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AVP
03-12-2004, 04:12 PM
Source: Torres family spokesperson

AN OPEN LETTER TO DISNEYLAND

It has been only six months since our son, Marcelo, died on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland. A death caused by faulty maintenance, lack of safety procedures, lack of training, cost cutting measures and very serious safety violations that could have been prevented.

Only six months ago, we had Marcelo with us here, with his smile, his dreams, his plans and ambitions. Hopefully, people will not forget that this ride, the very same ride where the state investigators found a series of safety violations, is the one that killed our twenty two year old son. Our son suffered a horrible death in being crushed on his head and chest by the locomotive of that train causing broken ribs and massive internal bleeding.

Our son died at a place where you go to have fun and be happy, where you are supposed to feel safe. Our son indeed went to Disneyland for fun, with some friends, but he never came back to us. SAFETY?...Disneyland was not a safe place to go.

Now, Disneyland has decided to re-open Big Thunder Mountain and it has been all over the news. Business as usual...as we try to go on with our lives....but, we can't stop thinking "Why"? Why didn't they stop the train when it was making unusual clacking noise that Friday morning? How can work be signed off without being performed? It is unthinkable that Disneyland didn't even train its employees to maintain and stop the ride when they noticed unusual noises coming out of the train that day and days before. Why does the State need to order Disneyland to retrain its entire staff?

You may not understand the horrible pain that we are going through, the horrible pain of losing our son so tragically. The re-opening of this ride so quickly has only re-opened the wounds we have been trying to close over the past six months. Life is not always fair but you had the power to prevent this.

The life of Marcelo would start like a story of Walt Disney "Once upon a time, Marcelo was a happy boy that grew up in a happy family." Marcelo was always happy, quiet and loving. Marcelo always had kind words for other people, speaking of peace, his dreams and his plans ahead of him. He is not here anymore and we will never be the same again without him. Our families life has changed forever and we will now go through our whole lives with the emptiness of not having our son. You may not know how it is for a mother to feel the pain of not having her son on a daily basis. To cry everyday, feel the desperation of not having him. I want to see Marcelo's smile again, to hug him, and listen to his voice and laughter, see his beautiful smile. We look for answers so no other family need suffer like this.

You have re-opened that ride, where our son was killed, and we are only left with his pictures, beautiful memories of our life that now goes on without our beloved "Mars."

Jaime and Carmen Torres

Cadaverous Pallor
03-12-2004, 04:25 PM
Well, at least they didn't say "Don't re-open the ride!"

I truly feel sorry for them, but the ride needs to go on.

Disneyfreak
03-12-2004, 04:27 PM
I feel for these people but I dont think that this should delay the reopening of Big Thunder. I mean what do they want? Do they want the ride to be closed for 5 years? If it was cleared then it is perfectly fine.

adriennek
03-12-2004, 04:35 PM
Ok, I'm prepared to be flamed for being insensitive but I'm kinda thinking that "who are they to decide when the ride gets re-opened?"

There is nothing that I can see in this letter that leads me to believe that the Torres family has any access to know what Disneyland has done to BTMRR in the past six months, from mechanical work on the ride to how they have or have not trained the cast members currently working on the attraction. Meanwhile, the State agency charged with approving the re-opening of the attraction did sign off on it. Did I miss a part of this story that said they didn't completely sign off but DLR opened it anyway?

The way I read it is, "we're still so sad how can you be inconsiderate enough to re-open the ride while we're still grieving?" Well, how long was Disneyland supposed to wait? Tragedies happen every day in "public" places, but that doesn't mean that these places close down indefinitely while the family grieves.

I am sorry that this family suffered this terrible loss. I can't imagine the incredible grief I would endure if that had been my precious child on the train that day. The reality is that life does go on and as humans we must move on. If the Torres family is still grieving, it would be understandable if they would not want to return to Disneyland let alone BTMRR. And yet, for others, moving on and re-opening the attraction would be a source for healing.

Adrienne

Andrew
03-12-2004, 04:36 PM
What Adrienne said.

Not Afraid
03-12-2004, 04:38 PM
No flame here, Adrienne. I'm right there with you. Well said.

Kevy Baby
03-12-2004, 04:42 PM
Well said Adrienne. And the family didn't even mention the tribute that Disney made on Big Thunder Trail!

