Disney World is known as "The Most Magical Place on Earth." Guests travel from all around to Orlando, Florida to visit Disney’s parks and attractions, including Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Disney Springs, Wide World of Sports, Blizzard Beach, and Typhoon Lagoon. These parks attract millions of visitors every year, and every year people get injured at Disney World.
Just like any other business, Disney is not immune from actions for negligence, recklessness, or carelessness that causes harm to an unfortunate guest. Accordingly, after a Walt Disney World injury, people can bring an injury claim or file a lawsuit to recover damages.
There are many ways people can be injured at a theme park or amusement park that extend far beyond roller coaster and ride accidents that gain national attention. These are massive parks, and there are potential hazards that exist from the parking lots to the park and rides. Guests can also get injured in Disney’s buses, boats, monorails, and other forms of transportation.
If you get injured while visiting Disney World, it’s important to know what your rights are under Florida law. Ultimately, you may be entitled to compensation if you were injured because of Disney's negligence, carelessness, or recklessness. That’s what this article is about.
Steps You Can Take to Protect Your Rights After Getting Injured at Disney World
When you get injured at a theme park or amusement park, the initial shock can be disorienting, and you’re likely not thinking about a potential injury claim when you get hurt. In our experience, people just want to get through the ordeal and make the most of their vacation. However, the actions you take in the moments and days following an incident are critical to safeguarding your rights.
Thus, you need to be informed and take the proper steps immediately following an accident. Here are some steps to consider taking:
Seek Immediate Medical Attention
First, after getting injured at Disney World, seek medical attention for your injuries as soon as possible. Contact park staff immediately to report the injury and request medical attention.
Disney World has first-aid stations and medical personnel who can provide initial care and document your injuries. This documentation is crucial for any future injury claim.
Also, you can ask for a copy of your report, and you should. However, Disney likely will not provide a copy of the report until your attorney files a lawsuit.
File an Official Report with Disney World
Reporting the accident to Disney World staff is a necessary step. Employees at Disney are trained (or they should be) to handle these types of incident reports, and they will document the incident in detail, which can be a critical piece of evidence that can help you with your claim. Also, ask for a copy of the incident report for your records. They may not give it to you, but the worst they can say is “no.”
Collect Witness Information
If there were any witnesses to the incident, collect their contact information, including names, phone numbers, emails, and addresses, if possible. Their testimony could support your account of the events. A witness statement can do away with the “he said” / “she said” issues later on.
Preserve Evidence
Keep all physical evidence intact. This includes the clothes you were wearing and any personal items that were damaged. If you can, preserve them in their condition immediately following the accident.
In other words, try not to wash or repair anything. Just keep the stuff as it is because you may need it as evidence later.
Document the Incident
Once you have addressed immediate health concerns, document every detail of the incident. This includes when and where the accident occurred, as well as any relevant details surrounding the accident.
If possible, pull out your phone and take photos or videos of the exact location where the injury occurred. Specifically, try to capture photos of any hazards or conditions that contributed to the accident. Photographic evidence can be pivotal in personal injury claims.
Keep Records of Your Medical Treatment
As with any personal injury claim, do your best to maintain detailed records of all your medical treatment related to your injuries. Keep documents regarding your ambulance ride, hospital visits, physical therapy, chiropractic treatment, medications, and any other related medical expenses. Also, keep copies of any medical bills you receive.
Consult with an Orlando Personal Injury Attorney
As soon as you can, you should consider reaching out to a personal injury attorney to guide you through the personal injury claim process. Our firm has extensive experience handling theme park, amusement park, and water park accidents, and we offer free legal consultations. Thus, a conversation with a lawyer at our office is at no risk to you.
Also, you do not have to pay our law firm any money unless we recover money for you. In other words, there are no up-front costs or retainers involved. We take these injury cases on contingency.
Avoid Public Statements and Social Media
This is a big one: Don’t get on social media and rant about your accident. Avoid talking with anyone other than your lawyer about the incident. There’s nothing to be gained by publicly talking about what happened, and defense attorneys love to use your social media posts against you.
Don’t Delay Pursuing a Claim for Damages
Be aware that there is a limited time frame within which you can take legal action after an accident. In Florida, the statute of limitations for personal injury cases is generally two (2) years. Talk to an injury lawyer as soon as possible to make sure you don’t lose your rights to pursue a claim.
Don't Speak with Insurers Without Talking to Your Lawyer
Insurance companies may contact you and try to get you to give them a recorded statement. They may also try to give you a lowball settlement offer. Consult with your attorney before talking with insurance adjusters or accepting any offers they present to you.
