A Florida woman who claims the G-forces from a theme park ride relieve her chronic pain has sued Walt Disney World for breaching its contract with visitors by limiting her to four rides per visit on its Tower of Terror.

The ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park in Orlando provides stomach-turning thrills for guests as they hurtle up and down a 199-foot-tall building in a “fright elevator.” In a complaint filed last month in Osceola County, Fla., Denise Mooty alleges she needs the Tower of Terror for therapy rather than thrills.

“In the four years that Plaintiff was an annual pass holder she would religiously ride the tower of terror every Saturday dozens of times to help her alleviate her medical condition, her pain associated with it, and minimize the number of surgeries she required as a result,” the suit says.

All that oscillating apparently breaks down Mooty's abdominal adhesions, which are strands of fibrous scar tissue often caused by surgery or chronic inflammation. “Literally, Ms. Mooty’s life depends on her being able to ride the ride,” her lawyers say.

But since Mooty was cited for trespassing at the park on Aug. 23, her condition has allegedly worsened. And she is now suing Disney for breach of contract, false arrest and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

“Nothing in the contract between Plaintiff and Disney (the annual pass) limited Plaintiff as to the number of times she could ride the tower of terror,” she says.

The suit does not include a claim for disability discrimination. “Ms. Mooty's claims are without merit,” a Disney spokeswoman said. “She was trespassed for causing a disturbance within the presence of other guests and using foul language toward a Cast Member.”

Mooty is something of an abdominal adhesion activist. On her website, she has posted graphic photos of her adhesions and she once berated talk-show host Montel Williams for not responding to several letters “asking for help to stay alive.”

“My son is going to be 14 on the 28th of this month, I may not live to see him turn 15!” she said in a letter posted on the International Adhesions Society website in October 2002.

Mooty told a Florida TV station that the Tower of Terror “really does work. It's the G forces of going up and down.” Her doctor wrote Disney a letter stating that the ride broke down her adhesions, “thus relieving her of so much pain.”

But on Aug. 16, a Disney employee allegedly told her “she was only allowed to ride the tower of terror 4 times per visit” and could no longer use the back entrance to access the ride even though she had a “guest assistance card” that permitted her to do so.

A week later, things got confrontational after Mooty refused a guest service manager's “take it or leave it” offer of “fast pass” access to the ride. She “never used profanity toward anyone,” but as she was leaving the park, security guard Rodney Penson had her detained and cited for trespassing.

Perhaps Mooty's unconventional pain prescription had turned into a pain in the neck for Disney staff. While in the security office, she alleges, she overheard Penson and the guest services manager “laugh about the whole situation stating that they were finally getting rid of Plaintiff.”

In a slightly more conventional case, a British woman sued Walt Disney World this week alleging the faulty design of Tower of Terror caused her to have a disabling heart attack and stroke. Leanne Deacon rode the ride several times during a 2005 vacation.

By Matthew Heller
2/10/09