Deborah Gail Stone
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| Deborah Gail Stone | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 8, 1956 Orange County, California, U.S. |
| 💀Died | July 8, 1974 (aged 18) Orange County, California, U.S.July 8, 1974 (aged 18) |
| Cause of death | Death by crushing in theme park accident |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| 👴 👵 Parent(s) |
|
Deborah Gail "Debbie" Stone (born June 18, 1956) was a student and employee at American theme park DisneyLand in California, notable for her unusual death when she was crushed between a stationary wall and a rotating stage wall on the park's new America Sings ride (formerly Carousel of Progress in the summer of 1974.[1] Often mistakenly reported as an urban legend, Debbie Stone's death gained international media attention in the 2010s with more detailed news coverage and coverage in a segment of YouTube host Kevin Perjurer's series Defunctland.[2] Debbie Stone's death led to a lawsuit that was later settled out of court, as well as pressuring Disney to reevaluate its safety measures for employees operating theme park rides. Debbie is the memorial namesake of a swimming pool at Santa Ana High School, although Disney itself has never established any memorial at any of its parks for the former employee.[1][3]
Early life[edit]
Deborah Gail Stone was born June 18, 1956 to parents Bill and Marilyn Stone. Nicknamed "Debbie" for short, Debbie was one of five siblings in her large family, the only girl among her four brothers, and the oldest child. Debbie was known for being a popular and athletic schoolgirl, excelling in various sports, especially swimming, while also being a gifted student, graduating from Santa Ana High School in the top ten percent of students. Before her death, Debbie had enrolled in Iowa State University and had gotten engaged to her fiancée.[1] Writer David Koenig, speaking of Debbie, declared, "At 5-foot-5 and 100 pounds, Deborah was young, beautiful, healthy and intelligent—and just about to embark on her adult life. A few weeks earlier, she had graduated with honours from Santa Ana High School, where she was a star athlete, student and winner of the year's "Principal's Award."[4]
America Sings accident[edit]
America Sings was a fairly new ride at DisneyLand, having been built on the skeleton of what was the former Carousel of Progress that had been shipped from Epcot Center to DisneyLand for reconstruction in 1973. America Sings consisted of various animatronic cartoon creatures that would sing show tunes from different eras, all hosted by Sam the American Eagle. Shows would each end with an interlude of a small weasel character popping up and saying its catchphrase "pop goes the weasel!" before breaking into laughter. Guests to the park would be ushered into seats that would rotate from one stage to the next, all connected by various rotating stage walls.[1]
Debbie was working at DisneyLand for a summer job, hoping to save money for her upcoming university courses. On the evening of July 8, 1974, Debbie was working as a host for America Sings, having already led a party of guests onto the ride. While the ride was in operation, a guest heard the screaming of a girl and assumed that it was some part of the ride, only to later realize that it was a person begging for help. Alerting other staff to the strange noise, the guest and staff discovered Debbie pinned between a stationary wall and rotating stage wall. Daniel Robison, a member of the Air Force from Castle Air Force Base near Merced, was sitting with his family in the front row of an adjoining theatre. He told investigators he looked to his right, saw what he thought was a child being pulled between the platform and wall, and he heard a shrill scream. The ride was shut off and a rescue was attempted, but Debbie died at the scene that night. It is unclear how badly her body was damaged by the crushing, due to a lack of public medical report, but guests alleged that a large amount of blood was viewed seeping from beneath the walls. The America Sings ride was temporarily closed for "cleaning" before resuming regular operation.[5][6]
Liability[edit]
