Guests Spot Disturbing New Hazard On Popular Disney Ride

Theme parks are meant to be associated with fun, whimsy, excitement, magic (especially Disney magic), and indulgence — but theme parks also often involve safety hazards like roller coasters or thrill rides, and one fan-favorite attraction in Disneyland just gave some of its passengers a real fright!

Seatbelts or lap bars are often used on roller coasters, with the more dangerous roller coasters often involving individual bars or harnesses for passengers instead of lap bars (which can become unsafe when one passenger on the bench is much smaller or larger than the others, causing them to potentially slip out of the ride while it is in motion).

Height requirements and other precautions are also typically in place, especially at a big theme park like the Disney Parks within Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Resort, and Disney Resorts abroad — but one basic safety element, the seatbelt, was just seen on the ride Soarin’ in bad shape!

A Disney California Adventure Guest recently shared a photo of a damaged and unusable seatbelt on Soarin’, which is a popular ride that takes passengers on a trip through the sky that allows them to simulate the experience of flying over forests, oceans, and other marvelous landscapes on planet Earth.

This ride might not seem quite as risky as some other rides or roller coasters in a Disney Park, but it certainly does still pose some risks, and the Disney California Adventure Guest’s photo of a seatbelt (which appeared to have been sliced apart) was met with concern from other Disney Guests.

“Just got off Soarin. Mr. Incredible pulled on the yellow safety tab a little too gently”, the Reddit user joked. We can see in the photo shown below that the seatbelt is being temporarily held together by some yellow tape.

Just got off Soarin’. Mr. Incredible pulled on the yellow safety tab a little too gently…
byu/MidCentury43 inDisneyland

“That doesn’t look like a rip, it looks like it’s been cut. It’s too clean to be a rip,” one Disney fan responded. “Yeah that’s kind of worrying,” another Disney fan wrote.

Others also shared this “concerning” reaction to the cut seatbelt, but some other theme park aficionados theorized that “maybe the buckle release got stuck, and they [the Cast Members in Disney California Adventure] had to cut someone out.”

This theory was supported by another Reddit user’s comment, which said that “someone’s seatbelt didn’t release on Star Tours” when they were on the ride once, and a similar solution was probably needed.

The real reasons behind this seatbelt sabotage might be unknown — and it indeed might just be a standard instance in which the seatbelt had to be cut by Disney staff — but Guests will certainly be reassured to see that the seatbelt was taped off and clearly labeled as a hazard! Have you ever been trapped by your seatbelt on a roller coaster ride?