The “Humunga Kowabunga” slide is shown at Walt Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park (via YouTube screengrab/WESH). Inset: the entrance to the slide (via Disney World website).
A woman says that a trip down a waterslide at a Disney World theme park ended in injuries serious enough to require surgery.
Emma McGuinness was at the Typhoon Lagoon water park — part of Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida — in October 2019 to celebrate her 30th birthday, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday. While at the park, she decided to take the “Humunga Kowabunga” waterslide. According to Disney, riders take “enclosed body slides” down a 214-foot drop in the dark and then “spray [their] way to a surprise ending!”
For McGuinness, that “surprise” was a decidedly painful one.
“As Ms. McGuinness neared the end of The Slide, her body lifted up, she became airborne, and she was slammed downward against The Slide — which increased the likelihood of her legs becoming uncrossed or otherwise exposing herself to injury in using The Slide,” the complaint says. “The impact of The Slide and her impact into the standing water at the bottom of The Slide caused Ms. McGuinness’ clothing to be painfully forced between her legs and for water to be violently forced inside her. She experienced immediate and severe pain internally and, as she stood up, blood began rushing from between her legs.”
McGuinness was taken by ambulance to a local hospital and eventually moved to a different hospital “for the repair of her gynecologic injuries by a specialist,” the lawsuit says. She ultimately suffered “severe and permanent bodily injury including severe vaginal lacerations, a full thickness laceration causing Plaintiff’s bowel to protrude through her abdominal wall, and damage to her internal organs,” according to the complaint.
The complaint notes that at the top of the slide, McGuinness “assumed the appropriate position” to ride the slide after being instructed to cross her ankles — but, according to the lawsuit, that didn’t eliminate the danger.
“Whether ankles are crossed or not, riding down The Slide carries with it specific risks about which Disney knew or, in the exercise of reasonable care, should have known,” the lawsuit says. “Specifically, when a rider of The Slide reached the bottom of the ride and traveled into the pool of water designed to stop further travel, the force of the water can push loose garments into a person’s anatomy – an event known as a ‘wedgie.’ Because of a woman’s anatomy, the risk of a painful ‘wedgie’ is more common and more serious than it is for a man.”
The “surprise” at the end of the attraction posed an even greater danger than just a potentially painful “wedgie,” the lawsuit says.
“The standing water at the bottom of The Slide, however, creates a much greater risk of injury when a rider slams into it at the end of The Slide and is brought to a quick stop,” the complaint says. “In the absence of appropriate swimwear or protective clothing, when a rider impacts the water at the end of The Slide, the forward speed of the rider can cause water to be forced inside the body. Because of their particular anatomy, and as a consequence of the type of swimwear women frequently wear, the risk of water being forced inside their body is greater than it is for men.”
The lawsuit notes that McGuinness was wearing a full-coverage one-piece swimsuit — but it wasn’t enough to protect her.
“When water is forcefully pushed inside a person’s body, it carries the risk of injuring internal organs and causing great pain,” the complaint says. “Because of their particular anatomy, the risk of injury as a consequence of water being forced inside a woman’s body is far greater than it is for a man.”
McGuinness’ complaint says that Disney ignored the particular risk to women who want to take the ride. It also notes that had she been provided protective gear or clothing, she would have worn it.
“Disney does not warn women of their increased risk of injury while using The Slide, and Ms. McGuinness was not warned that she was at an increased risk of injury because of her gender or the clothes that she wore,” the complaint also says.
McGuinness and her husband, Edward McGuinness, are suing for an amount greater than $50,000, alleging negligence and loss of consortium.
Disney did not immediately respond to Law&Crime’s request for comment.
Read the complaint below.
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