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A Missouri woman arrested at Magic Kingdom Park last spring is taking legal action against both Walt Disney World Resort and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, alleging that her repeated requests for medical help were ignored — and that the encounter left her fearing for her life.
What Happened at Magic Kingdom Park
Credit: Inside the Magic
On April 11, 2025, Orange County Sheriff’s deputies were called to the bus loop at Magic Kingdom Park after reports of a disturbance. When they arrived, they found Halen Holton in a confrontation with a Walt Disney World Resort security manager.
Disney security cast members reported that Holton was intoxicated, screaming, and causing a scene in a public area. A trespass notice was issued, but Holton refused to leave. When deputies moved to detain her, she tensed and pulled away. She was subsequently charged with trespass after warning, disorderly intoxication, and resisting an officer without violence, then transported to jail for booking, where authorities described her as “uncooperative.”
Holton’s Version of Events
Credit: Inside the Magic
The lawsuit tells a starkly different story. Holton alleges she was in the middle of a medical emergency throughout the encounter, describing the onset of “confusion, weakness, and overheating” and claiming she repeatedly asked cast members to call 911. According to the filing, both Disney cast members and Sheriff’s deputies refused to seek medical attention on her behalf and would not allow her to leave to find it herself.
“I knew my body was shutting down,” Holton wrote.
She further alleges that deputies pulled her hair during the arrest and that she was placed in a hot patrol vehicle while already in distress. At the jail, Holton claims she was denied water and medical care and held without appropriate clothing or access to basic necessities. She “believed she might die,” the filing states. She also alleged use of force by correctional staff.
Credit: Theme Park Tourist, Flickr
On the Disney side, the lawsuit claims cast members minimized or mocked her condition. One bus driver allegedly dismissed her concerns with, “I have to finish my shift.”
Following her release, Holton sought treatment at Daytona Advent Hospital. She did not specify whether she received a formal diagnosis. Still, she stated in the filing that she has since pursued “a specialized therapist and psychiatrist along with treating the physical damage done to [her] body.”
Read Holton’s affidavit below.
What The Lawsuit Seeks
Credit: Jeremy Thompson, Flickr
The lawsuit seeks $50,000 in damages per count, as well as potential punitive damages. Neither Walt Disney World Resort nor the Orange County Sheriff’s Office has publicly responded to the filing.
What do you think of this lawsuit against Walt Disney World Resort and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office? Share your opinion with Disney Tips in the comments.
When she got released from the hospital, she then drove 2.5 hours to Daytona to get treatment?! Is there no closer hospital to treat her or is Daytona the best hospital to deal with very drunk people (from all the Spring Breaks and Bike Weeks)??
We live in a society where everyone wants to sue everyone else. I love WDW and being a kid-at-heart when I go there, but she needs to be an adult and take responsibility for her own actions. WDW didn’t force her to take those drinks and then feel confused (which her sister said she felt confusion too).