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Visitors to Disneyland last week noticed that the replica of Excalibur was missing from the rock in front of the King Arthur Carrousel. Some thought it was due to upcoming renovations at the attraction, but the truth is far more exciting: a visitor to the park managed to muscle the blade out of the stone before staff stopped him.
Walt Disney World News Today reported that the sword was missing from its traditional location on January 12. Oddly, the slot that held the weapon was simply covered by a piece of duct tape.
A few days later, the site learned that the sword's absence was not intentional.
UPDATE: Guest Actually Removed The Sword in the Stone at Disneyland, Excalibur Now Restoredhttps://t.co/VE0KBSNUXz pic.twitter.com/Lb5trABuGj
— WDW News Today (@WDWNT) January 14, 2020
An eyewitness to the incident wrote in, saying "The sword is not removed for refurbishment. My friend Sam broke it last week on the 8th when we went to Disneyland. He literally ripped it out. The staff said it was really old and that's why he was able to do so. It was his first time at Disney and he's a pretty buff dude."
According to witnesses, the metal appeared corroded and broke into pieces as he pulled it out. Staff members quickly came over to the man to collect the broken pieces of the sword and close off the display. By January 13, the sword and anvil had been replaced.
i was waiting in line for peter pan when it happened ? all i saw were around 7 cast members in awe that a guy pulled it out, and although trying to hide the sword, it was discolored from i believe rust/or weather cuz the blue green color
— ⋆????? ♡⋆ (@ifaaaithz) January 21, 2020
The King Arthur Carrousel was originally constructed in 1922 for the Sunnyside Beach Park in Toronto. When that park was slated to close in 1955, Disney purchased the ride and transported it to California, where they refurbished it to add another course of horses.
After the release of 1963's The Sword In The Stone, park management constructed a display that consists of a replica sword buried in an anvil. Until 2006, an actor dressed as Merlin would conduct a ceremony several times a day where he would choose audience volunteers to attempt to pull the sword out and become "king for a day."
The sword was held into the anvil by a remotely-operated locking device controlled by a cast member. Until the ceremony was canceled, the weapon was secured by a mechanism inside. Typically, the Merlin actor would let a full-grown male volunteer struggle with the sword before calling a young child up and releasing the lock to allow them to extract it.
The weapon was never intended to come completely out of the anvil, as it would stop after rising about eight inches. That makes the mysterious knight who pulled it all the way out even more impressive.
The Carrousel's refurbishment is scheduled to last until May 21.
