Close Call At Disney's California Adventure
by David Koenig
mouseplanet
Reader Joseph Titizian reported that on Friday, June 11, Disney's California Adventure nearly suffered its first guest fatality, by someone who wasn't even a theme park guest. About 3:00 in the afternoon, he said, “We were turning the bend past Soarin' towards Grizzly when I noticed something odd. On the sloped roof of the sixth floor of the Grand Californian, just outside of her balcony, was a small child no more than five or six years old. She had just hopped over her balcony onto the sloped area around it wandering around, looking out at Disney's California Adventure. We couldn't believe our eyes!”
Each balcony has a table and two chairs that small children commonly stand on to get a better view over the railing. As well, the balconies are “inset” into the roofline, so the gravel-covered roofs are just a few feet below the railing—making it easy and tempting for someone to climb over. The roofs are about five feet deep, slope downward, and at the top concierge level, are about 50 feet above the ground below.
“As we walked closer,” Titizian continued, “The girl climbed back over, but by the time we had reached the Grizzly ride entrance she was back over on the roof, walking around, doing a little dance, at one point turning around, facing back into her room and waving. By now a group of concerned guests had gathered frozen in fear feeling helpless not knowing what to do! The ticket takers at the DCA/Grand Californian gate wandered out to see what was going on, and helplessly walked back to hopefully call Security. The child who was barefoot and looked quite disheveled continued to wander and prance as the crowd got more anxious.”
The crowd stood by helplessly, saying things like “Where's the mother?” “Someone do something!”, and “Oh, my God, she is going to fall!” Finally, a female guest in a loud, forceful voice, yelled to the girl, “You get back over there right now, Baby! Go, or you are going to get a spanking! Where is your mother? Get inside right now! Get inside the house! Go to your Mommy!”
“This obviously caught the attention of the girl,” he related, “who sheepishly climbed over the balcony and hid behind the balcony railings. Not once did her parents come outside during this entire incident. And Disney Security was nowhere to be found! Here's hoping that they visited the room and kicked those horrible people out of the Grand Californian. It makes you wonder what kind of people are staying in some of the most desirable and expensive rooms at the Grand Cal!”
A security officer expressed little surprise at the alleged incident and lack of response. “That's what is happening when you have cutbacks,” he said. “DCA has only about four officers patrolling that park. But it all boils down to that old saying of 'guests are idiots.' Fortunately, the kid did not get hurt.”
Adrienne Krock, MousePlanet's Parenting in the Park editor, said, “I think it's unfortunate that security didn't get there because they could have at least figured out what room the child was in to let the 'responsible' adults know what happened. The lack of supervision for that child is shocking and sad. We often don't think ahead, and many of us do not have balconies at home or have balconies that can access rooftops. This is an important reminder to be aware of our surroundings and be on alert for dangers when we are traveling away from home.”
by David Koenig
mouseplanet
Reader Joseph Titizian reported that on Friday, June 11, Disney's California Adventure nearly suffered its first guest fatality, by someone who wasn't even a theme park guest. About 3:00 in the afternoon, he said, “We were turning the bend past Soarin' towards Grizzly when I noticed something odd. On the sloped roof of the sixth floor of the Grand Californian, just outside of her balcony, was a small child no more than five or six years old. She had just hopped over her balcony onto the sloped area around it wandering around, looking out at Disney's California Adventure. We couldn't believe our eyes!”
Each balcony has a table and two chairs that small children commonly stand on to get a better view over the railing. As well, the balconies are “inset” into the roofline, so the gravel-covered roofs are just a few feet below the railing—making it easy and tempting for someone to climb over. The roofs are about five feet deep, slope downward, and at the top concierge level, are about 50 feet above the ground below.
“As we walked closer,” Titizian continued, “The girl climbed back over, but by the time we had reached the Grizzly ride entrance she was back over on the roof, walking around, doing a little dance, at one point turning around, facing back into her room and waving. By now a group of concerned guests had gathered frozen in fear feeling helpless not knowing what to do! The ticket takers at the DCA/Grand Californian gate wandered out to see what was going on, and helplessly walked back to hopefully call Security. The child who was barefoot and looked quite disheveled continued to wander and prance as the crowd got more anxious.”
The crowd stood by helplessly, saying things like “Where's the mother?” “Someone do something!”, and “Oh, my God, she is going to fall!” Finally, a female guest in a loud, forceful voice, yelled to the girl, “You get back over there right now, Baby! Go, or you are going to get a spanking! Where is your mother? Get inside right now! Get inside the house! Go to your Mommy!”
“This obviously caught the attention of the girl,” he related, “who sheepishly climbed over the balcony and hid behind the balcony railings. Not once did her parents come outside during this entire incident. And Disney Security was nowhere to be found! Here's hoping that they visited the room and kicked those horrible people out of the Grand Californian. It makes you wonder what kind of people are staying in some of the most desirable and expensive rooms at the Grand Cal!”
A security officer expressed little surprise at the alleged incident and lack of response. “That's what is happening when you have cutbacks,” he said. “DCA has only about four officers patrolling that park. But it all boils down to that old saying of 'guests are idiots.' Fortunately, the kid did not get hurt.”
Adrienne Krock, MousePlanet's Parenting in the Park editor, said, “I think it's unfortunate that security didn't get there because they could have at least figured out what room the child was in to let the 'responsible' adults know what happened. The lack of supervision for that child is shocking and sad. We often don't think ahead, and many of us do not have balconies at home or have balconies that can access rooftops. This is an important reminder to be aware of our surroundings and be on alert for dangers when we are traveling away from home.”
