A father says his two daughters got stuck on Disney‘s steepest roller coaster, and he’s claiming the entertainment conglomerate “failed to have empathy.”
Joe Sherman told Fox Business that his daughters, ages 7 and 11, were left “traumatized” after riding on Expedition Everest at Disney World’s Animal Kingdom, which is the steepest roller coaster at the park at 199.5 feet, got stuck while ascending and left the girls stuck vertically for 30 minutes.
During the ordeal, Sherman said his wife was “freaking out, crying hysterically,” but claims they received no updates from Disney employees.
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These guests have been stuck on Expedition Everest for 30 minutes! pic.twitter.com/q5pP5332Oz
— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) December 14, 2023
“The worst part about the whole situation is that Disney prides themselves on having the best guest experience. But it seemed like they fell out of protocol where nobody can talk to my wife, nobody can comfort her, nobody can give her some sort of resolve,” Sherman told the outlet. “They just said, ‘We don’t have any updates. This is normal,’ over and over again.”
According to the Disney Food Blog, the ride was stopped due to a possible malfunction, and the ride was stuck for about 30 minutes.
“My daughter came down they were crying hysterically and traumatized, we had to leave the park early,” Sherman said.
“My girls need therapy. They don’t want to go on any roller coaster. They are scared to pieces to go to any amusement park,” he added.
Sherman said he contacted Disney World’s corporate offices and was offered Fast Passes as compensation.
“Nobody wanted to resolve this in a way that would be more conducive to what we went through,” Sherman said. “They gave us a corporate response, they failed to have empathy.”
Entrepreneur has reached out to Disney for comment.
