PDA

View Full Version : Is Thunder Mountain safe?



rakkwhite
05-27-2004, 01:43 PM
My friend will be visiting Southern California this summer and wants to go to Disneyland with me. She is excited about her visit but refuses to go on Thunder Mountain because she feels it's not safe.

I read on this website an account of the accident that said "the lead “engine” car broke free from the train of passenger cars" and I believe it went on to say that it did not have an independent braking system and therefore was free to collide into the passenger section. Is this informaiton correct? Does anyone know if Disneyland has put a braking system on the engine car as well now?

I love this ride and I want to feel confident riding it again.

smd4
05-27-2004, 01:58 PM
Is this informaiton correct? In a word: No.

I think you may be confusing two events. Others here will elaborate, but neither the cars nor the "locomotive" ever had individual brakes--the brakes are on the track.

Both problems were because of human error, which can be faulted in most accidents.

I usually hesitate responding to threads like this, because usually the poster has his/her mind made up already, and no amount of facts or logic will change it.

Is you friend taking an airplane to SoCal? Driving? Are you driving to DL?

Your chances of dying in a car accident on the way to the park are far greater than dying on this ride. But I figure you'll still drive there.

Ghoulish Delight
05-27-2004, 01:59 PM
Your account is close, but not quite. Part of the rear wheel assembly of the "engine" broke lose. It hung down below the car, and eventually caught on the track. This cause the "engine" to rapidly decelerate, as well as the back end to lift into the air. The car behind it did not decelerate, and was pushed underneath the engine, crushing the first row of seats.

If you feel confident on any other rolleroaster, then you should feel just as confident on Big Thunder. ALL rollercoasters are heavy, complex machines, with many moving parts. ALl of them have risks, and could have an accident at any time due to malfunction, maintanance errors, operating errors, faulty parts, etc. There are fail-safes and proceudres to minimize the risk, but the risk is never zero. To feel secure on all other coasters, but fear one just because that one had an isolated accident recently is to ignore reality. If your friend has no problem riding the Matterhorn, or California Screamin', or getting into a car to get to the park (since the number of injuries and deaths related to autos far outpaces the number of deaths related to rollercoasters), then she should have no more reason to worry about riding Big Thunder than any of the others.

rakkwhite
05-27-2004, 02:13 PM
Thank you for the information you have provided. I am looking forward to going on it again soon! I doubt if I can convince my friend to change her mind though, so I'll be going another time to ride it myself.