“The Most Magical Place on Earth” was anything but just for one woman in Florida, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.
Disney World had not yet posted this slogan on its resort gates when Emma McGuinness visited Typhoon Lagoon Park in 2019. But the slogan “Where Dreams Come True” proved just as questionable when, as McGuinness claims in the lawsuit, she suffered “serious” injuries on the Humunga Kowabunga slide.
McGuinness was celebrating her 30th birthday with a ride on the water attraction, a five-story jump into a pool, when “she became airborne and was thrown into the slide,” according to the complaint obtained by Law & Crimes.
The lawsuit said her clothing was “forced between her legs” in a “painful wedge” and that water was “forcibly forced inside her.” The pain continued even after landing in the pelvis and “when she stood up, blood began to gush from between her legs,” the complaint states.
McGuinness was taken to hospital for “permanent bodily harm” and “vaginal tears,” it said. The complaint goes on to say that her intestines were “protruding through her abdominal wall” due to a hernia.
Emma McGuinness accuses Disney of negligence and is seeking $50,000 in damages.AaronP/Bauer-Griffin via Getty Images
The lawsuit, filed by attorney Alan Wagner on behalf of McGuinness and her husband, accuses Disney of negligence and claims that Disney “failed to warn women of their increased risk of injury” from the 214-foot ride.
“Due to their special anatomy, there is a risk of injury [for a woman] …is far greater than for a man,” says the lawsuit, which seeks $50,000 in damages.
On its website, Disney World calls the Humunga Kowabunga “the ride of a lifetime” and promises visitors a “surprise ending.”
Disney representatives did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.