Ah, Disney World. It’s considered the happiest
place on Earth for a reason, but that doesn’t mean things can’t quickly go wrong on a vacation.
There’s a two-hour line for everything from It’s a Small World to the restroom, your little brother
is terrified of the guy in the Mickey costume, and they want HOW much for a hot dog? But those
minor annoyances of vacation aside, you can be sure that everything runs smoothly at this little
slice of heaven in Orlando, Florida. Right? Well, usually. But even at Disney’s vacation
haven, things can go very wrong. And over their nearly fifty-year history, there have been some
truly shocking incidents at their rides, hotels, water parks, and even on their transportation.
Some rare incidents are caused by negligence on the part of maintenance or ride workers, but more
often these incidents are caused by guests going rogue. And then there are the generic accidents
or health issues that no one could predict. These are some of the most messed-up things
that ever happened at Walt Disney World. Sometimes the chaos starts even before people
enter the park. Disney World is full of lakes, and boating enthusiasts often like to rent small
boats to surf the waves. The only problem is, they’re not the only ones using the
water. A couple from Celebration, Florida was enjoying the water in 2010
when the husband darted in front of a Disney ferryboat transporting guests to the
parks. Unsurprisingly, the ferryboat won, and the wife was taken to the hospital
with fractured ribs and a collapsed lung. At least they were easy to rescue,
unlike the people in the next incident. The Disney Skyliner is one of the most unique ways
to travel to and from the Disney parks, shuttling people from some of the resort’s outskirt hotels
to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios via cable car. People can enjoy stunning views of the park - at
least when it’s working. It was only weeks after the Skyliner’s opening in 2019 when one gondola
got stuck leaving a station, and a line of other cars got stuck behind it. The entire system got
shut down, with a backload of trapped and scared passengers having to be evacuated by the local
fire department. Not exactly a smooth opening. But what about the most famous way
of traveling around Disney World? The Monorail has been shuttling people from the
central hotels to Magic Kingdom and EPCOT since the resort’s opening, but it’s not without
its own troubled history. There are several incidents of train cars colliding, but a
few incidents were more serious. In 1985, one car burst into flames while leaving the
EPCOT station, and passengers were forced to kick out the side windows and climb onto the roof.
Seven passengers were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation. The culprit? A flat tire that
received too much friction from the concrete. But it was 2009 when the
Monorail had its darkest day. The busy monorail lines rely on tracks switching
seamlessly to avoid collisions but on July 5th, this failed to happen. As a result, Monorail
Pink slammed directly into Monorail Purple at the transportation hub, killing the pilot
of Monorail Purple instantly. After everyone was evacuated and the injured passengers were
treated, one of the biggest investigations in Disney history began. The National Transportation
Safety Board was brought in to find the culprit, three monorail employees were suspended, and the
feds put the blame on the shop panel operator for not properly aligning the switch
beam. The biggest lasting change? Guests were no longer allowed to ride in the front
cab car when on the monorail to keep them safer. Disney World is a busy place and its
transportation system can be chaotic, but at least its hotels are a place of
refuge where nothing goes wrong - right? Not exactly. While Disney’s hotels are considered
among the best in the world, they can’t prevent everything. While the theme parks have some of the
best security anywhere, the hotels are slightly easier to access - and that can mean trouble when
someone enters with bad intentions. In June 2000, Disney had one of its scariest moments when a
hostage situation broke out at the Boardwalk Inn. A child and a room service waiter were
taken hostage by the boy’s disturbed father. He demanded to speak to his estranged wife, and
Disney quickly evacuated the hotel and called in hostage negotiators to talk the gun-toting
man down. Bismarck Rodriguez kept the hostages well into the night, but the incident ended
without bloodshed when he surrendered to police. It wasn’t the only time people at
Disney feared gun-toting maniacs. It was May 2018 at the Contemporary
Resort, Disney’s futuristic centerpiece, when a man caused a panic. Smelling of alcohol,
he went around the resort telling everyone that an active shooter was loose at the hotel. People went
into a panic, and the hotel was put into lockdown as the police searched for the culprit. They
couldn’t find any shooter, and they eventually tracked the man who started the rumors to the
bushes outside where he was hiding and watching. It was all a lie. Why did he cause a panic?
