Disneyland horror as schoolboy plummets 50 feet climbing out of ride without seatbelts

After leaving the boat, the 13-year-old continued along part of the attraction's path - before being assisted by cast members, resort officials said.

He was then taken to hospital as a precaution - but did not suffer critical injuries and was subsequently released.

California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health inspected the ride following the accident and approved it to reopen the next day.

The attraction, based on the 2009 film The Princess and the Frog, features a 50-foot drop as its climax.

Witnesses on Reddit described the frightening scene.

One person claimed they "saw a kid fall down the hill" and noticed "about six Disney police and a mother and two kids were with them all soaked" when they disembarked.

The 'very disturbing' fall happened on Sunday at Tiana's Bayou Adventure

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Another visitor said their grandson "saw a kid tumbling down the water slide" after hearing a woman scream.

While one more, who claimed to know a park employee, said the boy "slid backwards" down the drop and "sustained a lot of cuts and scrapes."

"Luck was on his side and seems he didn't hit his head," they wrote.

A separate attendee said they watched footage of the fall on another guest's phone, describing it as "very disturbing."

One commenter who claimed to know a Disneyland employee said the boy 'slid backwards' down the drop

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The boy's fall has since sparked widespread debate on social media about ride safety.

"I'm surprised they haven't installed lap bars/seatbelts to prevent such a thing from happening in the first place," wrote one user. "Almost every other ride has a safety restraint in place."

Another parent admitted: "When I loaded my four-year-old into the Tiana ride boat, I was panicked when it occurred to me that the boat didn't have restraints."

One commenter noted: "It has always surprised me that lap bars have never been installed on this ride; especially, since it's a single-file ride and kids can't clutch their parents."

Others questioned how the attraction could reopen so quickly after such a serious incident.

Log flumes typically operate without seatbelts or lap bars because their design prevents dangerous forces from ejecting passengers.

"Log flumes can never have any particularly high lateral or negative G-forces on the corners, otherwise all the water would fall out," one Reddit user explained. "Any G-forces are likely to be pushing you back or down further into the seat."

Some have also argued that restraints could prove hazardous if a vehicle were to flip, potentially trapping riders underwater.

This was not the first time someone has exited a Tiana's Bayou Adventure vehicle mid-ride.

Last summer, a man at Disney World climbed out to retrieve his hat, while another guest and his son left their log during a breakdown.