Bloomingdale Woman Sues Disney for Injuries Following Jungle Cruise Ride

A Bloomingdale East resident is suing Disney World after injuring her back on the Jungle Cruise in Disney's Magic Kingdom.

Stacey Holdorff, 41, was at the Magic Kingdom celebrating her daughter, Tiffany's, 6th birthday Jan. 8. The mother and daughter had just completed the Jungle Cruise ride and Holdorff was stepping off the boat when another boat hit her boat from behind. Holdorff said she was thrown back into the boat, injuring her back.

She's now suing Disney World for more than $15,000.

Holdorff said her daughter watched in horror as she was transported to the hospital. She said she received a debilitating neck and spinal injury that has required two surgeries.

"Disney was a place we celebrated many milestones. It was her favorite," Holdorff said. "Watching her mom being carted away in an ambulance was devastating to her. She doesn't want to go back."

Since then, Holdorff, a licensed medical aesthetician, hasn't been able to work. She said she has chronic pain, cannot sit or stand for extended periods of time and can not lift anything heavy.

"It's a daily nuisance to do menial tasks that I used to take for granted, and it's getting worse," she said.

During a press conference Monday, Holdorff's attorney, Brett Geer, said the lawsuit, filed in Orange County, seeks more than $15,000 but he believes Holdorff is due much more due to the expense of her surgeries and the loss of income.

He said he's been unsuccessful in attempts to reach a settlement with Disney. He filed the suit on Friday and is seeking a jury trial. Disney has declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Opened in 1971, the Jungle Cruise attraction simulates a 1930s African tramp steamer cruise down a river.