternoon on the attraction, which simulates a rocket launch and trip to Mars. The Orange County Sheriff's Office said his mother carried him off the ride and employees helped her place him on a bench.

Paramedics tried to revive him, but he died at Celebration Hospital.

The sheriff's office said the boy did meet the minimum 44-inch height requirement for the ride at the Epcot theme park, which uses centrifugal force to simulate twice the normal force of gravity.

An autopsy was expected Tuesday to determine the cause of the boy's death.

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Officials said the boy from Sellersville, Pa., was on the ride with his mother, Agnes, and a sister.

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

In 2003, Disney began placing motion sickness bags in the ride.

During an eight-month period in 2003-04, six people over age 55 were taken to hospitals for treatment of chest pain and nausea after riding ''Mission: Space,'' though none of them was found to have any serious problem.

At that time, it was the most hospital visits for a single ride since Florida's major theme parks agreed in 2001 to report such problems to the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Updated figures were not immediately available.

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 at the Magic Kingdom. A medical examiner's report said her death ''was not unexpected.''

Signs warn visitors about the intensity of the ''Mission: Space'' ride.

''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,'' one sign on view last year said. Signs also warn pregnant women not to go on the ride.

Florida's major parks are not directly regulated by the Department of Agriculture; state law exempts large, permanent amusement parks that have their own inspectors from state oversight. But the parks agreed to share safety information in 2001.

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

06-14-05 10:59EDT

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I've been to Disney World many times. I can recall a time when I went on a ride....I forgot what it was called. But it had to do with aliens. Alot of the rides there can be very intense. I came out of there with my heart hurting. Just as I was walking out I saw a sign that said people with heart problems should not get on the ride.

Could have given them a heart attack.

posted June 14, 2005 04:56 PM              

It seems like there is more to this story than the child simply being a four-year-old.
I wouldn't be surprised if had an underlying medical condition that his family didn't know about.

posted June 15, 2005 01:43 AM              

Disney should have known that a ride like that isn't for children....especially a 4 year old.

Many people trust the fact that a child of theres could even get on that ride....especially when Disney says they can.

Poor little baby...didn't even live to be 5.

posted June 15, 2005 09:18 AM              

I just remember that when I was young (and very, very tall for my age) I went on each and every roller coaster as soon as I possibly could - and they all (with the exception of the kiddie coasters) have those exact same warnings.

posted June 15, 2005 11:37 AM              

The death of a 4-year-old boy who lost consciousness on a Walt Disney World thrill ride Monday is still unexplained and has prompted a renewed call for federal monitoring of theme-park safety.

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Disney's "Mission: Space" simulates a rocket launch and trip to Mars.

Watch Multiband Video: Tragedy at Disney
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An autopsy Tuesday on Daudi Bamuwamye of Sellersville, Pa., "showed no signs of trauma and no obvious medical issues," says Jim Solomons of the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

The child was carried off the Mission: Space ride by his mother and pronounced dead at a hospital near the Orlando attraction. Further tests will be conducted to determine cause of death, Solomons says.

The $100 million ride simulates a space mission and is billed as offering "sensations similar to what astronauts feel." An inspection by the sheriff's office and Disney found "nothing broken," Solomons says. The ride reopened Tuesday.

"The death of this child is a perfect example of why the federal government should be able to investigate," says Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., author of a bill to close a loophole in U.S. law that exempts theme parks from federal oversight.

"The federal government regulates child seats in the back of automobiles ... but not amusement rides that approach G forces that astronauts are exposed to," he says.

State laws on inspection of theme-park rides vary. Fourteen require no inspections.

Though Florida does have state ride inspectors, Disney is exempt because it has more than 1,000 employees and a full-time safety program, says Rob Jacobs, chief of Florida's Bureau of Fair Rides Inspection. Disney does have to file a yearly affidavit that a ride is safe.

"If this had happened at one of Disney's California parks, by law Disney would be required to shut down the ride immediately," says Kathy Fackler of Saferparks, an advocacy group she formed after her son David lost part of his left foot in a roller coaster accident at Disneyland in 1998, when he was 5.

Operators "would not be allowed to reopen the ride until the state was confident" the ride was safe, Fackler says.

Since Mission: Space opened in 2003, seven riders - all but one of them 55 or older - reported problems such as nausea and chest pain. Before boarding, riders are warned about the ride's intensity and told to back out if they suffer from motion sickness or other conditions.

The ride is "fantastic, very realistic - but disconcerting," says Disney World visitor Bill Kalmar, 62, of Lake Orion, Mich.

Disney World's Jacquee Polak says 8.6 million visitors have ridden Mission: Space without incident. There is a 44-inch height requirement, which Daudi met.

In February, a 77-year-old woman with diabetes and other ailments died at Disney World after riding the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction.

06-15-05 07:39 EDT

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