News Disney Riviera Resort announced

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
Too late...they already accepted compensation with the room upgrade. Case closed! :p

That's not how it works. Accepting a room upgrade does not equate to an unconditional release of claims.

If there are any ongoing injuries, particularly physical ones, they will be compensable. My guess is that Disney is currently trying to negotiate with the guests to prevent a lawsuit, by offering additional compensation and/or promises to pay future medical bills. The guests didn't necessarily need to "threaten" litigation for that to happen -- any lawyer worth their salt, as soon as they heard that their hotelier client's bed had collapsed onto someone, would be initiating the contact with the injured guest themselves to try and head off potential litigation and bad publicity.

As someone who once had a heavy object dropped on my head/torso who initially thought, "I'm fine, I'm just banged up, nothing to worry about," I can testify that sometimes the full effects of such an injury (in my case, injury to cervical discs at 2 levels) aren't realized or diagnosed until days or weeks later. The unfortunate guest here would be wise to wait, run some tests and get an MRI before signing anything (again, unless it includes a promise to cover any future medical bills that are a direct result of this incident).
 
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TrojanUSC

Well-Known Member
The problem in this situation is that the resort guest called "disney front desk" from their hotel room and that call went to a central call center rather than the manager on duty at the resort, so any management response to the possibly bigger risk to guests would not be flagged up immediately and the risk issues may not even have become apparent until the story, and photo, became visible on social media.

One of the most annoying parts of staying at a Disney hotel. I want to talk to the front desk, not a PBX operator miles away.
 

durangojim

Well-Known Member
They absolutely should consider litigation. This isn’t some minor error. It is a serious safety issue, one that is potentially present in hundreds of brand new rooms. It also raises the question of what other, more serious shortcuts might have been taken.
They don't need to consider litigation. They just need to send letters to the General Manager of the hotel, the head of DVC, Bob Chapek, Josh D'Amato, etc saying how much they love Disney and how disappointed they were in what happened, and then let it go from there.
 
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ImperfectPixie

Well-Known Member
My (then) toddler decided to climb on a chest of drawers that weren’t fixed to the wall and it fell on him? He’s fine.
Glad he didn't get hurt! I've seen too many stories of that exact scenario that didn't end well. We had to secure anything with even the slightest bit of tip possibility in our house because our youngest would climb absolutely anything if he thought there was something he wanted on top of it.
 

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
That's not how it works. Accepting a room upgrade does not equate to an unconditional release of claims.

If there are any ongoing injuries, particularly physical ones, they are compensable. My guess is that Disney is currently trying to negotiate with the guests to prevent it, by offering additional compensation and/or promises to pay future medical bills, in exchange for signed releases.
When we had a separate issue with our disaster-prone children, we were never asked to sign a release. But we never suggested litigation. Personally, I’d call it a day with daily RotR BGs for a week...
 

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
Glad he didn't get hurt! I've seen too many stories of that exact scenario that didn't end well. We had to secure anything with even the slightest bit of tip possibility in our house because our youngest would climb absolutely anything if he thought there was something he wanted on top of it.
Yes. And Disney should absolutely know to fix everything to the wall. They build resorts frequented by children.

With that said, does a reasonable adult sleep in these pull-downs? I highly doubt something like this would go to trial, so it’s likely moot, but still, these are clearly for children. Granted, they attached it to the wall in a way that wouldn’t support an 8x10 frame. Clear negligence here.
 
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ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
Dang that is scary
Okay, details. It was at Wilderness Lodge. He was two. Those chests are very heavy. The only thing that saved him was the chest was in a hallway. So as it fell, it pinched him but slammed into the wall, so it was relatively minor. I get really scared when I think of what could’ve happened if it was able to come to the ground. My wife and I were steps away getting ready to head out to the park. This was my first run in with “central front desk”. I called to alert them to this and said, “he’s fine, we just want to get on with our day. Can someone fix this while we are out?” We came back at nap time and no one had visited the room. Glass still on the floor. Completely unacceptable. So I got a manager on duty and it was quickly rectified.
 
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nickys

Premium Member
Yes. And Disney should absolutely know to fix everything to the wall. The build resorts frequented by children.

With that said, does a reasonable adult sleep in these pull-downs? I highly doubt something like this would go to trial, so it’s likely moot, but still, these are clearly for children. Granted, the attached it to the wall in a way that wouldn’t support an 8x10 frame. Clear negligence here.

These Murphy beds are not the small size used in POR and other resorts. The DVC studios and now Riviera 1-bed use a bigger sized Murphy bed, nearer to a twin size and advertised as suitable for an adult.

Many adults do sleep on them.
 

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
These Murphy beds are not the small size used in POR and other resorts. The DVC studios and now Riviera 1-bed use a bigger sized Murphy bed, nearer to a twin size and advertised as suitable for an adult.

