Falling tree branch hits people at Disneyland
June 26th, 2008, 6:53 pm · 41 Comments · posted by Sonya Smith
Update: New photo on the left sent in by someone who was in the park when the tree branch fell. Click on either photo to see an enlarged image.
A tree branch broke and fell onto a pathway last night near the French Market restaurant in the New Orleans Square area of Disneyland.
A Disney spokeswoman said it was one branch and that it did not fall directly on anybody. She said that no more than five people were near the branch when it fell. She said those people had minor scrapes.
Irvine resident Vicki Munsell was at the park yesterday when the branch fell. She was there with her family celebrating her and her husband’s 14th wedding anniversary.
Munsell and her family were eating at the Cafe Orleans restaurant when they heard someone shout and she turned around in time to hear the branch cracking and see it fall on a pathway.
She said people ran over right away to help. While Disney said the tree did not fall on anyone, Munsell said people were pulled out from underneath the tree. Still, Munsell agreed that she did not see anyone injured with more than a few scratches.
Munsell took the photo that you see at right with her camera phone, and she sent it to The Orange County Register. After the branch fell, she said the area was blocked off by Disney cast members who removed the branch and checked on people nearby.
This is not the first time trees have fallen on people in theme parks. On Aug. 1, 1997, a large tree limb at Knott’s Berry Farm broke and fell onto four visitors near the Montezooma’s Revenge ride, causing minor injuries to three and leaving the fourth hospitalized. And on May 5, 2001, Jeanne Gill, 73 suffered a broken hip, and 27 others are injured when a 20-foot oak tree falls in Frontierland at Disneyland.
Here you can find a timeline of more theme park accidents in Orange County.
Photo on the right taken by Vicki Munsell of Irvine. Photo at top left sent in by someone who was at the park when the tree branch fell.
Related posts:
- Indiana Jones will stop throwing punches in Disneyland show
- Alcohol-serving movie theater coming to GardenWalk
- Amy Winehouse compares court to Disneyland, People magazine reports
- TSA trying to learn customer service from Disney
- Fans protest end of virtual Disney site in front of Disneyland
- 96-year-old man hits Knott’s roller coasters
- Dead ashes tell no tales
- Families change schedules to sleep at Disneyland
- Disneyland hits capacity and stops sales
June 26th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!! a tree branch!!!!!!! ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!
June 26th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
I guess news are a bit dry at the Disney blog. When I went several months ago, there was a huge beehive in a tree. I should have took a pic and sent it in.
June 26th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
I was there. Disney is dumbing this down a bit. The branch was huge, almost half the whole tree. A woman dove out of it’s path and hit her head pretty hard; I overheard a medic saying she may have a concussion.
But at least nobody was seriously hurt.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Wow. One small tree branch fell! Is this serious news?? Next thing you know “leaves fall from a Disneyland tree and onto the pathway in front of guests”.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
I had a leaf fall on me once. It was quite traumatic.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Well, actually it was Leaf Garrett, so you can imagine my horror.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
3 hour lines to get on a ride doesn’t even get a mention in the big news at Disneyland anymore, but a tree branch…now that’s excitement!
June 26th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
I was a few feet from the tree sitting on a wall. I thought someone set off fireworks and turned to watch the huge branch split off from the tree and fall onto the pathway. So many Disney guests rushed to help and Disney cast members quickly got the area cleared and roped off. Lost my seat!
June 27th, 2008 at 1:50 am
Hope that earns them season passes!!…Disney could care less!! too many people stuffed in the park at once…My family and I went last year during Sept….they had people sitting everywhere waiting for the fireworks…if something were to happen (earthquake..etc) lots of people including children will get hurt…anything to make $$$
June 27th, 2008 at 7:13 am
It’s the revenge of Walt Disney’s frozen head!
June 27th, 2008 at 7:16 am
If Disney would start paying DECENT WAGES rather than the $8.50-$9.00 hour for the grueling hours cast members have to endure, they might get a better quality of workers and result in less accidents!
June 27th, 2008 at 7:24 am
The cynic in me wonders how many of those guests who “rushed to help” will now turn around and sue Disney claiming injury.
June 27th, 2008 at 7:57 am
…this is not news worthy….
June 27th, 2008 at 8:07 am
mary ellen dont be an idiot, the pay has nothing to do with the branch falling off the tree. if you dont want to make 9.50 an hour then go find another job. some people like working for disneyland bc of the benefits and the scheduling convenience.
June 27th, 2008 at 8:10 am
oh sweet Jesus !!! What is this world coming too!!! were the skinny enough to get out of the way?
June 27th, 2008 at 8:13 am
Most likely a Coral Tree, they are always losing branches. Never stand underneath a coral tree,.
