If you’ve ridden roller coasters quite a bit, then at one time or another you’ve likely found your ride suddenly put on pause. I know that I have. From an incident almost ten years ago on Predator’s peak to just this past weekend on Great America’s Viper, getting stuck is not unusual. In my experience, a ride op has always trekked out to my location to inform me and the other riders that everything’s fine and we’ll get moving again soon. Note the ride op with the neon green shirt on American Eagle in the picture above. There are the very, very rare cases when the fire department has to be called in, but all of my encounters have been run-of-the-mill and lasted at most 15 minutes.
An Opportunity for Good Customer Service
Obviously, an incident like being stuck on a roller coaster can be a harrowing experience for some. It’s 
nice when amusement parks realize this and try to make up for the bit of unexpected drama. After a 5 to 10 minute wait on one of Viper’s trains (caused by a clean up delay), my friend and I were given free drink vouchers. I know that other parks give exit passes that you can use to bypass queue lines.
So, if you’re like me and are comfortable with roller coasters and how they work, then you may not mind being stuck for a short while. We appreciated the extra time off of our feet as we’d been zipping around the park non-stop for hours. And, the free drinks were much appreciated on a hot day in Northern Illinois.
Have you ever been stuck on a roller coaster or some other type of amusement park ride? Were you scared or worried? Leave a comment below and vote in the poll below.
Loading ... Loading ...
July 25, 2012 at 23:49
I got stuck on Goliath at La Ronde for about 30 minutes because a flip-flop got dropped into the track. So I had a nap (which is not a difficult thing to do in those comfy B&M seats).
That's not the first time I've gotten stuck, but I've never been given any sort of compensation for the wait.
July 26, 2012 at 00:11
I'm sorry you had to experience this at my home park :-/
July 26, 2012 at 00:20
Ive been stuck on wild mouse due to a camera detecting something and automatically stopping the ride. It was not bad, actually kind of relaxing and like CC said a break from walking. I talked to an employee who came up about favorite coasters, etc. and he said his favorite was el toro at SFGAdv and we talked about that and stuff. I got a free drink voucher as well so it was actually a good experience.
July 26, 2012 at 05:32
I've been stuck a couple of times but never more than a few minutes: Rebel Yell at Kings dominion….Carolina Cyclone at Carowinds……Rock and Roll roller-coaster at Opryland (I think that was the one long time ago) Te most memorable was a near miss. Almost got stuck on Millennium Force!! It was the train right before ours. Sakes……That thing broke like 3 times that day.
July 26, 2012 at 08:33
I've been stuck on Superman – Ultimate Flight at SFOG. It was a little scary because every passenger on the train is hung on their stomachs facing the ground. I wasn't worried about it because I new it would start up again in just a few minutes. And it did, after a short five minute wait, but unfortunately, there were no free drink coupons waiting for us we got off the ride.
July 28, 2012 at 00:12
Okay. Getting stuck on a flying coaster would really stink. And if it was on the lift, that actually would be a bit scary. That's the type of ride where I sometimes have to remind myself that the restraints are fail safe. I couldn't imagine having to do that for longer than a few seconds. Now, if I was just laying there face down in the station, that wouldn't be quite as bad, but definitely not comfortable.
Thanks for sharing. A flying coaster definitely puts a different spin on getting stuck.
August 7, 2012 at 23:16
Got stuck on Superman UF at SFGAm. Thank God it was on the breakrun for me and not the lift. That would suck as coastercritic said
July 26, 2012 at 09:31
I got stuck on one at Opryland when it was in operation. The Cannonball. It was about 20 minutes on the lift hill. and then things got moving. and then at Kentucky Kingdom on the star chaser once. on the lift hill. I was afraid on that one,that it would roll backwards back down the hill. Fortunately it didn't. the brake was on so it wouldn't go anywhere.the lights were turned on and my brother and I rode the ride in the light after the ride op gave us a push to get the car going again.
July 26, 2012 at 10:52
I feel lucky as I've only been stuck once and it was a short period of time on Volcano at Kings Dominion. I was a little nervous as it stopped before the launch and wondered the terrible thought of what if it launched as I was trying to get off. It seems that almost every trip I've taken I've seen a train stopped whether it be Rebel Yell, Alpengeist or some other coaster throughout the day at a park.
July 26, 2012 at 11:12
I got stuck on Mantis at Cedar Point a couple years for 45 minutes. It wouldn't have been that bad if it wasn't for the fact that it was thundering, lightning, and raining the whole time. Then when they finally got us going again, they got us to the end brakes and made us walk off from that point. When we got off we received a sorry from the ride ops but that was it, no coupon or letter or anything. What made it worse was after we got off, we learned that had tornado watches on the entire time while we were stuck.
July 26, 2012 at 12:58
I've never gotten stuck on a coaster but did get stuck on a Huss top spin at Playland in Vancouver earlier this year….in the rain… and got to walk some of the track on Countdown to Extinction (now Dinosaur) at Animal Kingdom when it went down. Did have a lot of near misses with break downs though and the only time I ever got any perk was when I was just waiting in line for the Indiana Jones Adventure in Disneyland when it broke down, got a Fastpass good for any time at any attraction as they evacuated the ride and queue.
