BoardWalk Fall Lawsuit Filed Against Disney

Posted on by Mathew Corn Disney Parks, Disney Resorts

The Walt Disney Company is a massive corporation that employs hundreds of thousands of people, and Walt Disney World is a huge Resort that welcomes millions of visitors per year. Due to this, Disney is constantly dealing with lawsuits filed by Guests who visited The Most Magical Place on Earth. Guests will sue for various things and sometimes Disney will quietly settle and pay medical expenses and other times the cases are dropped as Disney proves they are not close to being at fault.

Recently, a woman filed a lawsuit against The House of Mouse for a fall that she took while visiting Disney’s BoardWalk. The woman claims that the injury happened in October 2020 — just a few months after Walt Disney World Resort reopened after its pandemic closure — but she filed the lawsuit earlier this year with the Orange County Court.

Disney’s BoardWalk can be found in the EPCOT resort area and can take Guests to both EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. The BoardWalk is home to Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, a number of delicious restaurants like Flying Fish Café, and fun activities for families. Guests can also walk around Crescent Lake and get to Disney’s Yacht Club and the Beach Club.

Bar

According to the defendant’s lawsuit:

On or about October 19, 2020, the Plaintiff was an invitee at the aforementioned Boardwalk Resort owned, managed, controlled and/or maintained by Defendant when Plaintiff tripped and fell over decaying woods beams and uneven walking surface where the wooden boardwalk met the concrete walkway.

As a direct and proximate result of the Defendant’s breach of its duties, [the Plaintiff] suffered bodily injury and resulting pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, aggravation of a pre-existing condition, mental anguish, loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life, expense of hospitalization, medical and nursing care and treatment, loss of earnings, and loss of ability to earn money. The losses are either permanent or continuing and Plaintiff shall suffer the losses in the future.

The plaintiff is suing Disney Vacation Club Management and claiming negligence on DVC Management’s part. The plaintiff claims that the company was negligent in the following ways:

a. Creating the condition which caused Plaintiff’s injury;
b. Failing to timely and properly inspect its property for potentially dangerous or
unsafe conditions, including the one previously alleged; and
c. Failing to warn the Plaintiff of an unreasonably dangerous condition;
d. Failing to exercise reasonable care in the maintenance, inspection, repair, or
warning of the premises;
e. Failing to provide adequate and reasonable maintenance of the property,
including but not limited to any fixtures;
f. Failing to provide proper lighting on the subject premises;
g. Failing to provide reasonably safe premises in other ways which may be
determined through discovery.

The woman and Disney Vacation Club Management are still currently in litigation on the lawsuit.

This is not the first injury lawsuit filed recently against Disney. A woman slipped and fell at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort in 2020 and died of blunt force trauma, and her cousin is suing Disney. Another family filed a lawsuit on behalf of their young son, who injured his hand on a metal sign at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports and had to have several fingers amputated.

Caribbean Beach

Another woman who is suing Disney claims that she went down a Disney World hotel slide, hit the bottom of the pool, and now suffers injuries that will last the rest of her life. A different woman has decided to sue Disney, claiming she was injured when an electric scooter ran into her while she was in a Park. Anyone can rent a scooter at a Disney Park, so scooter injury lawsuits are not all that uncommon.

Disney’s practice is to not comment on pending litigation.

Young Boy Loses Fingers After Wide World of Sports Accident, Family Suing Disney

Posted on by Mathew Corn Disney Parks, Uncategorized

When most people think of the Walt Disney World Resort, they usually think of the four incredible theme parks and two great water parks. They may also think of the amazing restaurants or all of the merchandise they can add to their collection. One thing they may not think of is playing sports. That’s right, every year Disney hosts a number of sporting events — including the Warrior Games — at its ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. From gymnastics to baseball and softball, basketball, and more, almost any athlete can complete at the Wide World of Sports Complex.

While the Wide World of Sports is in Disney World and the Disney magic is all over the place, accidents can still happen there. And those accidents can be serious, as was the case with a young boy who recently participated in a basketball tournament there. According to a lawsuit filed by the boy’s parent, he hurt his hand on a metal sign at a baseball field. The injuries he suffered were so severe that he had to have several fingers amputated.

