Wizarding World guest suffers from heat stroke

[trr1]

Wizarding World guest suffers from heat stroke


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Betty Smith is a huge Harry Potter fan and was excited for the opening day of Universal's Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Unfortunately, her day didn't go as she planned.

Smith was one of thousands in line on Friday, waiting to get into the new attraction. The heat, in her opinion, was at a dangerous level. She said, "There was no water, no shade, no misters and we stood there for over two hours in that heat." When she realized she was starting to get overheated, she thought about turning around, but there were too many people behind her. She realized that she had stopped sweating (a sign of heat stroke) and asked several park employees for help. A paramedic finally arrived and assisted her to a medical area.

In hindsight, she wishes she had just turned around, but also blames Universal for the situation. "Universal is responsible, too, because they have a responsibility to their guests, to take care of their guests' safety. Guests weren't safe there, at least in my personal opinion," said Smith.

After this situation, Smith is considering not renewing her annual pass, saying she is upset that Universal doesn't seem to care about guest safety.

As compensation for her situation, Universal gave Smith a one time free stroller and free valet parking. She also received three days of Express Passes.



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[cdunbar]

If you have an annual pass you know how hot it can get, why not bring your own water, or go buy one? :shrug:

 

[Master Yoda]

A friend of my daughter suffered from heat exhaustion in WDW over the weekend. She assumed that it was from the heat and that she did not hydrate properly. I guess I should giver her a call and let her know that according to Betty Smith it was really Disney's fault.

 

[EpcotServo]

You know what they say, if you can't stand the heat, get out of the Potter...






















































...



























Wait. That might have came out wrong. let me try that again...That which does not kill ya, makes ya stronger.

 

[trr1]

You know what they say, if you can't stand the heat, get out of the Potter...






































...



























Wait. That might have came out wrong. let me try that again...That which does not kill ya, makes ya stronger.

I knew Dumbledore was gay but I didnt know Harry was Bi !

 

[SleepingMonk]

Welcome to Florida!

 

[gerryu21220]

you know what they say, if you can't stand the heat, get out of the potter...

...

Wait. That might have came out wrong. Let me try that again...that which does not kill ya, makes ya stronger.

oy ve :ROFLOL:

 

[tigsmom]

While Universal could have done a few things to make the wait easier in the hot Florida sun it is ultimately the guests responsibility (or in the case of a child a responsible adult) to protect your health. She was correct, she should have left
when she began to feel overheated and she should have made sure she had enough fluids to stay hydrated.

This stuff happens all the time to people when they visit the parks (and not only WDW and Universal), not news in my opinion. :shrug:

 

[IWant2GoNow]

Are they going to have to start putting warning signs up before you actually get in line now? :brick:

WARNING: You are about to enter a lengthy line for a ride. If you feel light headed, dizzy, parched, or covered in sweat you probably need, something that we on Earth call, water. Please do not venture further into the line unless you are hydrated.

 

[SleepingMonk]

This woman needs someone to follow her around all day it seems.


"Don't stick your finger in that light socket......don't walk out into traffic.....don't use that hair dryer in the shower......don't eat those shards of glass....."

 

[Wilt Dasney]

She said, "There was no water, no shade, no misters and we stood there for over two hours in that heat."

I don't even understand these complaints. What does "no water" mean? Did they turn off the fountains and stop selling bottled water that day? :lol:

And as for shade...the opening day line stretched across the entire park. How much shade can they provide when people are literally backed up to the park entrance, well outside of any designated queue?

Even by whiner standards, this one is up there.

 

[ptaylor]

People need to be responsible for their own well being. You can't expect Universal to be checking the health status of every visitor.

