Disney World workers endure tourists who scream, punch and even grope them

Disney World employees are easy targets.

Tourists scream at them, sexually harass them and even physically attack them, according to law enforcement reports.

"There are so many situations, so many things that happen every single day to cast members," said Disney employee Tommy Fontenot, adding that he has seen co-workers crying in the break room. "The guests will push the boundaries. … We serve as an emotional punching bag. As a cast member, you have to develop a thick skin."

The Orlando Sentinel reviewed nearly 50 reports — including nine filed in 2019 — over a decade at Disney World, where the daily population of guests, workers and vendors can swell to about 250,000, the same size as Reno, Nev.

Last year, reportedly 21 million people visited the Magic Kingdom alone.

The reports are likely just the tip of the iceberg because employees say many problems go unreported to authorities.

"Our cast members take great pride in making magic for guests, so it is always disturbing when something like this occurs," said Disney spokeswoman Andrea Finger in a statement. "Fortunately, it doesn't happen very often, but when it does, we have multiple resources in place to protect our cast members' well-being, including on-site law enforcement officers who respond, and are available to them."

In July, the Sentinel broke the story of an extreme case of abuse that went viral. Angered because she didn't have a FastPass to Tower of Terror, a 23-year-old Chicago woman punched a Disney employee in the face and then began pushing buttons on the pre-show ride podium.

The result was what happens in many cases — the woman didn't face legal consequences, although Disney banned her from Disney World for life. The Disney employee, who suffered a swollen eye, declined to press charges.

Disney says the company leaves it up to the employee whether to press charges.

Other, similar cases abound:

In July, a tourist staying at the $600-a-night Grand Floridian Resort showed up at the wrong time for his FastPass at the Magic Kingdom. He yelled at the employee until she relented and allowed him to get on the ride anyway.

He later told authorities he felt like he was being herded "like a dog" and didn't like how he was spoken to.

The man was banned from Disney World. The case is still under investigation, so his identity was not released in a sheriff's report. No charges appear to have been filed at the state attorney's office.

Then, there's the oil scientist from Ohio who rammed a stroller into a worker repeatedly when he was asked to leave a Magic Kingdom viewing area in 2015. He was arrested but the state attorney dropped the charges after the employee declined to prosecute.

Or the mother of a Make-A-Wish child who shoved a worker who almost fell into the moving platform of the Peter Pan ride in 2012. The woman was angry Disney wouldn't stop the ride to get her child's medical equipment off.

The bad days "kind of haunt you," said Fontenot, who filed a sheriff's report in 2011 after a 57-year-old Miami Beach tourist head-butted him. The tourist was livid that his wife, who walked without any assistance, wasn't allowed to use the wheelchair line at the Magical Kingdom's Monorail station.