Injured at a disney resort!

[goofygirls]

I was injured at a Disney resort and had to go to the hospital, as a result of my injury my family had to stay out of the parks for 2 days.

We purchased park hoppers, and I realize that the days never expire- but I don't know of many people who prepay $800 in park passes. I rented an electric scooter so we were able to get into the parks 1 day, however the crowds were so thick (day before Presidents day) that it made me a nervous wreck (kids not watching and popping up in front of me). Anyway, the scooter thing lasted for about 3 hours before I told my husband that I was sorry but it was way too nerve wracking.

Anyway, because of my fall at the resort our vacation was no longer a vacation. I fell because the sidewalk did not match up with the grass!

Does anyone here have any experience with the Disney claims process? We spent so much money to take this trip and it really upsets me and kind of makes me sick to think that our money was not well spent. I did try to talk to the manager at the resort but she said that only the claims department could help me.

Any advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated!

[Trekker]

I'm really sorry to hear you had this accident and you vacation was ruined, that is a bummer.

I'm having a problem understanding what happened here. How does grass match-up with concrete (the sidewalk)? I do not understand what you mean?

[ducklite]

In all honesty the only thing you will get will be medicals covered, and maybe a discount to come back. And that's a big maybe to both.

Disney will take the position that the sidewalk itself was not defective, and with a sidewalk provided a reasonable person would not walk on the grass.

Disney has very deep pockets, and people are not generally successful in litigation against them.

Anne

[HM]

An online friend was injured on the Backstage tour at MGM and was unable to finish her vacation. She saw no compensation and recieved very little help from WDW in any way. -HM

[Liz]

I think what goofygirl means by pre-paying for park passes is its like her passes are pre-paid for their next vacation since they weren't able to use them this trip.

I'm sorry you were hurt and it spoiled part of your vacation. I hope you were able to have some fun before this happened.

[Trekker]

Based on several comments from different posters I have reconsidered this thread did not need to be closed - just a few posts attacking the original poster need to go.
<hr>
This has been stated many times in the past but I will remind you once again.

These message boards are privately owned and as such the owner has the right to establish such guidelines as they see fit.

One of those guidelines is that personal attacks will not be tolerated.

In the future if you have a problem with the actions taken on any thread please e-mail the moderator and/or a webmaster and ask your questions.

Some of you act as if you have a personal vendetta against the moderators of these boards.

Hey we are human, and yes, that means I know I am not infallible! But we do volunteer our time to keep these boards from becoming a place for a few selfish people to turn an otherwise positive forum into a soap box for their anger issues

I have no problem looking at the actions I have taken on a thread and modifying those actions if it makes sense to do so..
<hr>

[goofygirls]

I would like to thank everyone for their well wishes. I am not trying to be greedy or to flame Disney. My intention in writing this post was only to get some information from others who unfortunately had the same experience as me.

I didn't feel that I had to go totally indepth and bore you all with a recap the entire incident. I fell (in the evening in a low lite area) because of a ditch was created next to a sidewalk from the electric golf carts that the cast members use to buzz around the resort.

The Disney claim process is not as easy as filling out a report at the hotel. I made sure the accident report was filed by the resort, I did call the claim office but you have to wait for a claims representative to call you. Again, I was only hoping that someone else would have some info on the process.

[SeaSpray]

Trekker:

I think you do an awesome job here on the resorts board, as do all of the moderators who volunteer their own personal time here. I personally would like to thank you, and the other moderators, for all of your work! :)



goofygirls: I am sorry your vacation was spoiled by an accident like that, and I wish you the best.

[MulanMom]

I'm sure the Disney Claims office will handle things appropriately. But if you don't hear from anyone over a prolonged period of time, you can always check with the FL Dept. of Insurance to see what guidelines they have set up for claims handling. (Some states have guidelines that give the ins. co. X amount of days to make a decision on a claim...depends on the type of claim, etc.)

I can understand you being anxious, but try to be patient and give them some time to contact you (though I'm surprised no one has contacted you already!). You might want to make a log of who you speak to cuz insurance stuff can sometimes get quite complicated. And don't be afraid to ask the claim rep lots of questions (might be helpful if you write those out beforehand as well). It does not need to be an adversarial process, and you'll probably be better off if it doesn't become one.

