Woman dies after riding Disney “rocket”

By Barbara Liston

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) – A 49-year-old German woman
died after riding a rocket simulator at Walt Disney World’s
Epcot theme park in Florida, the second person to die in less
than a year after riding on Mission: SPACE, state officials
said on Thursday.

State regulators said Disney had told them the woman, who
died Wednesday evening, may have had some prior health problems
including high blood pressure and chronic headaches. Disney did
not identify the woman, and authorities did not say the cause
of death.

Terence McElroy, a spokesman for the Florida Department of
Agriculture and Consumer Services, said Disney closed the ride
for an inspection overnight after the woman was taken to the
hospital. The attraction uses spinning centrifugal force to
create the sensation of a rocket launch.

“They didn’t see anything out of the ordinary,” McElroy
said. “Disney was satisfied that it was behaving normally.”

Mission: SPACE reopened to the public on Thursday morning,
Disney said in a statement.

In June 2005, 4-year-old Daudi Bamuwamye of Pennsylvania
died after riding Mission: SPACE with his mother and losing
consciousness.

An autopsy by a Florida Medical Examiner’s Office
determined that Bamuwamye had an undiagnosed heart defect which
put him at risk of sudden death under stress.

Mission: SPACE was inspected by Disney after Bamuwamye’s
ride, found to have no mechanical problems and also reopened
the following morning.

Disney’s most technologically advanced attraction, the ride
takes visitors on a simulated trip to Mars. After lifting off,
riders experience a momentary feeling of weightlessness.

While Disney states that Mission: SPACE’s G-forces are less
than a typical roller coaster, many thrill ride fans say they
feel the effects considerably longer than the momentary bursts
on a roller coaster.

Multiple warning signs and prerecorded audio tracks at the
Mission: SPACE entrance and in the queue address pregnancy,
heart conditions, motion sickness, and back and neck problems.

A Disney fan-administered Web site cautions that enough
riders over 55 years old have complained of chest pain or
nausea to become a concern, although the site notes that most
of these guests had preexisting conditions that are
specifically mentioned in the posted warning signs.