This week, a Magic Kingdom guest jumped or fell from a Tom Sawyer Island raft into the Rivers of America and then refused to swim ashore.
Tom Sawyer Island is located in the heart of the Rivers of America in Frontierland. Guests can visit the island by boarding a log raft that travels to and from Tom’s Landing.
Guests Jumps Into Rivers of America From Tom Sawyer Island Raft
A Facebook user shared a photo in a Walt Disney World group of a guest in the water near a raft docked at Tom Sawyer Island. The user said the incident happened around 2 p.m. on Wednesday, January 31. They asked if anyone else knew what ultimately happened as they saw the guest refuse to swim to shore after receiving a life preserver.
Comments on the post gave somewhat conflicting reports of the incident. One user who stated they were in line for a Tom Sawyer Island raft at the time said that the guest was “special needs” and fell in the water. But others insisted the guest jumped.
Jumping from any ride is dangerous, of course, and it should be assumed any body of water in Florida has alligators in it. The Liberty Square Riverboat also passes through Rivers of America, which has underwater tracks for the riverboat. Cast Members are trained to time the rafts crossing and the riverboat so there is no risk of collision, but anybody in the water could be injured.
Though there have been no significant incidents in Rivers of America at Magic Kingdom, two guests sadly drowned in the Rivers of America at Disneyland in two separate incidents in 1973 and 1983.
Tom Sawyer Island at Magic Kingdom is open from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It is only accessible by the Rivers of America rafts.
This is the latest guest incident to take place at Walt Disney World. Earlier this month, an unattended child attempted to steal the blaster from a Stormtrooper’s leg in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge before shoving the character. Just last week, a new arrest report was released which detailed an incident involving the Vice President of Hospitality, Sales, and Marketing for Hilton Head’s Sea Pines Resort drunkenly slapping a teenage Cast Member. He has since been put on administrative leave.
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