Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg
Videos of a 13-year-old boy allegedly climbing out of a ride at Disneyland and taking the 50-foot plunge have gone viral on the internet for their shock-value.
The boy was taken to the hospital after climbing from a log boat on Sunday at Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, formerly known as Splash Mountain. Thankfully, he did not suffer any serious injuries, according to local media. The boy can be seen outside of the log boat just before the famous drop where he takes a frightening fall. The ride was immediately stopped.
The ride was immediately stopped and was allegedly closed for the remainder of the day while an investigation took place.
The ride at the famous park in California, where the incident occurred, reportedly does not use lap bars while its sister park in Orlando, Florida, does use them on the same ride. In Orlando, the lap bars were implemented in 2011. The lack of lap bars, however, is not unusual for this type of ride. Due to the risk of boats overturning, lap bars could potentially trap guests.
California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s Amusement Ride & Tramway Unit conducted the investigation and concluded there were no operational issues with the ride, according to reporting from the L.A. Times.
Additional information was not immediately available; however, this is not the first time such an incident has occurred. In 2000, a man died after he climbed out Orlando, Florida’s, version of the ride, then known as Splash Mountain and reopened under a new name in November 2024. The 37-year-old man was struck and killed by another passenger boat.
Leesfield & Partners
With decades of experience representing those injured while on vacation in Florida, Leesfield & Partners has been privy to the various ways in which companies will attempt to evade liability. From slip and fall premises liability cases to negligent security incidents, our skilled attorneys have been representing clients through devastating injuries and wrongful death cases.
The firm’s resort torts practice area has secured numerous record settlements and verdicts on behalf of injured clients and their grieving family members. This practice area involves injuries at locations such as hotels, amusement or theme parks, casinos, rental car accidents, inadequate resort security cases and cruise ship injuries.
Florida is a hotspot for cruise ship activity with PortMiami attracting millions of passengers to the area every year. Our firm’s experience handling cruise ship cases has spanned decades. These cases have involved the negligence of cruise ship doctors, slip and/or trip and fall cases, criminal activity aboard ships and injuries sustained during cruise-sanctioned excursions. One such cruise ship excursion case handled by the firm involves a mother and daughter who booked a parasailing adventure while on their ship.
Once the two were up in the air, however, an equipment failure caused them to fall from hundreds of feet to the water below. Tragically, the mother died, and the daughter sustained a traumatic brain injury. Leesfield & Partners attorneys worked diligently in that case to return a $7.25 million settlement for the families.
Previous Tourist Cases
Leesfield & Partners handled the wrongful death case of a husband and wife who were involved in a motor vehicle accident in Florida while visiting from the U.K. The two had come to the area specifically for a motorcycle tour that was happening in the area.
Leesfield & Partners obtained a $1 million partial settlement with the uninsured motorist insurance policy.
A newlywed German couple on their honeymoon were horrifically burned when an uncapped gas pipe in their vacation accommodations caused an explosion. The wife died as a result of her devastating injuries.
A multi-million-dollar award was secured for the husband in that case.
The firm previously represented a husband who lost his wife due to the negligence of a jet ski rental company. Under Florida law, these rental companies must ensure that every guest understands safety briefings given before they are set out on the water. A French-speaking tourist in this case, however, did not understand the tutorial, given in English. Asa result, this tourist eventually crashed into our client’s wife, causing fatal injuries.
A multi-million-dollar result was secured for the husband in that case.
A tourist from Brazil was brutally attacked while at a theme park in Central Florida. Leesfield & Partners obtained a confidential settlement for the victim in that case.
A student from Massachusetts was killed in a horrific car accident while visiting Daytona Beach. The bad faith case – meaning that the insurance company denied the claim without sufficient reasoning, evidence or proper investigation – was resolved with a $1 million award for the grieving family.
Leesfield & Partners represented the family of a man who died while visiting Dry Tortugas National Park with his wife on a boat tour. The man was found dead after officials with the tour company directed him to an area they assured him was “good to snorkel.”
Recently, Evan Robinson, a Trial Attorney at the firm, returned a six-figure verdict for a woman who was injured at a popular Florida tourist attraction. In that case, the property’s sidewalk was flanked by a sharp divot with no railing to prevent falls. This hazard was known to property managers who regularly tasked employees to fill the trench with gravel.
When the narrow walkway became too crowded, our client stepped off it and into the trench. As a result, she lost her balance and violently fell to the concrete ground, shattering her hip.
