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Credit: Inside the MagicDisneyland and the rest of the Disney Parks have gone above and beyond the call of duty regarding safety. As theme park technology has evolved, so have safety regulations, standards, and practices. An unfortunate truth of the matter is that someone has to get hurt or worse before such changes are put into effect.
Disneyland and the Walt Disney World Resort are certainly safer now than they were when they both originally opened, but even the magic of Disney isn’t immune to the occasional fatal error. Unfortunately, one such occasion cost the life of an 18-year-old Cast Member.
Disneyland Death Footage Supposedly Found
@kurlyheadmarr Video of Deborah Gail Stone where her scream from the accident is heard in a mechanical show at Disney 1974 #fyp #foryoupage #foryourpage #xyzbca #trending #viral #foryou
Although the scream in the TikTok above is obviously fake, the story is all too real. If you’re a Disney aficionado, you more than likely already know about the Deborah Stone case from 1974 and what a shock it was for the Disney Park and the company.
While hosting the now-retired America Sings attraction at Disneyland, Deborah Gail Stone was pulled between the paneling of the rotating attraction and crushed between the walls. What sounds like something entirely out of a Disney urban legend ultimately haunted both Disneyland and Disney fans for decades to come.
After Stone’s death, tremendous efforts were orchestrated by Disney to ensure that a tragedy like this would never happen again. The ride was shut down for a period of time, and breakaway walls were installed to prevent another similar fatality. While the ride has been phased out for years, bits and pieces of America Sings still linger.
Most of the animatronic animals were later repurposed for the now-defunct Splash Mountain, but some of the mechanized frames of the bird characters can still be found working in the queue area for Star Tours in Hollywood Studios.
What happened to Deborah Stone was a freak accident, but it’s a cold reminder that not even a name as big as Disney is immune from disaster. Since the incident, Disney has drastically improved its safety standards, its only too unfortunate that it came at the cost of someone’s life.
Do you remember the Deborah Stone story? Tell Inside the Magic in the comments below!