Is Disneyland really safe or a death trap?

I have heard there are a lot more deaths at Disney and accidents than they release to the press. Is this true?

Sounds like the “no one one has ever been declared dead at Disneyland” myth. Disney’s very image conscious, but generally it’s false.

According to “Risk: A Practical Guide for Deciding What’s Really Safe and What’s Really Dangerous in the World Around You”, by David Ropeik and George Gray of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis

You have a chance of 1 in 70 million of dying in an amusement park in one year. In your lifetime, it’s in 1 in 920,000.

If you don’t want to go, I will take your place in line.

Yep, I think the odds of dying in a car crash on the way to the park are better than dying at the park.

I believe all the deaths and serious accidents that have happened at Disney and are the responsibility of the park have been reported in the press, largely because of the common mythology that they “must” be hiding something.

Having worked at Disneyland, I can say for a fact that unless it was pretty dramatic, “standard” on-the-job injuries for employees didn’t make it into the press, however.

You might want to check out Mouse Tales: A Behind the Ears Look at Disneyland for more information.

I went!
I’m still alive. (I think).

Plan to go again, in fact.

Disneyland is safe. The L.A. freeway system is a deathtrap.