Disneyland Cast Member Crushed Between Two Walls
Death of Debbie Stone During Disney’s America Sings Performance
Apr 30, 2009
Most Disneyland fatalities have occurred due to reckless behavior on the part of guests or, very occasionally, ride malfunctions and park negligence. The death of Debbie Stone is the only fatality of a Disney cast member to date.
The Victim – Disneyland Employee Deborah Gail Stone
Debbie (or Debbi) Stone was an eighteen-year-old honours student, star athlete, committed Christian and winner of the “Principal Award” at her alma mater, Santa Ana High School. Debbie applied to work at Disneyland as a summer job, in order to fund her upcoming college life at Iowa State University. On the day of the accident, Debbie called her parents to ask permission to become engaged.
How the America Sings Accident Occurred
In 1974 a ride called “Carousel of Progress” was revamped to become a new attraction, “America Sings”. The ride featured six stages in the central core of the building, containing animatronic songs and dances (with theatres 1 and 6 reserved for seating and exiting guests). Around the perimeter of the core were six theatres, which rotated around the theatres in order to allow each theatre audience to experience each song in sequence. Cast members known as hostesses stood at the left of each stage, welcoming and farewelling the guests during every turn.
According to David Koenig's Mouse Tales: A Behind-the-Ears Look at Disneyland, as the Carousel of Progress, the theatres moved around the core in a clockwise direction. This meant that the walls on the left-hand side of the stage moved away from each other. America Sings reversed the rotation, which meant that the walls moved towards each other on the left-hand side of the stage and closed in place to separate each theatre from its neighbors.
On the night of July 8, 1974 – only nine days after America Sings opened – Debbie somehow moved too close to the wall of her stage. As her theatre was empty at the time, the ride having just completed its cycle, exactly what happened is unknown. Debbie may have been leaning in to the adjacent stage in order to talk to a fellow cast member; she may have tried to jump from one stage to the other, or she may have simply been distracted and moved without noticing. However it happened, Debbie became trapped as the moving wall closed against the stationary one. A guest in the theatre next door heard her screams and alerted staff, but by the time Debbie was found she had been crushed to death.
Disneyland’s Response to the Accident and Safety Precautions
In response to the accident, Disneyland swiftly installed sensor lights which alerted the ride’s operators if anyone moved too close to the walls. Later the ride was fitted with breakaway walls designed to prevent a repeat of the incident even if the sensor system failed.
Rumours of Debbie Stone’s Ghost Presence
Two days after the accident, the Los Angeles Times noted the reopening of America Sings (July 11, 1974: "Disneyland Reopens Show That Killed Girl"). The show continued to run until 1988. Following its closure the building stood empty until it was refurbished for Innoventions in 1998. Since Debbie’s death various reports have circulated claiming that Debbie’s ghost has been heard, usually dating from the America Sings or empty period of the building. It should be noted that there are a number of ghost stories associated with Disneyland fatalities, and that a vast number of urban legends have sprung up around the Disney theme parks and franchise.
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