Theme park rides have a reputation for being unsafe (though statistically, they are). Remember that scene in Final Destination 3 when the roller coaster went off the rails? That actually happens, and amusement park employees are left with quite the traumatizing mess when it does.
eldonk asked, Amusement park employees of Reddit, what is your horror story?
Submissions have been edited for clarity, context, and profanity.
When a rider craps themselves on a 100 degree day...
Giphy
I operated a few different roller coasters during my fun-filled summers at this amusement park, but most of my horror stories come from one ride in particular. The train was one of the ones that you had to step into, with a lap bar restraint.
On one particular day, it was over 100* F and the ride had been running as usual for most of the morning. As we were loading the train, a guest came up to me to say that there was an awful smell coming from the front car, and my stomach immediately dropped. Usually with these types of complaints, we'd find that the previous rider had one too many slushees before riding and had lost their lunch. Gross, but we were used to cleaning that kind of stuff.
I started approaching the front car and immediately called for my coworker to direct everyone out of the train and back into the line, and to call our supervisor to close the ride. Instead of a normal puke situation, I found a greenish-brown liquid spread all throughout the front car, from the seat down to the floor. Whoever was the last person to ride the ride had pooped all over themselves and hadn't bothered to tell anyone about it.
Cleaning human feces is one thing - it's absolutely disgusting but it can be done. But trying to clean up human diarrhea in 100+ degree weather, off of the floor of a car where you had to kneel down and stick your head into the car to reach the very front, is a situation that I never would have imagined even in my worst nightmares. The ride was down for the rest of the day, and it took over an hour to clean everything out of the car before we could start really sanitizing it.
Human beings are the worst. I'd have torn it up.
Giphy
I was a caricature artist for Six Flags, and one day a dad and his son came up and wanted a drawing of the two of them.
Now the way caricature pricing worked was we would charge per person in the drawing. The father and son wanted a simple black and white headshot of the two of them, and a black and white headshot was $10, so for the two of them it would be $20, before tax. I very clearly explained this to them, asking several times "Are you ok with the ending price?" , and they excitedly accepted.
Fast forward to me ringing them up at the register, and I tell them the total: 24 something. The father's happy and friendly demeanor quickly dissipates, and he begins arguing with me about pricing. I calmly explain the situation with pricing and apologize if I wasn't clear enough, and gently remind him that he understood and agreed otherwise I wouldn't have done the drawing. Big mistake. He gets angrier and starts yelling at me, cursing me out for lying and overcharging them "to put a few more coins in my pocket".
He accuses me of preying on parents and their children, thinking I can take advantage of them because "they're stupid f*ckers." He tries to take the drawing without paying, and when I hold it back and tell him he can't, he throws a $10 bill at me and snarls that that's all he's going to pay, that I'm worthless and my drawing isn't even good and doesn't deserve any more than that. I'm really upset at this point, and hand him the drawing wishing him a good day. "F*CK YOU" he yells in response. The whole time his son is standing there, looking embarrassed and terrified.
The dad proceeds to pace back and forth in front of my stand, alternating between coming back to the counter and yelling at me and chasing customers away, screaming at them about how I'm "stealing money" and how the stand is "a huge f*ckin' rip off."
Thankfully his charade lasted all of 20 minutes and police finally got him out of there. Left me pretty shaken though, I had to take my break early and cried over my lunch.
A little science can go a long way - chlorine gas is lethal.
Giphy
A few years ago a smallish theme park in my state made some kind of mistake when chlorinating the wave pools and made a bunch of chlorine gas and 26 people had to be taken to the hospital.
Sounds both creepy and amazing.
I was working security at a theme park when I was 18. One evening one of the roller coasters that was stopped in the station got rear ended by another. There were some injuries, nothing severe thankfully. I did however end up staying up all night, after the park had closed, sitting on the coaster to ensure no lookie loos or news media tried to get access to the cars. It was dark. Creepy, I was 18 in a closed, deserted amusement park.
"Accidentally."
Giphy
One of my supervisors got fired for shooting up in the supplies closet then taking a golf cart and accidentally running over a child. He was rehired after he went to Rehab and then tried to sell drugs to the staff every day.
This could have ended badly.
Giphy
Lifeguarding at this lazy river tube pool, basically just tell kids to get back in their tubes all day. These two guys like 30 years old are arguing in Polish or something floating all around the lazy river. They are on lap two or three of arguing and really going at it. One of them pulls a knife out of his trunks and stabs the other guys tube. He walked around to the end with his popped tube while guy with the knife proceeds to just hop all the different fences to get outside the park and is not seen again.
When the sh*t hits the fan... literally. Oh, but, breastfeeding.
Many moons ago I was a assistant director of training security at a park known for its cartoon mice. While doing the walk around the park with a group of new hires I got a call about a possible indecent exposure incident at Fantasyland. Knowing that was the most popular place for children in the park (so much more than Toontown) I rushed the new hires through the backstage area to cut travel time. While we were backstage behind the Small World ride one of my trainees pointed out someone dropping their pants and leaning against the building. Before we had a chance to close the distance between us and the guy a blast of brownish yellow liquid exploded outwards in a fan pattern. I stopped the group, got on the radio and informed them of the bio incident then slowly made my way to the guy. When I was about ten feet from him he looked up, smiled, then blasted the wall again. Without a word he pulled up his pants and started to walk away. His pants were soaked. Before he was able to leave the area, Anaheim police apprehended him. After questioning him they called for an ambulance. upon talking with the police sergeant, found out he was a well known homeless man in neighboring city of Orange. The kicker though was, he wasn't the subject of the initial call. When we finally got to Fantasyland we found out that someone was complaining about a woman breast feeding. Three and a half years of working there and that is one of the events that still feels fresh in my mind.
