Theme Park Accident

Legoland Florida is a newcomer to our state’s crowded amusement park scene and is located in Winter Haven. The new amusement park recently announced that there were six accidents during the first ten weeks since the park opened. Fortunately, none of the accidents resulted in serious injuries for the guests, but the news shed some light on amusement park incidents at Florida theme parks that sometimes get overlooked in the news. Orlando personal injury attorney James O. Cunningham has first-hand knowledge of amusement park accidents. He and other Orlando amusement park accident lawyers help ensure that our state’s many theme parks take guest safety seriously by raising awareness about lapses in safety measures and maintenance protocols that endanger guests and workers.

In Florida, major theme parks such as Legoland Florida are required to report any ride-related accidents that result in a guest being taken to a hospital for treatment lasting 24 or more hours. These reports are monitored by the Florida Bureau of Fair Rides Inspection, which receives quarterly reports about accidents from nearly all Florida amusement parks. The Bureau recently released its list of reports for Legoland for the last quarter of 2011, which included the following incidents:

• A woman cracked a rib while riding the Aquazone Wave Racers ride.
• A five-year-old boy injured his foot when it became stuck between his vehicle and the unloading platform as he tried to exit the Lost Kingdom Adventure before the ride had stopped.
• The shoulder of a 43-year-old woman "popped out of place" as she rode the Coastersaurus roller coaster.
• A six-year-old boy suffered a facial injury when he was struck by a gate at the Dragon Coaster.
• A 15-year-old girl suffered a foot injury when she placed it outside her vehicle and it got caught between two vehicles on the Dragon Coaster.
• A 44-year-old man slipped and hurt his back during an evacuation from the Technic Test track ride.

Thankfully, most of these injuries appear to be relatively minor, but many guests at Florida theme parks are not so lucky and suffer serious, even fatal, injuries on rides that are supposed to be thrilling but safe to enjoy. Since 1977, Orlando personal injury lawyer James O. Cunningham has represented people injured in amusement park accidents, and he has a proven record of success in these cases. If you or a loved one has been injured in a theme park accident and you would like to learn more about your legal options, schedule a free consultation today by calling Mr. Cunningham at 888-425-2004 or 407-425-2000.

A minor Orlando amusement park accident sent one worker to the hospital briefly for treatment and shut down Walt Disney World monorails for a short time recently. Early reports say the worker was a monorail pilot at the popular amusement park who suffered an electric shock when he flipped a switch. Flipping the switch created a short and caused electrical sparks to shock the worker on his hand and arm.
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The Orlando Sentinel reported that an Orlando amusement park accident severely injured a four-year-old girl. According to eyewitnesses, the girl was riding in a golf cart with her father at Disney’s Fort Wilderness when the golf cart overturned, partially pinning the girl underneath and causing serious injuries. The article reports that the Orlando amusement park accident occurred around 10:30 p.m. when the girl’s 37-year-old father swerved to avoid colliding with another golf cart that was heading towards them with no lights on.

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