A woman died after suffering an apparent medical episode in the Haunted Mansion Holiday ride at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. Photo by Caroline Brehman/EPA
A woman in her 60s died after suffering an apparent medical episode in the Haunted Mansion Holiday ride at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., a city spokesperson said.
Around 6:30 p..m. PDT Monday, Anaheim Fire and Rescue responded to a report of an unresponsive woman. Disneyland security had already begun CPR.
She was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead, Sgt. Matt Sutter confirmed to KTLA-TV.
The cause of death has yet to be determined.
The Orange County Sheriff-Coroner will investigate.
“There is no indication of any operating issue with the attraction, which reopened soon after,” Sutter said.
The woman’s name, age and city of residence have not been released.
The Haunted Mansion opened in 1969 in the New Orleans Square section of the park. It began operating its seasonal Haunted Mansion Holiday in 2001, Entertainment Weekly reported.
This year, the holiday ride runs from Aug. 22 to Jan. 7 on the 70th anniversary of the opening of the theme park.
The attraction is inspired by Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.
“The Haunted Mansion is dark and contains some mildly frightening scenes, but there is no gore,” the theme park says on its website. “The ghostly residents are friendly and the ride is slow-moving.”
During the ride: “Dearly depart into a foreboding estate, drag your body to the dead center of the Portrait Chamber and watch as the walls begin to stretch before your eyes. Climb into your waiting Doom Buggy and embark on a shivering journey into an unearthly realm.
“The disembodied voice of the Ghost Host is your private guide through the cadaverous dwelling — home to grinning ghosts and other spectral surprises.”
The website then says: “Glide past a rattling casket in the conservatory. Head off to Madame Leota’s spirited seance room. Float by the Grand Ballroom and its waltzing apparitions. Take a spin through a cemetery where the spirited residents regale you with song.
“Beware of lurking hitchhikers — these phantom pranksters may try to follow you home!”
At the end of the ride, the narrator challenges them to “find a way out” as lighting effects reveal that a dead body hangs above visitors from the ceiling.
Kim Irvine, a former Imagineering creative director at Disneyland, said her team initially discussed removing the hanging corpse scene during a refurbishment in 2021 because, as the Los Angeles Times reported, “such an image could be triggering for some guests.”
The ride was adapted into two feature films.
The attraction later opened at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom park in central Florida, Tokyo Disneyland and at Disneyland Paris, with the latter called Phantom Manor.
Hong Kong Disneyland opened Mystic Manor, which was inspired by the Haunted Mansion
