 Deaths at Disney or waiting in line to die
Added: 02/21/2006 |
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Disneyland has often been called "the happiest place on earth." Hundreds of millions of people from all walks of life have flocked to this American Mecca and been swept up in the fantasy world envisioned by Walt Disney. But is the place as happy as it sounds? Several guests have lost their lives on various Disneyland attractions since the park's opening in 1955.
Not all of the millions of guests entering Disneyland?s Magic Kingdom in search of fantasy and pleasure survive to see the Electric Parade. They will leave the park in body bags, struck down by fantasy "attractions" run amok. Real deaths at Disney should be separated from the urban legends and the finger should be pointed at whomever it deserves to be pointed at - sometimes Disney, sometimes foolhardy guests. Even the stroll from the parking lot to the park entrance is not without its risks. In 1987, after a Mormon party at the park, a gang fight in one of the lots erupted in gunfire, leaving one youth dead and a bystander injured. Disney deaths include nine guests (save the most recent) who have been killed on Disneyland attractions since the park?s opening. Some of those deaths at Disney were the result of guests who apparently ignored safety instructions or defeated rides' safety mechanisms. From 1955 through 1963, Disneyland's safety record was flawless. Not all of their guests may have left happy, but they did leave alive. The perfect record ended in May of 1964, instituting the era of deaths at Disney that continues even today. The killer attraction: the Matterhorn. Its tragic first victim: 15 year old Mark Maples of Long Beach. He was killed when he tried to stand up on the Matterhorn Bobsleds. In June 1966 19-year-old Thomas Guy Cleveland was killed when he attempted to sneak into Disneyland along the Monorail track. As he climbed down onto a fiberglass canopy beneath the track, the clearance wasn't enough and the oncoming train struck and killed him. In 1967 17-year-old Ricky Lee Yama was killed when he disregarded safety instructions and exited his People Mover car. Yama slipped as he was jumping from car to car and was crushed to death. In June 1973 18-year-old Bogden Delaurot drowned trying to swim across the Rivers of America. Because the younger brother did not know how to swim, Delaurot tried to carry him on his back. Delaurot went down about halfway across the river. The younger boy remained afloat until a ride operator hauled him aboard a boat. In the year 1980 more deaths at Disney followed as Gerardo Gonzales, a high school graduate, was killed on the People Mover when climbing from car to car as the People Mover entered the SuperSpeed Tunnel. Gonzales stumbled and fell onto the track, where an oncoming train of cars crushed him beneath its wheels. 4 June 1983 18-year-old Philip Straughan also drowned in the Rivers of America. Straughan and a friend had been drinking quite heavily that evening. They sneaked into a "Cast Members Only" area and untied an inflatable rubber maintenance motorboat. They struck a rock near Tom Sawyer Island, and Straughan was thrown into the water and his body was located an hour later. In January 1984 48-year-old Dolly Regene Young was killed on the Matterhorn. Young was thrown from her seat into the path of an oncoming bobsled, her head and chest becoming pinned beneath its wheels. Her seatbelt was not fastened at the time of the accident but it remains unclear if she had deliberately unfastened her belt or not. 24 December 1998 a rope used to secure the sailing ship Columbia as it docked on the Rivers of America tore loose the metal cleat which struck the heads of two guests Luan Phi Dawson, 33 Lieu Thuy Vuong, 43. Dawson was declared brain dead two days later.
5 September 2003 Marcelo Torres, a 22-year-old man died when a locomotive separated from its train along a tunnel section of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Torres bled to death. The incidences had a huge impact on the way Disney did business with the public and now it?s up to you to determine who?s right and who?s wrong.
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