July 26, 2012 at 13:02
The only coaster I ever got stuck on for any length of time was Tatsu at SFMM. We had just returned to the station and they were unable to rotate the seats back into the sitting position. We laid there for 15 minutes while a mechanic was summoned to come manually rotate the seats. I actually had to ask someone what was going on because they weren't telling us anything. Doesn't sound like much, but my arms were completely asleep and my whole body was sore after that. I also once got stuck on Pirates of the Carribean at Disneyland for about 20 minutes. The only discomfort was to our ears. We were next to the pirate ship and between the canon fire and the loud music, we were nearly deaf by the time we finally got off the ride. The cool water from the canon splash and the A/C were nice bonuses. No apologies or tokens from either park for the incidents.
July 28, 2012 at 00:14
At least it wasn't Tatsu's lift hill. But yeah, that does sound uncomfortable.
July 26, 2012 at 16:02
I had my incident on (then) Six Flags Great Am's Iron Wolf. I got stuck on the brakes just outside the station. Waited for 45 mins. On a stand-up coaster, that was unbearable, especially after the bad ride it gave. The reason we got stuck was a power outage. Thankfully, we got exit line passes.
July 26, 2012 at 17:38
Got stuck this weekend on nighthawk… On the lift.
July 26, 2012 at 17:48
for Real??????
That had to suck. how long?
July 26, 2012 at 23:56
I've never been stuck on a ride that was out of the station, but at Story Land (NH) earlier this year, my daughter and I got on the Polar Coaster, and a little kid in the car in front of us dropped his hat on the track seconds after pulling down the bar. The ride ops apparently aren't allowed to pick up objects off the track, so we sat there for a few minutes while they got someone who was. Since it was in the station, which is shady and cool, this wasn't much of a hardship.
July 28, 2012 at 00:20
Rattler was delayed for quite some time because a wheel chair rolled out onto the track in the station. Just like you said, because the ride ops weren't allowed to go onto the track the ride was shut down while they waited for someone who was authorized to do so.
July 28, 2012 at 08:56
Knowing what a large fraction of coaster deaths are of park employees who get hit while they're trying to retrieve an object dropped on the track, I can understand why they've got strict rules about this.
July 28, 2012 at 13:30
Good point Matt.
July 27, 2012 at 05:55
I go to an amusement park at least 30 times a year and have only been stuck on a coaster once Magnum at Cedar Point about 2/3rds of TE way up the first hill. We were there for a half hour or so. We were all given multiple exit passes and they were gladly cashed in on MF.
July 27, 2012 at 15:07
I was stuck on Meanstreak's beak run because some guy couldn't get out of the train in the station due to his weight. We were stuck for a good 30 minutes so they walked everyone on the train to the MF exit line for us to ride.
July 28, 2012 at 17:38
About a week ago, I got stuck on Goliath at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Thankfully I got stuck in the final brake run in the shade, as the car on the lift was stuck in the sun. We sat there for about a good 10 minutes. Another time I got stuck was on Tatsu, once in the brake run, and once on the lift about half way up. Both only took about 5 minutes for them to fix the problem, although it was really uncomfortable.
July 28, 2012 at 22:31
I got stuck on the lift hill of Maverick for an extended period, almost 45 minutes. It was a hot day and although I had put on sun screen before going to Cedar Point, it wasn't sufficient to cope with this situation. I sat there sweltering, unable to move very far due to the harness which restrained me, and kept thinking PLEASE, PLEASE, GET ME OFF THIS RIDE! The ride operators did repeatedly check on the riders but could not permit them to vacate the train until a supervisor was called. Finally, we were released and compensated for the inconvenience with no-wait access to Millennium and Dragster, and an opportunity to get right back on Maverick once it was up and running. I did ultimately get to ride and one of the ride operators remembered me from before. He said "I' bet you'll enjoy going over the lift hill a lot more than getting stuck on it!" That is a fact! Great ride, but getting stuck on it for so long made me nauseated and two weeks later I still have a severe sunburn from the incident.
July 29, 2012 at 08:08
Once at lightning racer at Hershey park, I got stuck on the brakes outside the station for about 20 minutes. Also, I think one of the worst rides to get stuck on is the typhoon water coaster at SF new england. I saw a couple who got stuck between a drop and a lift (which are just fast moving conveyor belts with water jets spraying up them) because all of the lifts stopped. It would be kind of scary because you aren't belted in in any way. and there is netting over the track/slide so you can't get out. They got "rescued" by staff about 30 chaotic minutes later. The wierd thing? I had literally just gotten off the ride when the lifts stopped!
July 30, 2012 at 23:20
Over the weekend, some riders were stuck on the new Superman Ultimate Flight at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. I can see why riders would be pretty scared sitting 150 feet in the air for almost 90 minutes on a ride like that. http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_21187…