A fifth person died at a Disney World property on Nov. 8, in what has been an unusually active month for incidents around the Florida’s theme parks and resorts, according to TMZ. Few details were shared about the person who was found dead at the Saratoga Springs resort, according to the Orange County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The death nearly two weeks ago comes after two suicides – a woman on Oct. 14 and a man on Oct. 23, both at the Contemporary Resort.
On Oct. 21, a man in his 60s suffered a medical episode at the Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground, while another death of a person in their 60s occurred when a woman had a medical emergency at Disney’s Pop Century Resort on Nov. 2 and died after being taken to a hospital.
Over the years, dozens of people have died at the park and surrounding resorts, mostly of natural causes, but what could explain the sudden cluster? “
A combination of real-time emergency call tracking, hyper-engaged fan communities, and heightened online visibility has brought increased attention to incidents that, in previous years, might not have been widely discussed,” speculates the Disney Dining blog.
Disney World has more than 58 million visitors a year to its parks and 36 resorts.
Meanwhile across the country, a woman in her 60s died Oct. 6 after suffering a medical incident while riding on the Haunted Manor attraction at Disneyland in Anaheim. Theme park expert Dennis Spiegel told the L.A. Times at the time that the ride’s safety was not an issue. “Transparency comes at the highest level for Disney,” he 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.”
