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Credit: Busch Gardens Tampa BayBack in 2022, a 12-year-old boy attended Busch Gardens Tampa Bay’s Howl-O-Scream Halloween event when he wandered away from his family. He made his way into the theme park’s Stanleyville theater, where he was able to get onto the stage and started using a trampoline that was there for a show’s acrobats.
According to attornies from Morgan & Morgan, which represented the boy’s family, the boy fell off the stage while jumping on the trampoline and onto a metal object. The fall resulted in blunt force trauma and lacerations to his right kidney, chin, and liver, and his kidneys stopped functioning as a result of that trauma.
In March 2023, the family sued Busch Gardens and claimed that the park’s negligence left the doors to the Stanleyville Theater unlocked, allowing the child to enter and fall off an acrobatic trampoline. After nearly 18 months, the case was finally settled, and the family will receive compensation from the park for the injuries their child suffered.
The jury awarded the family an $8,154,350.75 verdict; however, the family will only receive $5,300,328 because while the jury found that Busch Gardens was responsible for leaving the theater open during the Halloween event, it also found that the family was partially responsible for the actions of its child.
The jury found Busch Gardens 65 percent liable, while the family 35 percent liable. Hence, the smaller settlement.
Morgan & Morgan founder John Morgan and attorney Paul Fulmer said in a statement.
A young child will now have to endure renal protective measures for the rest of his life, limiting what he can eat, what sports he can play, and what medications he can take. We are glad the jury was able to recognize the amusement park’s role in causing our client’s lifelong injuries and provided him with the justice he deserves.
It was a rough start to the 2024 summer season for Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. In late June, the park made news for a violent brawl that online organizers called a “takeover” of the park.
After that incident, the organizers of the first event planned similar “takeovers’ on the Fourth of July weekend, but Busch Gardens made several security changes that kept guests safe.
Some guests reported seeing someone with a weapon in the park as part of the takeover. Since then, Busch Gardens has worked with Tampa Police and their security staff to change how people enter the park, and they removed a fence that was used to sneak banned items into the theme park.
However, Busch Gardens rebounded nicely by opening the new family coast, Phoenix Rising, and announcing that its roller coaster Scorpion would be closing to make way for a new coaster.
The verdict comes at a terrible time for Busch Gardens and its parent company, United Parks and Resorts. The fourth quarter of last year saw a decrease in attendance at its parks, but the company rebounded nicely, showing a three percent increase in attendance in the second quarter of 2024. A complete financial picture of United Parks and Resorts won’t be available until early next year.