Many adults do sleep on them.
In that case, 100% liable. Even if they were smaller, you’d likely still need a sign noting limitations.
 

BoarderPhreak

Well-Known Member
Yes. And Disney should absolutely know to fix everything to the wall. They build resorts frequented by children.

With that said, does a reasonable adult sleep in these pull-downs? I highly doubt something like this would go to trial, so it’s likely moot, but still, these are clearly for children. Granted, they attached it to the wall in a way that wouldn’t support an 8x10 frame. Clear negligence here.
Should adults be on it? No, probably not. But you're catering to the general public here... With a lot of children to boot. If anything, you over-engineer things. This is a commercial property, after all - not a DIY homeowner. Not to mention, spring break. Cram as many as you can into one room and who knows what kind of hanky panky those ne'erdowells are up to.
 

mmascari

Well-Known Member
Yes. And Disney should absolutely know to fix everything to the wall. The build resorts frequented by children.
20 years ago, maybe not. Today, I would expect no less than everything attached to the wall for anti tipping. Lots and lots of product directions have changed over the years. I remember the tipping prevention anchors being optional, now they're more often listed as required. If your experience was long ago, things were built differently. If it was last year, shame on Disney for not securing the item. Glad the kid was fine. Hanging the TV on the wall instead of a tippy stand is an improvement too.

With that said, does a reasonable adult sleep in these pull-downs? I highly doubt something like this would go to trial, so it’s likely moot, but still, these are clearly for children. Granted, the attached it to the wall in a way that wouldn’t support an 8x10 frame. Clear negligence here.
I would expect anyone that's small enough to fit to use them. I would also assume this person was small enough that they didn't end up with a head or legs sticking way out. A head out would have hurt a lot. Beyond that, I would expect anyone of any size that's at the resort to use it as a bench seat even if not sleeping in it.

I wonder what the manufacturer states in the installation requirements, unless these were completely custom built. That they have two anchor points built in, makes me think they require anchoring.

Someone from Disney legal is probably looking at this story right now and starting to track down.
  • What was the installation requirement spec?
  • Was the installation requirement spec followed or not?
  • If not, who made the decision to do it differently?
  • What's the cost to change them all to different anchors?
  • What's the chance it happens again?
  • Can we get away with putting weight limit stickers on the bed frame instead of changing the anchors?
 

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
20 years ago, maybe not. Today, I would expect no less than everything attached to the wall for anti tipping. Lots and lots of product directions have changed over the years. I remember the tipping prevention anchors being optional, now they're more often listed as required. If your experience was long ago, things were built differently. If it was last year, shame on Disney for not securing the item. Glad the kid was fine. Hanging the TV on the wall instead of a tippy stand is an improvement too.


I would expect anyone that's small enough to fit to use them. I would also assume this person was small enough that they didn't end up with a head or legs sticking way out. A head out would have hurt a lot. Beyond that, I would expect anyone of any size that's at the resort to use it as a bench seat even if not sleeping in it.

I wonder what the manufacturer states in the installation requirements, unless these were completely custom built. That they have two anchor points built in, makes me think they require anchoring.

Someone from Disney legal is probably looking at this story right now and starting to track down.
  • What was the installation requirement spec?
  • Was the installation requirement spec followed or not?
  • If not, who made the decision to do it differently?
  • What's the cost to change them all to different anchors?
  • What's the chance it happens again?
  • Can we get away with putting weight limit stickers on the bed frame instead of changing the anchors?
My kid is 6 so recent enough that Disney should‘ve known better.

We returned a year later, more apprehensive. Checked into a room only to see the anti-tip strap ATTACHED TO NOTHING! Hell-to-the-no. Got a new room. So this is clearly a recurring issue for Disney.
 

mmascari

Well-Known Member
My kid is 6 so recent enough that Disney should‘ve known better.

We returned a year later, more apprehensive. Checked into a room only to see the anti-tip strap ATTACHED TO NOTHING! Hell-to-the-no. Got a new room. So this is clearly a recurring issue for Disney.
That's more than recent enough. I would have expected the last round of renovations for each of these hotels to include securing everything for anti tipping.

Again, glad the kid is OK. I'm sure it was terrifying at the time. Since they were OK, I bet there is still lots of furniture climbing for stuff. The good stuff is always up high.
 

ImperfectPixie

Well-Known Member
This whole hardware choice thing is the kind of thing I would expect my extremely-not-handy-around-the-house sister to do. Not a multi-billion corporation running a multi-hotel resort destination. I really hope they chase down whatever contractor did the build and make them fix it.
 

HauntedPirate

Park nostalgist
Premium Member
They don't need to consider litigation. They just need to send letters to the General Manager of the hotel, the head of DVC, Bob Chapek, Josh D'Amato, etc saying how much they love Disney and how disappointed they were in what happened, and then let it go from there.

So, some FastPasses and a couple of Park Hoppers? ;)
 

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