Early in July, a 57-year-old man’s fingertips were severed on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in the Magic Kingdom theme park of Walt Disney World (WDW) in Orlando, Florida. According to Reuters, “the injury occurred as he was holding onto a boat with his fingertips outside the vessel.”
Unfortunately, the Orlando Sentinel reports that three months prior to this incident, a 12-year-old boy severely cut four of his fingers on the same ride.
How Many Injuries Has Walt Disney World Reported This Year?
Injuries at theme parks are common, but it should raise concerns when there have been multiple serious injuries recorded on a single ride. Florida requires all theme parks operating in the state to give quarterly reports on significant injuries incurred by guests on their property.
For the second quarter of 2014, WDW reported 12 significant injuries. In comparison, its competitor Universal Orlando reported only four injuries.
Five of the injuries reported at WDW occurred at the Magic Kingdom theme park.
Some of the injuries reported:
- A girl lost consciousness while riding on the Magic Carpets of Aladdin.
- An older woman fractured her fibula when she fell while exiting a vehicle at Tomorrowland Indy Speedway.
- At Epcot Center, an older woman injured her knee when she fell on the walkway at the Seas with Nemo & Friends.
Interestingly, not all theme parks in Florida reported injuries for the second quarter: SeaWorld, Wet’n Wild, Busch Gardens and Legoland all failed to do so.
In the case of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, a Disney spokesperson said that the ride was shut down temporarily and then reopened after it was deemed to be safe. According to Reuters, “the ride has safety warnings cautioning guests to keep their limbs inside the boats.”
Everyone enjoys going to the theme park for safe and exciting fun. However, some theme parks fail to live up to that safety aspect.
Did You Know? According to the Orlando Sentinel, the most common theme-park lawsuits are related to slip and fall accidents.
Source: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-cfb-tourism-07212014-20140720,0,2054394.story