"That place is my baby, and I would prostitute myself for it."-Walt Disney on Disneyland.
Park guests aren't the only ones seduced to their deaths by the park's attractions. Consider the late, lamented "America Sings". It was seemingly designed strictly as a hazard to employees. Converted from the old General Electric Carousel of Progress, it featured six theaters revolving around a four part fixed stage of Disney audioanimatronic animal figures performing well-loved American songs. Even before its official 1974 opening, there was something sinister about this android musical spectacular. The tragedy to come was foreshadowed at the press preview party, when one of the
attraction's designers fell into a pit and sustained slight injuries.
Disneyland ignored this omen, and opened "America Sings" to the public at the end of June. This decision would cost them the life of an innocent young hostess, the first Disneyland employee killed in the line of duty.
Deborah Stone had just graduated from nearby Santa Ana High. In many ways,
she epitomized the crisp, clean all-American image encouraged among park
employees. She edited her high school year book, belonged to the honor
society and capped her high school career by winning the principal's award
for "outstanding service to her school and community". Undoubtedly, she
breezed through her coursework at the Disneyland University.
Yes, she had nothing but a bright future full of promise to look forward to on that tragic July night. There were no witnesses to her agonizing end, no spectacular fall or dramatic search. Around 11 PM, fellow employees noticed her missing from her post greeting guests. After a brief search, they found her crushed remains. As the theaters rotated about the fixed inner stage, she had been caught between a stationary wall and a moving wall. The attraction smashed her like a steamroller running over one of Disney's beloved characters in a hilarious act of animated mayhem. Except this was no cartoon, and there would be no animated sleight of hand to "uncrush" her. America Sings was closed for three days until a system of warning lights could be installed.
But for one young hostess, it was a little too late.
---
By far the grimmest and most widely-criticized event in Disneyland's blood-spattered history was the park's first homicide in 1981. The victim was Mel Yorba, an 18-year old Riverside man. On that fateful March night, he was attending a private party at the park thrown by a local defense contractor, accompanied by a friend and their dates. His family recalled that the young
people were simply out "to have a good time".
The "good time" ended around 10 PM that evening in the deadly confines of Tomorrowland. Near the Skyway, James O'Driscoll, a 28-year old man from San Diego, accused Yorba of touching his girlfriend. There was a scuffle; blows were exchanged. O'Driscoll pulled a knife. Then, either O'Driscoll brutally stabbed Yorba, or Yorba stumbled while lunging forward, impaling himself on the blade. The jury believed the former. Eventually, this scuffle would cost
the killer 8 years to life for 2nd degree murder.
No one criticized Disneyland security's handing of the killing. With efficiency rivalled only by certain Third-World dictatorships and some (former) Eastern Bloc police states, they swung into action. O'Driscoll's girlfriend was quickly apprehended as she tried to slip out of the park. Divers found the alleged murder weapon, an 8 1/2 inch knife, in a Disneyland waterway, variously reported as the Sleeping Beauty Castle moat or the submarine lagoon. O'Driscoll only managed to evade the kingdom-wide manhunt for little more than an hour before he was found hiding in the bushes in
Adventureland.
Meanwhile, as Yorba lay bleeding to death on the grounds of Tomorrowland, the Disneyland nurse made a fateful decision. Instead of calling the paramedics, she elected to have him driven to the hospital in a park van. By the time the van, lacking flashing emergency lights, made its leisurely way to the hospital (which, unlike other nearby hospitals, did not have a trauma
center), Yorba was to all intents dead from a knife wound piercing his heart, liver and diaphragm.
For once, Disneyland was roundly chastised in the media. Two Disneyland workers claimed "the rule at the park is don't call the paramedics".
Presumably, flashing red lights and uniformed rescue personnel tearing up Main Street would mar the park's atmosphere. Not that the emergency crews wanted to disturb the guests; the Orange County Director of Emergency Medical Services was quoted as saying he would not be "adverse" to dressing up paramedics in mouse suits if necessary.
