Disney’s Mystery Rider Remains in Medical Center

A 40-year-old Romanian man who was found unconscious beside the tracks of Disneyland’s Big Thunder Mountain ride remained hospitalized Tuesday night, authorities said.

Grigore Grigorean was reported in fair condition at UCI Medical Center in Orange, a hospital official said. Disneyland officials said Grigorean suffered a cut on his leg, but paramedics described it as a break.

A ride operator found Grigorean at 9 p.m. Saturday on a catwalk next to the track, according to a Disneyland spokesman.

Paramedics said Grigorean may have suddenly tried to exit the twisting, curving train that speeds through the mountain, but the Disney spokesman said no witnesses said they saw him riding the roller coaster or falling from it.

Grigorean, who does not speak English, told a park mechanic who speaks Romanian that the last thing he remembers was feeling faint during the ride and that he may have passed out.

More than 30 people who were on the ride were interviewed by park personnel, as were 15 ride operators, but the incident remains a mystery to both Disney officials and Anaheim paramedics.

The Frontierland attraction was shut down for the night and inspected before reopening Sunday morning when nothing was found wrong, park officials said.