Theme park guests recently had a terrifying experience that left them clambering out of their ride vehicle to safety.
In the grand scheme of things, it’s extremely rare for things to go wrong at a theme park. Every ride – 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 rides may break down from time to time, this is most likely because the ride is following its protocols designed to keep riders safe.
However, that doesn’t mean things don’t go wrong from time to time. Unlikely though it may be, incidents can and do occur at theme parks.
For example, earlier this year, 15 people were injured in a tram crash at Universal Studios Hollywood, while an incident at a Welsh theme park, Oakwood, saw multiple parkgoers injured after a ride “[fell] to the floor.”
Even more famously, a theme park in Sweden named Grona Lund was the site of a tragic incident in 2023 when its Jetline roller coaster derailed. Multiple guests were thrown from the ride, with one sadly killed. The coaster has since been permanently closed.
With incidents like this in the headlines, it’s easy to understand why some guests may panic at the first sign of something out of the ordinary on a theme park attraction – even if, unbeknownst to them, everything is actually going according to plan.
That was the case this week at Walibi Belgium, a theme park located in the city of Wavre, approximately 18 miles outside of Brussels.
At approximately 5 p.m., the park’s Radja River attraction experienced a mid-ride technical glitch. According to The Brussels Times, the ride – which Walibi Belgium describes as “rapids, full of sharp bends, surprising waterfalls, and tricky whirlpools” – experienced a failure in “the ride’s vessel synchronization,” which created a traffic jam of rafts.
One of the rafts then started flooding with water, which sent riders into a panic. Thinking their vehicle was at risk of sinking (which it was not), several guests reportedly jumped into other rafts stuck in the traffic jam, while one guest actually slipped into the water.
Police and fire services were called to the park, and the ride was temporarily closed. Fortunately, nobody was seriously hurt, although two visitors reported back pains, and others claimed that they were distressed by the experience.
A similar incident took place at Six Flags Over Texas in July. A pile-up accident occurred on its Roaring Rapids attraction, leading to several guests—including a child—leaping out of a raft that rapidly started taking on water.
As some guests found themselves in the water, the child seemingly struggled with the ride’s current until an adult took him by the hand.
@jebbrownsack Rough day at @Six Flags today. #fypシ゚viral #sixflags #fail #jesuslovesyou #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp #viral
Interestingly, Six Flags—which recently completed a historical merger with Cedar Fair to create North America’s largest theme park group—previously operated Walibi.
Between 1998 and 2004, the park featured theming and attractions inspired by Warner Bros. IP (as is often the case at Six Flags theme parks) and was known as Six Flags Belgium until it sold its European division to the London-based investment company Palamon Capital Partners. The park subsequently reopened as Walibi Belgium in March 2005 with all Warner Bros. IP removed.
What’s the most dramatic thing you’ve ever experienced at a theme park?