State’s Order to Alter Disneyland Ride Opens New Era for Theme Parks

The days of self-policed California theme parks are over.

Last week, the state ordered Disneyland--run by the biggest and most powerful theme park conglomerate in the world--to make major design and safety changes before reopening the Roger Rabbit Car Toon Spin, a ride that left a 4-year-old boy severely brain damaged in a Sept. 22 accident.

It was the first major accident report by newly empowered state investigators and sent a clear signal how they may approach a year-old state law regulating amusement parks, according to many park insiders.

State officials “took the bull by the horns,” said David Collins, a ride engineer who has worked for Disney and Universal Studios. “The fact that they did this is courageous and responsible, and their reaction is equal to the magnitude of this incident.”

Not everyone is cheering, especially at amusement parks, where officials have answered mostly to themselves.

As long as they could work cooperatively with the state, park officials have grudgingly accepted the oversight called for in the legislation. They now must report injury accidents to the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health, which is empowered to conduct annual inspections.

Now that technical regulations to enforce the law are being drafted, the report’s foray into the complex world of ride design appears to have unleashed a wave of resentment and anger. Industry insiders privately question whether the state has the technical expertise to inspect rides, much less to order sweeping design changes.

“If there’s a problem, fix it, but let’s not go in as adversaries,” said Jack Falfas, Knott’s Berry Farm’s vice president and general manager. “I’m afraid that’s the way it’s set up right now. And it shouldn’t be, because we’re here for a common goal.”

That common goal--which no one disputes--is safer parks.

“I never wanted to see an increase in bureaucracy,” Falfas said. “I wanted to see another set of eyes to help prevent problems.”

When Gov. Gray Davis signed an oversight bill into law in October 1999, it ended a 30-year battle to pass such legislation. Amusement park lobbyists had squelched at least four previous attempts at government oversight. The bill by state Sen. Tom Torlakson (D-Antioch) passed at a time of mounting public concern after a string of high-profile accidents, including the 1998 death of a Washington state tourist when a cleat pulled loose from Disneyland’s Columbia sailing ship.

Torlakson said the state agency’s report on the Roger Rabbit accident shows the law is working as he envisioned.

“I intended the law to increase safety, to have state inspections, to have the benefit of those inspections result in recommendations to actually improve safety,” he said.

On Sept. 22, Disneyland immediately reported the accident on Roger Rabbit as required by law. Brandon Zucker, a child from Canyon Country in northern Los Angeles County, had fallen off the spinning ride and was trapped beneath the following car for about 10 minutes before being freed. He suffered severe brain damage and remains hospitalized.

After a three-month investigation, the state report last week concluded that Disneyland employees had not followed the park’s safety procedures for seating children away from the door. They also found that the lap bar had probably not been lowered completely.

The state is ordering Disneyland to somehow close the entries to the individual cars and to add a sensor-equipped guard around the bottom of each car before the ride can be reopened to the public.

Disneyland disputes the state’s findings. It says that employees acted properly and that the ride--in its current design--already is safe.

Fears of More Bureaucracy

Although representatives of several parks across California declined to comment publicly, many said privately that they fear the state’s intervention and would resent being told how to fix a ride.

“I think the state has a long way to go in learning how to conduct investigations and structure reports from a technical point of view and a legal point of view,” said one ride engineer, Edward Pribonic of Seal Beach, who has worked for Disneyland.

“Politically, it’s just another layer the parks have to go through,” said Susie Storey, a spokeswoman for the International Assn. of Parks and Attractions, adding that more regulation does not guarantee an accident will never occur.

State officials, admittedly in a Catch-22 with parents and child welfare advocates on one side and a powerful theme park industry on the other, defended their findings. And Disneyland, despite its disagreement, continues to work with the state.

“This was the first opportunity for both [the state] and Disneyland to operate under this new law,” Disneyland spokesman Ray Gomez said. “The process of that, in our opinion, worked well.” The state took a similarly conciliatory stance: “It was our first major investigation, and I stand by the report our investigators generated,” said Len Welsh, the state agency’s special counsel.

Kathy Fackler of La Jolla, whose son’s foot was partially amputated because of an accident at Disneyland, said she understands the industry’s apprehension, but believes state oversight is necessary.

“I wish there could be a more cooperative venture, but that’s a two-way street,” she said. “If a park is going to be resistant to outside opinion, then they may have to be forced to make changes that they don’t like.”