Guest Dies After Riding Disney's PeopleMover

A man has tragically passed away after a ride on a popular attraction in Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort.

Disney World is home to four classic theme parks in Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, EPCOT, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom that include many iconic attractions like Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, “it’s a small world”, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and many more.

With millions of Disney Park Guests visiting each year, Disney is required to report incidents that require at least 24 hours of hospitalization quarterly. This is the same rule for all Florida theme parks, including Universal Orlando Resort, SeaWorld Orlando, and Busch Gardens.

In its latest incident report, Disney reported that an 83-year-old man died after riding the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover.

First reported by Florida Politics, Joseph Masters, 83, of Palm Coast, rode the PeopleMover with his wife, Alice, when he passed out Sept 25, an Orange County Sheriff’s report said.

“She began to panic,” the sheriff’s report said. “She began asking for help and attempted to contact family members who were at the Park. As the ride came to its end, Disney staff and security responded to the scene where CPR was initiated.”

Masters was taken to a nearby hospital, where they attempted to save his life for 30 minutes but were ultimately unsuccessful.

He was pronounced dead at 5:04 p.m.

“It was later learned Joseph had a pacemaker implanted and was diagnosed with an extensive list of medical conditions to include diabetes and hypertension,” the sheriff’s report said. “Joseph’s death was deemed natural given the aforementioned circumstances.”

Masters’ death is one of six incidents that were reported by Walt Disney World Resort this quarter.

A 27-year-old woman went into labor after riding the Tomorrowland Speedway at the Magic Kingdom last month, an 83-year-old man was “briefly unresponsive” on Avatar Flight of Passage at Disney’s Animal Kingdom last month, a 47-year-old man passed out on Epcot’s Mission: Space “after experiencing the green side of the attraction” in July, and a 59-year-old woman “sustained injury to toes” on Alien Swirling Saucers at Toy Story Land in Hollywood Studios in September.