Good luck! Hope you are feeling better.

Sharon

[Rpsemont]

I act as a coordinator for claims (interface between Ins. co and "claimant" ) I would suggest that you give some thought to what you think is reasonable. In many cases, claim forms - sometimes called incident reports are just that - reports. I could be wrong, but I personally don't see WDW agressively seeking you out if they feel you have just filed a report and not asked for anything. I would suggest that you draft a letter and in the letter state what you want, why you think they should take responsiblilty and ask for a specific reply to the letter. Attach a copy of whatever you filled out (if you have it), medical report and or bills( if you want reimbusement) and COPIES of any other documentation. Give them 30-45 days to respond and follow up. If you still don't hear, contact FL dept of Ins. If you hear, but don't like their response, file in small claims and plan your next ORlando vacation! Feel free to PM me with any questions.
Also, sorry to hear about the fall. It is SUCH a bummer to have things like that happen.

[mom23guys2]

I was glad you gave up the scooter idea. A number of years ago when leaving MGM my foot was run over by a crazed older woman who didn't know how to work the scooter. A CM came out of the park with ice and offered to get an ambulance. Since it was my last night there I decided to just return to DL. It hurt like **** but I didn't go to the doctor until I returned home. I was on crutches for three week with a small broken bone in my foot. I never notified WDW of the results but they never even called the hotel to see If I was okay. I'm interested to hear what happens. Please keep us informed.

[susy]

So sorry to hear about your accident!!!! Are you okay now? Did you have to miss work? Someone lost control of their car (driving like a maniac) and drove into my van that was parked in front of my mother's house -as we were getting in it! Very lucky no one was killed. But.... we had to pay a $500 deductible to get the car fixed . This was in October and we still do not have our $500 back! Because of this we had to change our AKL ressies to the Courtyard in DD. Talk about a MAJOR letdown. I'm sure you have had plenty of those days where you think , "If only this or that had or hadn't happened". The irony of my story is that we would not have been at my mom's at all, if my DH's car hadn't died (engined burned) that morning. That afternoon we had NO car at all and had to borrow my mom's for two weeks. If my van had not been there, those two young men would have been killed. My mom has a huge tree in her front yard . My van was blocking it.
I hope you get your medical expenses taken care of , at the very least!

Thank you to the moderators for making these boards so great!!!!!!!!!

[theaslip]

Even though the $800- is a drop in the bucket for DIS, the mere fact that they would reimburse or compensate you would be a clear admission of liability (read that - a much larger problem for them and a precedent).

If you are only looking to be reimbursed for your inconvenience and money wasted on admission media and the like, than I would suggest offering to sign a waiver of liability in exchange for the compensation.

Short of that I would retain an attorney.

Hope you are feeling better!

[Mittens]

My sister had been injured at Epcot while in the Canada Section. A mother who had rented a lark from Disney had gone in to shop and her son who was 8 had been left outside. Well, he decided to drive the mother's lark and my sister who just happened to be passing by was run over by the kid. She was thrown to the ground and received cuts and contusions and a swollen knee.
The shop people came running out and an incident report was initiated by a Disney Staff Member. My sister was taken to first aid and received treatment.
She wound up missing the rest of the day at Epcot and had to return to her hotel, which was on Disney Property. The next day she was leaving.
When she returned home she did write to Disney and request compensation for the missed day at Epcot. And thats all she wanted. After a Disney Lawyer called her to talk about the incident they wound up sending her in the mail, a 4 day hopper pass, which both she and I thought was adequate compensation. And because of that experience she has continued to go to Disney every year and stay on property. I thought it was resolved nicely.

Mittens

[Goofyposter]

I have no problem looking at the actions I have taken on a thread and modifying those actions if it makes sense to do so.. WDWtrekker

:cool: :cool:
Heavy is the head that wears the crown!

[Trekker]

Originally posted by Goofyposter
Heavy is the head that wears the crown!

LOL- no crowns here............ ROFL

[eeyore0062]

Mittens, I am confused... if the cart was driven by the 8 yo without consent of the parent, or within the parents supervision, isn't that the fault of the kid and the parent and Disney? I am having a hard time figuring out why Disney was responsible for this accident. Maybe it is just me, but wouldn't the family who rented the lark have been the ones who were responsible for the lost time at the park?:confused:

[minijeanie]

So sorry you had the accident. But if you put things in perspective that is just what it is, a accident. No one meant for it to happen and it does put a damper on your vacation. But it really is no different then if you got the flu on your trip. Either way you are out of commission.

