Why penny would you not go parasailing?

[livetotravel]

My 11 year old son and 30 year old daughter just went parasailing on Disneys private Island and loved it. They said it was so smooth and beautiful

[Dave]

Can you expand on the meaning of your message title?

[livetotravel]

Penny said to the other person who was asking about parasailing she would never. sorry I should have replied rather than discussion

[Jim C.]

Its not that it is not a thrilling thing to do, but its not for everyone (some people are afraid of heights)

But the biggest reason she probably told you that is that we tend to discourage para sailing, jet skiing and scooter rental here on cruise chat.

Scooter rental speaks for itself.. motor bike in a strange country, driving on te wrong side of the road in incredibly dense traffic... definite safety issue there.

Para sailing is in the same category- you never know how well the equipment is cared for and how safe it is. You are putting your life in the hands of a stranger. You have no idea how experienced they are either. Yes, most people go incident free. For others its too risky.

Ok.. I'll shut up now and let Penny answer

[penny3333]

Jim answered exactly as I would. I am afraid of heights, but I also am afraid of the maintenance of equipment. Foreign countries do not have the safety regulations the US does. Even with all our regulations here, accidents happen. It also seems like it would be extremely uncomfortable being snatched out of the water by straps digging into sensitive parts of the body. The utmost reason is the safety factor for others. I want everyone's cruise to be a memorable occasion because it was fantastic, not because they broke something or worse.

Thanks, Jim

[Dave]

Just remember - if you have to sign a liability waiver to do something (and I have no doubt Disney required one for parasailing at Castaway Cay), then one or both of the following hold true:

1. Someone has previously been injured doing it and the company was sued.

2. The company's lawyers know someone will eventually be injured (a when, not if certainty) and they want to cover themselves.

It depends on the level of risk you are willing to take.

[livetotravel]

Thanks ya'll. My son of 11 years wanted to parasail for along time so when they had that on the disney private island I said go ahead because if I could trust anyone to take care of their equipment it would be Disney. I didn't love the idea and would not ever let him do it on some other island only bercause it was disney. Don't get me wrong accidents happen even with Disney but they are the only one I would trust enough to take care of my child. My daughter of 30 went up with him and they said it was so smooth and a wonderful experience and would do it again. My stomach was in nots the whole time but everything went well. Have you all heard of any parasailing problems with Disney or any other place?

[Dave]

Actually, just last week I saw a video on-line of a parasailer crashing into a shore structure. I think it was in Cabo San Lucas or Acapulco.

Here is one from North Carolina this past August with two people killed.

[Jim C.]

livetotravel-

Yes, if the para sailing outfit was Disney owned, or licensed through Disney then I would trust them to have at least try to be as safe as possible. But I would have to verify that it was a Disney company. (Assuming it was on their island you would assume so.)

[penny3333]

I'm sure Disney would be trustworthy and would check out whatever vendor they use. They've had enough law suits that they want to be as cautious as possible. I'm really glad your daughter and grandson had a fantastic experience and a safe one.