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Featured Video: Busch Gardens Under Scrutiny for Alleged Disability Discrimination
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A legal battle is unfolding as the Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against United Parks & Resorts Inc, the operator behind SeaWorld, over accusations of discriminatory practices against visitors with disabilities.
This legal action follows an investigation initiated by the DOJ, probing allegations that the company restricted the use of specific mobility aids by park visitors.
The lawsuit alleges that, starting in November 2025, UPR implemented a policy barring guests with disabilities from using seated wheeled walkers in several of its parks.
Following the policy’s introduction, SeaWorld Orlando, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, and Aquatica Orlando updated their Accessibility web pages to reflect the “Wheeled Walker Bans.”
SeaWorld’s website at the time said alternative options were available for rent prices starting at $40 for wheelchairs and $110 for ECVs.
Busch Gardens offered alternatives starting at $37 for wheelchairs and $115 for ECVs. Aquatica’s alternatives were available starting at $40 for wheelchairs and $110 for ECVs.
The DOJ alleges that this policy violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits public accommodations from discriminating against individuals based on disability.
The Department notified UPR of its investigation in November 2025, after which Discovery Cove Orlando updated its website’s Accessibility page to inform guests of the ban.
In Dec. 2025, the parks updated their websites again, explaining that these devices “can pose a safety concern when not used properly,” and that the parks saw “misuse and safety-related incidents,” despite previous steps taken.
The Department claims to have received numerous complaints from individuals on these bans since notifying UPR of its investigation.
As an example, the lawsuit told of an eight-year-old who used a pediatric posterior walker selected by the child’s medical team.
The child’s mother allegedly emailed SeaWorld’s Accessibility Services to ask whether her child’s device would be permitted in UPR parks.
SeaWorld told the woman that rollators with seats were not permitted and offered only adult-sized rollators without seats or wheelchairs as alternatives, the complaint alleges.
The lawsuit also said the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs physicians provided rollators with seats to two military veterans with mobility disabilities.
When those veterans and their families arrived at SeaWorld in November 2025, UPR security personnel told them they could not enter the park with their rollators due to the ban.
The veterans were told that the only alternatives available were wheelchairs or ECVs, both of which they would need to rent.
UPR reportedly provided one veteran with a wheelchair for free but told him that he would need to rent an alternative if he returned. The other veteran was not offered a free alternative, so he returned home.
The Department also said it received a complaint from an individual who was tall and used a rollator designed to accommodate his height, which UPR personnel told him he could not use at SeaWorld.
UPR reportedly offered him a wheeled walker without a seat, but it was not tall enough to accommodate his height. There were no wheelchairs available for him, so he was told he could rent an ECV for charge.
The complainant alternated between the seatless wheel walker and a wheelchair throughout his trip, which the DOJ said deprived him of his ability to walk and caused him physical pain.
The Department says UPR is discriminating against individuals with disabilities and failing to make reasonable modifications in its policies, practices, or procedures when necessary.
The lawsuit requests the judge to require UPR to modify its policies, provide ADA training for its employees, and award monetary damages to people affected.
The complaint also requests a civil penalty of $118,225 against UPR for violating the ADA.
8 On Your Side has reached out to SeaWorld and Busch Gardens for comment.
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