An Annual Passholder and lifetime Disney guest has been banned from Disney Parks. This is after an altercation at the Orlando, Florida, shopping center, Disney Springs.
Monica, 26, (@livingwmonica) describes the situation in a series of viral TikToks. In the first “storytime” video describing the altercation, Monica explains that she was at Disney Springs with her son, her cousin, his wife, and their daughter. They walked into the World of Disney store 10 minutes before closing. Monica joined the line, though she had nothing to buy. The rest of her group joined her after they finished shopping.
As they waited in line, her son spotted slap bracelets and asked for one. She agreed to buy one and asked which one he wanted, at which point the line began to move.
“Not that far. We’re not going anywhere. It’s a line. Relax,” Monica says. However, the people behind her didn’t see it that way.
“They’re like, ‘Hello, the line’s moving. Are you gonna go?’ And I’m like, ‘Yes, give us a second. My son’s trying to grab something,’” she says.
In the meantime, the rest of her party continued to keep the line moving. Monica joins her family when her son is done picking out his toy. However, the people behind her continue making rude comments.
Things take a turn at the register
When it is finally their turn to get to the register, her cousin’s wife goes first. Monica lags behind because the wheel of her son’s stroller got stuck. The group of four men and women behind her says, “Hello, they said, ‘Next person.’ Can you go?” and Monica tells them she is having issues with her stroller and she is done being harassed by them over a position in line. She then starts to argue with them. They continue making comments about her as they take their place at the register next to her.
After one more comment, she “snapped.” She said to one of the two women, “You literally got a nose job and … your nose job does not look good.”
Monica says one of the men then called her fat and ugly in Spanish, and she swore back at him and called him out for arguing with a woman. They continued to go back and forth until Monica told him to stop because she was getting so mad that she was going to throw a drink at them. The man told her to do it. Then, the other man in their party tried to de-escalate by telling Monica to just pay and go. He allegedly taunted her by asking, “You don’t have money? You can’t pay?”
Monica snaps
That was the last straw for Monica. She threw her drink at one of the women because she didn’t want to fight the men. Then one of the men “instantly” punched her twice in the face. She says she hit back, and then the other man grabbed her.
Her cousin had come back from changing his daughter’s diaper, but the crowd of people was so large that he could not reach her to help. His wife had taken the children and left, so Monica was on her own against people she says were 10-20 years older than her.
“Security never came. Nobody ever stopped the fight,” she says. When the fight ended, the other party left, but an employee told Monica that she couldn’t leave. The employee also tried to keep Monica’s son from her until another worker said she had to let him go. Monica then took her son outside, sat on a bench, and cried.
In a follow-up, she says she waited outside for security to come and eventually spoke to police. She says all she got was banned from Disney, which is a punishment she could accept. She was the only person punished, and she did not press charges against the other group.
Monica says Disney didn’t know who the other party was. “They couldn’t find them,” she says. They told me they were looking, but the park was closed. Everybody disappeared as soon as that happened.”
Monica says she is not a violent person, but she acted out of character after being provoked. She is thankful that she is OK other than some jaw pain, and her family is also safe. She says she can talk to the police about her ban in one year.
‘Why can’t adults behave at Disney?’
In the comments section, viewers were overwhelmingly on Monica’s side.
“Girl get the video footage from the store and sue!! Lawyer up,” one commenter said.
“So a man swings at a woman at Disney and the woman gets banned!?” a second questioned.
Another wrote, “Nah I’m sorry..drink or not 4 adults at Disney antagonizing a mom is weird behavior. I’m a girl and if I would’ve been there I would’ve jumped in just to help a mom out. The only mistake was made was the cousin leaving. Both of them should’ve been there and taught them all a lesson idc.”
Does she have a case against the other party?
Several viewers justified Monica turning the verbal altercation into a physical one by virtue of the fact that she was being “harassed.”
According to the Legal Information Institute, harassment involves “the use of words or engaging in behavior that annoys, threatens, intimidates, or demeans a person. Harassment is unwanted, uninvited, and unwelcome and causes annoyance, alarm, or substantial emotional distress without a legitimate purpose.” Based on this definition, it does seem that the other party was harassing Monica, especially since she says they continued taunting her after she repeatedly told them to stop.
However, despite being harassed, she may not be able to claim that she threw the drink in self-defense since it is possible for self-defense to cross into assault. As Brad Bailey Law notes, “One common way self-defense crosses the line into assault is through the use of disproportionate force. If the threat you’re responding to is minimal, but your reaction causes significant harm, you may be seen as the aggressor. For example, if someone shoves you, and you retaliate by punching them repeatedly, you could face assault charges despite the initial provocation.”
It continues, “Another important consideration is whether the threat was imminent. Self-defense is only justified if you were in immediate danger. Acting preemptively or attacking someone after the threat has subsided could be classified as assault.” Additionally, “the intent behind your actions matters. If your response is fueled by anger or revenge, rather than a genuine need to protect yourself or others, the legal argument for self-defense becomes much weaker.”
Is it considered assault?
According to certified criminal law specialist Todd Coolidge, throwing a drink at someone is considered assault. Additionally, Monica likely cannot claim self-defense as, according to Hussein & Webber, “self-defense is not available where the defendant initially provoked the violence.” She also admitted in her video that she threw the drink because she was angry, and told the other party so.
The other party may claim that it was defending itself from Monica after she threw the drink, but Heidari Law Group states, “If the defendant claims self-defense, they must prove they were in immediate danger and used only reasonable force. If their response was excessive or unjustified, you may still have a strong case. Courts evaluate evidence, witness statements, and video footage to determine liability.”
@livingwmonica Story time of Disney springs #disneyspringsorlando #happiestplaceonearth ♬ original sound – livingwmonica
Does she have a case against Disney?
Several viewers suggested Monica should sue Disney over the fact that no one intervened to stop the altercation.
According to Lesser Landy Smith & Siegel PLLC, Amusement park owners “owe visitors a duty to maintain the park in a reasonably safe condition by taking appropriate precautions and eliminating unreasonable risks.”
It adds, “An owner may be held liable if the injured party can prove the owner breached their duty and that breach proximately caused actual damages to the injured party.”
The Mary Sue contacted Monica via TikTok comment and direct message. It contacted Disney Parks via press email.
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