To get traffic for his YouTube channel. All hotels have dangers, and Disney hotels are
no different. The hotels have had their share of drownings at the pool and deaths
in the rooms. But one lurking danger is nature itself. Disney World might be a
vacation haven - but it’s still in Florida. Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort is billed as a
little taste of nature in the middle of a theme park, but one family from New York experienced
that the wrong way in 1980. An eleven-year-old boy was having a relaxing day at the now-defunct
River Country water park. Soon after swimming, he became very ill and died. The culprit? A rare
brain infection called Naegleriasis caused by a single-celled organism. Disney might work to keep
its water clean, but they can only do so much. The next water predator they couldn’t
keep people safe from was much bigger. It was a picturesque night in July 2016
at the Grand Floridian Resort, bordering the Seven Seas lagoon. A two-year-old boy from
Nebraska was playing by the water when suddenly, an alligator lunged out of the water.
Quickly, the boy was grabbed by the large reptile and dragged below the water.
Search-and-rescue experts were quickly assembled, and it wasn’t until the next afternoon that the
boy’s body was found. The family sued Disney, but Disney argued that they couldn’t be held
responsible for the presence of alligators. Disney eventually settled out of court, and
put up rope barriers around open water to protect people in the future. They even removed
alligator figures from some of their rides. Phew. Things are more dangerous than expected
at Disney resorts. Time to head to the parks, where everything is secure and safe - right? While Disney parks are among the
most secure places in the country, things can still go wrong. Many of Disney’s rides
are rough and fast, and people are warned not to ride if they have certain pre-existing health
conditions because an otherwise healthy person could die suddenly. There’s only one problem -
not everyone knows. Some health conditions hide completely undetected - a tiny heart malformation
that could trigger a massive heart attack. There have been multiple times
when a ride comes to a stop, and one of the happy riders simply doesn’t get
off. They died mid-ride from the wild motion. It’s happened at all four Disney parks,
on rides including Star Tours, Dinosaur, Expedition Everest, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster,
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and even the relatively gentle Toy Story Mania. In all these
cases, the investigation showed that the death was related to a pre-existing health condition
and the ride was able to continue operating. But one ride at EPCOT developed
a reputation for danger. It was 2003 when Mission Space promised
to blast visitors into the future. This high-tech space-themed pavilion promised a
thrill ride that would give people the closest thing they’ve felt to the sensation of blasting
off into space. Combining a motion simulator with a centrifuge, it was an interactive
thrill ride that simulated a trip to Mars. Everyone who rode it said it was the most
intense thrill ride Disney had ever debuted. Too intense for a four-year-old boy from
Pennsylvania, who died suddenly on the ride in 2005. His parents sued, but the cause of death
was proven to be an undiagnosed heart condition and the lawsuit was thrown out. It
seemed to be clear for blast-off. That is, until it happened again. Less than a year later, a German woman became
sick after riding and was taken to the hospital where she died of a brain hemorrhage. Although
doctors found she had severe high blood pressure that led to her death, people were getting
more worried about Disney’s newest thrill ride. This wasn’t unfounded, as in
the ride’s first few years, paramedics had to be called to treat
almost two hundred riders of Mission Space! People were passing out, having difficulty
breathing, or reporting symptoms of a heart attack. Most were okay soon after, but it
was clear this virtual mission to space was pushing many people to their limit. Disney
soon introduced a milder version of the ride without the centrifuge as an option, and the ride
continues to thrill daring riders to this day. Not all incidents happen on intense rides,
as people on a relaxing cruise found out. The Jungle Cruise is one of Disney’s oldest rides,
known for a slow ride through a river full of animals captained by jokey tour guides. But the
river cruise got a little wet for some riders in February 2020. Suddenly, with a boat full of
passengers, one of the ships started to sink! This was the age of social media, and soon
pictures were flooding the internet of people climbing on the boat railings to try to stay out
of the water. The local fire department showed up, the people were evacuated, and the ride
opened shortly after - with everyone thankful the jungle creatures surrounding
them were just audio-animatronics. It’s not just the rides that can
cause danger at Disney World either. There’s no better way to end a day at Disney World
than with a spectacular fireworks show, and most nights it goes off without a hitch. But one night
in 2014, those watching the Wishes fireworks show got a major scare. Falling embers from the show
traveled into Fantasyland, where they landed on the artificial grass surrounding the Seven
Dwarfs Mine Train. This created a blaze that caused the ride and everything around it to be
evacuated. While there were only minor damage and no injuries, seeing a blaze in the middle of the
happiest place on Earth scared a lot of people. Fireworks can be dangerous, but what
could be dangerous about lunch at a cafe? A family visiting Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe in
Tomorrowland found that out the hard way when they sat down to lunch in 2010. Their four-year-old
son sat down and nearly fell over in his chair, so he grabbed a tray of food to stabilize himself.