Sesame Street after dark.
Giphy
Used to work at an amusement park that had a section featuring actors dressed as characters from a certain family friendly show.
The actors for this area were almost exclusively teenagers and were notorious for f*cking all around the dressing room/bathroom/backstage areas.
This all culminated in two of the actors being fired for getting in a fight during a show, because a certain cookie loving monster made a sex tape with a certain Spanish speaking monster who was dating a certain television loving monster.
Not really scary for me, but i think a few children were traumatized seeing a costume character's head ripped off during a show.
Some birthday.
I once had to height check a girl who was both mentally and physically disabled. This is just as they're about to get on the ride too as someone else previously didn't bother to check her height to begin with. So I politely ask her and her carer to come and check her height after lots of "no, no, no, no"'s, and as luck would have it, she wasn't tall enough, of course.
She didn't take it well and started screaming saying she's going to ride no matter what, and after leaving to let the carer tell her to get out - she finally left her seat after about 10 minutes (which is an eternity in roller coaster time) I see her walking off. I mean, yeah it sucks but I'm just doing my job, I'm just relieved that she's finally going, but then as she's walking through the exit, she turns around and screams "I HOPE YOU DIE". So that was nice. It was hilarious but still soul crushing at the same time. Also it was my birthday. I quit not long after.
They... haven't "found all of him?"
Giphy
Was working the first shift opening the park and doing dry runs with a roller coaster. Well...when it came back there was obvious impact on the front car. One of the groundskeepers had headphones in listening to music working through his shift. He died instantly. The following week was a nightmare and I still don't think to this day they have found all of him.
Number 3 WTF?
Giphy
A huge storm was coming. I was operating the railroad at the time. Unfortunately, we left the station right before they were able to call us to close the ride. So as we are on our way, suddenly there was a huge downpour. Upon arriving at the station, we were immediately directed to an employee shelter. Now this is where even more of the interesting stuff happened.
1) People were stranded at the station away from the entrance, wanting to ride back. (I had specifically warned that the ride can close at any time before people boarded)
2) We were told that we cannot suggest any shelter because that would make the park responsible.
3) A baby in a stroller was abandoned in the storm near the kid area.
Empty. Your. Pockets. You're not an exception to gravity or inertia.
Giphy
I worked on the Dueling Dragons at Universal Orlando when in college. For those who don't know, the Dueling Dragons were two separate coasters that "dueled" and had several near misses with each other. They were pretty unique at the time and were super fun.
As you can imagine, Universal told people to empty their pockets before they rode so that their phones and shit wouldn't fly out and smack somebody on the other coaster at 60 MPH. Of course, many times people would ignore this because they're lazy and stupid.
I was working one day when the ride shut down completely. Change had flown out of someone's pocket and hit a guy in the eye, leaving him blind in that eye. The tragic part... the guy was already blind in his other eye. Now the guy is 100% blind.
They didn't duel anymore after that, and the ride was left permanently much lamer. I still feel for the poor blind guy... but the irony is comedic in a dark sort of way.
Edit: Since a lot of people are asking, this happened in 2011.
Dodging go-karts and watching a heart attack. Lovely.
Giphy
I worked for one summer at a Nascar Speedpark and it was probably the craziest summer of my life. So many injuries but nothing ever happening. When working the go-kart tracks if there was a wreck you were expected to run across the tracks dodging cars and dislodge the stuck car all before more cars zoomed past. The worst day though was on the Fourth of July watching a man have a heart attack because I was the first person to get to the car when it stopped and had to wait with him until an ambulance showed up.
Seems like an overreaction but okay.
Giphy
Finally, one I can answer!
I was working in an amusement park as a 19-year-old, and was on the turnstile talking with guests and checking everyone off. About 3 in the afternoon, a very young girl, about 6 or so, came up with her father, both in swimwear. Not unusual, since there's a water park attached to the regular park. However, there is a rule in the park that you have to be wearing a shirt to ride the ride, and the girl was in a two piece suit. I informed the both of them that the girl needed a shirt, and we would be happy to save their spot in line if she had a shirt she could run and grab. Her father raised his voice and loudly asked why i was "looking at his little girl" and shouted about me being a pedophile. I backed off and told him he misunderstood, but he kept shouting back to the line behind him about how i was a "sicko," and only stopped when park security arrived a few minutes later. One of two times i felt like I was actually in danger, the dude was furious.
Oh no, not Fabio!
Giphy
I'm not an employee but was a resident of the area at the time - at Busch Gardens (VA) a few birds got in the way of a moving coaster train during its grand opening and hit the super model Fabio in the face. The news was there to cover the inaugural celebrity ride, but all they'd show for a while was the train returning to the station and Fabio with a face full of blood.
When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
Money Burn GIF by nog
Giphy
Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
south park wedding GIF
Giphy
See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
homer simpson episode 23 GIF
Giphy
Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso
Giphy
Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
Disney World GIF
Giphy
The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.