People who died at DL

Does anyone remember any of these unfortunate events? Comments?

From Wikipedia..

In the half-century that Disneyland has been in operation, nine guests and one cast member have died at the park. A greater number of guests have been injured.
Seven of the deaths were the result of negligence on the guests' part rather than the park's:
In 1964, 15-year-old Mark Maples of Long Beach, California died after he stood up in the Matterhorn Bobsleds and fell out.
In 1966, Thomas Guy Cleveland, 19, of Northridge, California was crushed by the Monorail during a Grad Nite celebration while trying to sneak into the park by climbing its track.
In 1967, Ricky Lee Yama, 17, of Hawthorne, California was crushed while jumping between two moving PeopleMover cars.
In 1973, Bogden Delaurot, 18, of Brooklyn, New York drowned while trying to carry his little brother swimming across the Rivers of America.
In 1980, Gerrardo Gonzales, 18, of San Diego, California was crushed by the PeopleMover while jumping between moving cars.
In 1983, Philip Straughan, 18, of Albuquerque, New Mexico drowned in the Rivers of America while trying to pilot a rubber emergency boat from Tom Sawyer's Island.
In 1984, Dolly Regene Young, 48, of Fremont, California unbuckled her seatbelt and was thrown from a Matterhorn Bobsleds car and struck by an oncoming train.
In 1974, cast member Deborah Gail Stone, 19, of nearby Santa Ana, California was crushed to death by a revolving wall in the now-closed "America Sings" attraction. She was in the wrong place during a ride intermission; it was unclear whether this was due to inadequate training or a misstep. The attraction was subsequently refitted with breakaway walls. [4]
On December 26, 1998, a metal cleat aboard the sailing ship "Columbia" tore loose, striking three people in the head. Of them, Luan Phi Dawson, 33, of Duvall, Washington, died of a head injury. The normal non-elastic rope (designed to break easily) to tie the boat off was improperly replaced by an elastic rope which stretched and pulled off the cleat. The park received much criticism for this incident due to its policy of restricting outside medical personnel in the park to avoid frightening visitors, as well as for the fact that the cast member in charge of the ship at the time was a novice.
On September 5, 2003, 22-year-old Marcelo Torres of nearby Gardena, California died after suffering injuries in a derailment of the Big Thunder Mountain roller coaster. The cause of the accident was determined to be improper maintenance.

Not to be contrary but it was my understanding that Disney had an agreement with the Anaheim Fire and Paramedic that a DOA is never declared on Disney property, so technically there has never been a death in the park to my knowledge...technically of course.

I remember each and every one of those deaths very well having lived within walking distance or later, just a few miles from the park. The Columbia accident was particularly horrific.

A CM told me this weekend the RoA and People Mover deaths aren't true. However we did get some gruesome details about the CoP death..

I heard that the people mover death was true... that it happened on a grad night... like over half of thoes deaths are grad night deaths of stupid kids acting like well kids

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Originally Posted by Michelle

A CM told me this weekend the RoA and People Mover deaths aren't true. However we did get some gruesome details about the CoP death..

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I got the opposite story from a CM. Most of those deaths occured because of Grad night, alcohol, or both. The drownings happened in less than 6' of water. And yes, most were pronounced dead at the nearby hospital so Disney could keep the death toll down.

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Originally Posted by Michelle

A CM told me this weekend the RoA and People Mover deaths aren't true. However we did get some gruesome details about the CoP death..

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I trust David Koening and his information. Both if these incidents are in his books. David knows more about the history of the Parks than most - especially CMs.

:eek:

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Originally Posted by Michelle

A CM told me this weekend the RoA and People Mover deaths aren't true. However we did get some gruesome details about the CoP death..

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The CM that told you that was either trying to downplay the dark history of the park or very seriously needs to get his facts straight. The ROA and PM deaths really did happen. The most gruesome one I was very unfortunate to witness was at Knott's Berry Farm during a Halloween Haunt in I believe was 1982 or 83. A suicidal dude jumped from the top of the Parachute Drop. I will not go into details but I was standing in line when it happened. :eek:

Also, I have either an L.A. Times article or an Orange County Register article somewhere (doubt I can find it) which reported the Peoplemover accidents.

The same newspaper article also mentioned a very sad accident on Peoplemover, someone was "dangling" their baby (à la Michael Jackson) and accidentally dropped the child onto its head on the pavement below, I seem to recall this was out towards the Plaza area. The good news is that the child recovered and was OK!

I heard (this could be BS) that after Deborah Stone died, they put sensors under the CM chairs so that the theatre would not turn unless each ride operator had their butts in those seats. Can anyone confirm that?

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Originally Posted by Cousin Orville

From Wikipedia...In the half-century that Disneyland has been in operation, nine guests and one cast member have died at the park.

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It's misleading to say that only nine guests and one CM have "died" at the Park, even though we know what is meant by that phrase. But, for sake of accuracy, let's be clear that plenty of people have died at Disneyland, but only a small amount (10 according to this source) have been killed there.

There have been plenty of deaths from heart attacks and other natural causes, just as there have been quite a few births. Life goes on in all forms and functions at the Happiest Place on Earth.

Very important distinction, ISM. I witnessed the aftermath of a death at DL a few months ago. Someone colapsed and was removed in a body bag by paramedics. With that many people in tha park on any given occasion, it is bound to happen.

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Originally Posted by Wendy_Bird

I heard that the people mover death was true... that it happened on a grad night... like over half of thoes deaths are grad night deaths of stupid kids acting like well kids

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I remember when that happened. The guy was drunk. Stupid, stupid mistake.

You can divide these incidents into three distinct categories:

1. "Hey, watch this!" stupidity.
2. One unfortunate accident involving a CM and a building design flaw.
3. People who died because of inadequate training, maintenence and/or inspection probably stemming from a misguided attempt to save money.

I've always wondered if category #3 was a factor in recent management changes. When people start getting killed at your park, it's really not good for business.

I heard that DL paramedics/ Fire Dept. don't pronaunce anyone dead while inside DL. They take them off grounds. Can anyone confirm?

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Originally Posted by Tom Chaney

When people start getting killed at your park, it's really not good for business.

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Or when an unusually large number of your animals drop dead or are sick. I recall when Disney opened AK they were under the scrutiny of the Zoological Watchdogs because of an unusually high death rate.