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Contractor’s Lawsuit Alleges Saratoga Springs Resort Not Up to Code

Contractor’s Lawsuit Alleges Saratoga Springs Resort Not Up to Code


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Last month, a contractor hired to renovate Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa sued Disney for breach of contract. Read on for details.

The owner of Validus Construction company filed a lawsuit against Disney Vacation Club last month in Orange Circuit Court.

Initially contracted to renovate over 1,200 rooms at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa for $48 million, Validus ran into an issue only a few weeks into construction.

Construction Team Uncovers Problem

According to the lawsuit, a Validus construction team knocked down a wall in one of the rooms and uncovered building and fire code violations. Validus promptly informed Disney that the issue would need to be corrected in all of the rooms.

Fun at the Paddock Pool at Saratoga Springs Resort

The defect was a lack of fire protection between floors, according to the lawsuit. This alleged defect would have been present since Saratoga Springs resort opened in 2004.

“This life-safety issue existed at the property for more than 15 years without having previously been corrected by Disney,”

-excerpt from the lawsuit

Disney alleges that the Validus team led the fire inspector to point out the fire violation. Validus claims they were punished with cancellation of the contract for refusing to maintain a “conspiracy of silence” about the defect.

Disney’s History with Validus

Validus Construction previously completed work on renovating Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter Resort and the Fort Wilderness Cabins.

Wickens also accuses the Disney team of sending inappropriate messages and memes in order to intimidate her as well as badmouthing her company to subcontractors.

You can read more about the lawsuit from the Orlando Sentinel here.

What do you think of the lawsuit? Do you find it surprising that some of Disney’s buildings were supposedly not up to code? Let us know in the comments on Facebook and in our Facebook group.

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Landon Mook Tery

Wednesday 19th of August 2020

What Disney violating codes. They should be held to the same standards as other companies.

Hope the contractors sue them for all their worth.

Tina Cooper

Tuesday 18th of August 2020

I as a DVC owner find it very appauling and feel the problem needs to be corrected and the building brought up to code immediately!!!!! They need to be responsible to honor the contract they agreed on or pay a hefty penalty.

Rebecca Davis

Tuesday 18th of August 2020

Hi Tina, thanks for reading! I totally agree with you. I don’t know the full story of course, just have the lawsuit to look over, but it sounds like the buildings need some changes so that if a fire broke out, it would be contained better. We have stayed at SSR so many times bc my in-laws own there. People expect Disney to be safe, it’s the first “key to the kingdom”!

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