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View Full Version : Anyone Ever Hear of a Guy Doing a Headstand on the Matterhorn Late '70s?



Klutch
09-05-2002, 07:20 PM
I posted this story on the RADP newsgroup years ago and wanted to know if anyone in this forum had ever heard about it. Considering the wide aray of people on these pages, I thought just maybe someone might have heard about it (maybe even saw it!). I thought it was pretty amazing...

I lived around Disneyland (Anaheim, Cyprus, Garden Grove) until I was in middle school when I moved to Phoenix. While in high school in Phoenix, I went on a Disneyland trip with friends from a local lodge. Nobody else in our party had ever been to Disneyland. Of course, I went on and on about how great it was. I think this trip was summer, 1979.

I was standing in line with my friend Joe (yes, his real name) at the Matterhorn Bobsleds. Just as we neared the boarding area, the guy directly behind me in line jumped over the fence surrounding the mountain. I stood astonished as this guy quickly made his way up the rocks and onto a track bridge over the water. He walked right onto the track and did headstand on the bridge. A guy next to me in line, apparently a buddy of the "daredevil", took a picture of this dunderheaded stunt.

The daredevil hopped off the track bridge, climbed down the rocks and back over the fence; landing right next to me and two Disney police officers. Without a word said by anybody, the police officers handcuffed the daredevil and escorted him away.

Not surpringly, the entire Matterhorn ride was brought to a screeching halt when that knucklehead jumped the fence. It took about an hour to get the bobsleds down and brakes reset. Joe and I waited. It was worth it. Joe said it was greatest thrill ride he'd ever encountered.

So, has anyone else ever heard of this incident? I wonder if it perhaps morphed into a "guy got decapitated on the Matterhorn" story.

:eek:

Laffite
09-05-2002, 07:32 PM
:eek: DL is so awesome! The ride came to a stop as soon as he got on the track!? How did they know?! How did the DL police get there so fast?!? These guys a good!? :eek: :cool: :D :)

There's a website that has very detailed acticles with all of DL accidents. Don't remember where it is, but the articles are very good and very graphic :eek:

edit: and yes, the article mentioned that a guy stood up, his head hit a rock and "exploded like a watermelon" and etc.

Pirate
09-05-2002, 08:05 PM
This may be the urban legend site you mention
disney snopes (http://www.snopes.com/disney/disney.asp)

Ghoulish Delight
09-05-2002, 08:14 PM
Originally posted by Laffite
:eek: DL is so awesome! The ride came to a stop as soon as he got on the track!? How did they know?! How did the DL police get there so fast?!? These guys a good!? :eek: :cool: :D :)
I'm sure the CM immediately hit the E-stop button once they saw this genius hop the fence. And, assming the E-stop button doesn't already immediately alert security (does it? Any CM's that can answer that?), I'm sure that in the same motion they hit the button, they were reaching for the phone to call security.

Laffite
09-05-2002, 08:19 PM
Originally posted by Ghoulish Delight
I'm sure the CM immediately hit the E-stop button once they saw this genius hop the fence. And, assming the E-stop button doesn't already immediately alert security (does it? Any CM's that can answer that?), I'm sure that in the same motion they hit the button, they were reaching for the phone to call security.

So the guy hop the fence in the view of a CM?! :confused: That's pretty stupid.

Laffite
09-05-2002, 08:23 PM
Originally posted by Pirate
This may be the urban legend site you mention
disney snopes (http://www.snopes.com/disney/disney.asp)

No, not quite. The one I mention of is more detailed and have recorded more incidents.

JCLowesman
09-05-2002, 08:26 PM
how incredibly STUPID people can be. The only saving grace in all this is that (and I KNOW the PC crowd will hate me for this) eventually the gene pool will be purged as these NITWITS take their celestial dirt nap.

I hope Darwin was right, so that someday we can enjoy a theme park without warnings to avoid the obvious. These are the same people who heat bath water with portable electric heaters, light charcoal grills inside on cold days, try to jump on moving trains or run crossing gates.

What are they thinking?

RStar
09-06-2002, 08:33 AM
Originally posted by JCLowesman
how incredibly STUPID people can be.

What are they thinking?

They aren't that's the problem. No thought at all about a train comming around the bend and killing him!

jslivinski
09-06-2002, 01:03 PM
Originally posted by JCLowesman
I hope Darwin was right, so that someday we can enjoy a theme park without warnings to avoid the obvious.... Speaking of Darwin (http://www.darwinawards.com/)

Allysen1Derland
09-07-2002, 04:57 AM
Originally posted by JCLowesman
These are the same people who heat bath water with portable electric heaters, light charcoal grills inside on cold days, try to jump on moving trains or run crossing gates.

What are they thinking?

I totally agree!! And you know what thought frightens me more then anything???

They will probably outlive us all :eek:

Whatever happened to "natural selection"? ;)

Klutch
09-07-2002, 06:23 AM
I got the impression those two jokers fully expected to be apprehended. They just wanted to get the picture. I think they waited in line to a point where they were closest to the bridge which happened to be near the loading area. I guess they could have just jumped in line, but that would have caused a commotion. Maybe daredevil dude wanted a cast member to see him and stop the ride so he wouldn't get kabobbed by a bobsled.

As stupid as the stunt was, they were pretty clever about executing it.

My older cousin, Craig, used to tell me stories of how he and a buddy used to get rowdy in Disneyland. He claimed to have:

- Sat in the back row on the Pirates boat and simultaneously jumped on the back with his buddy, causing the boat to flood at the rear ( I don't think the water is actually deep enough for the boat to "sink").

- Climbed out of his Doom Buggy at The Mansion and walked around the sets. Made shadow puppets on some of the light effects.

- Manipulated an Autopia car off the center rail and drove it off the track.

Well, I was about 9 when he told me these things. I kinda believed him then. Of course, if he had done any of these things, he and his boneheaded buddy would have been caught and banished from the park; if not formally charged. Then again, Craig was quite rowdy in his youth...