Multiple guest reports came about in the last 24 hours that a guest had jumped off of one of the Disney Friendship boats that was transporting guests from Disney’s Hollywood Studios to Disney’s Boardwalk Inn. This supposedly happened on Monday afternoon/evening, and multiple reports have been spreading across the Internet about it.
A number of people have emailed me asking about this situation from Monday, Sept. 1, 2014, and I took it upon myself to do as much research as possible and find out all that could be found. Here is the information that I’ve been able to gather through the guest reports online.
None, I repeat…NONE of these reports have been confirmed by Disney, major news outlets, or anyone but Disney forums and “guest” reports.
~ A young male guest (teen to mid-20s) was said to have boarded a Friendship boat at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and it was headed for the Boardwalk and other resorts.
~ The guest was said to have jumped off of the back seating area of the Friendship boat into the water.
~ Some reports state that two others – who seemed to know the male guest – were on the shore and filming him as he jumped off of the boat and into the water. Other reports state that the guest was alone and drunk and said something about jumping off the boat to swim to his room at the Boardwalk.
~ Some reports then said that the guest met up with the two men on shore and they ran off. Other reports state they believed the guest may have drowned.
One guest stated that they were on one of the boats when the “stupid stunt” was pulled and Disney stopped the Friendship boats from running, guests had to be taken off of them, and funneled to buses. This guest even said that the walkway between Epcot and the resorts was also closed off.
Numerous reports state that there were helicopters in the DHS area searching the waters, and this continued late into the evening. Some reports state that helicopters were still searching the waters last night when Extra Magic Hours were over at DHS to see if “he could be found.”
It was said that boats were also in the water searching with lights last night.
Disney has not commented at this time on the so-called incident with the Friendship boat and a few friends – sources – Cast Members I’ve spoken to…well, they are just as clueless as the rest of us. I’ve gotten confirmation that helicopters were in the area last night, and they heard the rumors of a guest jumping in the water but have gotten no official word.
Again…this is ALL I know and all that can be found. There is no official report at this time, and I can’t answer anything more than what is here. When any updates are released – if at all – then, they I’ll update at that time. For now, please know that there is nothing more I know.
i was on that ferry, and i was the one who told the police