New book asks if lawyers are taking the fun out of Disneyland

[prberk]

Saw this article on the Orange County Register website today, and thought it was definitely true. It is actually just as true at WDW as it is at DL, but since this article (and the book it discusses) is specific to DL, I thought I would post it here.

I think it is too bad that so many of the experiences would should have as children have been so restricted these days by people afraid of lawsuits. Some of these (like climbling a tree on Tom Sawyer island) are just sad. It is something that plays out in the rest of our lives, too.

At World of Color last weekend they roped off the bench-style concrete border around a tree in the viewing area, because people used to stand on it. A local told me these used to be the best viewing in the area, but now roped off I presume so that people would not stand on it and have the potential to get hurt. (It wasn't because it would block others' view -- the tree itself did that.)

Children need to be able to be children, and adults should be expected to have a little common sense. But that, too, these days is sadly lacking...

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/disney-678023-book-disneyland.html

Has some of the fun disappeared from Disneyland? Author David Koenig thinks it has, and he blames park visitors and lawyers in his latest book, “The People v. Disneyland: How Lawsuits & Lawyers Transformed the Magic.”
“The vast majority of operational changes at Disneyland in the last 10 years have been the result of lawsuits past, or in anticipation of lawsuits in the future,” he said.
Koenig first showed up on the Disney book scene with “Mouse Tales: A Behind-the-Ears Look at Disneyland” in 1994. That book was more about some of the quirky and funny stories about things that happened at Disneyland. For that book he conducted interviews with former Disneyland cast members and visitors to the park. He followed the success of that book with two more, a sequel called “More Mouse Tales: A Closer Peek Backstage at Disneyland” and one about Disney’s Florida operation, “Realityland: True-Life Adventures at Walt Disney World.”
With this book, Koenig has taken a harder tone than the other three, saying that people filing lawsuits for their own ineptitude, coupled with management that is no longer willing to spend the money to fight them, are just as much to blame as the lawyers involved in the cases.
“People just have no common sense. Most activities have some inherent risk. It’s to the point where Disney’s tolerance for risk is zero. It used to be they expected that people would have some common sense.”
Court records, which are public, provided Koenig with most of the material for the book. He followed up with some of the principals involved in the lawsuits. He said that Disney would not talk to him on the record, but he did interview Disney cast members involved in some of the cases.
He peppers the book with specific examples of changes spurred by lawsuits or by Disney lawyers minimizing the risk of accidents leading to lawsuits. Some examples include changes that mean a park visitor would have to do something clearly not allowed in order to get hurt.
One is the tree house on Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer Island. It closed because lawyers felt that it was not up to current standards in terms of access to all – even though it was originally built to be for kids to climb.
Just last year, lawyers ordered benches in alcoves on the bridge leading up to Sleeping Beauty Castle removed, lest a small child or adult climb on them and fall over the rail into the water below.
But Koenig doesn’t pull any punches with Disney either. He illustrates the cuts in maintenance and training by Disney management that led to a fatal accident involving the Columbia sailing ship. Similar actions were cited in a fatal accident on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
Those accidents led to a comprehensive review by Disney lawyers on maintenance and operational procedures – many of them clearly visible, such as attraction operators asking riders to pull up on safety bars to make sure they are secure before being dispatched onto the various rides.
In addition, Koenig details how there are an increased number of visible warning signs at the entrance to every attraction – clearly spelling out what height and age people must be, and any health-related issues that should keep them off the ride.
While such signs might be necessary in today’s litigious world, Koenig says they detract from what a visit to Disneyland is supposed to be, an escape from reality.
“It’s much more difficult to walk through Disneyland and be caught up in the story.”

 

[Dead2009]

If parents would actually keep an eye on their kids instead of their cell phones looking for the latest gossip on Facebook, they wouldnt have to worry about whether or not they should sue when an incident comes up.