Wide World of Sports

The law firm Morgan & Morgan is representing the family and shared a statement with Florida Politics:

“We have begun a thorough investigation to determine what led to this incident and what could have been done to prevent it. Our client’s life, as a child, has now been changed forever, and we will fight for accountability to ensure this does not happen again,” Morgan & Morgan attorneys John Morgan and Tyler Kobylinski said in a statement.

At this time, Disney has not responded to the lawsuit, but that is not unusual. With the Parks being back to nearly full capacity and events once again taking place at the Resort, lawsuits are coming back in full force. One woman recently sued Disney, claiming that they were responsible for a severe injury she suffered when she was hit by a scooter rented out by Disney.

Another Disney Resort hotel Guest also launched a lawsuit against the company for an injury that she suffered at a hotel swimming pool. The Guest said that Disney’s negligence caused her to hit the bottom of the pool, and she will now suffer from lifelong injuries. Disney is also fighting a “deceptive practices” case for the sale of its Magic Keys at Disneyland Resort.

According to the lawsuit filed on behalf of the young boy who lost his fingers, the family is requesting more than $30,000 in damages. The lawsuit was filed in the Orange County Circuit Court.

Three named in Federal lawsuit refiled against Florida Governor concerning Disney’s Reedy Creek

Posted on by Mathew Corn Uncategorized

A Miami attorney has refiled a suit against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis regarding potential tax liabilities resulting from the pending dissolution of Disney’s World’s Reedy Creek Improvement District.

The suit was filed by William J. Sanchez of Miami-based William J. Sanchez & Associates P.A., on May 16 with the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court in Miami-Dade County on behalf of Osceola County residents Michael, Leslie, and Eduardo Foronda and Orange County resident Vivian Gonzales. The suit alleges that taxpayers’ rights will be violated by Gov. DeSantis’s new law aimed at dissolving Florida special districts created before 1968, which includes Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District.

The lawsuit names Gov. DeSantis, as well as Jim Zingale, Executive Director of the Florida Department of Revenue and Laurel M. Lee, former Florida Secretary of State.

Sanchez refiled the case in state court after a judge dismissed a similar case on May 10. That suit alleged similar damage for the plaintiffs if the special districts are dissolved.

The suit concerns a bill Governor DeSantis signed into law on April 22, 2022, which will effectively dissolve Disney’s Reedy Creek District, as well as a handful of other special districts in Florida that had original inception dates before 1968. The passing of the law has led to speculation about the potential tax liability that could fall on residents of Orange and Osceola Counties, regardless of the fact that DeSantis has said that such a predicament will not take place.

According to the Orlando Business Journal, Disney’s special district encompasses 39 square miles. The entire area is governed by the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which acts “with the same authority and responsibility as a county government.” It includes the cities of Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake and boasts its own fire department and staff. It also contracts law enforcement from local counties.

The Orlando Business Journal states that the lawsuit comes with a complaint:

The complaint filed with the lawsuit alleges a Taxpayer’s Bill of Right violation and that the state infringed on the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights for due process — or the ability to be involved in proceedings that could have an effect on them.

“Plaintiffs ask for the opportunity to be heard since their rights are clearly being violated, and ask for the court to issue a declaratory judgment,” the complaint reads in part.

The Reedy Creek Improvement District is the governing jurisdiction for Walt Disney World Resort's land. Its cities include Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista.

Governor DeSantis has had a lot to say about the dissolution of Reedy Creek.

“There’s a whole bunch of different things that we will be able to do,” he said from the podium at Seminole State College on May 16. “I’d much rather have the state leading that effort than potentially having local governments” lead the effort.”

“Say the state is in charge and has appointees of the governor that would be in charge of the tax rates for Disney; that seems over the top,” said Aubrey Jewett, associate professor and assistant school director at the University of Central Florida’s School of Politics, Security and International Affairs. “Politically, it would look like the state is exacting their last pound of flesh from Disney. Especially if the governor has a say on the new board members to determine the tax rates, roads, and utilities, and Disney had no say.”

