November 27, 2023
Disneyland Arrests 26-Year-Old Man for Stripping Bare on 'It's a Small World' Ride
READ TIME: 2 MIN.
An unexpected guest was seen wandering around the animatronic figures at Disneyland's "It's a Small World" ride this past weekend. According to Entertainment Weekly, "an unidentified Disneyland guest climbed through several of the attraction's interior show scenes, ran through the ride's water canals, and was arrested by authorities after traversing the exterior of the ride while completely naked."
"The 26-year-old man was arrested for indecent exposure and being under the influence of a controlled substance. He was first taken to a hospital as a precaution," Anaheim police told television station KTLA.
According to eyewitness Maegan Carmona, the ride slowed and then stopped; then she was a man wandering around the off-limits part of the ride, which led to a 20-minute pause.
At first, the man, was dressed in a pair of black boxers and wandered confusingly around the ride, reported NBC Los Angeles.
"He just looked out of it," Carmona told EW, adding that she was concerned for the guest's wellbeing, but praises the group of at least four cast members who attempted to help him get down from the ride's structure while the boats stopped. "He just didn't look like he knew where he was. He looked worried. My friends and I had seen him, and it looked like he was going to jump on us. The cast member got him to sit down for a minute, but after that he continued walking in the opposite direction, behind us. Once he got to a different part of the ride, he ended up walking into the water and started drinking the water, and ran off toward the entrance of the ride."
Deadline added: "Video of the incident went viral on social media with clips being shared. One video shows the guest walking through the sets of "It's A Small World" without a shirt on."
A subsequent NSFW tweet showed the young man nude in the entrance of a tunnel. Watch the video at this link. The man, EW adds, was carried from the scene by a group of police officers and Disneyland staff members. NBC Los Angeles reports the man was arrested on suspicion of indecent exposure and for being under the influence of a controlled substance, police said.
The ride was temporarily shut down for inspection. It was created for the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair and shipped to Disneyland, where it opened in May 1966.
