In separate stories, the Orlando Sentinel notes that Disney may be tweaking two popular rides. Mission: Space, which in its first eight months sent six people to the hospital for more than a day, has only had one person in the last six months visit the hospital for an extended stay. Disney says that “despite persistent rumors that Imagineers would retool the ride to make it less intense… it has not toned down the ride in response to the hospitalizations”. Spokesman Bill Warren said, “There’s been no material change to the ride itself”. While company safety officials can’t explain the drop-off in hospitalizations, one reason may be that guests are actually heeding the warning signs.

When Disney retooled the ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter by replacing the original scary alien with the more friendly Stitch, renaming the ride Stitch’s Great Escape, it was in part done to make the ride less frightening to children. Apparently more tweaking is in store for the ride, since young Stitch fans are not fans of the rides extended periods of total darkness. “A Disney spokeswoman confirmed that imagineers are making ‘minor’ adjustments, but would not offer details about the changes”.