Date: January 23, 2003
Time: approximately 11AM
Place: Walt Disney World, Magic Kingdom, Winnie the Pooh ride
Last week, I was on vacation with some family, including three kids (ages 2, 5, and 8). Around midday, we were enjoying a ride on the Winnie the Pooh ride (I still miss Mr. Toad's Wild Ride). In the front seat of the car were two adults, a 2-year old, and a 5-year old. In the back seat were two adults (including me) and an 8-year old. When it was time to exit the ride, our little honey pot car came to a stop, and we began to quickly vacate. About half of us were out of the car when the car took of, throwing me and my mother back into our seats, and dragging my 5-year old niece, who was halfway out of the car. This would not be a big deal, except that those tricky folks at Imagineering had decided to place several very hard metal vertical posts inches from the path of the car. I really would have thought that the ride operator would notice two adults standing in the car and not hit the GO button. In any case, my niece came out of it with a bruised wrist and hand (no biggy; more of just a scare than anything else).
When this happened, the operators' initial reaction was to move us along and pretend it didn't happen. At the exit, we talked to the staff member manning the souvenir shop, and she contacted a manager. Within a few minutes, the Disney damage-control crew arrived (plain looking guys in leather jackets and with an ear-piece). Through the magic of Disney, they made everyone who was working on the ride disappear, and promised to have a proper talking with them. The manager dealing with us was very nice and attentive, was very upset with the employees, and said that this type of thing should not even be ABLE to happen. My thanks to him.
My fear is, of course, that someone really could have been really badly hurt in this accident. Had my niece been exiting the car by leading with her head, it could have gotten clipped by the metal post, and could have caused a MUCH bigger "ouch".
Perhaps a redundant level of GO buttons is in order, or perhaps all that is needed is attentive employees (not making a generalization; just saying that these employees were NOT attentive). In any case, Disney should take such matters seriously, and perhaps consider removing hard obstructions (e.g. metal poles) in case the ride does start to move while people are exiting. But hey, I'm no ride engineer or anything.
My point in all of this is not to slam Disney or its employees, but just to remind everyone to keep their heads up. I know that people make mistakes, and that Disney does all they can... it's just an experience I wanted to share.
Time: approximately 11AM
Place: Walt Disney World, Magic Kingdom, Winnie the Pooh ride
Last week, I was on vacation with some family, including three kids (ages 2, 5, and 8). Around midday, we were enjoying a ride on the Winnie the Pooh ride (I still miss Mr. Toad's Wild Ride). In the front seat of the car were two adults, a 2-year old, and a 5-year old. In the back seat were two adults (including me) and an 8-year old. When it was time to exit the ride, our little honey pot car came to a stop, and we began to quickly vacate. About half of us were out of the car when the car took of, throwing me and my mother back into our seats, and dragging my 5-year old niece, who was halfway out of the car. This would not be a big deal, except that those tricky folks at Imagineering had decided to place several very hard metal vertical posts inches from the path of the car. I really would have thought that the ride operator would notice two adults standing in the car and not hit the GO button. In any case, my niece came out of it with a bruised wrist and hand (no biggy; more of just a scare than anything else).
When this happened, the operators' initial reaction was to move us along and pretend it didn't happen. At the exit, we talked to the staff member manning the souvenir shop, and she contacted a manager. Within a few minutes, the Disney damage-control crew arrived (plain looking guys in leather jackets and with an ear-piece). Through the magic of Disney, they made everyone who was working on the ride disappear, and promised to have a proper talking with them. The manager dealing with us was very nice and attentive, was very upset with the employees, and said that this type of thing should not even be ABLE to happen. My thanks to him.
My fear is, of course, that someone really could have been really badly hurt in this accident. Had my niece been exiting the car by leading with her head, it could have gotten clipped by the metal post, and could have caused a MUCH bigger "ouch".
Perhaps a redundant level of GO buttons is in order, or perhaps all that is needed is attentive employees (not making a generalization; just saying that these employees were NOT attentive). In any case, Disney should take such matters seriously, and perhaps consider removing hard obstructions (e.g. metal poles) in case the ride does start to move while people are exiting. But hey, I'm no ride engineer or anything.
My point in all of this is not to slam Disney or its employees, but just to remind everyone to keep their heads up. I know that people make mistakes, and that Disney does all they can... it's just an experience I wanted to share.
I always try and rush my kids off of rides at any theme park we go to.
