Weirdest Disneyland Incidents

Disneyland Resort recently turned 70 years old, making it the oldest true theme park in the world.

Since millions of guests visit the park each year, some strange stuff has happened over the years.

Here are some of the weirdest Disneyland incidents.

The Derailed Opening Day Train

I’ve detailed the disastrous opening day of Disneyland on many occasions, including in my book, Disney Demystified Vol. 1.

One of the topics I haven’t discussed much involved the Disneyland train system.

As many of you know, trains held a place near and dear to Walt Disney’s heart.

The entrepreneur even built a miniature but working train system in his backyard.

That’s why this story seems so hard to believe, even though it’s true.

How would I describe the whole story? Well, it’s this Simpsons joke:

The opening of Disneyland WAS someone’s first day. Specifically, it was the train brakeman’s.

This poor soul earned a place in Disneyland history by experiencing some opening day jitters.

A passenger train was at the station when another one approached.

The brakeman could have slept on the job, and everything would have been fine.

Instead, this individual inexplicably panicked at the sight of the train and pulled the wrong lever.

In the process, most of the train went in the proper direction while the caboose followed its instructions.

The back of the train veered, causing a multi-ton train cart to turn sideways.

There are pictures of this, and they’re amazing. It’s a sideways train helplessly stuck between two train tracks.

As the story goes, the brakeman knew he was fired. So, he just headed to his locker and left the park, never to be seen again.

Why don’t people discuss this story more? It wouldn’t make the top five horrors from Black Sunday.

I mean, a tiger and a panther engaged in a “furious death struggle” on Main Street, U.S.A.

Compared to that, a train derailment almost seems quaint.

The Flaming Dragon

This is a fairly recent story some of you may remember, but it definitely deserves a place in Disneyland ignominy.

Imagineers built a 45-foot-tall version of the classic Maleficent dragon from Sleeping Beauty.

In a hilarious case of life imitating art, the dragon fulfilled its contractual obligation to the fullest.

During a performance of Fantasmic!, Maleficent took fire-breathing to a whole ‘nother level.

According to the BBC, “At one stage, a large explosion of fire shoots out of the dragon, as the crowd can be heard gasping and Disney staff yell out to “clear the area”.”

You can imagine the surprise on the faces of these guests. They’d expected a fire, just not like that.

The worst part from Disney’s perspective is that they didn’t even have an excuse.

Park officials were well aware of the possibility of Maleficent catching fire.

The Magic Kingdom version of the dragon Audio-Animatronic had done just that in 2018.

So, this was a known issue that Disney executives presumed would never recur.

That made the second mishap all the more embarrassing and forced a change.

When Maleficent returned in 2024, Imagineers adopted a different approach.

Now, the human form of Maleficent rises 35 feet into the air rather than risking more dragon fire.

Unfortunately, Imagineers created a flaming dragon that was too realistic.

The Innocent Little Pig

You may not associate the Three Little Pigs with Disney, but they’re actually a sacred part of Disney lore.

In 1933, Walt Disney and his team created a Silly Symphony short of Three Little Pigs.

This animated classic became a box office hit AND won an Academy Award. You can watch it here:

When Disneyland opened, the Three Little Pigs property was just the right age for parents to share it with their children.

So, Three Little Pigs character greetings proved quite popular during Disneyland’s early years.

There was just one little problem. Costume markers of this era weren’t very good.

Those of you who have seen some of these early costumed characters know the truth.

Some of them aren’t just bad but honestly quite creepy. For this reason, some people didn’t take to them.

In a couple of other instances, weird allegations unfolded, forcing Disney to defend itself.

The company would track its various costumed characters to make sure they weren’t, you know, scaring the customers.

In 1976, a famous incident occurred wherein a customer claimed that one of the Three Little Pigs groped her.

The individual claimed that the incident scarred her so much that she gained 50 pounds.

I would never make light of such allegations if they had any basis in reality. This one did not.

The alleged victim sued Disney for $150,000, the equivalent of $875,000 today.

To prove that the person wrong, park officials eventually handed over a picture.

The image showed that her claim couldn’t possibly be true. This picture revealed a strange fact.

The Three Little Pigs’ costumes didn’t have operable arms or hands.

Nobody could grab in that costume, even if that was their goal. It was physically impossible.

Winnie the Alleged Slapper

That fact also played a hand in a different failed lawsuit against Disneyland.

While you may associate Winnie the Pooh and the denizens of Hundred Acre Wood as everything good and pure, one guest did not.

According to this individual, Winnie the Pooh assaulted their child.

The accusation involved the costumed Cast Member open-hand slapping a 10-year-old.

That’s a very serious allegation and one that doesn’t align with Disneyland’s values at all.

Had a Cast Member done that, they would have been fired and likely arrested.

There’s just one problem with the claim, which triggered a $15,000 lawsuit.

Once again, this action was physically impossible, and the timing was highly suspicious.

The accusation arose in 1978, two years after the well-publicized Three Little Pigs allegation.

Disney again knew that the family wasn’t telling the truth, but the lawsuit went to trial.

The defense called the Cast Member to the stand and eventually had them put on the suit.

At this point, the jury quickly realized that the costume’s arms nearly touched the ground.

So, anyone in that outfit was physically incapable of slapping anyone.

The Saddle Incident That Ended the Mule Ride

Disneyland did lose the occasional lawsuit, though. In one such instance, it closed a ride.

Starting in 1955, park guests could ride actual pack mules in the Frontierland section of the park.

Rainbow Ridge Mule Pack allowed guests to explore a part of the park where Big Thunder Mountain Railroad resides today.

You can imagine how scenic that view seemed in the 1950s and 1960s.

There was just one little problem. Mules are innately obstinate creatures.

When one gives a guest problems, it’s hard to solve the problem in a timely manner.

That goes double when the guest discovers that they’ve been dislodged from the ride.

That’s exactly what happened during the final year of Rainbow Ride Mule Pack.

A saddle malfunction caused a guest to fall off the ride and slide down an incline.

This individual suffered injuries and sued for damages, and, well, Disney didn’t have much of a defense here.

When the saddle broke, it was them and the mule in Frontierland.

If the fall hadn’t injured them, the mule feasibly might have done worse.

Disney argued its case in court, but a busted saddle tells a story, as did the person’s injuries.

The court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, awarding the victim $142,000, the equivalent of $786,000 today.

Soon afterward, Disneyland quietly exited the mule business, shuttering the Rainbow Ride Mule Pack.

Still, the fact that Disneyland ever hosted a pack mule ride is hard to imagine today, isn’t it?

Thanks for visiting MickeyBlog.com! Want to go to Disney? For a FREE quote on your next Disney vacation, please fill out the form below, and one of the agents from MickeyTravels, a Diamond Level Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, will be in touch soon!

Feature Photo: Disney Archives