Latest news with #IslandsOfAdventure
The Independent
5 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Florida man sues Universal for $50,000 after Harry Potter ride malfunctions - leaving him stranded midair for an hour
A Florida man has sued Universal Orlando Resort for $50,000, claiming that a Harry Potter ride malfunctioned and left him stranded midair for over an hour. Casey Causey claimed to have suffered 'mental anguish' after he was injured on a park ride known as Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey in July 2023. The indoor ride is part of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and located at Universal's Islands of Adventure. The lawsuit, filed on May 28, claimed the rollercoaster 'came to an abrupt stop, stranding their cart midair at an angle that left him tilted backward and to the right.' It took about an hour for the cart to be moved to an upright position, according to the suit that called the rollercoaster a 'defective product.' He is suing on two counts, premises liability and negligence. Causey's lawyer claimed Universal was 'aware that the rollercoaster had similar problems in the past and failed to take adequate or reasonable steps to remedy this known problem.' The suit accused Universal of having a financial motive not to fix the rollercoaster, shut it down or tell park goers about the potential for the ride to stop, 'out of desire to obtain money for ticket sales for the park.' Causey's lawyer also claimed Universal failed to implement proper inspection procedures, train employees to inspect 'dangerous conditions' and to 'safely and timely' remove riders from rollercoasters in cases of power outages. According to the suit, Causey suffered injuries from the ride stoppage that resulted in 'disability, disfigurement, scarring, mental anguish,' among other losses. He also claimed to have medical expenses as well as a loss of earnings and a loss of the ability to earn money. The Independent has reached out to Causey's lawyer and Universal Orlando Resort for comment. Millions of guests flock to Universal Orlando Resort every year in hopes of experiencing some of the movie magic that the theme park is known for. Universal recently opened its Epic Universe park after six years of construction. The 750-acre park cost $6 billion to create and allows guests to experience The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Ministry of Magic, Super Nintendo World, How to Train Your Dragon — Isle of Berk and Dark Universe.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Question of the Week: Will you be going to Universal's new theme park this year?
Orlando's first new major theme park in 26 years opened this week with the doors opening on Universal's Epic Universe, prompting me to ask, is Islands of Adventure really already 26 years old? Time really does fly. Except, of course, you're one of thousands waiting on a two-hour line in the scorching sun sipping on a $14.25 Belgian beer all to experience the four-minute "Curse of the Werewolf" roller coaster. Ah, the joy of an Orlando theme park. My lack of excitement over another over-priced, over-crowded, over-hyped Orlando theme park surely has me in the minority. Both local and national news reports this week have been gushing about the new park featuring yet another Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Dark Universe, Super Nintendo World, How to Train your Dragon, and something called Celestial Park. I'm sure tons of people will go and some of those may even enjoy themselves. And I'm curious. Will you be one of them? That brings us to this week's Question of the Week: You can simply cast your votes on the ballots above. You can scan the QR code that is on the print edition page or go to Please leave a comment telling us why you voted the way you did. In order for your comment or email to be published on our website and in next week's print edition, you must include your first and last name. You can also shoot me an email with "Theme Park" in the subject line. I look forward to reading your responses. Last Sunday I asked: Results: Yes: 57.66 percent No: 42.34 percent Here's what you had to say: Yes, the homeowners should pay. Everyone who is currently on sewer paid for that sewer system infrastructure at some point. When a developer installs a sewer system for a new development, the cost is passed on to the buyers as part of the price of the lot or house. They should not then be required to use their tax money to pay for others to convert from septic to sewer. Even grants had to come from someone's taxes, whether from Federal or State taxpayers. -- Ron Voll There has to be some sort of way to estimate the cost per home, and then split the cost equally between the city and the homeowner. -- Jody Hatcher Grants subsidies call them whatever you want but it's not money coming from the government. It's money coming from the taxpayer. And I, as a taxpayer, should not have to be responsible for paying for somebody else's poop. -- Gerald Svrcek Don't hold your breath on grant money. Still trying to get train station grant funding. Spoke with a former council member that stated 30 years ago the city determined the cost to the property owner would be $8,000.00. Figure cost of inflation an average of 3% per year equates to $18,852.51, (please check the math), for property owner out of pocket. If property owner has the funds, more power to them and let them proceed. If property owner doesn't have the funds, then give financial assistance/ -- Paul Kamus The costs of the sewer system for the 88 homes along the Indian River in Cocoa seems way to high, almost $100 K per house based on the $6.6 million to $8.2 million estimate. And to open end a contract and make the homeowners pay seems unfair and unconstitutional. -- Bob Socks The private bathrooms of river front homes are not open to the public and the cost to hook up, if any after the grant money is exhausted, can be paid over an extended period of time. I have paid a hook up cost