Posted on 03/27/2013 8:27:48 AM PDT by Huntress
A wheelchair-bound man was awarded $8,000 by Disneyland after the "It's A Small World" ride broke, stranding him for a half hour while the theme song played continuously, according to an attorney for the plaintiff.
Jose Martinez, who suffers from panic attacks and high blood pressure, did not medically stabilize for three hours after the ride broke down in 2009, attorney David Geffen said.
"He has panic disorder and that was really what started everything rolling," Geffen said. "What caused the court concern, as well, because Disney was alerted about his panic problem and didn't call for the fire department right away."
Disneyland spokeswoman Suzi Brown said the Anaheim theme park believes it provided appropriate assistance during the incident, and is disappointed that the court did not fully agree.
Martinez uses a wheelchair, and Geffen said the plaintiff's high blood pressure was aggravated by a need to urinate while he was stuck on the ride.
While the other riders were able to get off, Martinez was stuck until he could access his wheelchair.
Half the award ordered last week is for pain and suffering, and the rest is for a violation of disability law, Geffen said.
Brown told NBC4 the violation concerning the height of the counter in Disneyland’s first aid station has been corrected.
It's a world of anger; a world of hate;
It's a world of fortune; a world of fate;
And you won't feel secure,
Till you're dead; that's for sure;
It's a strange, strange world.
Thank you! I smiled the entire time...I’m just a big kid and have always liked that ride.
I’m waiting for this family to sue...or maybe they’ve had. They want the White Rabbit fired because the White Rabbit is racist! ARGH!
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/family-charges-disneyland-racism-article-1.1257635
I’m waiting for this family to sue...or maybe they’ve had. They want the White Rabbit fired because the White Rabbit is racist! ARGH!
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/family-charges-disneyland-racism-article-1.1257635
OOPS...re-read...they sued!
B-I-N-G-O...........
Yep! We always go on the ride when we are hot and tired. The determining factor is usually if we have the patience to listen to that song!
Not sure... I thought that was still in there but they changed the part where the women were being sold.
Maybe they changed both.
I mean if we have to separate PT test standards for women and men for the same job title, how far off is that ?
I would rent VHS (yes, VHS, not DVD's) Disney movies for my kids when they were sick.
Out came a sleeping bag and stuffed animals and they would settle in for an afternoon of Herbie, the Love Bug, Flubber, or some other old Disney type movie. Fun memories and a tradition I hope they contine with their own children
I hear they even make it snow on Main Street?
ROTFL
In a spinal cord injured person, needing to urinate can become a serious life threatening issue because it causes the blood pressure to skyrocket, called Autonomic Dysreflexia or AD. It’s a lot more serious than the panic attack issue and he might not fully understand the situation himself. Or it’s easier to say panic attack because regular people understand that and might roll their eyes at “I have to pee” as a serious situation.
But I don’t think he should have sued over it, and you have to be careful not to get yourself in that type of situation or have a back up plan.
-PJ
He didn’t get enough compensation!
I still watch that show occasionally now and always laugh at that huge front window in front of Nelson's study.
But don't forget those huge mechanized curved doors that slid over those giant curved glass view-ports for when the Seaview had to ram those giant sea-weed monsters that looked like giant men in seaweed costumes.
I saw one the other day where seaweed men were created by a formula: get this, seaweed and radiation and a formula created by an evil scientist (I just hate them);
and one of the seaweed men monsters was roaming the roomy passageways beating up crewmen while the other was a huge giant who looked the same as the small one but big and was punching the Seaview from outside, BOOM.
And evertime he hit it BOOM they would roll the camera from side to side like in Lost in space and then men inside the tub would act like it was the Seaview rolling from side to side.
What a classic LOL
If someone in your group is disabled, all of you get to go to the head of the line. I'm thinking the wheelchair rental at the front gate should be the first place we should visit next time.
Last time we went, I couldn't get out of one ride because my shoe kept slipping. I'd try to push up to get out and my shoe would immediately slip in something in the floorboard. They had to stop the ride and finally lifted me out. It had gone past funny to embarrassing. I'm sure a previous rider intentionally put something in the floor but I really don't want to know what. When we got out of the building, some friends were waiting in line and were grumbling about the ride being broken. Maybe I should have sued.
Now I'm going to have to search. I had no idea it was still on tv somewhere!
My wife and I use that ride as a cooling break when its hot at the park. The loading/unloading is usually quick and you can sometimes let your hand drift thru the water to aid in cooling. Sometimes you get caught and all they do is just advise everyone to keep their hands in the boat.
A lot of the stuff that goes down at Mouseland doesn't really hit the papers. On another board that caters to LE it was detailed that several years ago that a LEO on departmental leave for psychological stress related conditions was on the Splash Mountain log ride with a concealed service weapon. He had a “incident” and drew his weapon. The Anaheim PD were there immediately and a short stand off ensued with guns drawn while families stood a short distance away enjoying the exciting new show Disneyland had unveiled.
No shots were fired and the psychologically “stressed” LEO was hauled off.The incident went down the memory hole.
I have it on reliable authority that real Small World (security holding cells) has Mickey and Donald wall paper.
I guess that is to aid in keeping a festive mood to the occasion while you wait for your chaperone/parent to sign you out or the Anaheim PD to haul you off for processing. LOL
I went there when I was 9 or 10. Even then I thought those animatronic figures were pretty creepy.
Pretty soon we will see new signs next to the “You have to be THIS tall to ride”, with a thermometer type sign stating you have to score 19+ on the K6+ Scale to ride.
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