Roller coaster riders stuck after ride stalls at Ga. theme park

VALDOSTA, Ga. (WALB/Gray News) - Riders at the Wild Adventures theme park in Georgia experienced a scare when a roller coaster stopped unexpectedly.

A roller coaster called the Boomerang got stuck mid-ride Monday, going forward along the track then backward before stopping, according to a patron of the park.

“I was hearing noises, and I thought it was gonna go down. But when my cousin told me that we were stuck, I got scared, and I had a panic attack,” said Rishon Phillips, a child who was riding the Boomerang when it stalled.

Rishon told WALB his heart was beating fast, and he had to be checked out by medics provided by the park.

“My heart was hurting. I was crying. They put me in a wheelchair to send me to the medic part of the theme park,” he said.

His cousin, Akemia Anderson, was also on the ride when it stalled.

“It was going good when we first got on, but when it was time to drop to go backwards, it got stuck. We didn’t know anything until my cousin walked up and started yelling to us that the ride was stuck,” Anderson said.

A statement released by Wild Adventures said the stop was “triggered by a safety feature activation.” Riders were safely returned to the loading station within about 10 minutes.

“Following a comprehensive inspection, the ride was cleared and resumed operation that same night,” the statement read in part.

While the Wild Adventures website shows an image of the roller coaster going upside down, the ride stopped when it was right side up.

Anderson’s family had four riders, including kids, who were in search of some thrills but got more than they bargained for. The kids recalled their scary experience.

“It got stuck, and we were crying. People were telling us that we could come down, but we didn’t come down, and we were so scared,” said Kennedi Johnson, a Boomerang rider.

“I thought the ride was just going up, and it was going to stay, and I thought it was going down, but I was scared,” said Dearie Jones, another Boomerang rider.

Anderson says she didn’t know what to expect after the ride stopped.

“The adults on there are yelling to calm the kids down. Everybody started panicking. Once we got back down, the people who started the ride, they were laughing like if it was funny,” Anderson said. “Finally, somebody came up the stairs, saying that they were going to release us, knowing that we were still scared, didn’t know if the latches were going to come up. We wasn’t checked again before the ride started.”

According to the parents on the ride, they were upset that the ride continued.

“Instead of them letting them get off the ride while it was stuck, they made us finish the ride out knowing that everybody was scared. So, it was kind of shaky for everybody that was on the ride,” Anderson said.

Wild Adventures says they did what they were supposed to do, and they remain committed to safety and fun. Still, the family says the incident left them badly shaken, and they left the park soon after.

“They didn’t want to do anything else. They didn’t even want to stay and look at animals or nothing like that,” Jaleasha Wing said. “It was just real shaky. My babies, they were just ready to go. They didn’t ask to ride nothing else. We went straight, got ice cream and left.”

A Wild Adventures spokesperson said the park’s “ride inspection practices meet ASTM F24 standards and follow manufacturer inspection requirements.”

“This practice includes daily inspections of ride components before the park opens. Wild Adventures conducts additional supplementary inspections based on each ride’s manufacturer requirements and internal operational standards,” the spokesperson said.

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