Disney World sees fifth death in less than a month as two-word update issued

A holidaymaker died at the Saratoga Springs Resort in Orlando, Florida, following four unrelated deaths at the theme park in the last few weeks in what is becoming a disturbing trend

Gareth Bicknell Overnight Reporter

23:19, 19 Nov 2025Updated 09:41, 03 Dec 2025

[Saratoga Springs Resort, Disneyworld, Orlando, Florida]

The latest death happened at the Saratoga Springs Resort(Image: Getty Images)

A fifth person has died at Walt Disney World in less than a month, it was reported in a two-word update on social media. An X account unaffiliated with the theme park issued a statement saying 'person down' - before another post minutes later which simply said: 'dead person'.

The chilling update announced the fifth death in just a few weeks at the world-famous attraction, all of which were unrelated incidents.

The holidaymaker, whose identity has not been released, died at the Saratoga Springs Resort in Orlando, Florida, on November 8. There has been no further comment from the theme park, with police yet to publish a report.

[The chilling update from Walt Disney World]

The chilling update from Walt Disney World(Image: X)

The worrying trend of Disney World deaths began when 31-year-old Summer Equitz took her own life at the Contemporary Resort on October 14.

Her cause of death was ruled as multiple blunt impact injuries, with the medical examiner providing no further information, according to the Daily Mail.

Equitz, who visited Disney World for her honeymoon, had flown out to the resort from Illinois without telling her family before she died.

It is understood she had been suffering heavily from postnatal depression after having given birth to a baby daughter earlier this year.

Before she died, the woman's family had reached out to people staying at the resort to call the emergency services to help Summer, after it was revealed she had booked the trip without telling any of her loved ones. She had also been a keen Disney fan, often sharing snaps of herself at various Disney theme parks.

A 60-year-old man passed away on October 21, having been found unconscious by his wife following a medical incident at the Fort Wilderness Resort. The Nurse Anesthetists' report, reviewed by People, did not include a cause of death, but noted that he suffered from hypertension and end-stage liver disease.

[Matthew Cohn, who took his own life at Disney World]

Matthew Cohn's death was the third tragedy in just a couple of weeks(Image: Instagram/Matthew Cohn)

Then two days later, 28-year-old aspiring NFL referee Matthew Cohn, took his own life at the same hotel as Equitz on October 23, having reportedly jumped from a balcony.

Article continues below

In the early hours of November 2, a woman in her 40s became the fourth holidaymaker to lose her life at Disney World in less than three weeks, after she was found unresponsive at the Pop Century Resort.

Since Disney World opened in 1971, there have been 70 deaths at the theme park.

For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters .

[Dailystar Icon]

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Choose Daily Star as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value.

[Google Preferred Source Badge]

At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the "Do Not Sell or Share my Data" button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Terms and Conditions.