Man dies after riding Expedition Everest at Disney's Animal

ericpabear · Post by **ericpabear** » Dec Tue 18, 2007 7:34 pm

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/ ... 7883.story

From Orlando Sentinel
Man dies after riding Expedition Everest at Disney's Animal Kingdom
Scott Powers | Sentinel Staff Writer
6:06 PM EST, December 18, 2007
A 44-year-old man has died after riding the Expedition Everest roller coaster at Disney's Animal Kingdom today.
Jeffrey Reed, of Navarre, was unconscious and unresponsive when his ride vehicle pulled into the unload area, around 11:25 this morning.
Another park guests who is a registered nurse and a Disney employee began cardiopulmonary resuscitation until Reedy Creek Emergency Services paramedics arrived and took over, said Assistant Fire Chief Bo Jones.
The man had no pulse when paramedics arrived, Jones said. There was no apparent trauma and "no obvious signs of any cause," Jones said. The paramedics transported him to Celebration Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Walt Disney World officials said the ride was inspected this morning and was operating properly, but is currently closed while Disney officials reconfirm the ride's status.
The Florida Bureau of Fair Rides Inspection and the Orange County Sheriff's Office were notified.
A Disney spokeswoman said the company has offered the man's family "our deepest sympathies" and offered assistance.
The death is the first associated with the roller coaster Expedition Everest, which opened in early 2006. That ride includes tight twists and turns and some backwards travel but is not a particularly fast or steep roller coaster and has no loops.
The death is the third death associated with a Disney attraction this year and the first since March, when a man died after collapsing at the Downhill Double Dipper at Blizzard Beach.

Shinku · Post by **Shinku** » Dec Wed 19, 2007 4:59 am

From the Florida Today website:

Disney reopens roller coaster
Officials: Inspection revealed nothing wrong with ride

BY DONNA BALANCIA

Walt Disney World officials said Tuesday they temporarily shut down Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom after the death of a 44-year-old man who had ridden the roller coaster that morning.

But an inspection found nothing wrong with the ride, according to Andrea Finger, a spokeswoman for Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando. The ride reopened Tuesday evening.

More here

nancynohorse · Post by **nancynohorse** » Dec Wed 19, 2007 9:18 am

So sad for that man's family.

Captain Schnemo · Post by **Captain Schnemo** » Dec Wed 19, 2007 12:18 pm

Most, if not all, of these recent deaths are not the fault of Disney, but the intensity of some of these new rides is surely the cause. Even though these are largely the result of pre-existing health conditions, previous Disney rides just didn't have the capacity to kill people.

I wonder if it's Disney's reputation for mild family attractions that has people going on rides that they wouldn't otherwise risk. The Disney audience isn't the same as the Six Flags crowd, so it's probably true that some of these people would have never been exposed to these attractions otherwise.

I guess this is the cost of doing business if you want to have these kind of attractions, but I wonder how old Walt would have reacted. They closed the lakes to swimming based on deaths with similar odds, but I guess the lakes weren't multi-million dollar productions with product tie-ins and all that.

AKLRULZ · Post by **AKLRULZ** » Dec Wed 19, 2007 3:59 pm

The Orlando paper is reporting this today:

The 44-year-old man who died after suffering an apparent heart attack on Walt Disney World's Expedition Everest ride was suffering from an enlarged heart and had a history of heart arrhythmias. The District Nine Medical Examiner's Office said Jeffery C. Reeb, of Navarre, Fla., died of dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition that in this case had no known cause.

Very sad, very tragic.

Leigh · Post by **Leigh** » Dec Wed 19, 2007 4:07 pm

What a sad time for this man's family. I really think that it is possible if you have a bad heart to literally be scared to death. I felt near panic attack when I rode Splash Mountain for the third time. I am afraid of heights and just can't do it anymore.

Hopefully the man loved roller coasters and his family will know he died happy.

sandicinderelli · Post by **sandicinderelli** » Dec Wed 19, 2007 6:23 pm

My condolences to the family. I pray they have enough supportive family and friends around to help them through this Christmas.

Post by **acp** » Dec Thu 20, 2007 11:06 am

From CNN/AP:

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP)--A 44-year-old man who died after riding a Walt Disney World roller coaster had a pre-existing heart condition that caused his death, a medical examiner said Wednesday.

