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Universal Not Disabled Friendly - Sued by Amputees

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B

blueskiestx

Jul 8, 2012
16
0
Houston, TX
I saw an article about Universal Hollywood being sued by two amputees. You can see it here:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/amputees-universal-studios-hollywood-roller-coaster-348045

I'm wondering about the training these employees have to go through. Unfortunately, we have experienced the EXACT same treatment with my son when we visited Universal Orlando last year. Did we sue? Hell no. Did we want to? Not even close. Were we upset that it was treated in an unprofessional manner? Absolutely. We would like for the employees to have better training on how to handle those kinds of situations. People who do not have disabilities don't understand how 'things' work or don't work. They need the proper training!
yes, I know... This has been more of a rant on my end. But, this subject is very close to me as we live with it daily.
I hate to see the parks getting sued like this. I'm not sure that is the answer. . :rolleyes:

Anyone out there have any thoughts on this?
 
Okay. In all honesty, the amputees are in the wrong here by suing. I've heard this same problem happened over at islands for the Forbidden Journey. It is indeed a hazard. In the case that something were to go wrong on the ride, you need to be able to hold onto the safety bars. The TMs were right. And seeing that these people were sue-happy, God-forbid they were allowed on and something did happen. So you know what, I hope the park wins this one, because all they were doing was trying to keep the guests safe. I know how it feels to see somebody you care about being treated unfairly. A close friend of my family has cerebral palsy, and has been bound to wheelchair for about ten years now, with absolutely no use of his legs. When we go on outings with him, we're greeted by improper service from a slew of places, ranging from hotels to restaurants. But in all honesty, I would rather his safety be cared for in the end, over good service.
 
BriMan said:
If you don't mind me asking, what happened to you?
Click to expand...

Its not me, but, my 19 yr old son.. He was born without hands and also has a prosthetic leg. Since he was born this way he has his own ways of doing things. And he won't accept help from anyone. (unless he is being lazy!) He can do anything that he wants. This has never stopped him. Its other people that don't understand that gets in his way.
He drives a car, he plays drums, etc. For this very reason I think he can ride rides at a park. (with possibly a few exceptions)

Sorry you asked? lol
 
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blueskiestx said:
Its not me, but, my 19 yr old son.. He was born without hands and also has a prosthetic leg. Since he was born this way he has his own ways of doing things. And he won't accept help from anyone. (unless he is being lazy!) He can do anything that he wants. This has never stopped him. Its other people that don't understand that gets in his way.
He drives a car, he plays drums, etc. For this very reason I think he can ride rides at a park. (with possibly a few exceptions)
Click to expand...

So what happened at Universal that was unprofessional?
 
Unless they were being rude, I don't see what's being unprofessional here. This is a standard procedure for all coasters of this manner. Companies need to protect themselves.
 
BriMan said:
So what happened at Universal that was unprofessional?
Click to expand...

He tried to get on one of the dueling dragons ride (we were just on the other one without incident) and they stopped the ride, had him get off and kept us in the public eye while they tried to decide what to do about him. I can't remember all the details. But, they kept the ride stopped. Was on the radios talking about it. They were waiting on someone to give a final answer or to come see what was going on. After what seemed like forever, they finally gave him back his leg. (we had removed his prosthesis for the ride for safety reasons when we boarded the ride) And told him he couldn't ride it. The whole time he was kept in the public eye with the ride stopped. People were not happy and made more of a spectacle out of it than it should have been.. And in the end they were concerned about his hands, not his foot.


Although, I can totally understand where the park is coming from with all the safety issues. I agree safety is first.. However, I don't agree with dealing with it in front of the public.

He had a similar issue at Sea World for Manta. But, they took us over to the side and dealt with it privately.
 
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blueskiestx said:
The whole time he was kept in the public eye with the ride stopped. People were not happy and made more of a spectacle out of it than it should have been.
Click to expand...

I agree with the public spectacle of it all being an unfortunate occurrence. I can assure you that the ride attendants were nearly as mortified by the situation as you. I am not sure what they could do short of having a private room. Frustrating.
 
A huge overreaction, just ridiculous. Safety is always the most important thing, and unless Universal was really rude about it I don't know how they could even think a lawsuit was the right way to go.
 
JungleSkip said:
Unless they were being rude, I don't see what's being unprofessional here. This is a standard procedure for all coasters of this manner. Companies need to protect themselves.
Click to expand...

I can honestly say they were nice about our situation. They just didn't know how to deal with it. We confused them for sure!. Because they were nice we have no problems with them. They were trying to do their job. I don't want them being sued over something like this. I hate sue happy people. I'm just wondering if better training would help.
 
blueskiestx said:
He tried to get on one of the dueling dragons ride (we were just on the other one without incident) and they stopped the ride, had him get off and kept us in the public eye while they tried to decide what to do about him. I can't remember all the details. But, they kept the ride stopped. Was on the radios talking about it. They were waiting on someone to give a final answer or to come see what was going on. After what seemed like forever, they finally gave him back his leg. (we had removed his prosthesis for the ride for safety reasons when we boarded the ride) And told him he couldn't ride it. The whole time he was kept in the public eye with the ride stopped. People were not happy and made more of a spectacle out of it than it should have been.. And in the end they were concerned about his hands, not his foot.


Although, I can totally understand where the park is coming from with all the safety issues. I agree safety is first.. However, I don't agree with dealing with it in front of the public.

He had a similar issue at Sea World for Manta. But, they took us over to the side and dealt with it privately.
Click to expand...

Unfortunate situation. They didn't handle it right, for sure, but everyone makes mistakes. It is something that should be covered more indepth in training.
 
Although we might not fully agree with their decision in our case, I am fine with it, understand it and respect it. We are even going back in a few months. I can't wait! (without my trouble making son this time)
To this day, Universal is his favorite park. He doesn't hold a grudge. He understands their decision. We even laugh about it now.

I just wish people wouldn't sue over stuff like this. Those people suing got their feelings hurt. I'm sorry for that. But, why sue?
 
blueskiestx said:
I just wish people wouldn't sue over stuff like this. Those people suing got their feelings hurt. I'm sorry for that. But, why sue?
Click to expand...

It's America. I can sue you because I find your screen name offensive. :lol: It's people trying to make a quick buck and use their disability to their advantage. It's like the burglar who breaks into a home, trips onto a glass table, and sues because the family has their living room set up dangerously.
 
blueskiestx said:
Although we might not fully agree with their decision in our case, I am fine with it, understand it and respect it. We are even going back in a few months. I can't wait! (without my trouble making son this time)
To this day, Universal is his favorite park. He doesn't hold a grudge. He understands their decision. We even laugh about it now.
Click to expand...

I'm just curious, was he kept off any of the other rides? Like Forbidden Journey? If you don't feel comfortable answering I understand. I was just curious.

blueskiestx said:
I just wish people wouldn't sue over stuff like this. Those people suing got their feelings hurt. I'm sorry for that. But, why sue?
Click to expand...

It's the entitlement of today's society. Everyone believes that if they aren't allowed to do something, they can make someone do it.
 
JungleSkip said:
I'm just curious, was he kept off any of the other rides? Like Forbidden Journey? If you don't feel comfortable answering I understand. I was just curious.
Click to expand...

He wasn't allowed to ride any of the "big boy" rides. After that incident at the dueling dragon ride they gave us a list of rides he couldn't ride on and Forbidden Journey was one of them.
 
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