Disney World's Dark Side: Inside the 'Happiest Place on Earth' and Its Haunting History of Odd Deaths

A report said 68 people have died at Disney World since it opened in 1971.

Behind Walt Disney World's extensive entertainment offerings lies a grave history of fatal incidents involving parkgoers, staff and maintenance workers.

The park recorded its third fatality in just 10 days in October. According to the Orange County Medical Examiner's office, a man identified as Matthew Cohn died of "multiple traumatic injuries" at the Contemporary Resort near the property's Magic Kingdom Park.

Cohn's death raises the toll to 68 since the park's opening near Orland, Fla., on October 1, 1971.

Just a few days earlier, Chicago superfan Summer Equitz also died of multiple blunt impact injuries in an apparent suicide at the same hotel.

Also in October, resort staff and medical responders were called to Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground after receiving reports of a "Person Down."

"A man in his 60s experienced a medical episode and was transported to a local hospital, where, unfortunately, he died. There are no signs of foul play," an Orange County Sheriff's Office spokesperson told an outlet.

Despite the recent deaths, expert Dennis Spiegel said theme parks are "probably one of the safest places to be on the planet."

"The parks also have state inspections, so there's always inspections going on," he explained. "From an accident standpoint, things do happen. The issues at Disney, I know it's usually just people being in that place, in that time, when it's their time."

Before the two most recent suicides occurred at Disney World, the park had similar incidents reported in 1992, 2010, 2016 and 2020.

Ciara Bogdanovic, Licensed Psychotherapist and Founder/Owner at Sagebrush Psychotherapy, commented on the recent suicides involving guests.

"Suicide tourism refers to the phenomenon when people travel to a distant location to die by suicide," Bogdanovic explained to RadarOnline.com. "People may choose locations based on symbolism to their life, popularity, desire to be away from loved ones, or the desire to make a statement."

Therapist and coach John Sovec in Pasadena, Calif., echoed a similar sentiment, saying Disney "is a place of nostalgia and comfort" for people with mental health issues.

"Often, they carry memories of better times and crave the warmth and familiarity of that nostalgia in a last search for happiness as their final experience before taking their life," he added.

On the other hand, both experts warned about the potential "copycat" suicide attempts at the theme park.

A range of causes have contributed to the deaths of 68 individuals since Disney World's opening.

Three years after the park opened its doors to the public, carpenter Robert Marshall, 49, was killed in a small explosion while repairing a boat. Then, in 1977, four-year-old Joel Goode drowned in a five-foot-deep castle moat.

The death of Lane Graves, 2, reemerged amid the recent incidents. He was killed by an alligator on June 14, 2016, while he was playing at the edge of a lagoon at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. His parents sued Disney and later established the Lane Thomas Foundation.

The death toll also includes employees: a 45-year-old involved in a crash in 1993; a 63-year-old who fell from a ride platform in 2007; and a cast member who was fatally run over by the Beauty and the Beast float in 2014, among others.