incidents that has cast a shadow over “The Most Magical Place on Earth.”
The Orange County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed to The Post that a man died at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, near Magic Kingdom Park in Orlando, Florida.
Authorities have not disclosed the cause or exact time of death. However, a TikTok video captured Thursday from a guest’s window shows police tape and numerous officers and emergency personnel in the hotel’s courtyard.
Guests on social media reported that cast members instructed them not to look out their balcony windows. Inside the Magic noted that employees were knocking on doors to enforce this.
“Something happened in the back of the building with crime scene tape around the water fountain. I don’t know if someone jumped or accidentally fell to their death, but something happened,” one guest wrote on Facebook. “They have an employee at every window to prevent you from looking out the back.”
Police and first responders were seen in the courtyard of Disney’s Contemporary Resort following the third death at the company’s Florida properties in just 10 days.
The Contemporary Resort was also the site where superfan Summer Equitz tragically took her life last week, leaping from the hotel’s iconic A-frame tower. Equitz, 31, from the Chicago area, had married last year, honeymooned at Disney World in October, and announced her pregnancy two months later. It remains unclear whether she had delivered her baby.
Earlier this week, a man in his 60s collapsed at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground and later died at a hospital. Authorities, resort staff, and medical responders were dispatched after reports of a “Person Down” just after 7:30 a.m., according to Inside the Magic, citing the Orange County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO).
Disney superfan Summer Equitz tragically took her own life last week at the Contemporary Resort. Equitz had shared nearly a year of her life with her husband before her death.
“A man in his 60s experienced a medical episode and was transported to a local hospital, where, unfortunately, he died. There are no signs of foul play,” an Orange County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) spokesperson told The Post.
The Contemporary Resort—a luxury property costing over $1,000 per night and just a short walk from Magic Kingdom Park—has gained a troubling reputation as a site of multiple suicides. In July 2023, a man reportedly took his own life at the resort
A sign marks the entrance to Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground, where a man in his 60s collapsed and later died last week.
One hotel guest claimed on X that “security wouldn’t allow us to take the 5th floor bridge to Contemporary this morning,” as news of the incident spread.
Police later confirmed the tragedy in a statement.
“On July 26, 2023, at 5:33 a.m., deputies responded to the Contemporary Resort after a call came in about a man found unresponsive on the hotel grounds. He was pronounced deceased on scene,” officials said.
The Contemporary Resort—just steps from Magic Kingdom—is among the most recognizable of Disney World’s more than 25 hotels. The property’s monorail runs directly through its A-frame tower and into the lobby, where guests can dine and pose for photos with Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, and Goofy at Chef Mickey’s, the resort’s signature restaurant originally known as Coconino Cove when it opened in 1977.
But despite its iconic status, the Contemporary has developed a grim reputation over the years. Jim Hill, host of the Disney Dish podcast, told The Post in 2022 that the resort has been the site of several suicides.
“There’s this strange phenomenon where people who are severely depressed, but want one last happy family memory, will go to Walt Disney World,” Hill said. “They’ll deliberately book a room at the Contemporary Resort, which is 14 stories tall. And after that happy family time, they will throw themselves off the building.”