It has never been fully clear why Debbie had ended up pinned between the two walls on America Sings. While random speculation has become frequent on internet true crime communities, there is no one official source that has confirmed whether Debbie fell between the walls, stepped in between them, or attempted to leap from one part of the wall to the other for ease of access during her hosting duties. Other hosts had claimed that it was a common sight for staff to playfully joke around by hopping between the walls, but no witnesses ever saw Debbie doing this on the night of the accident. In any case, the Stone Family filed a lawsuit against Disney for their daughter's death, demanding that the corporation improve the ride's safety features. It was revealed that a dangerous flaw of America Sings was that it rotated counter-clockwise, unlike the Carousel of Progress, which had always rotated clockwise in a manner that allowed the centre of the attraction to rotate without the walls squishing together. In comparison, America Sings operated in such a way that the walls would invariably squish together between sessions as the centre rotated, carrying guests from one stage to the next. On top of this, America Sings had no breakaway walls or safety lighting, and the loud voices of the singing characters had obscured the screams of Debbie when she was calling for help, delaying a prompt rescue. The case was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount, while Disney quickly added the Stone Family's proposed safety changes to the ride. According to Marilyn Stone, Disney had been very apologetic to her, with numerous staff members stopping by her residence to give flowers. This trend has continued decades after Debbie's death.[7]
Resurgence of the case[edit]
Post-1974, Debbie Stone's death was treated largely as an urban myth, believed to be a fictional horror story shared around in the United States.[8] It wasn't until the 2010s, with the advent of the internet, that the case gained newfound attention.[9][10][11] YouTuber Kevin Perjurer, who had filmed a documentary on America Sings, had added a segment about Debbie Stone, revealing that her death was in fact real, and complaining that he was annoyed by people making disrespectful comments about the girl's death in the video's comments. The lawsuit files between the Stone Family and Disney were kept archived and accessible in some volumes of the California Compensation Cases, further documenting the reality of the incident. The case noted that the Stone Family demanded higher standards to theme park safety, while the settlement reached between them and Disney was not publicly disclosed.[12]
The story of Debbie Stone has been covered in published books, most notably Mouse Tales: A Behind-The-Ears Look at Disneyland by David Koenig, a popular title among theme park aficionados.[13] Another title, Joshua Shaffer's Discovering The Magic Kingdom: An Unofficial Disneyland Vacation Guide, covered the case more briefly than Koenig's book.[14]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Stibbs, Patrick. "Remembering Deborah". CityNews. The City Weekly.
- ↑ Perjurer, Kevin (2017). Defunctland: The History of Disneyland's America Sings. Defunctland. Search this book on
- ↑ "The Terrifying and Infamous Death of Debbie Stone at Disneyland". opinionfront.com. OpinionFront. 17 January 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
- ↑ Koenig, David. "In Memory". www.mouseplanet.com. MousePlanet. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
- ↑ Hitt, Kenny. "30th Anniversary of Disneyland's Most Famous Accident". www.themeparkinsider.com. Theme Park Insider. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
- ↑ Shaffer, Joshua C. (2010). Discovering The Magic Kingdom: An Unofficial Disneyland Vacation Guide. p. 89. ISBN 978-1452063133. Retrieved 18 March 2022. Search this book on
- ↑ Stibbs, Patrick. "Remembering Deborah". CityNews. The City Weekly.
- ↑ Peters, Lucia. "These 9 Disney Park Ghost Stories Will Make You Lose Sleep Tonight". www.bustle.com. Bustle. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
- ↑ "Happy 64th Disneyland: Dark secrets of the 'happiest place on Earth'". www.nzherald.co.nz. New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
- ↑ Boone, Brian (21 January 2020). "The Worst Accidents That Ever Happened At Disney Theme Parks". www.grunge.com. Grunge. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
- ↑ Geryak, Cole (4 July 2018). "Disney Extinct Attractions: America Sings". www.laughingplace.com. Laughing Place. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
- ↑ Workmen's Compensation Reporter (1978). "California Compensation Cases Comprising All Decisions of the Supreme and Appellate Courts in Cases Originating from the Industrial Accident Commission for the Year". 42. Workmen's Compensation Reporter: 177. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
- ↑ Koenig, David (1995). Mouse Tales: A Behind-The-Ears Look at Disneyland. Bonaventure Press. ISBN 9780964060562. Search this book on
- ↑ Shaffer, Joshua C. (2010). Discovering The Magic Kingdom: An Unofficial Disneyland Vacation Guide. p. 89. ISBN 978-1452063133. Retrieved 18 March 2022. Search this book on
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