June 27th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Not news worthy, but comment worthy?
I can’t imagine how this would have anything to do with how many people were in the park, or how much the cast members are getting paid.
Those trees have been there for decades. Accidents happen.
June 27th, 2008 at 8:41 am
If a tree branch falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it…er, I mean a tree branch falls at Disney and no one gets hurt …does it really matter??? come on OCR how about some real news?
June 27th, 2008 at 9:05 am
if someone got hurt while diving out of the way, thats not the same as getting hurt because they got hit with the branch.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:17 am
To those of you naysayers, “this is not news” have you considered that Disney is “ownplaying this? Their definition of a “branch” was half the tree ;p
So if the OCR had said the tree split in half…and not used Disney’s official statement that a “branch” had fallen…would that be news? Disney’s official statement also included “no one was under it when it fell” those people in the picture are not diggin’ for pirate treasure ;p They were pulling people out.
LIES!!! (which is the reason I sent the pic in)
June 27th, 2008 at 9:19 am
Mary Ellen, what a great idea! Let’s pay all of the Disney workers $20/hr and voila no more tree branches will fall.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:43 am
It was probably a union tree.
June 27th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Actually, I saw a completely different situation. Perhaps no one else noticed, but those folks running and screaming toward the accident were not helping, they were merely causing hysterics and getting a closer look. It sounded a lot like a pop of a gun when it happened. Perhaps people need to step back from things to avoid more collateral damange and stop running into the situation to look. Or maybe it was all those people trying to get a picture from their cell phones to send to the news. If you are right on top of it, yes, take a pic send it in, do whatever, but why run INTO an accident? Has anyone else noticed that Disneyland is become a place for rudeness and filth. I saw so many dirty scenes, nasty restrooms, unkept areas that I wondered if I were still in The Magic Kingdom. What happened to Disneyland. Also, the tree, which was half a tree not just a branch, was still there hours later. I don’t think Walt ever envisioned this magical place turning into what it has now. Yes, the money grubbers are all around us, but let’s try first looking at ourselves and how we help to destroy such places. Pick up your trash, stop knocking people over to get ahead in line and remember, it was supposed to be for the children, not thuggish teens and young adults to act like ill mannered brats! I have had my last trip to Disneyland after going there for years and finding enjoyment every time. The new world has now managed to destroy it too!
June 27th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
For those of you who seem to think that this is just a tiny little tree branch. TAKE A LOOK AT THE PICTURES!!! The branch was the size of a small tree. This is not about people who want to claim injury money from Disney. This is about the Disney Empire telling the truth about what actually happened. I was one of the people that the tree fell on. Were one of the guests was correct, there were no serious injuries. The Disney spokes woman blatantly lied about the branch. The branch fell on no less than seven people. And several others were injured diving out of the way. Two children ages 3, and 5 were also trapped under the tree with their parents. The father of one of the children was able to lift the tree high enough to pull the children out. The children were also not seriously injured, however this must be traumatizing to them at such a young age. An elderly woman was struck in the head and back by the falling large limb. Another woman was knocked down by the tree landing on her forearms and elbows. I for one couldn’t care less about free passes, like one blogger says, because I will never be going back. Not like they care about their guest. The whole incident was handled extremely poorly by Disney. I just want Disney to admit the truth.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
I just thought this was part of the ride.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
i was right there
it sounded like fireworks
i turned around just in time to see people diving and running away as the huge tree branch (it was the size of a medium tree) fell on to about 5 or 6 people
i could have sworn i saw a knocked over stroller and could hear a baby crying
but i was immediatly pushed and shoved away from the scene
it was quite traumatic
June 27th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
A large branch fell? It must be that the powers that be at Dland thought they would distract from wages, crowds and park cleanliness by throwing out and olive (ok maybe not olive) branch. Thank God it was at Dland so we have someone to blame and sue. Woohooo.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
The photos are better than the OCR photographers. OCR staff would have taken 5 pictures of the gound, 1 person missing a shoe, 1 random kid crying and the other 5 pictures would be of shocked on lookers.
