Disney World Ride Wasn’t Defective-But it Did Cause Injury

Every day, people ride the coasters and rides at Disney World. And while statistically, the park, like many others, is safe, that doesn’t mean that accidents don’t happen. A recent example was a horrific accident that happened at one of Disney’s parks—this one was a water park.

The Ride Wasn’t Defective

What makes this accident so scary, is that the ride itself did not malfunction. Nothing was broken. No employees did anything wrong. Rather, it was the inherent nature of the design of the coaster itself that caused injury.

The ride involves a straight fall of over 200 feet, into a water pool below. The fall is significant; people’s bodies can travel at over 40 miles per hour during the fall.

The victim in the case has sued Disney, after a horrific accident.

She alleges in her complaint that the force of the fall, when she hit the water below, pushed both her bathing suit, and the water below, inside of her so violently that she began to bleed. She had severe lacerations to her groin area, and, after being taken to the hospital, learned that she had sustained serious damage to her internal organs. Parts of her bowel were also protruding from her abdomen area.

A lawsuit has now been filed, alleging that the ride as designed was and is so violent, so fast, and so poorly designed, that it was inevitable that such a grotesque injury would happen.

This is especially true with women, based on their anatomy, which makes them especially susceptible to this kind of injury. And it is especially unacceptable given that Disney, as an “expert” when it comes to ride safety, should have been well aware of the potential dangers of a ride that was designed this way.

Lack of Proper Warnings?

As you might imagine, Disney refuses the allegations. Although Disney doesn’t refute the actual design of the ride, and while Disney made no statement about the design’s safety, Disney does say that the ride had plenty of warnings for riders, including warnings that riders should cross their legs, an action that, according to Disney, would have prevented this kind of accident from happening.

But the victim through her lawyer denies this, noting that not only are people not told why they need to keep their legs crossed, but that the ride actually forces riders to be airborne—a position where it is natural and foreseeable that a rider would not be able to continue to keep his or her legs crossed, thus making that kind of warning completely useless.

There’s Always Danger

The case illustrates that rides and amusement parks can be dangerous, even when rides or amusements operate exactly as they are supposed to. And while parks may take measures to make sure that rides are operating safely and properly, they often give little attention to whether the inherent design of a ride could cause injury.

Were you injured in or at an amusement park? Call the Knoxville personal injury attorneys at Fox Farley Willis & Burnette, PLLC, for help today.

Sources:

npr.org/2023/10/05/1203732797/disney-world-water-slide-lawsuit-wedgie

usatoday.com/story/travel/experience/theme-parks/2023/10/03/disney-lawsuit-water-slide-wedgie/71045193007/