Walt Disney World and lawsuits seem to be inseparable these days. The theme park resort is in a massive battle at both the state and federal levels with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his self-appointed board that oversees the area formerly known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District. There’s also an outstanding lawsuit dealing with the Disney World Annual Pass program, and now Disney World is being sued over injuries a guest allegedly sustained on a water slide due to what they called a “painful wedgie.”
The alleged wedgie took place on the Humunga Cowabunga water slide at Walt Disney World’s Typhoon Lagoon. According to the lawsuit (via ClickOrlando), which is asking for $50,000 in damages, a woman became airborne near the end of the slide and was then slammed into standing water at the bottom of the slide, which caused the painful wedgie, as well as immediate bleeding.
The woman was transported to one hospital before going to a second hospital to see a specialist. She has allegedly sustained permanent bodily injuries, including damage to her internal organs. The suit claims Disney World was negligent and did not offer guests appropriate clothing for the slide. Guests use this particular slide in their standard swimming attire, without the use of a raft or a tube.
The lawsuit was just filed in Orange County court but the incident occurred back in October 2019. The Typhoon Lagoon water park shut down with the rest of Walt Disney in March 2020, and Typhoon Lagoon remained closed until January 2022. It closed again in November 2022 for a refurbishment and it reopened again in March 2023. Each time it traded places with the resort’s other water park, Blizzard Beach. Disney World hasn’t had both water parks open at the same time since before the initial pandemic closure.
While most theme park attractions are only supposed to simulate the idea of danger, there have certainly been instances where the danger has become a bit too real. Disney World and Disneyland have both been sued over injuries sustained by guests at the resorts both on and off attractions.
This isn’t even the most serious injury allegedly sustained at a water park in recent memory. Back in 2020, a guest at Universal’s Volcano Bay water park sued the resort after he became paralyzed following an accident on one of the resort slides.
Nearly all lawsuits like this end up being settled out of court, so we never really know what happens with them. That’s likely to be the case here as well. Considering that Disney World's lawyers have a lot on their plate regarding suing Ron DeSantis in federal court, one certainly wonders how much will be made of this case.