Ghoulish Delight
03-12-2004, 04:51 PM
The implication in the letter that it's a bad thing that they're re-opening the ride is like expecting every intersection that has a fatal accident occur to be closed down and re-routed. It was horribly tragic, but the world must go on.

Kevy Baby
03-12-2004, 05:04 PM
What if he had died in a hospital?

sediment
03-12-2004, 05:10 PM
I hope this gets to the people responsible for cutting costs (Eisner, Pressler (well, maybe he'll read it), Rasulo, Harriss (yeah, gone too), and Irby).

I hope that Cast Member Matt will make safety a priority over cost-cutting, because the repeat customer adds more to the bottom line than one that won't ever ever return. The reputation of safety should never be compromised; it brings people to the park, and it influences their return.

And I hope now that it is safe to ride again.

As for interpreting the letter, I prefer to be even more insensitive: "We reject your offer to settle. We'll see you in court."

innerSpaceman
03-12-2004, 05:15 PM
Contrary to most posters so far, the implication I read in the letter is that Disney has NOT re-trained its workers, has NOT improved its maintenance, has NOT taken the necessary actions to see that this doesn't happen again. I agree that there is no way for this family to know that one way or the other. But aye, there's the rub.

I think it is incumbant upon Disney to make it known. As poor publicity as that might be, I think it is in the ultimate best interests of the Park to make a loud, public statement as to the nature of its retraining efforts, the details of its new maintenance procedures and how it will assure adherence to same.

"Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me," the saying goes. After the Columbia fatality, I think Disney could get away with hushing things up about about poor training and sloppy maintenance procedures. After a second fatality but a few years later on another Park attraction, I think more than that is required. Why should we simply assume that corrective measures have been taken? Might we not have assumed as much after the Columbia death? And yet Marcelo Torres was also killed due to shoddy training and maintenance.

I think the onus is on Disney this time to make a public pronouncement assuring us of the safety of this attraction, and all other attractions.


As to how long proper respect might demand the ride remain closed, who can say? It is an important part of a profit-making enterprise and thus cannot be expected to remain closed to allow for a family's grief. In many traditions, however, I believe the customary mourning period to be one calendar year ... and I for one intend to stay off Big Thunder Mountain Railroad until that year goes by.

I was planning on riding Big Thunder this weekend. I am excited to have it back, as I enjoy the ride very much. But it's not like it's a brand new attraction, and it's not like I haven't been on it a thousand times. I was very moved by the Torres family's open letter. I feel that their son was murdered. Yes, murdered. As of now, I believe staying off the ride for another 6 months is a valid way of expressing my outrage and my respect for the dead and for the grieving. I may change my mind once my tears have dried, but as of now, that's what I intend to do.

AVP
03-12-2004, 05:17 PM
Originally posted by innerSpaceman
I think the onus is on Disney this time to make a public pronouncement assuring us of the safety of this attraction, and all other attractions. DOSH has released the memo they sent to Disney clearing the ride to reopen. (We're running it in Monday's Update, just in case you want to read it)

They say that THEIR inspection found no safety hazards. I'll take that over a self-serving statement by Disney any day.

AVP

innerSpaceman
03-12-2004, 05:21 PM
AVP - not that I would believe anything from Disney, which you have correctly assumed would be self-serving. But DOSH can know nothing about what Disney intends to do. I believe the ride is mechanically safe now. I believe the proper procedures to keep it so will stay in place, for the time being. But I fear that those standards will eventually be relaxed, and I do not think my fear is entirely unfounded (cough)Columbia(cough).

SandyPtownCA
03-12-2004, 05:29 PM
No flame here either, Adrienne. I'm right there with you!!

As for safety -- Get Eisner out, spend his salary on necessary maintenance and training, and maybe -- just maybe people will feel absolutely safe at Disneyland again.

sediment
03-12-2004, 05:30 PM
I put my trust in Cast Member Matt.

Kevy Baby
03-12-2004, 05:44 PM
Originally posted by SandyPtownCA
As for safety -- Get Eisner out, spend his salary on necessary maintenance and trainingNice thought, but it can't happen. The board could fire Eisner outright today, but they would still have to pay him what he would make through the end of his contract (September 30, 2006).

