Credit: JoshuaXx, FlickrAcross the country, there has been an outbreak of unruly, unsupervised teenagers running amok at theme park Halloween events. On social media, adults who have attended these events have complained about rude teenagers causing problems.
Related: After Another Violent Incident, Guests Wonder if Busch Gardens Theme Parks Are Safe
It’s gotten so bad that Six Flags and Cedar Fair instituted a chaperone policy for its Halloween Fright Fest. Universal Studios Orlando has run into problems at its Halloween Horror Nights, but instead of instituting a chaperone policy, Universal put up signs urging guests to behave themselves.
These teen issues came to a head last weekend at Busch Gardens Williamsburg when, after its Howl-O-Scream event, a teenager was stabbed at the theme park. Busch Gardens Williamsburg immediately instituted a chaperone policy for the remainder of its Howl-O-Scream events.
Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse, Saturday night at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia, happened, and things got much worse.
Related: Theme Park Asks Guests to Get Into Coffins Voluntarily
According to the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office, some 300 teens were fighting outside Kings Dominion’s arcade after rides and attractions were shut down due to weather during its Halloween Haunt event.
Sgt. Steve Wills of the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office said that the crowd of teens was significantly larger than the number of deputies present, and the deputies worked as quickly as possible to de-escalate the situation. Some of the teenagers were forced into restaurants during the multiple fights and began trashing the restaurants and flipping tables.
We had eight off-duty officers assigned to Kings Dominion. We had to bring in six more off the road to try to contain this environment to try to force these individuals out of the park.”
There were a lot of pop-fights and disturbances from around the park as we were trying to push these people out. It was 11 p.m., almost 2 hours before we had it fully secured and contained and under control again.
Halloween Haunt is back and better than ever this year! This year’s Fright Guide will help you plan your visit so that you can escape while having a fun time. https://t.co/TEXQajNA0G pic.twitter.com/V8AC0DKmaV
— Kings Dominion (@KingsDominionVA) September 17, 2024
Wills also said that there were multiple reports of people brandishing firearms, but his deputies did not see any weapons.
Kings Dominion tried to downplay the incident, calling it a “minor altercation.” The theme park’s communication director, Geoff Zindren, said:
A minor physical altercation occurred among some juveniles seeking refuge in the park’s Candy Apple Grove area, but was quickly halted by the security team and parties involved were subsequently banned from the park. Normal operations resumed once the weather cleared the area. At no point were any weapons used or found to be inside the park.
Fights break out at Kings Dominion during Halloween Haunt https://t.co/48vmZLBT47
— 8News WRIC Richmond (@8NEWS) September 22, 2024
Kings Dominion has a chaperone policy that requires anyone under 16 to be accompanied to the park by an adult over 21 after 4 p.m. However, given this weekend’s events, the policy does not appear to have been followed or enforced.
Due to these unfortunate events, this Halloween season is turning ugly for theme parks. Perhaps a stronger policy needs to be in place to keep everyone safe.
What should theme parks do to keep their Halloween events safe?