TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — An 83-year-old Disney World guest with a pre-existing medical condition died after riding the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover, according to an injury report released by the state on Tuesday.
The report stated on Sept. 25, 2022, the man experienced a “cardiac event” and later passed away. According to the sheriff’s report obtained by Florida Politics, the man had a pacemaker and was diagnosed with several medical conditions including diabetes and hypertension.
A doctor determined the man had a large artery blockage in his heart, according to the report obtained by Florida Politics. The report also stated the man’s death was “deemed natural” given the underlying medical conditions.
The death involving the slow-moving tram marked the first reported death at a major Florida theme park since May 2021, when a 58-year-old man with a pre-existing condition passed out while leaving Epcot’s Spaceship Earth attraction and later died at a hospital.
Under an agreement with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Florida’s largest theme parks are permitted to self-report guest injuries that happen on rides and also require at least 24 hours of hospitalization. The state agency then compiles the injuries in a public report released every three months, according to a report from the Orlando Sentinel.
Since the department’s last injury report, which recorded incidents between the months of July and September 2022, 12 people were injured on Disney and Universal rides including guests who lost consciousness during or after a ride and one 27-year-old woman who went into labor after exiting the Tomorrowland Speedway.
There were no reported injuries at Sea World, Busch Gardens, or Legoland this quarter.
While the agreement allows parks to self-report injuries, descriptions are limited, including only the attraction involved, the incident date, the guest’s age and gender, if there was a pre-existing condition, and a brief description of the injury.
Details of an injury are often simplified in the report and only revealed during lawsuits, like when an 11-year-old boy’s foot and leg were crushed on Universal’s E.T. Adventure ride in 2019. According to the Orlando Sentinel’s report, the theme park described the injury as “foot pain.”