Could sex offenders be sitting next to your child on a ride, or standing in line behind them at Walt Disney World or Universal Orlando?
In February, a registered sex offender was arrested after Orange County deputies said he exposed himself to a child at Aquatica.
The accused, 52-year-old Gerald Youmans, was convicted in 2004 of exposing himself to a child in Palm Beach. He was designated a sexual predator, but according to an arrest affidavit, he held an annual pass to the theme park.
The incident raised the question: Do theme parks screen for sex offenders?
SeaWorld, along with Universal and Disney, all declined to share specifics of their policies regarding the admittance of sex offenders or whether they screen for them.
Criminal defense attorney Richard Hornsby has represented clients on the sex offender registry and said some of those clients believe Disney denied or revoked their admittance once they discovered their names on the list.
“I’ve had people that also happen to have had season passes, or got their passes online and then after they bought them, got a letter saying their passes are revoked or being cancelled, they’re not allowed to use it,” Hornsby said.
It’s unclear exactly how Disney might search for or flag sex offenders, but one readily available identifier is their driver’s license which carries their designation.
We get our tickets directly from our local MWR (now ITT i guess) office on base at a decently discounted price, just went there last week and had no issue. Needed to put ticket numbers/names in online for fastpass/food reservations but didn’t seem to bring up any flags thankfully. Got that out of our system for a few years now thankfully!!
I’ve been twice, once flying and once driving. Stayed on property with my family. No issues at all either trip. I’m not on a public list, and reside in a non-SORNA state, so that may make a difference. I don’t believe they are actively screening, except for annual passholders, which was reported on a few years ago.
“Could sex offenders be sitting next to your child on a ride, or standing in line behind them at Walt Disney World or Universal Orlando?”
Exchange the term “sex offenders” for “Negros” and you’ll realize humans never learn from history.
“Could sex offenders be sitting next to your child on a ride, or standing in line behind them at Walt Disney World or Universal Orlando?”
—–
Probably, because last I checked they’re coaches, teachers, clergy, relatives, strangers, politicians, neighbors, friends, LEOs, Disney employees, etc., etc., etc. The only difference is a very slim minority have been caught and punished–and punished–whereas the rest are lurking and sneaking.
I suspect the question meant to be asked is, “Could someone who has been convicted of a sex-related offense be sitting next to your child on a ride, or standing in line behind them at Walt Disney World or Universal Orlando?” That answer is, “yep, and they’re also sitting/standing next to a drug dealer, habitual DUI driver, and/or a wife beater.”
So just buy a one day ticket and not an annual pass if you must go. Also if you bought an annual pass then had it canceled, I hope for their sake they refund the customers? Otherwise the theme parks are basically running a scam.
I was recently at a local theme park,no problem here ,the world didn’t end for no one had a good time and went about enjoying the day