Theme parks can be very dangerous places as a recent wrongful death suit against Universal Studios Orlando proves. Tragedy struck at the popular Florida theme park when a 38 year-old visitor suffered a fatal heart attack after riding “Skull Island: Reign of Kong.” The family of the deceased has now filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Universal following the sudden death.

What’s most interesting about this Florida-based lawsuit is the main premise hinges not on the dangers of the ride but on the failure to warn Spanish-speaking visitors in their native language. Wesh 2 News reports on the Universal Studios wrongful death lawsuit claims, “He didn’t speak English and his family claims the theme park is negligent in failing to warn visitors in Spanish.”

Is Universal liable for the death based on a failure to warn theory? Failure to warn is a popular legal theory for personal injury and wrongful death cases but to what extent a theme park or property owner has a duty to warn is a totally different legal analysis. In this lawsuit, the theme park does have warning signs but they are all in English. Strong arguments around the percentage of Spanish-speaking visitors among other things will need to be made to compel a judge or jury to consider whether Universal Studios played a role in the death.

Wrongful death lawsuits can take many different forms, including failure to warn of the dangers present at an amusement park. Other forms of injuries and deaths that commonly occur at amusement parks such as Universal Studios or Disneyland include:

• Negligence: amusement park negligence includes things like failure to warn
• Premises Liability: unsafe theme park conditions such as uneven sidewalks and poor lighting fall under premises liability
• Product Liability: injuries that occur as a result of an issue with a ride (hard stops, pieces sticking out or a broken ride) generally fall under the legal theory of product liability

Whatever the underlying legal theory, the bottom line is this- you were seriously injured or there was a death that occurred while being a paid visitor to an amusement park and they should be held responsible for the financial, physical and emotional impact these injuries or death have taken on your life.

At Walch Law, we are here to help you with your Universal Studios or other theme park injury. We have the experience, track record of success and personal approach you want as a theme park personal injury lawyer. Because the issue that caused your injury is often quickly fixed by the theme park, it is always in your best interest to call us immediately after the accident– we are available 24/7 so do not hesitate to get in touch with us!