GOLF CART ACCIDENT at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground injures child

LAKE BUENA VISTA - On Saturday night, a golf cart flipped and seriously injured a child at Disney's Fort Wilderness Campground. The child was a passenger in a golf cart being driven by her father who swerved to avoid another golf cart coming toward them with out lights.

The child was transported to Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando and is listed in guarded but stable condition.

The Fort Wilderness is a campground near Disney's Magic Kingdom.

Disney Reports 11 Injuries In 2nd Quarter of 2009 ♦ Universal Orlando, SeaWorld Orlando, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay & Wet 'n Wild ♦ NO INJURIES reported

ORLANDO -- Disney has reported more injuries during the second quarter than any other Central Florida theme park.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, Walt Disney World had 11 injuries while Universal Orlando, SeaWorld Orlando, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and Wet 'n Wild, had no reports of injuries for the April-June period.

SOURCE – Orlando Sentinel

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2 Walt Disney World buses • crash this afternoon near the Contemporary Resort on Disney property • 12 injured • FHP Investigating

OSCEOLA COUNTY - The rear-end crash happened about 2:40 p.m. when one southbound bus stopped to merge as the World Drive narrowed from three to two lanes, said Sgt. Kim Miller, an FHP spokeswoman. The second bus did not stop in time.

Fifty people were on both buses. A dozen were taken to area hospitals. Miller described their injuries as minor. Preliminary reports indicate the buses were ferrying guests from the theme parks to hotels.

SOURCE - www.orlandosentinel.com

OSHA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is looking into Walt Disney World monorail crash ♦ Epcot line

LAKE BUENA VISTA ♦ A Disney employee was killed when the monorail trains collided just outside the Transportation and Ticket Center, located at the parking lot of the Magic Kingdom. A park official reported that the crash happened during a track switch attempt, while they were trying to remove one of the trains off the Epcot line.

For the first time ever, the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating Sunday's monorail crash at Walt Disney World that killed a cast member piloting one of the trains. The NSTB decided to launch a full investigation into the crash after reviewing preliminary crash information from Disney. The board said it has jurisdiction on Walt Disney World property because the monorail is a transport system used by the public. In addition, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will conduct an investigation to determine if any workplace safety rules were violated.

Theme parks are not subject to state regulation. Walt Disney World and other Orlando theme parks have their own safety guidelines.

UPDATE – JULY 9, 2009 - The NTSB reported that no malfunctions have been found with the automatic train stop system, nor with any mechanical parts of the switch. No mechanical problems were found with the two trains that collided Sunday. The NTSB says a pink train was changing tracks when it backed up into a purple train. "It appears that the operator of the purple train tried to reverse to avoid the collision," said an NSTB official.

UPDATE – July 10, 2009 - Cast Members On Paid Leave After Monorail Crash - Three Disney cast members have been put on paid leave as part of the investigative process. The three positions they hold are: monorail transportation manager, monorail shop worker, and monorail pilot. Investigators still haven't found any problems with the monorails or tracks, and think human error may be to blame.

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Florida Theme Park Accident Injuries and Ride Lawsuits and Settlements

According to an investigative report by the Orlando Sentinel, at least 101 Florida theme park lawsuits have been filed since 2004 against Disney, Universal or Busch Entertainment, involving allegations that people were injured by rides or attractions. However, none of the cases have reached a jury, with confidential settlements reached in most of the lawsuits. Florida’s big theme-parks include Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, and Busch Entertainment Corp.’s Sea World in Orlando and Busch Gardens in Tampa Bay.

The Orlando Sentinal report indicates that a total of 477 Florida personal injury lawsuits were filed between the beginning of 2004 and the end of 2008 against the three companies that run these parks. Most of the claims involve slip-and-fall accidents or other injuries that occurred on the property.

Over 20% (101 cases) of the Florida theme park lawsuits involved claims for a personal injury that was caused by a ride or attraction, including serious health problems like spinal injury, heart attack, stroke and death.

Approximately 25% of the ride lawsuits (23 out of 101) are still pending in Florida state or federal courts, with the remaining cases either settled out of court or dismissed by the judge. None of the amusement park ride lawsuits filed over the four year period have been decided by a jury in open court.

Other than three settlements of $25,000 or less, all of the settlement agreements were sealed from public view, minimizing awareness of the allegedly negligent actions of the theme parks that may have caused the injuries. Florida theme parks are exempt under state law from state inspections and mandatory reporting, unless the injury results in death or immediate hospitalization of over 24 hours. The Sentinal found that only 9 of the 101 theme park ride lawsuits filed had been reported by the three companies as accidents.

Over the past five years, the Sentinal found that five rides in particular were linked to about 20% of the personal injury lawsuits. There were 7 “Dudley Do-Right’s Ripshaw Falls” lawsuits at Universal Orlando, 5 “Mission:Space” at Epcot lawsuits and three lawsuits each for “The Black Hole” Wet ‘n’ Wild water slide, “Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges” river raft ride at Islands of Adventure and “Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster” at Hollywood Studios. Another 11 rides generated at least 2 personal injury lawsuits each.