Crazy people descend on theme parks: A round-up of wild guest behavior

As we all know, theme parks can be fun, adventurous and family-friendly places where fans and tourists can all come together to celebrate all of their favorite TV shows, movies, comic book characters and so much more. However, these places can also serve as the grounds for some pretty wild and vile crimes as well that can ruin the magic for everyone.

Just recently, we shared a viral fight between a family visiting Disneyland that’s taken over the internet. But, this instance is only one of many of the not so family-friendly experiences that have taken place at the major theme parks.

In 2017, a drunken teenager attacked an 11-year old girl at Epcot

A Kansas City mother settled a lawsuit with Walt Disney World in June after suing the company because her 11-year-old daughter was randomly attacked by a drunken, Mickey Mouse Ear headband wearing teenager at Epcot in 2017.

According to the lawsuit, which sought more than $15,000 in damages in Orange Circuit Court, Melissa Webber sued Disney in 2018, accusing the company of serving alcohol to someone underage and for not keeping guests safe.

The drunken teenager, a 17-year-old girl from Naples, was also accused of attacking another person at the park and was arrested and charged with child abuse, battery and criminal mischief.

The 11-year-old girl was on vacation with her family from Kansas when she was attacked. The 17-year-old teen, who had also punched another girl at the park as well the same day, grabbed the child by her hair and pulled her down violently into a trash can.

A man pointed a gun at Walt Disney World guest in a fight for disabled parking spot at Animal Kingdom

In a fight over a disabled parking spot at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in February, an elderly man allegedly pointed a handgun at a Lake Mary couple, according to Orange County sheriff’s records.

A 62-year-old woman and her 60-year-old husband, both Disney annual pass holders, waited for a car to back out so she could take the spot in the parking lot. This was when a man driving a gray SUV from the opposite direction sped up and tried to cut them off to get the space. According to the woman, the driver in the gray SUV almost crashed into them.

According to a sheriff’s incident report, the woman’s husband raised his right fist at the SUV driver who responded by lifting a semi-automatic handgun above the steering wheel and pointing it at them.

The SUV driver’s passenger disputes this account of the situation.

Authorities later found the SUV driver at the security checkpoint with his passenger, a 65-year-old woman from Greensboro, N.C. The Woman told authorities he made an angry gesture with his wallet, not a gun in his hand. She also said they were concealed weapon permit holders and they did have a gun in the vehicle.

It was later found that the sheriff’s office did obtain a search warrant from a judge to search the man’s vehicle, but on the incident report, the findings of the search were redacted.

Disney Parks aren’t the only place where tourists and park guests have acted in a manner that wasn’t family-friendly. The Universal theme parks have also seen some wild and vile crimes as well.

In 2017, park guests at Universal Orlando’s Islands of Adventure got in a fist fight over a stroller

John Matava, a tourist from Connecticut who visited Universal Orlando in 2017 claimed he had been “violently attacked by a belligerent, intoxicated male” and sued the company after he fought a teenager from Florida in a brawl that began over a stroller at Islands of Adventure.

According to the police report, the fight began after Matava’s wife, Jennifer, pushed their grandson in a stroller in the arcade and complained people wouldn’t step aside. That’s when a 19-year-old Florida man overheard her, confronted her husband and punched him in the face, she claimed in the report.

However, in the same report, the teenager claimed Jennifer swore as she demanded people to move and he suggested she ask in a nicer demeanor, which he said led to Jennifer’s husband starting a fight with him.

Video of the event shows the teenager saying something to Matava, which led to Matava sticking his face in front of the teen’s and chest-bumping him. The teenager then punched him and the fight broke out. Jennifer tried to stop them. However, she got hit with one of the teenager’s punches inadvertently during the altercation. This caused the 19-year-old to step back but then Matava continued the brawl until the two men were separated.

In the Orlando police department’s investigation of the incident, they found that both sides were “mutual combats,” and no one was charged with a crime after police watched video surveillance.

A man was charged with touching a girl inappropriately at a Universal CityWalk Orlando movie theater

According to an arrest affidavit, it was found that a 51-year-old Orlando man was charged after reportedly grabbing a girl’s backside in the movie theater at Universal Orlando‘s Citywalk.

Reportedly, Melvin Duval told authorities he had been walking behind the girl and “grabbed onto her in order to avoid a fall,” denying the idea he had done it intentionally.

Court records say the girl was between the ages of 12 and 15. Her father wanted to press charges because of her age after the incident, which occurred on May 4.

Duval isn’t allowed back onto Universal property and was charged with a third-degree felony count of lewd or lascivious molestation and a first-degree misdemeanor battery account, according to court records.