Walt Disney World vacations are supposed to leave memories that last a lifetime. Unfortunately, one family is now suing the vacation kingdom for the sum of $2 million for exactly that reason. In this case, the memories the family claims they left with were of a serious injury variety.
Kimberly Panetta has filed a $2 million suit against Walt Disney World in Brooklyn Federal Court, claiming that during a day at the resort’s Typhoon Lagoon water park in 2002, she and her 3-year-old daughter were “violently struck by a sudden and forceful wave.”
According to the court documents (via the New York Post), the mother and daughter were then dragged under the water before apparently being thrown out of the pool by the wave. Panetta was then “skidded across the cement or gunite, causing serious ‘road rash’ or scrapes that were severe and deep. The woman told the Post…
It was so powerful it was actually dragging us under the water for several feet. I just thank God I had the sense to push her above as I was getting dragged. I knew if she was the one getting dragged she would have been cut all over.
According to the suit, Panetta was bleeding following the encounter and still has scars as a result. Due to her injuries, she was unable to experience the rest of her vacation in the parks and could not go swimming again. Disney World did reportedly offer a $250 credit, but that’s not enough in the view of the family.
One of the issues being raised is not specifically that the waves at Typhoon Lagoon are a problem, but that the area of the park where this took place was reportedly in the area designed for small children, and that the waves were too excessive for them. The issue is raised in the suit that, had the mother not protected the child by taking the brunt of the force, the child could have been injured.
Water park injuries are far from uncommon; both Disney World and Universal Orlando have seen their share of lawsuits as a result of injuries allegedly suffered on water slides as well as pools. Almost exactly one year ago a lawsuit was filed by a woman who claimed to have received a "painful wedgie" on a Typhoon Lagoon waterslide.
While theme park lawsuits are fairly common, theme park lawsuit verdicts are not. Odds are this suit will be settled out of court and it's unlikely we'll hear much about it.
There will be a lot of eyes on Disney World’s water parks in the coming weeks. For the first time since before the pandemic, Disney World will have both its water parks, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach, open at the same time. This is because Disney World offers free water park access on the day of check-in for guests of resort hotels, and as the weather heats up, a lot more people are likely to be using that perk.
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