You just have to try and make the best of it. You were lucky that you had park hopper passes and not length of stay passes. It just gave me the heads up to never get LOS passes again. (For that reason alone.)

I also believe WDW is not responsible for high grass or a crazy lady running a persons foot over with her scooter. In life, things just happen and we just have to make the best of them.

2 years ago, we were in WDW and it rained (and I mean poured every single day for the entire day). Yes we were all bummed out and soaked and tired of the rain but there was nothing we could do about it. We actually cut our trip short after 5 consective days of rain with the outlook looking grim. I lost lots of money on my trip as well but you know what, that is life. As a society, I believe we put to much importance on the "Blame" game. Maybe we should just start realizing that sometimes " !!!!" happens.

[ducklite]

To Mittens:

Not meant as a flame, by why is it Disney's liability that some ladies kid ran over your sister? The kid and lady were at fault.

Look at it this way--if you were run over by a kid on a bike at a local park, would that be the town/cities fault?

Anne

[Peter Pirate]

ducklite...sadly, you know the answer to that rhetorical question, don't you...
:cool: :cool: :bounce: :cool: :cool:

[eeyore0062]

Anne, you and I are the same wavelength today... I asked the same question a few posts ago. Disney owed them nothing but to make sure that she had the proper treatment. It was the fault of the family with the scooter, not the fault of Disney because the child got out of hand and rode it. Where does it stop?

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Well, it is OBVIOUSLY Disney's fault. They should never rent one of those electric wheelchair thingies to ANYONE with a child.
Disney should know that parents cannot control their children, hence, Disney is at fault. ;)

[Mittens]

Just relating my sister's experience. Sorry if I offended. Bear in mind it was a hand written letter sent to Disney by my sister, not a lawyer. She figured the worse thing they would say was "no" and that would have been it. She never threatened any kind of litigation. Just the one lost day at Disney. Perhaps it was the tone of her letter - nonthreatening! Disney chose to have their lawyer call her at her home and offered the 4 day hopper pass. Never even requested that she sign anykind of agreement or waiver.

Most likely they must have reviewed the incident report that their staff filled out and then decided on a course of action. Who knows..

Being run over by a lark, regardless of whose "falult" it is, differs in my opinion from "an act of God" ie rain, tornado, hurricane, etc. Just my humble opinion.

Mittens

[SueM in MN]

Just to clarify something about scooter/ecvs. WDW parks and the outside places that rent them will NOT rent them to (or for use by) someone under the age of 18 years.

[A1A1]

A couple of years ago, dd, then about three, had her tiny hand on the elevator door when it opened. Her hand slid in the crack between the elevator door and the door frame. She screamed bloody murder, peed her pants (all over the floor), and no matter what I did, I couldn't get her hand out. We were yelling loudly for help from someone, a cm. If we closed the door again, her fingers would have been crammed through the door frame lip again. They were absolutely stuck! I felt so sorry for this little peanut. The elevator doors were brass, and she was trying to touch her reflection when the door opened.

Anyway, some security personnel came and paramedics, because we thought her hand may have been broken. The security people went with my father to examine the elevator and got a full report of the incident. The only thing they offered was to pay for dd's medical bills if we chose to take her to the hospital. That would have been a lot on its own.

I asked for nothing. As someone else said s**t happens. I would never have asked for compensation for this little accident even if her hand had been broken. She could have gotten her hand caught in a door in my house, and then who would I have asked for the compensation---myself, of course. That's just silly. I think that we often blame others and look for others to make up for the crazy things, missteps, and mishaps we bring on ourselves.

Security will keep a file on you, and that will follow you to each reservation. That is what I was told. I wonder if you reported the fall at the time it happened. Did you take anyone out to show them the area where the grass and concrete didn't match up for you? That probably would have been a good idea.

Do you think you will stay in the scooter next time you travel? Or are you done with those things altogether? Maybe next time you go you could try it again, as the crowds might be smaller.

