Theme park incident

[hangingbaskets]

Just back from visiting one of UKs largest theme parks. An incident occurred on one of the water rides whilst we were on it (think big doughnut shaped boats with passengers on the inside). Without going into huge detail, the boat that my family were in crashed into the boat in front at high speed, probably the section of the ride where the boats reach maximum speed. I'm guessing the other boat got stuck or the water wasn't flowing fast enough. There was no time to brace ourselves as this was just around a bend. I honestly think that if my children had not been holding on, they could have been thrown from the boat due to the force. The collision meant the boat in front dislodged and carried on down the slide, only for us to again crash into them with the same force, this time I managed to grab my youngest. The staff were quick to respond, asking if we were ok, we were, but I guess all a little shaken. Once we were finally off, the staff gave us a couple fast passes each to use for the rest of our visit.

As this happened in the afternoon and we had 2 days at the park, we decided to check into our on site accommodation and call it a day for the rides. It was around this time my DHs shoulder began to hurt. The following morning, it was sore enough for him to take pain relief, and also painful enough that he didn't feel it would be sensible to go on anymore rides (most rides seem to over the head safety bars) and he would have struggled to do this.

So, should we attempt to claim back some money from the trip as my DH only really got to enjoy 1 day. Or should we treat this matter more seriously?

If his shoulder hurts then this needs reporting. Tell him to see a doctor. I had whiplash years ago, not compo whiplash, proper whiplash that left me in pain for months. It actually only began to properly hurt a couple of days after the accident.

I had this kind of pain after a car accident as well. It was nerve damage as well as a whiplash type injury.

Your partner should definitely see a doctor. I'd also want to speak to the park management to find out what exactly went wrong with the ride and what they're doing about it. There was a case of an 11 year old girl who died on a similar sounding ride when she was propelled from the vessel into the water and drowned, so it's extremely serious.

In that case though the girl that died was standing up trying to change seats. There’s been changes at parks since then, most of the squirters have now been turned off so people don’t feel the need to change seats to get away from a soaking and during school trip season children aren’t allowed to ride without an over 18 in the boat

I would absolutely go to the management. They've already accepted responsibility by attempting to placate you with fast pass tickets.

Coincidentally, we had a situation at a theme park yesterday. My 13 year old went on one of the rollercoasters alone and they didn't strap him in, nor check that he was safely in. Fortunately, he alerted them to it before the ride set off but if he hadn't the wherewithal to speak up then God knows what would have happened.

I get they're busy during the summer and mistakes happen but lives are at risk. In your case it actually sounds like there is a fault with the ride or, perhaps it was the operators sending you off too soon before the people in front had proper clearance? I think it's time that these jobs should be above minimum wage and given to people who realise it's a huge responsibility...rather than bored kids wanting to be elsewhere.

It's really common for injuries not to show up until the day after or even they day after that. I would report it to the Park, I'd also consider reporting it to the Health and Safety Executive as a near miss. If there's an issue with this ride, something could be done now to prevent a child drowning.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/case_report_on_the_smiler_incide this is the case file from the 2016 Smiler accident.

Definitely report to the park. I was here when this happened en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verr%C3%BCckt

That sounds like the ride that killed 4 people in Australia in 2016.
Unfortunately some people did fall out and got caught up in the mechanics underwater. As you can imagine it was horrific.
I would absolutely report to the park. While it doesn't feel like it, you may have gotten off lightly.
Hope you feel better soon.
Google Thunder Rapids Ride Dreamworld.

How awful. If I remember correctly there were accidents beforehand but none of them fatal. It's the reporting of and actions following near misses that can save lives.