In wake of this criticism, Disneyland hired an ambulance and changed its emergency procedures somewhat. Not that this helped at the trial. Contrary to what their employees thought, the park produced a written policy in effect at the time of the stabbing requiring that paramedics be called in life-threatening situations. Nonetheless, the jury found Disney neglegent to the tune of $600,000, making Yorba (or at least his family) one of the few of the park's many victims to win compensation for their injuries.
attraction's designers fell into a pit and sustained slight injuries.
Disneyland ignored this omen, and opened "America Sings" to the public at the end of June. This decision would cost them the life of an innocent young hostess, the first Disneyland employee killed in the line of duty.
Deborah Stone had just graduated from nearby Santa Ana High. In many ways,
she epitomized the crisp, clean all-American image encouraged among park
employees. She edited her high school year book, belonged to the honor
society and capped her high school career by winning the principal's award
for "outstanding service to her school and community". Undoubtedly, she
breezed through her coursework at the Disneyland University.
Yes, she had nothing but a bright future full of promise to look forward to on that tragic July night. There were no witnesses to her agonizing end, no spectacular fall or dramatic search. Around 11 PM, fellow employees noticed her missing from her post greeting guests. After a brief search, they found her crushed remains. As the theaters rotated about the fixed inner stage, she had been caught between a stationary wall and a moving wall. The attraction smashed her like a steamroller running over one of Disney's beloved characters in a hilarious act of animated mayhem. Except this was no cartoon, and there would be no animated sleight of hand to "uncrush" her. America Sings was closed for three days until a system of warning lights could be installed.
But for one young hostess, it was a little too late.
---
By far the grimmest and most widely-criticized event in Disneyland's blood-spattered history was the park's first homicide in 1981. The victim was Mel Yorba, an 18-year old Riverside man. On that fateful March night, he was attending a private party at the park thrown by a local defense contractor, accompanied by a friend and their dates. His family recalled that the young
people were simply out "to have a good time".
The "good time" ended around 10 PM that evening in the deadly confines of Tomorrowland. Near the Skyway, James O'Driscoll, a 28-year old man from San Diego, accused Yorba of touching his girlfriend. There was a scuffle; blows were exchanged. O'Driscoll pulled a knife. Then, either O'Driscoll brutally stabbed Yorba, or Yorba stumbled while lunging forward, impaling himself on the blade. The jury believed the former. Eventually, this scuffle would cost
the killer 8 years to life for 2nd degree murder.
No one criticized Disneyland security's handing of the killing. With efficiency rivalled only by certain Third-World dictatorships and some (former) Eastern Bloc police states, they swung into action. O'Driscoll's girlfriend was quickly apprehended as she tried to slip out of the park. Divers found the alleged murder weapon, an 8 1/2 inch knife, in a Disneyland waterway, variously reported as the Sleeping Beauty Castle moat or the submarine lagoon. O'Driscoll only managed to evade the kingdom-wide manhunt for little more than an hour before he was found hiding in the bushes in
Adventureland.
Meanwhile, as Yorba lay bleeding to death on the grounds of Tomorrowland, the Disneyland nurse made a fateful decision. Instead of calling the paramedics, she elected to have him driven to the hospital in a park van. By the time the van, lacking flashing emergency lights, made its leisurely way to the hospital (which, unlike other nearby hospitals, did not have a trauma
center), Yorba was to all intents dead from a knife wound piercing his heart, liver and diaphragm.
For once, Disneyland was roundly chastised in the media. Two Disneyland workers claimed "the rule at the park is don't call the paramedics".
Presumably, flashing red lights and uniformed rescue personnel tearing up Main Street would mar the park's atmosphere. Not that the emergency crews wanted to disturb the guests; the Orange County Director of Emergency Medical Services was quoted as saying he would not be "adverse" to dressing up paramedics in mouse suits if necessary.
In wake of this criticism, Disneyland hired an ambulance and changed its emergency procedures somewhat. Not that this helped at the trial. Contrary to what their employees thought, the park produced a written policy in effect at the time of the stabbing requiring that paramedics be called in life-threatening situations. Nonetheless, the jury found Disney neglegent to the tune of $600,000, making Yorba (or at least his family) one of the few of the park's many victims to win compensation for their injuries.
posted by Gavin Elster at 8:31 AM
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