A Canadian tourist has been arrested after allegedly shoulder-checking a Cast Member in Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

Tourist Arrested

A Canadian tourist was accused of shoulder-checking a Disney Cast Member who wouldn’t let him or his family onto a closed Animal Kingdom attraction at the end of the night, according to a new arrest report.

Domenico Barbieri, 48, of Palgrave in Ontario, Canada, was arrested and charged with first-degree misdemeanor battery. He pleaded not guilty following the March 20 incident, according to Orange Circuit Court records.

The park had a 7 p.m. closing time on the day when this situation unfolded around 7:10 p.m.

Barbieri asked the Disney attractions cast member about his “family outside,” and the employee told him they could not enter because the ride was closed for the night. The chains blocking the guest entrance had already been closed off at this point.

Three of Barbieri’s family members had jumped the chains and approached the employee, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s arrest report. The Disney employee escorted them out of the line, and Barbieri left as well.

A short time later, Barbieri and his family returned, jumped the chains, and tried to sneak in through the Lightning Lane entrance. Again, the employee stopped them, the arrest report said.

The Cast Member stood in his way and blocked Barbieri’s path with her hand on the handrail and asked him to leave again, according to the arrest report. She asked if they could discuss the situation outside the attraction. 

“Dominico continued advancing and shoved (the employee) with his shoulder, claiming that she was not going to stop him,” the arrest report said. “(The employee) continued up the line but kept herself in front of Dominico so he could not continue towards the other employees and guests. Domenico shoulder checked her a subsequent time as he made it towards the next employee at the end of the Lightning Lane.”

Barbieri, who was listed as 5’6” and 175 pounds in the arrest report, finally stopped when he reached the rest of the crowd in line. The employee alerted Disney Security and her management about what happened.

The sheriff’s office interviewed Barbieri, who “largely corroborated” the Disney employee’s account. Barbieri said the employee put her hand up on the rail to block him “as he was going forward in the line against all instruction and in doing so, he walked into her trying to pass,” the arrest report said. 

The Orange County Sheriff’s arrest doesn’t say what ride Barbieri was attempting to get on, although the report notes law enforcement arrived at 551 Rainforest Road, which is not far from Pandora: The World of Avatar. It is likely that it was the Avatar: Flight of Passage attraction that is the most popular in the park, but it may have also been Na’vi River Journey, which is nearby and also has a Lightning Lane.

Barbieri and his lawyer declined to comment for this story. A pre-trial conference hearing is scheduled for May 22.

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