Matterhorn, 2005
In the mid-90s, I was amazed by an article at snopes.com about deaths in Disneyland. I started this series of rugs back then, inspired by that website. I later realized its reliance on David Koenig’s book, Mouse Tales: A Behind the Ears Look at Disneyland. Koenig has since become a very visible authority on all things Disney, and much of his writing is now located at www.mouseplanet.com/david.
Most of the following is paraphrased or directly quoted from his book, which in turn, largely sources the Los Angeles Times and Orange County Register newspaper reports:
Even though Disneyland by any measurement is one of the safest places on earth, ten guests and one employee have been killed on Disneyland’s attractions since the park’s opening in 1955. Nearly all the deaths were the result of guests who apparently ignored safety instructions and/or defeated rides’ safety mechanisms.
May 1964
Mark Maples, a 15-year-old Long Beach, California resident, was killed when he tried to stand up on the Matterhorn Bobsleds. Maples (or his companion) foolishly unbuckled his seatbeat and attempted to stand up as their bobsled neared the peak of the mountain. Maples lost his balance and was thrown from the sled to the track below.
June 1966
Thomas Guy Cleveland, a 19-year-old Northridge, California resident, was killed when he attempted to sneak into Disneyland. Cleveland scaled the park’s outer fence and climbed onto the Monorail track, intending to jump or climb down once inside the park. Cleveland ignored a security guard’s shouted warnings of an approaching Monorail train and climbed down onto a fiberglass canopy beneath the track. However, the clearance wasn’t enough—the oncoming train struck and killed him.
August 1967
Ricky Lee Yama, a 17-year-old Hawthorne, California resident, was killed when he disregarded safety instructions and exited his People Mover car as the ride was passing through a tunnel. Yama slipped as he was jumping from car to car and was crushed to death beneath the wheels of oncoming cars.
June 1973
Bogden Delaurot, an 18-year-old Brooklyn, New York resident, drowned trying to swim across the Rivers of America. Delaurot and his younger brother sneaked onto Tom Sawyer Island past its closing time and chose to swim off the island later. Delaurot tried to carry his brother on his back as he swam to shore. Bogden went down about halfway across the river. The younger boy remained afloat by dogpaddling until he was rescued by a ride operator, but his brother’s body was not found until the next morning.
July 8, 1974
18-year-old Deborah Gail Stone, from Santa Ana, California was working as a hostess at Disneyland’s Carousel of Progress, in the “America Sings” animatronic and music show. Her job was to greet each new audience as they settled into the seating area. Standing to the left of the stage, she welcomed the guests over a microphone before the outer ring rotated and carried the audience to the first scene of the carousel. This incident occurred when Stone approached too closely to the area between the rotating theater wall and the stationary stage wall and was crushed to death between them. Soon after, the solid walls were replaced with breakaway ones to prevent similar accidents from occurring.
June 7, 1980
Gerardo Gonzales, from San Diego, was killed on the People Mover in an accident much like the one involving Ricky Lee Yama. in the early morning hours of a Grad Nite celebration (Disneyland has a special event for students graduating from local high schools), Gonzales was climbing from car to car on the People Mover and stumbled and fell onto the track, where an oncoming train of cars crushed him beneath its wheels.
June, 4 1983
Philip Straughan, an 18-year-old Albuquerque, New Mexico resident, also drowned in the Rivers of America in yet another Grad Nite incident. Straughan and a friend had been drinking quite heavily that evening. They sneaked into a “Cast Members Only” area along the river and untied a maintenance boat, deciding to take it for a joyride around the river. Unable to adequately control the boat, they struck a rock near Tom Sawyer Island, and Straughan was thrown into the water. His friend traveled back to shore to seek help, but Straughan drowned long before his body was finally located an hour later.
January 3, 1984
Dolly Regene Young, a 48-year-old Fremont, California resident, was killed on the Matterhorn in an incident similar to the first Disneyland guest death nearly twenty years earlier. About two-thirds of the way down the mountain Young was thrown from her seat into the path of an oncoming bobsled, her head and chest becoming pinned beneath its wheels. An examination of Young’s sled revealed that her seatbelt was not fastened at the time of the accident, but because she was riding alone in the rear car of a sled no one could determine whether or not she had deliberately unfastened her belt.
September 7, 1985
A 7-year-old girl was crushed to death under the wheels of a tour bus in the Disneyland parking lot.
December 24, 1998
In a tragic Christmas Eve accident, one Disneyland cast member and two guests were injured (one fatally) when a rope used to secure the sailing ship Columbia as it docked tore loose the metal cleat to which it was attached. The cleat sailed through air and struck the heads of two guests who were waiting to board the ship. Luan Phi Dawson, 33, of Duvall, Washington, was declared brain dead two days later and died when his life support system was disconnected.
September 5, 2003
A 22-year-old man, Marcelo Torres of Gardena, California, died when a locomotive separated from its train along a tunnel section of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Torres bled to death after suffering blunt force trauma of the chest.
Rob Conger
January 2006
i look forward to seeing the show, rob. people interested in more stories from behind the scenes at Disney Parks should also check out Carl Hiaasen's "Team Rodent" (very short read - focuses on WDW, not Disneyland).
Posted by: malcolm nicholls | Monday, January 09, 2006 at 06:20 AM
Blogs are so informative where we get lots of information on any topic. Nice job keep it up!!
Posted by: Mythology Dissertation | Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 05:04 AM