Jeffery Reeb, 44, was pulled unresponsive from the Expedition Everest ride at Disney's Animal Kingdom about 12:50 p.m. Tuesday.

Preliminary autopsy results indicated that Reeb died of natural causes.

More here

casrin · Post by **casrin** » Dec Thu 20, 2007 4:34 pm

So it was a heart attack. That's what we were "guessing."

Of course, there's being careful as part of life if you do knowingly have a condition. BUT, there is - I suppose - just your time to go too. Maybe he was able to ride coasters all his life despite his condition, and this one time... that was just it.

rmorton50 · Post by **rmorton50** » Dec Thu 20, 2007 10:04 pm

It's just so sad that this had to happen at this time of year. My condolences to his family. This must be very hard for them.

DisBeamer · Post by **DisBeamer** » Dec Thu 20, 2007 11:10 pm

How awful, especially given the time of year, and the fact that now his family will always associate WDW with his death.

Captain Schnemo wrote:I wonder if it's Disney's reputation for mild family attractions that has people going on rides that they wouldn't otherwise risk. The Disney audience isn't the same as the Six Flags crowd, so it's probably true that some of these people would have never been exposed to these attractions otherwise.

I dunno. Having been on this for the first time (twice, actually) this past Sunday, and having stood in the stand by queue for about 45 minutes the first time, I think it'd be hard to mistake the ride for a 'mild family attraction'. You can see a fair bit of track from the queue, and hear the associated screaming and whatnot. That, and there are multiple warnings posted through the line (like, over and over and over). I'd be surprised (but not completely shocked) if people were getting on it thinking it was tame. If it was a known condition he had, then it was foolhardy of him to ignore the warnings (I know it says pre-existing condition, but it might have been pre-existing that he didn't know about/hadn't been diagnosed). More likely, I'm thinking it was just one of those things. Sad, but probably not predictable.

I do have to say it's one of the most intense Disney rides I've been on. I'm not sure we got thrashed around as much as the RnR, but the time we rode in the front seats, on the backwards portion of the ride, man, you get whipped around. You do get an -excellent- view of the property from the top of the hill if you're in the front seat, though I'm not sure I'd want to sit there if I was at all prone to neck problems.

jcodirewolf · Post by **jcodirewolf** » Dec Fri 21, 2007 7:41 am

DisBeamer,

You think it's more harsh than Mission:Space. Someone counted there are 14 warning signs about it being a dark, spinny ride...and people still get "Shocked" to see it.

johno

DisBeamer · Post by **DisBeamer** » Dec Fri 21, 2007 8:19 pm

Well M:S is a bit different (and no, I don't really think it's more harsh than M:S though it probably depends a bit on where you're sitting in the train. I also think they ramped M:S back up a little after they switched to orange/green but that may also be because I hadn't ridden in a few years, I dunno). My point with Everest is more that you can -see- the ride while you're waiting to get on it.

Signs notwithstanding (and there are a lot for each ride), while you're waiting in queue for M:S you could maybe, if you were the type of person who didn't like to read/listen (or were a non-English speaker, to be fair), not realize that M:S is an intense dark spinney ride like the signs say, because you can't see or hear it. I don't know how you'd be standing in line for Everest, with the roller coaster zipping around off to your side and hearing people shrieking as they whipped past and not realize that it's an intense ride. I'd say the same about ToT, where you can hear the screams clear down the street. M:S is more deceptive because it's enclosed, imo. Maybe I'm giving people too much credit for being aware of their surroundings, but the giant roller coaster in the mountain with the terror-filled people is kinda hard to miss when you walk up the road to it.

Joe90 · Post by **Joe90** » Dec Tue 25, 2007 4:36 pm

My sympathy goes to his family.

When it's your time. It's your time.
If you had prior knowledge of a condition that MAY cause problems should you definately avoid all possible risk? Or should you balance the risk with a bit of self indulgent enjoyment? Life is for living not just for travelling through.

One thing in life is guaranteed you arn't getting out of it alive.

chatelaine24 · Post by **chatelaine24** » Jan Tue 01, 2008 8:47 pm

One thing in life is guaranteed you arn't getting out of it alive.

so true.

i was at disneyworld when the boy died on RnR. i remember thinking how horrible it must be for the family.

disneyworld will never be the same for them.

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