That caused a plate of hot nacho cheese to fall on him, burning him. The family sued Disney,
claiming that the cheese was served at an unsafe temperature. Disney settled out of court,
an expensive ending to a traumatic cheese crash. But it’s not just the rides, fireworks, and food
that can be a hazard. Sometimes it’s the guests. A Florida woman was waiting in line for the
Mad Tea Party when she was suddenly attacked by another guest from Alabama, in one of the nastiest
fights ever in a Disney theme park. The attacker was arrested and sentenced to ninety days in
jail, but that wasn’t the end of the story. Disney was sued not just by the victim, but by
her husband! He claimed that his wife’s injuries caused him to lose her support and companionship
and that Disney was responsible for not having enough security to protect her. Disney did NOT
settle this lawsuit and quickly won in court. It’s not just the guests that can cause trouble,
though. Sometimes the cast members can go rogue. The Haunted Mansion is one of
Disney’s most popular attractions, filled with thousands of special effects
and props. But in 2018, there were a few less of them. A disgruntled former Disney employee
snuck into the haunted ride and stole about seven thousand dollars worth of costumes and props.
But you should always assume that while you’re in a haunted mansion, you’re being watched. He
was caught in the act and the authorities were informed of the stolen items. Police eventually
tracked him down and found the stolen items, which have since been returned to their
proper home with the 999 grim grinning ghosts. At least those costumed characters
are always friendly, right? Well, if you don’t count Tigger. He was
always a little too energetic. In 2007, a teenage boy from New Hampshire was taking a
picture with a cast member dressed as Tigger when the big orange cat hauled off and punched him!
The cast member first claimed it was an accident, then said he was acting in self-defense and that
the boy was pulling on the back of his costume and making it hard for him to breathe. The case
was referred to the local authorities, and they decided not to press charges. Sometimes what
happens in Disney World, stays in Disney World. One of the craziest incidents in Disney history, though, didn’t happen in the park.
It happened in the parking lot. It was 1984, shortly after EPCOT opened,
and a small plane came into view. But it was flying a little low, and suddenly
it crashed into the EPCOT parking lot, shattering the calm of a vacation day.
The husband and wife piloting the plane, along with their one-year-old daughter, were
killed instantly, but two other children in the plane survived their injuries. The plane was
on course for Disney from Greer, South Carolina as the family decided to fly their small plane
directly there instead of dealing with the airports. Something went wrong in the air and they
made an emergency landing, only to clip a pole in the parking lot and lose a wing. Instead of making
a smooth landing, they crashed directly into several cars in the parking lot. And suddenly,
everyone in Disney was watching the skies. For all these crazy incidents, people still flock
to Disney in the millions every year, completely unafraid. That’s because the notoriously cautious
Disney company learns from every crisis and takes new safety measures. Anything can happen at
Disney World - but it probably won’t happen twice. For more on chaos at amusement parks, check out “The Worst Amusement Park Ride
Disasters”, or check out this video instead.