Leap for Joy
03-12-2004, 05:47 PM
I'm not sure that the point of the letter was that the ride should remain closed. The "business as usual" thing is really hard to face after losing a family member. Your world is completely out of sync but the rest of the world continues on as if nothing were different. It's unsettling. I think that hearing the media go on and on about the ride reopening would be very difficult. They want everyone to remember that someone very special died, that's all.

Ghoulish Delight
03-12-2004, 05:51 PM
While they didn't explicitly say they should have kept the ride closed, the tone implicitly said that.

disneyscott
03-12-2004, 05:53 PM
Originally posted by Kevy Baby
Well said Adrienne. And the family didn't even mention the tribute that Disney made on Big Thunder Trail!


What did Disney do?

Ghoulish Delight
03-12-2004, 05:57 PM
Originally posted by disneyscott
What did Disney do? http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26219&perpage=30&pagenumber=2#post360993

sleepyjeff
03-12-2004, 08:46 PM
Originally posted by innerSpaceman


"Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me," the saying goes. After the Columbia fatality, I think Disney could get away with hushing things up about poor training and sloppy maintenance procedures. After a second fatality but a few years later on another Park attraction, I think more than that is required.



Well Stated. I agree.

wendybeth
03-12-2004, 08:57 PM
Originally posted by Leap for Joy
I'm not sure that the point of the letter was that the ride should remain closed. The "business as usual" thing is really hard to face after losing a family member. Your world is completely out of sync but the rest of the world continues on as if nothing were different. It's unsettling. I think that hearing the media go on and on about the ride reopening would be very difficult. They want everyone to remember that someone very special died, that's all.

I have to say I agree with you. It was a heartbreaking letter from a family that lost a loved one in a very horrible, very public 'accident' that could have (and should have) been prevented.

adriennek
03-12-2004, 09:01 PM
Originally posted by Leap for Joy
I'm not sure that the point of the letter was that the ride should remain closed.
<snip to>
They want everyone to remember that someone very special died, that's all.

I disagree for a couple of reasons. In the letter they said:

"The re-opening of this ride so quickly has only re-opened the wounds we have been trying to close over the past six months."

"So quickly" indicates to me that they have a problem with how they opened the ride- also I don't know if you've seen any interviews with the father on TV but the local news stations and radio stations have been airing soundbites of interviews separate from the statement. They were saying things like (sorry, I have to paraphrase,) "It's too soon" and the reporters are presenting this as a message that the family thinks it was reopened too soon.

Adrienne

Bruce Bergman
03-12-2004, 09:44 PM
Originally posted by Ghoulish Delight
While they didn't explicitly say they should have kept the ride closed, the tone implicitly said that.

In My Humble Opinion (standard disclaimer)... :rolleyes:

To me, the tone of their letter also implied "We are sending this open letter because we are not done grieving for Marcello, and may never be done grieving. Six months was not long enough. Six years might not be long enough..."

(And now the cynical part of what I read into it) "You are causing us additional pain and suffering by reopening the ride, and we're hurting so bad that we are going to triple what we were originally going to ask for in the wrongful death lawsuit, and/or double what we will accept as an out-of-court settlement with a confidentiality clause. You'll be hearing from our lawyer - and he gets 40% off the top, so he's motivated."
______________________________________________

I'm sure the grief is real - but stuff like this has happened before, and will probably happen again. And frankly, the wording of their letter made me instantly think this, their lawyer might have been the one who drafted the letter...

There have been what, a dozen CM & Guest deaths combined in Disneyland over the years, which is rather low in my estimation - they do a pretty good job of safety.

Been there, Done that, felt the pain - I lost a cousin to a stupid industrial accident (http://www.digalert.org/cbyd.html) in 1985 - he bored into a 44,000 volt underground power line that the {unnamed utility} locating person (sitting in an office building) deciced was not there. Wakeup Call. Now when you call for a "Dig-Alert" Lookup (http://www.digalert.org/) they always send someone out to check all the maps, and physically check for and mark the locations...

People die getting out of the bathtub every day, people get into car accidents - Life itself can be Dangerous, you can't hide in bed with a pillow over your head for the rest of your life. You have to get out there and live, while taking reasonable precautions.

We can only hope that Disneyland has truly changed the maintenance and safety check procedures so the odds of a mishap like this happening again are infintessimally low, and they stay there.

:fez: --<< Bruce >>--

AB Born
03-12-2004, 10:45 PM
I have to ask....
How much do you think Disney will pay this family?