 

[opshannon]

All of these comments suggest that none of you were in line that day. I was. They had the line serpentine its way into some areas of the park that made it difficult to extricate yourself from (I'm talking especially about the area near Popeye and Bluto's Bilge Rat ride). It was in that area that we ran out of water ourselves. It was also the time that the line really stopped moving for the longest period of the day. I was able to "excuse me" my way through the line, but knew getting back to that spot was going to be a very difficult if not painful experience as people were very wary about line jumpers. My wife began to feel ill, so I set out, as I said, for water. I waited in line for 45 minutes to get water. Throughout the park, Universal had only one CM working per kiosk. It was absurd. By the time I got the water, I had begun to feel sick, and my wife (and the Potter line) had finally caught up. Needless to say we drank all the water I got very quickly and could have used more almost immediately. I understand that people do need to be responsible for themselves. And we did have the option of turning back and leaving (after waiting for 4.5 hours). At the same time, everyone posting here needs to realize the other mitigating factors (like stubborness and tough guy/gal syndrome) that make people think they can tough it out. Also keep in mind in the Florida heat (and I'm a resident) you can go from "good night, it's hot out here" to a serious problem in a matter of a few minutes. Our lifesaver was when the line got to Jurrasic Park. We took turns walking over to the splash zone. That really sucked the body heat out of us, as did the extra water we got after waiting nearly an hour at a booth nearby.

 

[SleepingMonk]

:ROFLOL:

I'm not laughing at you in particular, but to suggest standing in line at a theme park regardless of weather is some sort of physical test of endurance is really funny. You're never more than 50 yards from air conditioning, food, water, shade,etc....

It's not like people were doing solo hikes thru the middle of the everglades. It's a theme park, walk ten feet in any direction and you could drink from the bathroom sink if you really had to.

 

[unkadug]

:ROFLOL:

I'm not laughing at you in particular, but to suggest standing in line at a theme park regardless of weather is some sort of physical test of endurance is really funny. You're never more than 50 yards from air conditioning, food, water, shade,etc....

It's not like people were doing solo hikes thru the middle of the everglades. It's a theme park, walk ten feet in any direction and you could drink from the bathroom sink if you really had to.

So true. This is not a marathon...or even a half marathon. No one will be on the sidelines handing you water or Gatorade. You are responsible for your own well being.

 

[The Mom]

I think that people are trying to point out that the people in line chose to be there.
It's not as if there was a natural disaster that made water/shade/air conditioning unavailable, nor were these soldiers fighting in the desert. People could just leave the line and go somewhere cooler, and get water, although they would not get into the attraction. But NO attraction is worth gettig sick/dying over, IMO.

 

[Wilt Dasney]

I think that people are trying to point out that the people in line chose to be there.
It's not as if there was a natural disaster that made water/shade/air conditioning unavailable, nor were these soldiers fighting in the desert. People could just leave the line and go somewhere cooler, and get water, although they would not get into the attraction. But NO attraction is worth gettig sick/dying over, IMO.

That's it. I can appreciate that standing in a 6-hour line in June Florida weather might be dangerous, and it would probably be difficult to stay hydrated the whole time without giving up your spot in line...but I guess my solution would be not to stand in a 6-hour line in June Florida weather.

I'm pretty confident that Universal couldn't have paid me to be out there last week...so it's just tough for me to sympathize with people who showed up. I think I would have had one look at the line and adjusted my vacation plans on the spot...no matter how much I had spent or how far I had come, it would have been Spider-Man or Dudley Do-Right that day. No theme park attraction is worth that.

No offense to anyone who was there and reading this thread. It's just my view.

 

[Ziffell]

This woman needs someone to follow her around all day it seems.


"Don't stick your finger in that light socket......don't walk out into traffic.....don't use that hair dryer in the shower......don't eat those shards of glass....."

This post made me laugh hysterically! Thanks for that!! :lol:

 

[Figment1986]

universal was unprepared for the grand opening lines... but they handled them as well as they could. I dont know if they did end up pulling TMs from ODV to walk the lines selling bottles of water or not, I don't think they even have the manpower to do that or the accessoris to do that.

I know once inside they were doing everything they could to help the guests and setting up extra stuff like selling extra wands outside (cash only) and TMs selling butter beer mugs to guests not at the current 3 permanent locations (cash only no discounts)

 

[Pete C]

That's odd, I have been a Florida resident most of my life and have not heard many heat stroke reports. Our temperatures are usually not high enough, regardless of how hot it "feels". A 92 degree day in Orlando (which is what it was opening day) is pretty unbearable due to the humidity, but most people are probably not going to get heat stroke. It's just really, really uncomfortable. Places like Arizona are much more dangerous. It may feel more comfortable, but it is actually far hotter and heat stokes occur with much higher frequency. Am I wrong? It could be that people's discomfort in the Florida sauna causes them to want to drink more water, thus less occurrence of heat stroke.