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View Full Version : Is Big Thunder safe to ride?



tedfenley
03-20-2005, 09:18 AM
Traveling to the Resort May 9 for 5 days. Big Thunder has always been one of my favorites. Has anyone talked to any cast member or someone 'in the know' regarding the safety of BT? Disney will give the official line, but I really want to know the truth..help!!

The old man
03-20-2005, 09:19 AM
Traveling to the Resort May 9 for 5 days. Big Thunder has always been one of my favorites. Has anyone talked to any cast member or someone 'in the know' regarding the safety of BT? Disney will give the official line, but I really want to know the truth..help!!
No, it isn't. Please avoid it so that I don't have to wait too long in line.
David

Terri
03-20-2005, 09:20 AM
yes...it's safe.

MammaSilva
03-20-2005, 09:22 AM
We were at the parks just last weekend and not surprisingly someone asked a CM about the safety while we were waiting to board, now keeping in mind this is the kid who's paycheck pretty much depends on that line of souls waiting to ride, his response was that the ride is probably safer than it's ever been due to all the inspections and concern of the company to make sure it doesn't happen again.....but yeah I'm with the old man, I'm fine with people not wanting to ride...shorter lines (not that I saw that being the case over the weekend!)

SCUBAbe
03-20-2005, 09:29 AM
yes IMO it is., I am not an expert of such things so if you have doubts you should avoid the irde.:)

The old man
03-20-2005, 09:43 AM
Is it safe to ride in a car to Disneyland? Compared to the incidents on Big Thunder the answer would be a definite "NO." Best to stay home (but stay away from that statisically high incident area--the bathroom.)
David

PhilMP
03-20-2005, 10:45 AM
It is safe to drive a car to Disneyland, as long as you don't ignore any noises that you don't recognize as coming from regular car operation.

The ride is physically safe, that long refurb after the incident made sure of that. It's the button-pushers you need to worry about. Too busy checking out the hot guy/girl in the last car to notice the metal-on-metal noise coming from the locomotive.

Phil

h_lehmann
03-20-2005, 11:36 AM
Traveling to the Resort May 9 for 5 days. Big Thunder has always been one of my favorites. Has anyone talked to any cast member or someone 'in the know' regarding the safety of BT? Disney will give the official line, but I really want to know the truth..help!!

The truth is.... All of the attractions will kill you. So will the food (especially the churros), the drinking fountains, the fast pass machines, and the horses on Main Street. Trust me, I'm 'in the know'

Yeesh, get a life, people.

I Heart Disneyland!
03-20-2005, 12:19 PM
I'd ride it over and over! I love BTMRR. I am not fearful of it in the least, even though someone did lose their life. Then again, I still drive the 405 freeway, and I can't imagine how many people lost their lives on it!

Alpha1mom
03-20-2005, 12:23 PM
We were ther at the end of Feb and sat in the 1st car behind the locomotive, it felt a little wierd but we didn't think we needed to move to another seat!!

Alpha1mom
03-20-2005, 12:25 PM
We were ther at the end of Feb and sat in the 1st car behind the locomotive, it felt a little wierd but we didn't think we needed to move to another seat!!

sediment
03-20-2005, 12:27 PM
I'm with The old man. It is not safe. Don't ride it. And tell everyone you see.

MommyTo3Boys1Girl
03-20-2005, 12:31 PM
So safe that I took my 3 1/2 yo son on it for his first time ever just last week!

DisneylandForever
03-20-2005, 12:32 PM
Rode it every day I was there last week. It's as fun as ever!

bradk
03-20-2005, 12:36 PM
isn't the idea of thrill rides because there's a sense of danger? there's a sense for a reason. the trick is that everything is designed to work against that real danger.

in this case, it failed once in 50 years. one person out of millions.

the human heart often fails more than that.

The old man
03-20-2005, 01:20 PM
isn't the idea of thrill rides because there's a sense of danger? there's a sense for a reason. the trick is that everything is designed to work against that real danger.

in this case, it failed once in 50 years. one person out of millions.

the human heart often fails more than that.
Well...I'm in agreement that's it's ridiculous to be afraid of this ride I dont' think that thrill rides are exciting because there's a sense of danger. I think it's the sensation you get from the ride not that you might die riding it.
David

bradk
03-20-2005, 01:28 PM
i don't mean dying in a controlled environment per se. i mean the body and mind aren't expecting to experience those sensations. if you consider tower of terror, which is actually faster than freefall, if you were to just fall from that height in an uncontrolled environment, you would almost certainly die, no question. that's where the sensation comes from.

kristen
03-20-2005, 01:33 PM
i love his thread!!! I can't believe how sarcastic everyone is here, it's great...anyway, yeah, you drive a car, where you're more likely to die than in a plane, but you still do it...you go to the park, where you could slip and die on someone's spilled ice cream...but you still go...you ride any ride because you want to be entertained, and with many of them, fear is a part of some of the entertainment!...so you risk the chance that you might get hurt or die...but hey, that's living! If you never did anything with any risk...wait, you can't!! even if you lay in bed for the rest of your life, there's risk involved: you can get a blood clot in your leg which will travel to the heart and kill you. But hey, not to ruin anyone's day, im just saying, decide whether you think living is worth the risk, or a specific event, such as a ride, and then just go for it!! The human spirit and body are remarkable things, if you have the drive you can survive much more than you know!

notlemc
03-20-2005, 02:09 PM
Big Thunder is safe to ride. I went on it as soon as the accident happened. I admit, I was scared, but it didn't break down. It is an old ride, and it has been faulty like once or twice in its entire life-span. There are worse rides out there that have had more accidents than any other ride in the world that are still in operation. Big Thunder is safe. And if it wasn't Disney would shut it down. It's that simple. I'd trust the ride.