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Small News From The Theme Park Industry

A family was awarded an $8.15 million verdict in a lawsuit against Busch Gardens Tampa after their child sustained injuries at the theme park. In September 2022, the child was injured at a Howl-O-Scream event after the amusement park left the doors to the Stanleyville Theater doors unlocked and unattended. The child went inside, onto the stage and the acrobatic trampoline where he fell off and suffered blunt force trauma that lacerated his chin, liver, and right kidney, which resulted in the loss of his kidney function. Source
 
A family was awarded an $8.15 million verdict in a lawsuit against Busch Gardens Tampa after their child sustained injuries at the theme park. In September 2022, the child was injured at a Howl-O-Scream event after the amusement park left the doors to the Stanleyville Theater doors unlocked and unattended. The child went inside, onto the stage and the acrobatic trampoline where he fell off and suffered blunt force trauma that lacerated his chin, liver, and right kidney, which resulted in the loss of his kidney function. Source
I think important detail there is that they did attribute 35% of the blame to the family too, so the net award was 'only' $5.3m. Sounds like a pretty horrendous accident nonetheless!
 
I think important detail there is that they did attribute 35% of the blame to the family too, so the net award was 'only' $5.3m. Sounds like a pretty horrendous accident nonetheless!
My question here is; how exactly do they divide blame for an incident like this in such discrete percentage terms?

I love stats as much as the next person, but I’m struggling to see how you could quantify a percentage blame to the family and a percentage to the park, as these things are not exactly quantitative.

That does sound like a horrendous incident, however; I hope the boy recovers/recovered.
 
I love stats as much as the next person, but I’m struggling to see how you could quantify a percentage blame to the family and a percentage to the park, as these things are not exactly quantitative.
The real world isn't that exact. The judge will have been through the thought process - I reckon about a third of the blame lies with the family (presumably not supervising the kid, in short) and two thirds lies with the park (having unsecured high risk areas). Well 33.3% is a pain in the butt, 35% is close enough. It's a judgement call (no pun intended) based on experience, precedent and possibly some legal/regulatory guidance.

I wouldn't focus too much on the specific numbers. It's a bit like focusing on the specifics of "why $8.15m, and not $8.2m" when trying to quantify the damages.
 
For anyone heading to Phantasialand in the coming days/weeks, F.L.Y. has been down since Wednesday after reports of a loud bang being heard from one of the launch tracks. The park website currently lists the coaster as under maintenance:

 
Disneyland confirmed yesterday that the Red Car Trolley at California Adventure will cease operation on February 8th of next year to allow for construction of the previously announced Avengers Campus expansion. One trolley will be permanently stationed in the park’s Buena Vista Street area as a photo oppurtunity for guests after the attraction closes.

 
Djurs Sommerland is in the middle of doling out their 2025 announcements every Sunday until Christmas, and while only two official announcements have been made so far, a third announcement strongly hinted at is an expansion to the park’s Mexicoland area, where the Funtime drop tower El Grito opened earlier this year. The park’s mini-golf course had already been removed in 2023 to make way for this development.

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The first official announcement, made on the 1st of December, is that the park will open earlier in the year than usual for the park’s first ever Easter event, running throughout the middle of April. The second announcement, made on the 8th, is that the park will for the first time ever be open at night (up to 9 P.M) during their Halloween event, running from October 11th to the 19th. In previous years, the park would only be open until 6 P.M. in that period. This move, according to the park director, is something the park’s fanbase has been requesting for years.

 
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Donald Trump's upcoming administration is proposing stricter federal oversight for amusement park safety in response to recent incidents. The plan involves a national task force and biannual inspections to ensure ride maintenance and emergency preparedness. The proposal includes grants for smaller parks and collaboration with tech firms to implement real-time monitoring technologies. (Source)
No objection to more oversite of park safety, but biannual inspections? Shouldn't they be annual, like the state inspections?
 
Double post;)
Legoland Florida in Winter Haven will end its long-standing water ski shows, a tradition dating back to the 1940s at the original Cypress Gardens, with the final performance on Dec. 30. The decision supposedly reflects a shift toward new attractions, including a Sea Life Aquarium set to open in the spring. (Source)
I hate to see traditions like this end, especially when they don't hinder the construction of new attractions (as is the case here).
 
Two people have been arrested after an accident on I believe Danters city skyflyer attraction in Birmingham which happened yesterday

Video of people stuck hanging on the speakers: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGdrDDeJu/

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There are multiple theories to what happened based on what has been seen online but there are pictures on other sites which claim it suddenly stopped spinning then dropped and there are images of the chairs wrapped around the supports for lights/speakers

Edit - an interview with someone on the ride says it suddenly started to spin backwards and then just came crashing to the ground, from images some of the seats seem to be less than a foot off the ground then as above some are wrapped around speakers/ lights

 
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Donald Trump's upcoming administration is proposing stricter federal oversight for amusement park safety in response to recent incidents. The plan involves a national task force and biannual inspections to ensure ride maintenance and emergency preparedness. The proposal includes grants for smaller parks and collaboration with tech firms to implement real-time monitoring technologies. (Source)
No objection to more oversite of park safety, but biannual inspections? Shouldn't they be annual, like the state inspections?
Info smells bad. There’s no other source online to back this up and the article quotes a bunch of fake and conveniently named Twitter accounts. Am afraid we have all been had.
 
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