Disneyland must let a disabled mom use a Segway on her visit, court rules

Disneyland may have to let a disabled mom use her motorized Segway to visit the park, even though the park only allows wheelchairs and motorized scooters, an appeals court has ruled.

Photo from the lawsuit

Tina Baughman, from Pacific Palisades near Disneyland, suffers from limb girdle muscular dystrophy, which makes it difficult for her to walk or stand from a seated position, according to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling.

Baughman hoped to fulfill her daughter’s eighth-birthday wish: a visit to the happiest place on earth. She contacted Disneyland to explain her physical limitations and request permission to use a Segway. Disney refused to make an exception and Baughman sued Disney under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), claiming that Disney denied her full and equal access to Disneyland, the ruling states.

The panel voted 3-0 that accommodating the disabled does not stop at just providing access. The court also does not hold that Disney must permit Segways at its theme parks. It can exclude them if the company can prove Segways can’t be operated safely in its parks (such as whether a device can be used in a particular facility, including the size, weight and speed of the device; the volume of pedestrian traffic in the facility; and whether legitimate safety requirements can be established to ensure safe operation of the device), according to the ruling.

“We have every confidence that the organization that, half a century ago, brought us the Carousel of Progress and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, can lead the way in using new technology to make its parks more welcoming to disabled guests,” Chief Judge Alex Kozinsk, wrote in the court’s decision.

He continued: As the man who started it all said, “Disneyland will never be completed as long as there is imagination left in the world.”