A Walt Disney World vacation is a luxury for many people. They might spend years saving up money to treat their family to a trip to the Orlando, Florida, resort. Yet recently, there’s been a dark cloud above the Most Magical Place on Earth. In less than three weeks, four people have died while vacationing at Disney World. The most recent was a woman staying at the Pop Century Resort in November. It begs the question, what’s happening?
According to the New York Post, the most recent tragedy occurred on November 2. Officials released very few details in an email to the news site.
“A woman in her 40s was transported to the hospital, where she passed away,” the Orange County Sheriff’s Office shared in an email to the Post. “There were no signs of foul play.”
The woman’s passing marks the fourth in a string of deaths that included two apparent suicides. The trouble began on October 13, 2025, when 31-year-old Summer Equitz, a Disney superfan, reportedly jumped to her death at the Contemporary Resort. Equitz allegedly disappeared from her home near Chicago without letting anyone know where she was going and was dead a short time later.
A week later, on October 21, a woman reportedly found her husband dead at the Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground. Keith Patterson, 60, had a history of hypertension and end-stage liver disease at the time of his death, according to reports. Authorities did not release his cause of death. Then, on October 23, 28-year-old Matthew Alec Cohn reportedly jumped to his death at the Contemporary Resort in a second apparent suicide at the same hotel within 10 days.
Sadly, suicide at Walt Disney World isn’t as rare as you might think. Disney historian Jim Hill told the Post in 2022 that people sometimes travel to die at Disney.
“There’s this weird phenomenon where people who are severely depressed but want to have that one last good happy family memory will go to Walt Disney World. They’ll deliberately book a room at the Contemporary Resort, which is 14 stories tall. And after that happy family time they will throw themselves off the building,” Hill said.
The DiMarco, Araujo, Montevideo Law Firm published an interesting report on deaths at Walt Disney resorts, last updated in April 2025. Most people who die while at a Disney resort are between the ages of 19 and 64. Among the 96 deaths analyzed, most were from natural causes, with the second leading cause reported as suicide.
“Disneyland and Disney World parks are supposed to be some of the happiest places on Earth. Families and individuals travel from around the world to attend these grand theme parks,” the law firm notes. “Despite these amusement parks being very family-friendly, that does not always mean they are safe. Unfortunately, incidents happen — from ride malfunctions to accidental drownings — and people do die at Disney parks.”
