Walt Disney World has banned a guest and his party from the resort after a viral video showed someone leaving a boat and jumping into the water on an EPCOT attraction, a stunt that stopped the ride and drew a swift response from the company.
The incident happened on Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros, the slow boat ride through the Mexico Pavilion. Orlando chef Michael Collantes recorded the video and posted it online. He wrote that the second person jumped in, that operators halted the ride for about 15 minutes, and that he expected security to be waiting but saw the person walk off.
Disney moved afterward. A company spokesperson told People and Entertainment Weekly the behavior “was unsafe and a clear violation of our park rules,” and said Disney trespassed the guest and his party. A trespass notice bars them from returning to Disney property.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office told Entertainment Weekly that it made no arrests. As the property owner, Disney enforced the consequence under its own rules rather than through the criminal courts.
The ride is gentle, and the water is part of the attraction’s operating system, which is why Disney does not allow guests to leave their boats. Reports say ride vehicles cannot safely keep moving while a rider is out of their seat, so one person’s stunt can halt the ride for everyone waiting behind them.
This isn’t the only recent case. Another guest jumped out of a ride vehicle on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure shortly before the ride’s major drop, according to published reports.
The EPCOT video fits a familiar pattern of stunts filmed for social media. The cost falls on the other guests who paid for the day, on the cast members who have to stop the ride, and on the people involved, who now cannot return to the parks.
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