and the environment benefited greatly in a very short period of time. -- Tom Smith Residents along the river have had years to ready their finances for the conversion. They know it must be done both because it will improve the IRL and the state has mandated it. They are fortunate the city is committed to to getting the grants. It's their civic and legal duty to step up. -- H.L. Singeer I am a snowbird who owns property in Satellite Beach which is hooked to the public sewer. But I have experience with mandatory sewer hookup in Pennsylvania. These are the problems: 1. The municipality designates which contractors can do the work which limits an owners choices and if an owner does the work or hires someone who is not designated then the final inspection always fails and an owner must have a designated contractor come in to "fix" the problem. In many cases there is no problem but the additional hiring usually runs $1,000 or more. 2. The municipality inspects the work for final approval. Municipalities get greedy and permit cost get outlandish, up tp $500 for just looking at the piping hookup and the ditch. Even designated contractors require a final costly inspection. 3. Contractors that are designated immediately double their pricing. 4. Designated contractors tell neighbors if they will get together and hire them they will get a price break since the contractor is already in the neighborhood. This creates animosity between neighbors, each maybe has a favorite contractor. 5. The municipality will do the work but at a higher cost than a private contractor to avoid making local contractors angry. 6. Grant money and other public assistance is often not sunshined and owners will find out only by digging into paperwork how much goes to the municipality to pay for possible road closing, traffic control, handling and assigning the grant funding to owners, and other little costs the municipality charges against the grants. 7. Over and above everything else municipalities charge a hookup fee. You would think they would be happy to get new customers. To avoid these shennanigans municipalities should vote on and publicize the inspection and hookup fees ahead of time so people can have input. Municipalities should ask for bids from contractors and allow owners to select from the bidding who they choose. Bidding should be based upon linear footage of the dig and linear pipe cost/installation. Public funding and what it pays for MUST be sunshined. -- Kevin Barwin While no one likes the idea of footing the bill for an unknown level of expense, the fact is that these hookups are an investment for the homeowners that will increase the value of their properties. Add in the fact that grants will likely cover much of the expense and it's a real no-brainer. -- Ross Miller I have no children in Brevard schools but I pay school taxes. I know older people who no longer drive, but they pay taxes for roads and maintenance;there are people who have never used a fireman or policeman but pay taxes to ensure they are there if and when needed. We pay taxes for the public good and for the united consciousness of our nation. We support the military and our legislative leaders ― we contribute our hard-earned money for clean streets, clean air and clean water. Hence, the hook ups to the sewer from septic. Extremely generous offers are in place from $12K to $24K to help oversee the cost of switching over to sewer. It is the cost of being an American and enjoying our beautiful waterways. No, there will be no choice ― just as there is no choice in being able to burn your own garbage in your back yard or flushing your toilet directly into the estuaries. If you enjoy the river you have to respect it and maintain it ― that means hooking up. You didn't want to live in a landlocked state so now you have to help us all out. Hook up! -- Laura Petruska I do feel that the homeowners should come out of pocket for expenses to hook up. However, there should be a set amount and it should be paid out over 5 or 7 years depending on the amount. That being said, the city cannot renege on the amount once voted on and approved. This mandatory hook up has been a state law for years and a smart homeowner would have or should have set back money for when this day finally came. -- George White As a home owner in Zone J of Cocoa's septic to sewerconversion project, I support the project in the interest of improving the health of the Indian River Lagoon. However, I reject the notion that the project benefits only the affected property owners. The benefitof the project is to all Brevard residents and as such the majority of any additional costs beyond acquired grant monies should be shared by all. At a minimum, since its a Cocoa City ordinance, costs beyond grant monies secured should at least be shared by all Cocoa residents. Besides running the new connection lines and removing existing tank(s) other associated costs may be considerable for some properties; some may require lift pumps to reach the sewer system interface, many will have significant impacts/costs to existing driveways, retaining walls, and other landscape features. I fully support the main objective of cleaning up the Indian River Lagoon, and accept the science and expert opinions that this project will help achieve that objective. Speaking for myself, I can accept the normal City hook-up fee and some not to exceed cost sharing for tank removal and new line to City sewerconnection point as reasonable. However I do not accept as fair or reasonable that the 88 affected properties bear the potential burden of any and all (currently undefined) City costs plus individual property conversion costs not covered by secured grant monies. -- Greg Henry Contact Torres at jtorres@ You can follow him on X @johnalbertorres Multimedia editor Rob Landers contributed to this report. Support local journalism and become a subscriber. Visit This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Will you be going to Universal's new Orlando theme park?
