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Aug 10, 2023

Guests Stuck Mid

in Theme Parks Credit: Paultons Park A roller coaster recently malfunctioned mid-ride, leaving its passengers abandoned in mid-air. Roller coasters are designed to give guests a thrill in the safest

in Theme Parks

Credit: Paultons Park

A roller coaster recently malfunctioned mid-ride, leaving its passengers abandoned in mid-air.

Roller coasters are designed to give guests a thrill in the safest way possible. Theme parks across the world – whether that’s Disneyland, Universal Studios, Six Flags, or somewhere else entirely – follow strict safety regulations to ensure the wellbeing of their guests.

However, sometimes accidents do happen. As we’ve previously reported, this year alone we’ve seen a guest killed after a train derailed at Grona Lund in Sweden, as well as a teenager killed at Luna Park in Cap d’Agde in the south of France after high winds swung an attraction beyond its limits, causing both himself and a female Guest to plummet 180 feet to the ground.

There was also the high profile incident at Carowinds, where the support beam of Fury 325 – North America’s longest steel coaster – experienced a massive crack in its support beam unbeknownst to park operators until a guest noticed it on a video.

Fortunately, these kinds of incidents are rare. Roller coasters are equipped with built-in protocols to prevent emergencies. In case of a malfunction, the ride will grind to a halt – which may be annoying to the rider, but is ultimately better than any alternative.

Such was the case in a recent incident at Paultons Park. Located in Hampshire in the United Kingdom, this theme park boasts over 70 rides and attractions, including its very own Peppa Pig World and the roller coaster Storm Chaser.

Come on Storm Chasers! Take an exhilarating ride on the spinning and swirling Storm Chaser and try to capture the perfect storm on this awesome family spinning roller coaster.

The spinning coaster has previously been described as “the only roller coaster of its type in the UK.” It won Best New Attraction at the UK Theme Park Awards in 2021.

According to local news outlet Daily Echo, the ride reportedly “stopped during operation” on August 23 at 2.30 p.m. Images taken at the scene show passengers stuck in carriages at the top of a drop on the tracks, an estimated 66-feet in the air.

The park’s operations director James Mancey told the Daily Echo: “I am sorry that guests on site with us today have been inconvenienced by this situation and for any concern this incident may have caused.”

While guests remained stuck for nearly an hour at the top of the ride’s drop, harnessed ride engineers were dispatched to hand out cold bottles of water. Riders were evacuated within an hour and no-one required medical attention, Paultons Park confirmed.

“Our independently assessed ride evacuation processes are well practiced throughout the year,” said Mancey, “and so enabled a swift and efficient response, with guest welfare as our top priority. The ride is now running normally and is back in use for our guests to enjoy this afternoon.”

For now, it’s unknown what caused the roller coaster to malfunction. However, it’s good to know that guests are in safe hands during scary situations like this.

Have you ever got stuck on a roller coaster? Share your story with Inside the Magic in the comments!

in Theme Parks

Chloë is a theme park addict and self-proclaimed novelty hunter. She's obsessed with all things Star Wars, loves roller coasters (but hates Pixar Pal-A-Round), and lives for Disney's next Muppets project.