Disney’s Space Ride Claims Second Life In Two Years
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
ORLANDO, Fla. – Walt Disney World reopened its “Mission: Space” attraction yesterday, a day after a woman who became ill after leaving the ride died at a hospital.
It was the second death in less than a year related to the Epcot Center ride, which spins riders in a centrifuge that subjects them to twice the normal force of gravity. It is considered so intense it has motion sickness bags and signs warning people with heart, back, and neck problems not to board it.
The 49-year-old German woman who died Wednesday had reported dizziness and nausea after stepping off the ride on Tuesday, Disney officials said.
The medical examiner’s office identified the victim yesterday as Hiltrud Bleumel, and said an autopsy was planned.
“Walt Disney World engineers and ride system experts completed a thorough inspection of the attraction overnight and found it to be operating properly,” the theme park said yesterday in announcing the reopening of the ride.
A worker from the state Bureau of Fair Rides Inspection monitored the testing and said the ride didn’t appear “to be acting abnormal in any way,” a spokesman for Florida’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which oversees the bureau, Terence McElroy, said.
An incident report on the death may not be available for months, Mr. McElroy said.
