Kids and roller coaster safety

[lady3jane]

I have always loved roller coasters, and this last year my 8 yr old DD has stared riding them too. I've never really worried about my own safety because I know how rare accidents are. However, now I find I get completely paranoid about my DD's safety when she's on them (with or without me). I'm afraid she'll accidently squeeze out from under the lap bar and fall out the side. It doesn't help that she turned out to be the type that puts her hands in the air and laughs maniacally during the rides. At first, I thought it was just something I would have to get over, like when she started to ride a scooter and I was sure she'd fall and break her arm or something. But the last time we were on BTMRR, she looked at me after a drop and said "Mom, I stood up!" I yelled "What! What do you mean you stood up?! You're not supposed to stand up!" She said she didn't do it on purpose. This must have been during a relatively tame part of the ride, because when I was yelling I also noticed the kids in the seat behind us and I could tell that she wasn't exaggerating - they had these looks on their faces half terrified and half "wow, that was cool". Needless to say, the rest of the ride I held onto her. The problem is, on that ride there is only one lap bar for both passengers, and I am, to put it bluntly, fat, and she is a skinny little thing. Obviously, I can't make the bar go down far enough to keep her in properly.

So I have some questions for other parents or anyone else very familiar with DL:
1) Have you ever felt paranoid about your kid's safety on rides, and how did you deal with it?

2) How should I deal with rides that have only one lap bar? If we ride separately, will they have her riding with a stranger or alone?

3) What happens if someone actually starts falling out of a ride or there's some other problem- do the ride operators notice?

[Mousey Girl]

I wish BTMMR would get the same cusion type thingys that MM has at DCA.

[Monorail Man]

So I have some questions for other parents or anyone else very familiar with DL:
1) Have you ever felt paranoid about your kid's safety on rides, and how did you deal with it?

2) How should I deal with rides that have only one lap bar? If we ride separately, will they have her riding with a stranger or alone?

3) What happens if someone actually starts falling out of a ride or there's some other problem- do the ride operators notice?

1) Never paranoid. Disney does an excellent job at safety, even if there have been a few problems in the past.

2) Explain your situation with the Cast Member. They will useally be happy to give you each your own row (and therefore, lap bar).

3) You bet they notice. Every attraction has dozens of camera littered all over the place, and there are specific CMs just designed to look out for people violating the safety rules.

If this is that big of an issue, you may want to sit down with her, and explain why the rules are there, and how it's for her safety. Also, if your a parent who likes to teach through examples, there are many out on the web explaining how someone died not following the rules.

[sleepyjeff]

I have always loved roller coasters, and this last year my 8 yr old DD has stared riding them too. I've never really worried about my own safety because I know how rare accidents are. However, now I find I get completely paranoid about my DD's safety when she's on them (with or without me). I'm afraid she'll accidently squeeze out from under the lap bar and fall out the side. It doesn't help that she turned out to be the type that puts her hands in the air and laughs maniacally during the rides. At first, I thought it was just something I would have to get over, like when she started to ride a scooter and I was sure she'd fall and break her arm or something. But the last time we were on BTMRR, she looked at me after a drop and said "Mom, I stood up!" I yelled "What! What do you mean you stood up?! You're not supposed to stand up!" She said she didn't do it on purpose. This must have been during a relatively tame part of the ride, because when I was yelling I also noticed the kids in the seat behind us and I could tell that she wasn't exaggerating - they had these looks on their faces half terrified and half "wow, that was cool". Needless to say, the rest of the ride I held onto her. The problem is, on that ride there is only one lap bar for both passengers, and I am, to put it bluntly, fat, and she is a skinny little thing. Obviously, I can't make the bar go down far enough to keep her in properly.

So I have some questions for other parents or anyone else very familiar with DL:
1) Have you ever felt paranoid about your kid's safety on rides, and how did you deal with it?

2) How should I deal with rides that have only one lap bar? If we ride separately, will they have her riding with a stranger or alone?

3) What happens if someone actually starts falling out of a ride or there's some other problem- do the ride operators notice?

1)You are not alone and this is the very ride I worry the most about with my son. I like the Matterhorn, Space, and even Screamin better then Thunder because they have better restraint systems for the little ones in my opinion. I guess Disney knows what their doing since this ride has been going for over 25 years now with no child falling out(although I think one kid did lose a foot).........but still, they should put in individual lap bars if only for the sake of us nervous parents sanity

2)I think if you request that they ride in a seperate row right in front of you and alone they would accomodate the request although I have never asked myself since my son always wants to sit with his similar sized cousins since that first time with me

3)I doubt if they would notice since they didn't seem to even know right away when a train derailed.

[Malcon10t]

3) What happens if someone actually starts falling out of a ride or there's some other problem- do the ride operators notice?

Yes, there are cameras thruout the ride, and there are CMs specifically watching for such issues. I know this for a fact, because I had a teen boy with us who thought it would be cute to loosen up his belt on tOT, and he figured out how to do it without a CM seeing. But when the elevator dropped, the CM watching the camera, stopped the ride and handled the situation. The CM didn't handle the situation as harshly as I did though. He was close til he saw how mad I was, and he backed off and let me rip the kid. I did a much better job...

[Malcon10t]

3)I doubt if they would notice since they didn't seem to even know right away when a train derailed.

Actually, the area of the derail was not an "issue area", so at the time there weren't cameras there. Issue areas would be peaks and drops. Some rides have more cameras, ie POTC... It has cameras viewed the whole way.

[HUH?]

Yes, there are cameras thruout the ride, and there are CMs specifically watching for such issues. I know this for a fact, because I had a teen boy with us who thought it would be cute to loosen up his belt on tOT, and he figured out how to do it without a CM seeing. But when the elevator dropped, the CM watching the camera, stopped the ride and handled the situation. The CM didn't handle the situation as harshly as I did though. He was close til he saw how mad I was, and he backed off and let me rip the kid. I did a much better job...

This is off topic but I want to know what you did because I would have loved to see that.

Anyways back to the topic at hand. If they did put in individual restraints on Thunder Mt. it would probably make the ride uncomfortable. I am little on the tall side, and because of that I have leg room trouble. My knees bang the front of the car, so a personal restraint probably wouldn't go that far down on me so it wouldn't do me and other taller people much good. Besides, theride is not so rough that it needs indiviual restraints for the majority of its passengers.

[sediment]

So I have some questions for other parents or anyone else very familiar with DL:
1) Have you ever felt paranoid about your kid's safety on rides, and how did you deal with it?

2) How should I deal with rides that have only one lap bar? If we ride separately, will they have her riding with a stranger or alone?

3) What happens if someone actually starts falling out of a ride or there's some other problem- do the ride operators notice?

1. No, so I don't deal with it.
2. Don't let her go on it. Let her stay with a CM in the loading area. That's what they're there for. [/sarcastic] It might be better if she were on with someone near her own size, such a another kid. It's also possible that she misspoke, saying that she was standing when she merely got some air.
3. No, they won't notice. Cameras are placed on less exciting rides (Skyways, ATIS, POTC, HM, PM, etc), because those rides have the most incidences of misbehavior. At the start of a hill, though, there might be a camera.

If she is not mature enough to follow the rules (if she really was "standing"), then she shouldn't go on the rides. It's really that simple. And ONLY YOU are responsible for her safety when she misbehaves.

[lady3jane]

Thank you all for your advice, especially sleepyjeff for his sympathetic answer. I'm intrigued by the fact that there's so much disagreement over where cameras are located.