[ducklite]

How funny!! DS also got his hand stuck in an elevator door in a mall when he was about seven or so. It happened the same way you described. We thought his fingers were severed the way he was screaming. In the end he was slightly bruised. We thought it was a fluke thing, now I'm wondering if it doesn't happen fairly regularly?

At any rate, thanks for bringing back the memories of what was a few horrifying minutes that we really laugh about now.

Anne

[AF Brenda]

She figured the worse thing they would say was "no" and that would have been it.

I understand that your sister was very polite in the way she asked, I guess I just don't understand why she would even ask Disney for any kind of compensation. It wasn't in any way, shape or form their fault. I wouldn't even have considered asking Disney to compensate me for something like when it was in no way their fault.

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Thanks Sue for the info.
While that may be the rule, there are a lot of little ones aiming those things.

[SueM in MN]

I just mentioned it because the last time someone mentioned seeing a child driving an ecv, I got emails from kids asking me to convince their parents to let them rent one.

[weeyore33]

this is just my opinion..... yes we all know that these little "acidents" are not disneys true fault, they can not control every inch of property, every guest or the weather, but i do believe that as a company they understand that indeed s***t does sometimes happen. people work very hard and save for long periods of time to fully enjoy the whole disney experience and when for some unforseen reason the time is cut short, due to an accident, or mishap.... i think that if they have it doccumented that it happened on property, your name and date of incident, all the legal stuff....
If they chose to be compassionate and compensate you for your unfortunate end to your vacation, I think that it is what is all about... it is not like they are giving anything away- ever..i am sure they have thousands of claims every year, let them be the judge and we should all cut some slack to those who are just asking for advice,
as for the sister who got the tickets i think it is great that disney felt bad enough that this happened and "invited" her back with a new pass...after all i know this was an accident, but she did not ask for it and she def. did not ask to have her vacation ruined!

you never know until you ask....

[AF Brenda]

you never know until you ask....

You're absolutely right, you never know until you ask. I'm just saying that I would have never asked, because IMHO, I would be asking the wrong people. If a CM runs over my foot, that is a different story. But to sit back and say "Well, I know it wasn't Disney's fault, but it did happen on their property...wonder what I can get for that" is just not something I would ever consider doing.

[A1A1]

It would make me feel a lot better if guests who have accidents of their own fault could approach someone at the time of their mishap and say,

"I just had this terrible thing happen which has cut short this wonderful vacation that my family has saved for all year. Can you suggest any ways that I can make the most of the days that I have left. I am uncertain when I will be able to afford to bring my family down to WDW in the future."

That to me sounds honest, sincere, and doesn't try to blame a party that is clearly not at fault, and doesn't unjustly seek compensation. The cms at WDW are generally so kind, and try very hard to go the extra mile. That is why we all keep going there and are crazy enough about the place to frequent a website devoted to it. The cm's would probably try to find a way to help find the happiness in the remainder of the vacation. They may be able to do more than you imagined they might. I think it is completely unfair to the rest of the resort patrons, whose ticket prices are affected and whose room rates increase because of these kinds of accident claims. Someone has to pay, right?

My advice is to proceed kindly, and cautiously, and sincerely. You may be surprised at the kindness of others.

[weeyore33]

i understand it is not their fault and i agree that it shouldn't be about what you can get out of it, i think that it was just nice of them to recognize the fact that the bread in their pockets comes from the bread in our pockets and they did not assume blame, they just plain felt bad. hopfully that if you were in that situation you would be treated fairly. and as i recall i dont think anyone really asked for much. i have had many mishaps myself (being so graceful) but never really asked for anything in return(not at disney but everywhere..i seem to be blessed with more left foot than right...LOL). we all handle situations differently so i think this is probably a subject that could go on for days and everyone would still not agree. :confused:

[MulanMom]

I've been out of the insurance game for quite awhile, but I do recall that there is medical coverage provided for anyone who is injured on an insured's property, regardless of who is at fault. There's a limit to this coverage, of course, but the purpose is to deflect any potential lawsuit which may arise, regardless of it's viability.

The only people, I think, who can appropriately determine who or what is at fault, are the people who investigate and know the details of the incident and applicable law regarding liability.

Sharon

[Misti]

This is now off-topic for the Resorts Board and is more of a debate. I'm locking it.