Riders stuck upside down for 30 minutes at Canadian amusement park
A group of unassuming Canada’s Wonderland guests was treated to an extra-thrilling experience this weekend after their ride got stuck completely upside down, trapping all onboard for a very uncomfortable, terrifying, and potentially medically dangerous 30 minutes.
The ride in question was the Lumberjack, which opened in 2018 and features two giant axe-shaped pendulums that swing two groups of 16 people back and forth around a 360-degree loop.
The axes came to a halt completely perpendicular to the ground at 10:40 pm Saturday, with both groups quite literally holding onto their seats while inverted. They were finally freed at around 11:05 pm and assessed by medical staff, with two reporting chest pain that resulted in no further incident.
Videos of the scare are now, of course, circulating around social media, putting many off of such rides and attractionsĀ like Wonderland, especially those who already have a fear of coasters.
Still, others continue to vouch for the fact that the nation’s largest theme park is one of the safest in the world, noting that of the three people who have died there, only one was actually inside its gates.
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ā kylieer (@memesbyky) September 25, 2023
That was in 1988 when a teen drowned after jumping in Victoria Falls to retrieve a frisbee and got trapped in the water feature’s undertow. In 2003, a person was shot in the parking lot over a drug deal, and then in 2014, two individuals were stabbed during an altercation in the parking lot after opening hours. One was pronounced dead at the scene.
As far as ride issues are concerned, though, this weekend’s incident is not a first at the park, or even on the LumberjackĀ specifically. Passengers got stuck upside down on the ride in July 2021 for five minutes, resultingĀ in zero injuries.
The Bat and Skyhawk also had stoppages that season, and last summer, the Behemoth likewise stopped mid-operationĀ due to a power outage from an incoming storm, leaving riders in the wind and rainĀ for half an hour.
Wonderland has said in the past that these instances are almost always due to safety systems that are built in to prevent even worse injury from “unexpected conditions” detected by a ride’s computer system, which can include hydraulic pressures or track hazards.
“While this may cause a temporary inconvenience to our guests, it is a safety feature. The ride is not malfunctioning, but rather, doing what it is supposed to do: keep guests safe,” the park’s management wrote in a blog post this May.
Many are already jokingĀ about this weekend’s issue, despite the risks it posedĀ for those held upside down for that long. Social media is full of comments like “thrill factor: 11” and “they rescued the patrons with a fast pass first,” in addition to lengthy rants about how the amusement park is nowhere nearĀ as fun as it used to be.