March 7, 1981 marks the bloodiest day in Disneyland’s history. 18-year-old Mel Yorba, along with several friends and their dates, were spending the day at a private party hosted at the happiest place on Earth. They had full access to the open bar and as one could imagine, matters escalated quickly.
At some point during the evening things turned hostile. Mel began making advances towards another man’s girlfriend and at one point had pinched her posterior. The woman’s boyfriend – 28-year-old James O’Driscoll – became increasingly more annoyed with the teen’s behavior and a fight broke out.
O’Driscoll chased Yorba through the park. O’Driscoll eventually caught up with Yorba in the heart of Tomorrowland. The pair exchanged punches before O’Driscoll pulled out a knife and Yorba fell on it during the scuffle.
Though there had been several incidents prior to the stabbing of Mel Yorba where guests had met their end at the theme park, including an incident in 1964 where a teen had stood up on the Matterhorn ride and fell to his death, this was the first incident where a guest had stabbed another guest. Subsequently, it would be that same area of the park that would soak the house of Mouse in blood.
A passing nurse witnessed the altercation and rushed to Yorba’s aide, applying pressure to his wounds. O’Driscoll and his girlfriend, Julie Holdener, attempted to flee the park but soon realized that the exits were blocked by waiting Anaheim police officers. The pair hid within the park until Disneyland’s security team spotted them hiding in some bushes and turned them to the police officers waiting outside.
Yorba, who had fallen on O’Driscoll’s hunting knife twice during the scuffle, may have had a chance of surviving the attack, but Disney had a policy of no police and no ambulances allowed on park grounds because they believed that it may ruin the atmosphere for visiting families. Park medics made the decision to transport Yorba in a first aid van, which took roughly 20 minutes to arrive to the scene. It would take an additional 11 minutes for the van to slowly make its way to the entrance gates where actual paramedics were standing by.
Yorba, not surprisingly, was pronounced dead on arrival.
O’Driscoll was facing first-degree murder charges after he claimed that Yorba had accidentally rolled over his knife twice during their altercation. Charges against Julie Holdener were eventually dropped for a lack of evidence. After two trials, O’Driscoll was found guilty and sentenced to 16 years in prison, which was later reduced to as little as eight since Yorba was found to have been the one to throw the first punch.
As for Disney, this was the first time the company had been criticized for their response to a medical situation on park grounds. The Yorba family pursued a civil lawsuit against the park for medical negligence.They were awarded the sum of $600,000. After several other preventable death suits followed that year, Disney finally agreed to hire a professional private ambulance service for their parks.