Theme park vacations can get quite expensive, We all know this to be true. There are many ways one can try to save some money but one family may have tried to take things a little too far by visiting Universal Orlando Resort without paying for tickets. Now a mother is facing criminal charges, but she says it wasn’t her.
Just before Christmas, a group of adults and children were caught on video entering Universal Orlando Resort theme park without having tickets scanned. They apparently just rushed the turnstile and entered without having bought tickets at all. The group was identified by the clothing they were wearing and three of the children were eventually found in line for the Velocicoaster at Universal’s Islands of Adventure. According to WDWNT, when the kids were shown pictures of their entry, they identified the woman with them as their mother.
Mary Anderson arrived at the park’s security office later in the day, it’s not clear if she did so under her own power. She stated that her children had entered the park, but had done so with another adult who was not her. She claimed she had been at a party all day. The officers did not believe her and she was read her rights to her. She has been charged with grand theft for stealing over $1,000 worth of theme park admission.
It’s certainly interesting that the woman who has been charged is simply stating that it wasn’t her that did this. It would seem then that she would know who it was, since they were her kids. I’m not sure who would be getting thrown under the bus then, because somebody is going to be charged with theft in this situation.
If one was so inclined as to try and get into a theme park without paying, it’s not hard to see why this particular tactic was employed. It’s not entirely unreasonable to believe that if you can make it past the gate, you would just get lost in the crowd and nobody would be able to catch you, However, Universal Orlando Resort Security is clearly on the ball and was able to track these people pretty well. It’s something to be aware of if you’re ever in a theme park and consider getting up to something.
The case is being handled by the Orange County, Florida circuit court. It will be interesting to see if this case goes to trial and if the woman continues to claim as her defense that it’s simply not her. Either way, even if there’s no criminal conviction, it seems likely Mary Anderson and her kids won’t be going back to Universal Orlando Resort anytime soon as they’ve certainly been banned from the property since the park believes they have the right person.
