Who was Deborah Gail Stone, and what happened to her? Deborah Gail Stone was an eighteen-year-old girl who had recently graduated from her senior year of high school and had just gotten engaged, the beginning of her life had just begun. Deborah planned to make money before heading out for college, so she got a job at Disneyland. Deborah’s specific job was as a hostess at Disneylands’ “America Sings” attraction.
America Sings was a Disney attraction featuring a carousel theater with an outer ring of six theaters connected by divider walls which would revolve about every four minutes around the sic fixed staged in the center of the building, including a cast of singing and dancing animatronics to comedically give us an idea of certain points in American history. Deborah was a hostess for this attraction and her job was to greet the audience before each show began.
Nobody would expect such tragedy from what’s commonly known as the “happiest place on earth,” but on July 8th, 1974, something gruesome occurred… Just nine days after the attraction opened, Deborah had just started her evening shift as she began performing her usual duties. However, during the stage rotation, Deborah somehow got stuck between a stationary and a rotating wall, crushing her to death backstage during the performance. Deborah passed away around 10:47 pm, a quick yet sufferable death.
The naive audience members claim that they thought the blood-curdling scream of Deborah was a part of the show. A newspaper addressing the incident claims that only one audience member, Daniel Robinson, told investigators that he thought he saw to his right a girl getting pulled between the platform and the wall before hearing that unforgettable scream; when the show was over he notified operators. Something extra disturbing is how the show went on despite her corpse being crushed between the stage walls. America Sings was closed for only three days after the incident before reopening.
Deborah had a short life, but an effective one. Many who knew Deborah wrote her parents letters after her death, mostly about various things Deborah has helped them with. A young man who she was friends with in high school wrote a letter claiming she helped him quit drugs, knowing that his life could’ve gone in a different path if it weren’t for her. This event can remind us that even the happiest places require caution and safety first. It also reminds us that what someone has done for us will remain even after they have passed.