Update in Lawsuit Following 14-Year-Old Boy’s Death at ICON Park

Posted on by Mathew Corn Uncategorized

On March 24, 14-year-old Tyre Sampson tragically fell to his death on the Orlando Free Fall attraction at ICON Park on International Drive in Orlando, Florida.

A month later, Sampson’s parents filed a lawsuit against ICON Park, the Orlando Slingshot Group (the ride owners), and Keator Construction, LLC, a third-party company that manages various maintenance and construction projects around ICON Park.

Family arriving at ICON Park Orlando

The lawsuit accuses operators of adjusting and tampering with safety sensors on the ride’s harnesses on specific seats allowing them to open to “almost double” the normal range. A report from Florida’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services found that attraction’s operators made unauthorized adjustments to ride seats that made them “unsafe.”

Michael Haggard, Sampson’s family’s attorney, alleges that there were no warnings about the ride’s weight restriction.

“[The owners of Orlando Freefall] have a weight restriction that is not disclosed to anyone. That is truly amazing because when you start talking about going 75 mph, from 430 feet to an almost sudden stop when you’re tilted, the biggest risk we can all think of gravity is weight. They did nothing to disclose that whatsoever,” Haggard said. 

According to Haggard, the manual for the ride lists the weight limit at 286 pounds, and Sampson weighed about 380 pounds.

Despite the limit, there was no scale at the entrance to the ride. “There is a metal detector, so you do not bring your phone on, but there is no sign about weight, and there is no scale,” Haggard said. “I mean, how that is not more important than a metal detector for a ride like this is kind of amazing.”

Friends eating at ICON Park Orlando

As of last week, there is a new update on the lawsuit. The family has dropped Keator Construction, LLC from their lawsuit against Orlando Slingshot Group and ICON Park, according to Greg Fox of WESH News:

Haggard hasn’t issued a statement on this update or given any reason why the Orange Country third-party construction group was removed from the lawsuit.

Massive Theme Park Passholder Lawsuit Heads to Supreme Court

Posted on by Mathew Corn Uncategorized

The theme park world was struck in a major way back in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered the business and forced many venues to close for months, and others for even longer.

While Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Resort, Universal Orlando Resort, Universal Studios Hollywood, Six Flags, SeaWorld, Cedar Fair, and Busch Gardens are all open now and are welcoming crowds similar to that of what was seen in pre-pandemic times, many theme parks are still picking up the pieces of decisions made during the pandemic.

One of the most prominent lawsuits currently on the docket is the class-action suit being filed against Cedar Fair for its refusal to provide a pro-rated discount to its annual pass holders when the pandemic struck back in 2020.

Cedar Fair operates 11 theme parks, including Knott’s Berry Farm, California’s Great America, Ohio’s Cedar Point, Virginia’s Kings Dominion, Canada’s Wonderland, and Carowinds. The theme parks are visited by approximately 25 million people each year. The company is headquartered at Cedar Point in Ohio.

cedar point

Just recently, it was reported that the case will now be heard by the Ohio Supreme Court. While Cedar Fair has attempted to have the class-action lawsuit dismissed, this hasn’t happened and now it’s certain that the case will be heard by the highest judiciary body in the state.

Cedar Point argues that it didn’t breach its contract because the pandemic was unforeseeable, and it extended pass benefits through 2021.

Gemini at Cedar Point

Both Disney Park Annual Pass holders, as well as Universal offered Annual Passholders partial refunds or an extension of their pass when their theme parks closed for several months during the pandemic.

This isn’t the only lawsuit happening in the theme park world currently. Several theme parks are being sued over their enforcement of mask mandates back in 2020 and a federal judge just recently approved a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Disneyland in relation to the Magic Key.

Perhaps the most prominent lawsuit recently field was that from 14-year-old Tyre Sampson’s family following the teenager’s tragic fatal fall on the Orlando FreeFall at ICON Park. Sampson’s family sued more than a dozen parties for negligence and alleges that SlingShot Group, which operated the attraction, manually manipulated the sensors.