Recently, guests at an amusement park had a terrifying experience and had to climb out of their ride to get to safety.
By and large, it’s extremely rare for something to go wrong at a theme park. Every attraction – from tiny boat rides like Disney’s It’s a Small World to massive strata coasters like Kingda Ka and Top Thrill 2 – is built to strict specifications, and while mishaps may occur from time to time, it’s most likely because the attraction is following its protocols designed to keep riders safe.
However, that doesn’t mean that things don’t go wrong from time to time. While unlikely, accidents can and do happen at theme parks.
For example, earlier this year 15 people were injured in a tram accident at Universal Studios Hollywood, and an incident at Oakwood theme park in Wales left several park visitors injured after a ride “fell to the ground.”
Even more famous is the Swedish amusement park Grona Lund, where a tragic incident occurred in 2023 when the roller coaster Jetline derailed. Several guests were thrown from the track, one of whom unfortunately died. The roller coaster has since been permanently closed.
With headlines like these, it’s easy to understand why some guests panic at the first sign of anything unusual on a theme park attraction – even if, unbeknownst to them, everything is actually going according to plan.
This was the case this week at Walibi Belgium, a theme park in the town of Wavre, about 30 kilometers outside Brussels.
At around 5pm, the park’s Radja River attraction experienced a technical fault during the ride. According to The Brussels Times, the attraction – which Walibi Belgium describes as “a river of rapids, full of sharp bends, surprising waterfalls and treacherous whirlpools” – experienced a failure in the “synchronisation of the attraction’s boats”, which caused the rafts to become jammed.
Then one of the rafts filled with water, causing passengers to panic. Several guests reportedly jumped into other rafts stuck in traffic, thinking their vehicle might sink (which it didn’t), while one guest actually slipped into the water.
Police and firefighters were called to the park and the attraction was temporarily closed. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured, although two visitors reported back pain and others claimed that the experience was very distressing.
In July, a similar incident occurred at Six Flags Over Texas amusement park. At the Roaring Rapids attraction, a pile-up occurred in which several guests, including a child, jumped out of a raft that quickly filled with water.
When some guests landed in the water, the child apparently struggled with the current of the attraction until an adult took him by the hand.
@jebbrownsack Tough day today at @Six Flags. #fypシ゚viral #sixflags #fail #jesuslovesyou #fyppppppppppppppppppppp #viral
♬ Original sound – Jeff Erson
Interestingly, Walibi was previously operated by Six Flags, which recently completed a historic merger with Cedar Fair, creating the largest theme park group in North America.
Between 1998 and 2004, the park featured themes and attractions inspired by Warner Bros. IP (as is often the case with Six Flags theme parks) and was known as Six Flags Belgium until it sold its European division to London-based investment firm Palamon Capital Partners. The park subsequently reopened as Walibi Belgium in March 2005, with all Warner Bros. IP removed.
What is the most dramatic thing you have ever experienced at an amusement park?
