A Lawsuit Over an ECV Injury in the Under the Sea Queue Puts Magic Kingdom Accessibility Back in Focus
A couple is suing Walt Disney World for $50,000 after a guest using a rented Electric Conveyance Vehicle allegedly caught her foot in a crevice in the queue wall for Under the Sea: Journey of The Little Mermaid and fractured her fibula. The complaint says the cave-like queue slopes and narrows, and faults Disney on lighting, signage and inspection.
A couple is suing Walt Disney World for $50,000 over an injury in the queue for Under the Sea: Journey of The Little Mermaid at Magic Kingdom. The complaint says a guest using a rented Electric Conveyance Vehicle caught her left foot in a crevice in the queue's wall and fractured her fibula.
Key Details
- Attraction: Under the Sea: Journey of The Little Mermaid, Fantasyland, Magic Kingdom
- Date of the incident: the afternoon of August 7, 2024
- Plaintiffs: Deborah Montgomery and her husband, Matthew Montgomery
- Amount sought: $50,000
- Injury alleged: a fractured fibula, plus injury to the foot, ankle and leg
- Status: allegations in a civil complaint, none of which have been decided by a court
What the complaint alleges
Deborah Montgomery was at Walt Disney World as a business invitee, the legal term for a paying guest on the property. She has chronic arthritis and was using an Electric Conveyance Vehicle rented on Disney property, the four-wheeled scooters guests see throughout the parks every day.
According to the filing, the family was in the queue for the Fantasyland ride on the afternoon of August 7, 2024. As they reached the end of the line, Deborah's left foot became wedged in a crevice in the wall of the cave-like section of the queue. The ECV kept moving forward while her foot stayed put, and the complaint attributes the resulting injuries to her foot, ankle and leg to that moment, including a fractured fibula.
The filing goes further than the fracture. It says she suffered severe and permanent shock to her nervous system, has run up medical expenses, is "unable to continue and pursue a normal life," and is expected to remain impaired for the foreseeable future.
The queue described in the filing
The complaint describes the geometry rather than the theming: a dramatic slope, and a crevice that narrows as that slope increases. The claims against Disney follow from that description. The suit alleges the company failed to provide a safe means of passage through the queue, failed to inspect the pathways, failed to post warning signs, and failed to provide sufficient lighting, with particular weight on the duty owed to business invitees.
Under the Sea: Journey of The Little Mermaid opened in Fantasyland in December 2012 as the centerpiece dark ride of New Fantasyland. Its queue is one of the most heavily themed at Magic Kingdom, winding through rockwork meant to read as the grotto beneath Prince Eric's castle, with a covered cave section leading to the load area. The rockwork is textured and irregular by design, which is precisely the feature at issue in the filing.
The husband's separate claim
Matthew Montgomery is a plaintiff in his own right. His claim is for loss of consortium, which he frames as being deprived of "the aide, comfort, society, and companionship" of his wife. He is also claiming loss of sleep and lost income from caring for her and driving her to and from medical appointments.
Loss of consortium claims are routine companions to personal injury suits and are usually resolved alongside the primary claim.
Renting an ECV at Walt Disney World
Disney rents Electric Conveyance Vehicles at each of the four theme parks and at Disney Springs, on a same-day, first-come basis with no advance reservations. A rental at one park can be transferred to another on the same day at no extra cost, and a refundable deposit applies. Guests can also rent from outside vendors, several of which deliver to Walt Disney World resort hotels and let guests keep the scooter for the length of the trip, which is the usual choice for anyone who wants a guaranteed unit.
Disney publishes accessibility details for every attraction in the My Disney Experience app and on the attraction pages, including whether guests may stay in a wheelchair or ECV or need to transfer to the ride vehicle at a designated point. Checking that entry before joining a line is the single most useful habit for anyone touring in a mobility device.
The Buzz
- Why it is trending: a huge share of Magic Kingdom guests use a rented ECV at some point, and the queue described here is one nearly everyone with a family has rolled through
- The wider question: whether heavily themed rockwork queues built around walking guests work as well for a rented scooter
- What has not happened: nothing in the complaint has been tested in court, and the allegations are one side of the case
What this means for guests
Nothing about this filing changes how Under the Sea: Journey of The Little Mermaid operates today, and a single complaint is not evidence of a pattern. What it is worth is a reminder about the sloped, narrow stretches that show up in Magic Kingdom's older and more heavily themed queues.
Guests using an ECV for the first time are generally better off practicing in an open area before taking one into a queue, keeping feet fully on the platform rather than resting them off the edge, and asking a Cast Member about the accessible route when a queue narrows or drops. Cast Members at every attraction can route a mobility device through an alternate entrance where one exists, and asking costs nothing.