Disneyland visitor dies after riding Haunted Mansion attraction

LOS ANGELES — A Disneyland visitor who required medical attention after riding the theme park’s Haunted Mansion attraction died at an Orange County hospital on Monday.

Disneyland officials confirmed Wednesday that the patron required medical treatment and was transported to a hospital, but did not provide further details.

The news was broken by Disneyland influencer Matt Desmond.

Desmond wrote that the guest “had a heart attack on Haunted Mansion Holiday.” He noted that she didn’t respond when it was time to walk off the ride.

Anaheim police confirmed that fire and rescue units responded at 6:30 p.m. and found a woman in her 60s unresponsive. She had just finished riding the Halloween version of the Haunted Mansion, which combines characters from Tim Burton’s famed “The Nightmare Before Christmas” movie with the classic features of the iconic ride.

Disneyland security performed CPR until paramedics arrived, according to Anaheim Police Sgt. Matt Sutter. She was moved to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead.

The Orange County Sheriff-Coroner is investigating the cause of death.

There is no indication of any operating issue with the attraction, which reopened soon after, Sutter said in an email.

“This appears to be an unfortunate medical episode, and our thoughts go out the family,” Sutter wrote.

The slow-moving ride shuttles guests on “doom buggies,” which are seats that travel approximately one mile an hour. Dennis Speigel, founder and chief executive of the leisure and attractions consultant agency International Theme Park Services Inc, said the ride is more apt to cause unexpected naps than medical incidents.

“I have to say that if you picked a ride at Disney, this or Small World would be the last type of ride you would expect to see something like this to happen,” he said. “These are the rides for great-grandmothers.”

Deaths at theme parks are rare, but not impossible, and Speigel pointed to the passing of a 32-year-old man last month aboard a roller coaster at Universal Studios Epic Universe in Orlando.

He said that the freakish death, however, shouldn’t deter visitors since theme parks, particularly Disney and Universal, are subject to “daily, weekly and monthly inspections.”

In California, the Department of Industrial Relations oversees the safety of theme park rides.

“Transparency comes at the highest level for Disney,” Speigel said. “It’s much safer to ride Space Mountain or any ride at Disneyland for a month straight than to drive one day on the 405 Freeway.”