Nerding Out on Theme Park Law

Recently the 11th circuit of the federal court remanded (kick it back) to the lower court a decision in Campbell v. Universal that sided with Universal Studios in an Americans With Disabilities claim. Mr. Campbell, who lives with only one hand, was denied a ride on a waterslide at Universal Studios because it was deemed that him sliding down a slide with only one hand was unsafe.

The lower court sided with Universal because they had relied upon a blanket policy about those with limb differences and a loose interpretation of the manufacturers guidelines.

Not so fast, said the Court of Appeals. Basically Mr. Campbell should have been allowed to ride unless there was an actual safety concern for Mr. Campbell.

Which brings me to my point: anyone can be lazy and deny access to a guest/client/parishioner for a blanket policy, but doing so will not only open you up to an ADA claim, but really bad social scrutiny. Certainly we should all protect our guests from harm, but we should do the work to all as many customers to experience our product as possible.

• Stop denying access to guests who are deaf because they won’t hear the warning alarm (that likely wont go off anyway).

• Allow those with limb differences to participate, and know when it is unsafe (don’t just guess).

Most of us could qualify for ADA protection at one point or another. None of us wants to be denied access to that thing we love - roller coaster, movie, airplane, etc… So let’s make sure as many people as we can can participate in OUR offerings.

We can do so by bringing in an outside compliance expert to audit our processes and regulations, polling our customers, and training our staff.

We can do better.

What Are You Waiting On?

Give yourself the gift today of doing it. This is how I have learned to move on the burning things on my list:

1. It comes to mind.

2. I count backwards from five.

3. I move in the direction needed to accomplish it.

GIve it a try today.

PS - This is an AI generated image. thoughts?