Lawsuit Accuses Disney of Failing to Address ‘Excessively Slippery’ Pool Area at Disney Aulani Resort

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A proposed class action accuses the Walt Disney Company of knowing for roughly a decade that the pool area at its Disney Aulani resort is excessively slippery yet has failed to do anything about the problem or warn vacationers. 

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The 37-page lawsuit contends that Disney should provide adequate warnings about the slippery pool area to those who visit the Kapolei, Hawaii resort and apply anti-slip products to prevent slip-and-fall injuries to visitors. Per the case, the theme park giant “does not have, and has never had, an adequate corporate policy” to prevent slip-and-falls on its pool grounds. 

“Defendant has advertisements and marketing that create a false impression that their facilities are safe and are for families of all ages and that they were designed with families in mind,” the filing alleges, claiming Disney fails to disclose that the pool area ground at the resort is “more slippery than a normal pool area,” and that guests should use extreme caution while moving around the Aulani Waikolohe Pool area. 

The case, filed in California on November 8, asks the court to require Disney to send a notice to all Disney Aulani visitors regarding the allegedly slippery pool area and lack of anti-slip protection and to immediately stop marketing and selling vacations, accommodations and pool area access unless visitors are first notified of the “defects in the pool area flooring.” The lawsuit also asks the court to order Disney to apply anti-slip products and/or technology to the Disney Aulani pool area, to encourage guests to wear anti-slip shoes when walking around wet areas, and to meaningfully disclose to visitors “all material facts regarding its outdoor pool area and the propensity to slip,” among other injunctive relief. 

According to the complaint, Disney touts the Waikolohe Pool at its Aulani resort as an 8,200-square-foot, zero-entry pool with a poolside lounge and tunnel body slide. The company’s “Know Before You Go” disclosures include no warning that the pool area is excessively slippery and lacks anti-slip technology, the case emphasizes. 

The case includes several Trip Advisor reviews submitted by Disney Aulani guests who said that the pool area grounds are “super slippery” and that their kids had “fallen dozens of times,” among other negative comments and warnings about the “extremely slippery” surfaces.

The plaintiffs, two Missouri parents and their child, stayed at the Disney Aulani resort in March 2023 for a two-day, one-night visit, the lawsuit states. One of the reasons the plaintiffs chose the resort, the case says, was to enjoy the pool slides and poolside amenities. 

According to the complaint, the plaintiffs’ child, who was 10 at the time, went down one of the slides and, upon exiting and stepping out of the pool, slipped and fell on the ground, “hitting the back of his head and splitting his head open on the corner of the top step of the steps leading outside of the slides area.” The incident resulted in an emergency room visit, and the entire ordeal took several hours, the suit states. 

As a result of getting stitches to close the head wound, the plaintiffs’ child was unable to go into the ocean or pool for the remaining seven days of their trip, the case says. 

The lawsuit looks to cover all United States citizens who stayed at the Disney Aulani Resort & Spa. 

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