Theme Park Ride Traps Visitors Upside Down for Almost Half an Hour

Riders had to wait almost 30 minutes for the ride to finish a few more loops before they could deboard.

By Ashley Turner

After boarding the Lumberjack ride in the amusement park Canada's Wonderland this past Sunday, park visitors had an unforgettable experience. According to the company's website, the Lumberjack was opened in 2018. It has two giant swinging pendulums that are placed face-to-face in each ax. The axes swing in a 360-degree loop while riders sit in each of them. The ride is completely inverted at its top, reaching heights of up to 75 feet, which was the point at which things went awry last weekend when the ride became stuck upside down.

PEOPLE received a statement from Canada's Wonderland regarding the incident: "At approximately 10:40 p.m. on Sept. 23, Lumberjack became inverted with guests onboard. The park's maintenance team responded quickly and the ride was brought down by 11:05 p.m. Guests were unloaded safely and assessed by First Aid staff before being released back into the park."

"Two guests reported chest pain and were attended to at the park's health centre before being released without need for further medical attention. The safety of our guests is always our first priority. The ride remains closed and the investigation is ongoing," the statement continues. "If you'd like more information on ride safety and why rides sometimes stop, we also have this backgrounder available online."

In an interview with The CBC, 11-year-old Spencer Parkhouse said he first thought the pause was intentional until others began panicking, someone vomited, and ambulances gathered beneath the ride. As the ride started again, Parkhouse told the CBC that riders couldn't immediately dismount. They had to wait almost 30 minutes for the ride to finish a few more loops before they could deboard.

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Mackenzie Parkhouse, Spencer's 15-year-old sister, said she may no longer be able to return to the park's big rides without thinking twice about their attractions after her experience. "I'm just thinking, like next time I go to Canada's Wonderland, am I going to go on these big rides? Because now I'm scared to go on them," she said.

A similar incident has occurred before. Eight riders got trapped upside down on a roller coaster in July for three hours after a mechanical failure at Wisconsin's Forest Country Festival. In order to retrieve the riders from the Fireball roller coaster, a firefighter from the Antigo Fire Department had to manually rescue them. All passengers were brought to safety and had to undergo medical evaluations at a local hospital before being released.

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