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


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?

 

[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...