Insurance companies are not your friend, and their goal is to do whatever they can to pay you as little money as possible. They know that the best time to get your statement or get you to take a low offer is before you’ve retained an attorney. You can protect your interests by getting an Orlando theme park injury lawyer on your side as soon as possible.
Types of Compensation Available After Getting Injured at Disney World
When an injury occurs at a theme park like Disney World, the victim may face a range of financial burdens and personal losses. Understanding the types of compensation that Florida law permits can guide injured parties in seeking redress. Compensation after an injury can generally be categorized into two types: economic and noneconomic damages.
Economic Damages
Economic damages are quantifiable costs directly resulting from the injury. These are out-of-pocket expenses that can be calculated and documented. Some examples of economic damages are:
- Medical Expenses
- Lost Wages
- Property Damage
- Lost Earning Capacity
Non-economic Damages
Non-economic damages compensate for the subjective, non-monetary consequences of an injury. These damages are inherently more challenging to quantify.
- Pain and Suffering
- Loss of Enjoyment of Life
- Disfigurement
- Physical Impairment
- Loss of Consortium
Florida law allows an injured person to recover both economic and non-economic damages. However, insurance companies often want to focus purely on medical damages. Often, this only captures a portion of the victim’s damages.
Ultimately, when you’re seeking compensation for injuries, you need to be able to provide the defense with a detailed assessment of all the damages you've suffered. Furthermore, you need this assessment to be supported by evidence. Medical records, receipts, employment documentation, and expert testimony often play a pivotal role in substantiating a claim.
A personal injury attorney with experience in Florida law and amusement park accident cases can help. Our Orlando injury lawyers can provide you with invaluable assistance in navigating the legal nuances of your case. Our job is to guide you through the process and be your advocate.
How to Prove Negligence After Getting Injured at Disney World
To establish a claim for negligence after getting injured at a theme park like Disney World, you must demonstrate the four key elements of negligence: (1) duty of care, (2) breach of duty, (3) causation, and (4) damages. The plaintiff or claimant has the burden of proving all four elements by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning “more likely than not.” We’ll discuss each element of negligence in greater detail below.
Duty of Care
You must first establish that Disney World owed you a duty of care. Given that theme parks invite guests to enjoy their facilities, they are legally obligated to maintain a safe environment. Accordingly, the duty element is generally not very difficult to demonstrate because parks owe their guests a duty of reasonable care.
Breach of Duty
Next, you need to be able to show how Disney World breached its duty of care. This could be through poor maintenance of equipment, inadequate training of staff, or failure to address known safety hazards. This is essentially the element of negligence, recklessness, or carelessness. In other words, when you’re seeking to establish a breach of duty, you point to actions or inactions that deviate from what a reasonable person (or park) would do or wouldn’t do under similar circumstances.
Causation
You must also be able to causally connect the breach of duty directly to your injury. The argument must be made that, but for the park's negligence, the injury would not have occurred.
However, you don’t just need to establish but-for causation or direct causation, you must also be able to prove proximate causation, which is also known as “legal causation.” Here, we’re looking at whether the harm the victim suffered was foreseeable and whether it’s appropriate to hold the defendant liable for what happened.
Damages
Finally, you need to be able to show that you suffered actual damages as a result of the incident. Damages might include physical injuries, financial losses, and emotional trauma. The bottom line here is simple: If you weren’t actually harmed and didn’t suffer any damages, you shouldn’t be bringing a personal injury claim.
Personal injury claims can be complex and challenging to navigate, especially when you’re dealing with a powerful company that has a team of insurance adjusters and defense attorneys. These people want to pay claimants as little as possible. They’re skilled at minimizing and denying injury claims because that’s what they do for a living.
Hence, securing a knowledgeable attorney that handles personal injury claims against big businesses to guide you through the process can drastically increase your chances of a successful outcome.
Speak to an Orlando Disney World Injury Lawyer for Free
After getting injured at Disney World, you should speak to an attorney as soon as possible. You can speak with a lawyer at our office absolutely free. Call our Orlando law firm at 321-LAWSUIT to schedule your free consultation.
When you hire us, you don't have to pay us anything up front. We are a contingency fee law firm, which means we don't get paid until we recover money for you. Our fee is paid from any settlement or recovery we obtain for you.
We have helped people from all over the world recover money for injuries they suffered at Disney World. We have successfully sued Walt Disney World for a variety of injuries and types of negligence. From slipping and falling on substances left on the ground to ride injuries, we can help you.