5. The Big Dipper
West London experienced tragedy in 1972, when five children died and many others injured after The Big Dipper roller coaster collided with another train.
Located at the Battersea Park Fun Fair, the accident happened when the train was going up the lift hill. As it was going up the hill, the train broke loose from the cable and rolled down the hill. It slammed into the other train at the bottom.
After the accident, the Big Dipper was closed and taken apart. The funfair itself declined in popularity, and was permanently closed two years later.
4. Underwater Ride
During a river raft ride in 1999, eight people found themselves underwater when their raft capsized at Riverside Amusement Park. It was speculated that the raft capsized because the weight of the guests wasn’t properly spread out.
A 4-year-old boy needed CPR, a 9-year-old girl was underwater for three minutes, and a pregnant woman was in the hospital for six days were among the eight people. Luckily, all the riders survived. Two years later, they sued the company, the ride’s manufacturer, and two of the park’s employees.
Since 2000, the park became Six Flags New England.
3. Hanging Around
Riders of The Demon, a corkscrew roller coaster at Six Flags Great America in Chicago, ended up staying on the ride much longer than they anticipated… two hours! Not only that, they were stuck upside down.
Due to a nut coming loose on a rear axle, one of the wheels came off on the last car of the train, which gave visitors the unforgettable ride. Once the riders were freed, four of them were taken to the hospital for minor injuries.
Since the accident, an additional safety mechanism was added.
2. America Sings
Disneyland is known as being the happiest place on earth, but it wasn’t for cast member Deborah Stone, who was crushed between the walls on the attraction America Sings on July 8, 1974.
The 18-year-old’s job was to introduce a certain part of the show, which had six shows where animatronic animals sang a variety of songs from American music. After each show, the theater would rotate to the next stage. One night, while the theater rotated, Deborah stepped in the danger area and became caught between a rotating wall that was closing against the stage’s stationary one. People in the next theater heard her screams, and one guest went to get another cast member.
After Deborah’s death, Disney closed the ride for two days and installed safety lights and breakaway walls to prevent similar accidents.
1. Action Park
While there was no single accident at this New Jersey amusement park, known as Action Park, it still deserves a mention for its reputation as being a very unsafe park in its early years. During its original operation from 1978 to 1998, the park was known to have unsafe rides, unruly guests, and under-aged, under-trained – and sometimes drunk – employees.
A total of six people died from attractions, three of them from drowning in the too-deep Tidal Wave Pool. There was one incident where a guest went into the water at the Kayak Experience attraction in order to steady his kayak. His foot touched an electrical wire, electrocuting him.
Years later, the park reopened as Mountain Creek Waterpark with safer rides. Plans to give the park back its old name were tossed, with the president of the company saying the name wouldn’t connect with younger visitors. The bad reputation that surrounded the old Action Park probably had something to do with it, too.