South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog
A water slide at Universal’s Volcano Bay water park in Orlando has reportedly caused more than 100 Florida tourist injuries, including one man from New York who was reportedly paralyzed last year. 
As longtime Florida tourist injury lawyers in West Palm Beach, we’re familiar with the Florida law that only requires theme parks to report ride injuries to the state when the person hurt is hospitalized for at least 24 hours. That means the actual number of injuries at theme parks are likely much higher than what’s reported to the public. Further, park visitors should know that they may have a right to monetary damages – even if their injuries didn’t meet the park’s criteria for required public reporting.
The ride in question is a series of four slides, called Punga Racers, with riders ultimately splash-landing into catch pools. According to court records and reporting by the Orlando Sentinel, the 115 injuries visitors suffered after riding the Punga Racers water slides ranged from mild to severe, and included:
- Scrapes
- Nosebleeds
- Concussion
- Neck whiplash
- Paralysis
Two ride safety testers were also injured. But in all of those, only one – the paralysis – was considered reportable to the state. Continue reading