28-04-2025
Mom Sues Disney Wave Pool for $2,000,000: 'There Was Blood'
The happiest place on earth turned ugly, bloody even, recently, when a mom was knocked out by a wave at Typhoon Lagoon, the black sheep of the wave pool world, at Disney's Magic Kingdom.
Kimberly Panetta was on a family vacation at the Florida amusement park when the injury occurred. She was waiting for her three-year-old to come down a slide in a kiddie pool. That's when a 'mammoth wave' swept her off her feet, and 'pummeled her.' The 45-year-old was hurt.
And now, she's suing for a cool two million dollars.
'It was so powerful it was actually dragging us under the water for several feet,' Panetta told The New York Post. 'I just thank God I had the sense to push her [her daughter] above as I was getting dragged. I knew if she was the one getting dragged she would have been cut all over.'
The incident actually happened in 2022; but the lawsuit is being filed now.
When the wave whacked her off her feet, Panetta said: 'I felt pain immediately and I looked down and there was blood. You think you're in the happiest place on Earth and the safest place but it's like being dragged on concrete — it's very rough.'
Afterwards, the trip 'was ruined and she was stuck limping around applying bandages, salves and creams and was forced to avoid swimming and enjoying planned visits to the parks. We had all these plans and we had to cancel everything. I couldn't even go in the pool where we were staying, I had to stay inside. Everything was completely ruined.'
Disney, for their part, offered Panetta a $250 credit.
But the accident left lingering scars, and self-consciousness, hence the lawsuit.
As for Typhoon Lagoon, it's been around for quite some time – Kelly Slater even won an event there in 1997, with Rob Machado winning the next year, according to Matt Warshaw's Encyclopedia of Surfing – however, it doesn't have the quality of a wave that most modern wave pools feature. But apparently, it was enough to knock out a mom and prompt a lawsuit for two mill.
Valid? Or total Karen move?