June 27th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Ok granted it was a big branch but still… you gotta admit this is barely a story even if a couple of people had to dive out of the way.
also why does that branch have no leaves and all the rest do? what the heck? was it dead? is there some arborist that could tell us what the cause was
June 27th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
gotta agree nuttypoo
June 27th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
I am the mother of the 5 yr old that was under the tree shielding him from the tree, that some of you think is not news. Try being under it. We had very little time to move by the time we realized what was happening. At the Disney theme park there is always crackling noises and the last thing you are thinking is that a tree is about to come down. I turned my head in time to see it falling to grab my 5 yr old son and protect him. My 3 yr old nephew was sitting right in the middle of all the tree with branches around him. We were all lucky that we were standing in places where the branches fell on each side of us, instead of our heads. So, I guess if you think that this is not news you should think again. We asked for water to take with the aspirin they handed to my mother, but no response. It seemed Disney was more worried about lawsuits than anything else. We were worried that the children were ok and not flattened by a tree branch the size of a TREE. It doesn’t matter what kind of tree it is the point it is we have 2 small children that will never go to Disneyland again because they are scared. No we were not seriously injured, but extremely shaken. Our entire day was ruined, so we left with the aspirin.
June 27th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
bpsqwerty there were leaves on the branch (portion of the tree) that fell. Look at the first picture. It was basically half of the tree.
The tree appears to have been maintained. This seems to be just an accident. Not everything in life requires finger pointing and lawsuits.
Heck, I was there in October (the day the Santiago fire started) and I saw a tree that had fallen over onto outdoor picnic tables in Downtown Disney. It was large but not quite as large as this one.
June 27th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Why are so many people at D-Land on a workday. Doesn’t anyone work anymore. WTF
June 27th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
kobshell, perhaps you should keep the kids inside and hope for the best. An act of god/nature is just that. It could happen in your own yard or at a park or at the outdoor shopping center. Seems like you already know where you are headed so good luck with that. If you are in a car accident you usually get in a car agian because you pretty much have to. Give your kids a little time and they will be happy to go to Dland again. Perhaps you should explain to them that this was an accident then show them pic of flood victims or Katrina victims or Tsunami victims and telll them to feel very happy and lucky that injury was avoided and they are still happy and healthy. I Know that Dland has lawsuits pending every day and if I owned the joint i would be very careful what I let my employees do too. Perhaps this should be looked at as an unfortunate the ACCIDENT that it was and let go without prejudice.
June 28th, 2008 at 1:10 am
I was about ten feet away, heading in that direction when the Branch split from the tree and fell. This area was very crowded and I thought at the time more guests were hurt. All were lucky that the branch did not completly fall from the tree. The bigest part of the branch was still attached to the tree. From my view it looked like the people jumping in were trying to help get people out. I saw many employees immediately drop everything and run to help. I was impressed. I think the tree had to be left there untill the park closed . It would have been hard to remove it while guests were still in the park. The same day when we were in the main store on Main St. my daughter dropped a small shot glass and it broke within seconds 3 employees were around us picking up the glass. I was again impressed at how quickly the employees responded. Things happen and a tree branch falling could not have been predicted. It was scarry from 10 feet away, but many things happen in life are scarry and we pick up and go on. Disneyland the corporation may have downplayed this in the news,. In the many, many times I have been to dland the employees have made my experience the best. I was glad to here there were not any serious injuries. It could have been much worse
June 28th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Hey nflfan42,
Please do not respond any further directly to me.
June 28th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
My family was the people under the tree. The youngest one had his hearing aid pop out. I feel bad because just a few days before my grandmother tripped over one of the kids who was there and she was rushed to the hospital. The poor kid is going to be tramautized (sp?) by the time he gets home. My family sure has some bad luck, huh?
June 29th, 2008 at 12:01 am
I thought all the trees in Disneyland were FAKE!
June 29th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Arbitrary post from hell ^
That tree branch looks pretty damn big to me.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
I love the contradictory statements of how this played out. In one version Disneyland is an evil corporation that purposely grows trees big and tall so they can eventually fall on people and then instructs their minimum wage employees to deny aid to little old ladies who need an aspirin. In the other version it’s a nicely run theme park with friendly folks working there who would automatically rush in to help with any emergency, whether a freak act of nature like a big tree branch falling or a little child breaking a glass in a store.
All these comments really prove is that different people view life in different ways.
Myself, I’ve been to Disneyland plenty of times. I’ve also been to Six Flags and Knott’s and the County Fair and a State Park. I’d much rather be at Disneyland, where it’s cleaner and safer and when a tree does break and fall I’ll be reasonably well taken care of.
Who do you blame when a tree breaks apart in Yosemite? The evil Park Ranger? The Governor? Ansel Adams?
July 7th, 2008 at 3:14 am
You said it Troy. I mean tree limbs do break off of trees all the time except when it happens at Disneyland then everyone blames Disney. Just be happy no one got seriously injured. By all the comments posted, it seems like 30 people were under the tree which is hard to believe by the pictures. Also in the pictures I see a few Disney employees trying to help after they picked up the shot glass that broke. HE HE!
I say when a tree does fall at Yosemite, blame Arnold S. because he might have used it for target practice. HA HA!