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Disneyland guest dies after riding Haunted Mansion attraction at California park

It was not immediately clear what caused the guest’s death

Isabel Keane in New York
A Disneyland guest died Monday after riding the beloved Haunted Mansion attraction at the California theme park.
A Disneyland guest died Monday after riding the beloved Haunted Mansion attraction at the California theme park. (Joshua Sudock/Disneyland Resort )
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A Disneyland visitor died after riding the amusement park’s beloved Haunted Mansion attraction, officials said.

The guest, a woman in her 60s, died Monday after going on the mainstay attraction, which had been decked out in holiday decor themed to Tim Burton’s beloved Disney movie, The Nightmare Before Christmas.

“Anaheim Fire & Rescue responded to the Disneyland Resort for an unresponsive woman in her 60s who had just finished riding the Haunted Mansion attraction,” Matt Sutter of the Anaheim Police Department told The Independent.

Security personnel at the California park “provided CPR until paramedics arrived,” Sutter added.

Soon after, the woman was transported to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

A Disneyland guest died Monday after riding the beloved Haunted Mansion attraction at the California theme park.
A Disneyland guest died Monday after riding the beloved Haunted Mansion attraction at the California theme park. (Joshua Sudock/Disneyland Resort)

The Orange County Sheriff-Coroner “will determine the cause of death” at a later date, Sutter said.

“Out of respect for the family, no further details will be released. This appears to be an unfortunate medical episode, and our thoughts go out the family,” he added.

Disneyland and Anaheim Fire officials have not shared details about the woman, including her name and exact age.

The Independent has reached out to Disneyland for comment.

Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion ride takes guests on “Doom Buggies” through a spirit-filled tour, featuring ghosts, seances and other occult objects. During the holidays, seasonal overlays bring in characters and themes from the 1993 film The Nightmare Before Christmas.

The Haunted Mansion ride at the Anaheim park gets decked out in The Nightmare Before Christmas decor during the holiday season.
The Haunted Mansion ride at the Anaheim park gets decked out in The Nightmare Before Christmas decor during the holiday season. (Getty Images)

Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion ride originally opened in 1969 in the New Orleans Square portion of the park.

The guest’s death comes weeks after another tourist died of blunt force injuries on a Universal Orlando Resort roller coaster in Florida. That tourist, 32-year-old Kevin Rodriguez Zavala, died after riding the Stardust Racers ride at Universal’s Epic Universe park in Orlando, Florida, which opened this past May.

Nearly a month later, Zavala's family and attorney Ben Crump accused Universal Orlando on Monday of putting "profits over people" by reopening the ride weeks after his death. The Stardust Racers ride reopened Saturday.

Crump and Zavala's family, however, had asked that the roller coaster remain closed until several investigations were finished to determine how Zavala died, and until their own experts could look into the ride, Fox 35 reported. In an emotional statement read Monday, Zavala's father told the amusement park: "Kevin's blood is on your hands."

In a statement immediately after his death, Universal Orlando's president said its investigations found the ride operated normally, and its team members followed all procedures and protocols. The amusement park has not issued any statements since.

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