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Most dangerous behavior you've seen at a park?

Jarrett

Jarrett

Most Obnoxious Member 2016
What is the most dangerous thing that's been done at a park under your watch? Did an employee decide to just hop across the tracks as a train was pulling in? Did a park guest do something unfathomably stupid? What's been the worst case of safety second you've ever seen someone do?

My input today brings us to the safety capital of the coaster world, Mt. Olympus!

So Connor and I were in line for Hades 360. It was a long wait as the park only owns one train for it, and it's a long ride to boot. Insanely great coaster, but it took forever to get on. Well next to the stairs up to the station there's a spot where the only thing separating the ground from the coaster track is a small chain link fence. Like, no razor wire or anything, just a chain link fence like you might use to split your backyard from a neighbor's. Well I noticed a $20 bill sitting on the other side of the fence at one point. Then I see this girl get out of line and try to retrieve it, claiming it was hers. When she couldn't get it, a "Good Samaritan" decided to step in and lend a hand. After fifty million years of natural selection had gone into making this winner, he decided the best solution was to hop that chain link fence two feet from the coaster track, land inside, grab the money, and climb right back out.

5iQkPpB.jpg

Best photo I have of the crime scene, but you can see the black fencepost on the bottom left.

So he climbed the fence, headed right next to a low section of coaster track, grabbed the money, and climbed out. Had he tripped or something he would have fallen in and possibly landed partially on the right rail of the track. And of course, both of them just jumped line to reclaim their spots like nothing happened. And I'm pretty sure the employees weren't ever aware anything had happened.

Share in this thread the most dangerous, idiotic behavior you've ever seen! Guests, employees, whatever, I wanna hear it!
 
I was at Six Flags Over Georgia when I saw this guy walking underneath Batman: the Ride! I don't know how he got there, but it was terrifying. I think he was going to get a hat. I really hope he ended up being ok. Somebody should give him a heads up that it's illegal to be in the restricted area under a ride, especially an inverting one.

Also, I was at Islands of Adventure when a man gets up and takes off his seatbelt midway through Popeye! He nearly fell out of the boat. I also saw someone hop into the splash pool at Jurassic Park, dangerously close to the boats about to go by. Parents were just eating, of course.
 
Only instances that have stuck in my mind involve rapids for some reason.

Several stand up offenders, the worst of which being on the Efteling one. Got up just as the boat collided with a wall, sending him straight over the middle rail to land head first in someone else's lap. Drugs were involved.
Then there was the parents encouraging their children to wash their hands in the gaps between the rapids boats that flex in 3 segments. I believe that was the Walibi one.
Not a good track record for the Dutch it seems.
 
I really don't know.
I mean, I was younger and was on Zach's Zoomer at Michigan's Adventure and the guy sitting next to me unbuckled the seatbelt on the brake run. That's about it.
 
I saw someone run in ThunderCoaster's queue line once. Those who have been there know how reckless that is.
 
A soldier showing off by hanging off the front of the Grand National, facing the punters...all the way round the main drops, only hopping back in on the final turn.
Don't think there was even a lap bar back in the day.
I'm talking forty odd years ago, but I can still remember it clearly...
"My God...He's going to die."
He lived.
Didn't deserve to though.
 
Two guys climbing over the lap bar on Colorado Adventure and riding it while standing up. We rode behind them and were just terrified during the entire ride.
 
I've known of people climbing fences to retrieve countless lost items, so the fences get higher and higher. I've known of guests moving bins to then climb said fences.

But, the thing that always gets me is people jumping the track in the stations of continuously loading rides. I once saw a man carrying a toddler jump a Maurer spinner station track.

I know this is boring, but I'm always in awe of how oblivious parents are to potential harm their child is putting themselves or others in. They will just stand there whilst the child climbs on or tangles themselves in an onload gate, so when it opens the child gets pulled, pushed or crushed. They'll not stop their child climbing up a tunnel slide as other kids bomb down it. They'll let their toddler woddle around where older kids are aggressively running and playing. I don't know how so many kids survive past 7 tbh.
 
Many times I've seen people jump track in the station. One time, someone tripped before the jump, but they still made it.
 
Twice now I've been riding alone and the single ride op thought it was sensible to push the start button and leap into the train with me. The first time was on a looper in China where the guy lept into the seat beside me. The second time was this year on the Zyklon in Sofia, Bulgaria. The chap stood on the back of the train up the hill and then jumped into the seat behind me just before the drop.

Traveller days at UK parks sadly tend to live up to their notoriety. I saw several boys at Alton a few years ago trying to climb a fence into a ride area. The same year loads of boys were giving serious grief to ride ops and there was a big crowd of people around two guys having a fight outside towers - one of them was holding a glass bottle.
 
I remember a couple of guys tried to jump out of the boat on Valhalla (2006?). This was in the ice room just before the first 'big' drop. What a stupid idea.
 
When waiting in line for Detonator at Thorpe, two boys threw their shoes from the top of the ride, luckily nobody was hit but the tower was shut for 5 minutes

They weren't even kicked out of the park for it
 
Skyline Park took it for me when a man lost his phone on the suspended coaster (Sky Spinny-Hang or some ****), and the ride-ops just let the guy run into the ride area and get it.
 
I saw a guy hop a fence at Raging Bull to retrieve a hat. He ducked to pick up the hat right as the train passed over him. If he wouldn't have ducked, the wheel bogey would have struck him in the back of the head and killed him. Lucky bastard.
 
Whilst operating Rattlesnake I noticed on the CCTV a lady had somehow navigated her way through a fire escape and onto the catwalk staircases that lead up to a brake section. There a are multiple shut gates and obvious no entry signs leading up to this point however no locks as it is technically a fire escape. Was the most surreal thing I had ever witnessed when I saw her face brush passed that brakes camera. needless to say I have never hit an E-stop and without hesitation so quickly and she seemed clueless as to what she had done wrong when I finally got the chance to talk to her.

then numerous occasions involving school children and water rides, unfortunately they always think its cool to try and show off to their friends by putting themselves in danger on rides without any form of restraint or guardian. Got to a point where if there was a group of school children and no guardian in the boat with them id pay all my attention on that specific boat on the CCTV.
 
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Thankfully I don't recall witnessing anything. I'm sure there are plenty of incidents out there where drugs/alcohol/stupidity\all the above were involved tho
 
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