On the evening of July 8, 1974, 18-year-old Deborah Gail Stone was working as a hostess at the "America Sings" attraction in Disneyland, which had opened just nine days prior. The "America Sings" was a large rotating theater designed by Disney Legend Marc Davis, where audiences would sit on a stationary inner platform while the outer ring of the building, divided into six stages, would rotate around them to present different musical acts.
: Because the attraction involved loud music and singing animatronics, her screams were initially muffled. It wasn't until a guest in the next theater heard her that the ride was stopped.
: The attraction was closed for two days for cleaning and safety upgrades. The specific stage where she died remained sealed for a full year. deborah gail stone autopsy report top
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: As the outer seating area revolved every two to four minutes, a narrow 45-second "lights out" intermission took place. During this transition, a gap or "channel" briefly opened between the moving walls of the rotating audience ring and the stationary partition walls dividing the stages. On the evening of July 8, 1974, 18-year-old
is not available to the public in full, investigators and official reports confirm her death was caused by . On July 8, 1974, the 18-year-old Disneyland hostess was caught between a stationary interior wall and a rotating stage wall at the "America Sings" attraction. Incident Summary Time of Incident: Approximately 10:37 p.m. Time of Death: Pronounced at 11:00 p.m.
Deborah Gail Stone, a recent Santa Ana High School graduate working for the summer, was positioned in a "narrow channel" that separated the stationary stage from the rotating theater. It is believed that as the theater began its 2-to-4-minute rotation cycle, she either stepped backward or tripped into this narrow gap. The force of the moving wall created a fatal pinch point, crushing her instantly. It wasn't until a guest in the next
According to the official inquest, the autopsy report would have highlighted:
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