Each year, more than 50 million tourists enter the 40-square mile Walt Disney World in Florida \u2014 but not all of them make it out alive.<\/p>\n
In just the past week, there have been three deaths at the Orlando wonderland: a 31-year-old superfan who committed suicide<\/a> at the Contemporary Hotel; a man in his 60s who died from a pre-existing medical condition<\/a> at the Fort Wilderness campground; and a man in his 60s<\/a> on Thursday, whose cause of death is pending.<\/p>\n Shockingly, Thursday\u2019s death pushed Disney World\u2019s body count since the park\u2019s 1971 opening to 68. <\/p>\n The majority of the deaths were due to natural causes, and they\u2019ve involved visitors as well as staffers, including performers and maintenance workers.<\/p>\n An alligator killed little Lane Graves in 2016. Lane Thomas Foundation<\/p>\n Some have been downright bizarre, including death by alligator, amoeba, hanging menus, trams, the Magic Kingdom skyway \u2014 and even a killer \u201cBeauty and the Beast\u201d float.<\/p>\n The park\u2019s first death happened three years after its grand opening in 1974 when a light bulb filament ignited fumes from glue being used by a 49-year-old carpenter Robert Marshall as he was repairing a boat, according to the Orlando Sentinel.<\/p>\n Expert Dennis Spiegel said theme parks are \u201cprobably\u00a0one of the safest places to be on the planet,\u201d because of self-regulatory practices and insurance programs.<\/p>\n \u201cThe parks also have state inspections, so there\u2019s always inspections going on,\u201d said Spiegel. \u201cFrom an accident standpoint, things do happen. The issues at Disney, I know it\u2019s usually just people being in that place, in that time, when it\u2019s their time.\u201d<\/p>\n Summer Equitz, a Disney superfan, ended her life at the theme park last week. facebook\/summer.equitz<\/p>\n Four-year-old Joel Goode tragically drowned in 1977 after falling into the moat that surrounds Disney\u2019s iconic Cinderella\u2019s Castle.The boy\u2019s parents successfully sued Disney for $4 million, but jurors determined Goode\u2019s parents were partially liable and halved the payout o $2 million, according to the Tampa Times.<\/p>\n One of the park\u2019s deadliest \u2014 and tiniest \u2014 killers came four years later, when 11-year-old Long Island boy Robert Johnson Jr., contracted a brain-eating amoebic infection after swimming in the lukewarm, unchlorinated River Country water park.<\/p>\n River Country \u2014 permanently closed in 2001 \u2014 claimed two others by drowning, one of the park\u2019s most common causes of death.<\/p>\n In 1987, a 6-year-old boy drowned in a crowded swimming pool at the park. The family later sued, claiming there should have been more lifeguards on duty, and Disney settled for $250,000, according to reports.<\/p>\n Photo shows the police response to Equitz\u2019s suicide. Zack Zerio<\/p>\n One of the most shocking tragedies occurred in 2016, when little Lane Graves, 2, was attacked by an alligator on the shore of the Seven Seas Lagoon. The gator pulled the boy into the water, and his body was recovered the following day.<\/p>\n Perhaps the most bizarre death: when Javier Cruz<\/a>, a cast member wearing a Pluto costume, was run over by the \u201cBeauty and the Beast\u201d float during the Share a Dream Come True Parade in 2014.<\/p>\n One of the deadliest years was 1982, when a 2-year-old girl was hit in the head with a hanging menu board; a 36-year-old woman collapsed at the Polynesian Village Resort; and a 1-year-old girl fell from a moving tram.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Planes, trains, boats and buses have all claimed lives at Disney.<\/p>\n In 1989, Long Island woman Patricia Schenck<\/a>, 33, was killed when the small speed boat she was piloting broadsided a ferry in the Seven Seas Lagoon.<\/p>\n In 1984, South Carolina\u2019s Gary and Dorine Newell<\/a>, and their infant daughter, Stephanie, died when the single-engine Piper plane they were flying in crashed while attempting an emergency landing in the EPCOT Center parking lot. Then, in 1987, Rick Harper<\/a>, a 27-year-old cast member, died when the ultralight plane he was piloting crashed during a rehearsal for EPCOT\u2019s \u201cSkyleidoscope\u201d show.<\/p>\n In 2000, a 37-year-old man was struck and killed by the Magic Kingdom Skyway. Ten years later, Massachusetts man Robert Krueger<\/a>, 69, stepped in front of a Disney bus in the parking lot of Port Orleans Resort.<\/p>\n Jessica Straub fell to her death from the Fantasyland Skyway in 2020. Jessica Straub\/ Facebook<\/p>\n Rakim Akbari wandered away from his family, and drowned in a moat. FOX 35<\/p>\n And like Summer Equitz, who committed suicide at the park last week, several people have decided to end their lives at Disney World, with incidents reported in 2020, 2016, 2010, and 1992, when Allen Ferris<\/a> fired a sawed-off shotgun at Disney World employees, briefly taking two of them hostage before killing himself at EPCOT Center.<\/p>\n Disney was sued by the husband of a woman who allegedly died from food allergies in 2023, a case that remains active; Disney denies the husband\u2019s claims. In 2018, a person was found dead inside a burning car in near Disney\u2019s Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf Course. And in 2006, while visiting the park as a part of the Give Kids the World program, a 6-year-old terminal cancer patient fainted moments after he rode Space Mountain.<\/p>\n Spiegel said in 2024, over 1.5 billion theme park rides occurred, with few incidents.<\/p>\n Flatlines have been bad for Disney\u2019s bottom line. Public reports claim they\u2019ve paid out at least $27 million since 1977. However, most lawsuits against Disney end up settled, with the terms of the agreements kept confidential.<\/p>\n By contrast, there have been only 32 deaths at Disneyland in California since it opened in 1955 \u2014 most recently, a woman in her 60s died from a medical episode she had on the Haunted Mansion ride.<\/p>\n The first death happened in 1964, when Mark Maples<\/a>, 15, fell from the Matterhorn Bobsleds after standing up in a moving car. in 1984, Dolly Regene Young<\/a>, 47, was decapitated by one of the Matterhorn Bobsleds.<\/p>\n Walt Disney World has not commented on Thursday\u2019s death. JHVEPhoto \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n And while there\u2019s never been a homicide at Disney World, two people have been murdered at Disneyland: A 15-year old boy was fatally shot<\/a> in the Disneyland parking lot in 1987, and an 18-year old man was fatally stabbed with a knife<\/a> during a fight at the park in 1981.<\/p>\n Disney World does have six first aid centers on site, but no hospital. AdventHealth has an emergency room at Flamingo Crossings Town Center, not far from the park.<\/p>\n Disney did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Each year, more than 50 million tourists enter the 40-square mile Walt Disney World in Florida \u2014 but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16200,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[11645,11646,1840,9479,11647,11648,3531,3640,9,11,10,9418,11649,1843,58],"class_list":{"0":"post-16199","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-anaheim","9":"tag-bus-accidents","10":"tag-death","11":"tag-disney-world","12":"tag-disneyland","13":"tag-drownings","14":"tag-explosions","15":"tag-florida","16":"tag-new-york","17":"tag-new-york-headlines","18":"tag-new-york-news","19":"tag-orlando","20":"tag-plane-accident","21":"tag-tragedy","22":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}