Is this allowed by the ADA?

[antigone30]

Hi!

This is my first time here, so I'm not sure I'm doing this right. I have a question...

Yesterday, my husband and I planned to visit Kennywood Amusement Park. They just opened a new coaster, the Phantom's Revenge.

When we got there, after we paid to get in, we were informed that my husband couldn't ride the new coaster because he only has one leg.

Having been to parks before, I know that there are just some rides that are not safe for a person with a disability. However, that wasn't the case this time. He was not allowed to ride because they haven't tested it for safety for disabled people yet.

Is this allowed? They opened the ride knowing they would be excluding some riders. They couldn't even tell us when it would be tested.

What has really upset us is that nowhere, in t.v. ads, news stories or on their website, did they mention that the testing hadn't been done for people with disabilities, and that they were automatically refusing rides to those folks.

This just doesn't seem right! We did get our money refunded, but that didn't make up for the gas we used going there and the time wasted. Not to mention what it did to my husband emotionally.

He doesn't really think of himself as "handicapped"...more like he's just different. This just ground his disability in his face.

Is there anything we can do legally?

Thanks!

 

[ALawyer]

This does not seem to be anything malicious. And they did return your money. Call the CA state department that deals with disabilities and ask them if this is permissible or not. Somehow I would cut them some slack if the ride is brand new and the rest of the park is fully accessible to people with disabilities. Write to the management and ask them to tell you when it is tested and safe and you'd expect to be comped.