November 18, 2023 / By mobanmarket
JACKSON, NJ — A teenage girl’s complaint that Six Flags Great Adventure ignored her when she reported an issue with a safety restraint on one of the roller coasters is not true, park officials say.
The girl made the complaint in a video she posted to TikTok on Aug. 12, while she was still at the park. The girl, whose username is SammyTQuinn, says she was riding a roller coaster when the restraint bar “popped up” during the ride, and says she and the passenger next to her held it down until the ride ended.
Quinn does not identify which coaster she was riding in the video, which has been viewed 172,000 times. She said she complained to the ride operator, who she says responded, “Oh, I’m sorry,” and then directed Quinn to the exit.
Quinn said she went to guest services to complain and was given a snack voucher. “My life is worth a snack voucher for Dippin’ Dots,” she said.
People who viewed Quinn’s video repeatedly asked if the issue was on El Toro, but Quinn never directly answered the questions in the comments. In a follow-up video posted Quinn “rates” some of the coasters “that didn’t almost kill me” and implies the issue was on El Toro.
Staci Wheeler, a spokeswoman for Six Flags Great Adventure, said Friday there were no reports of any issues on El Toro on Aug. 12. An issue was reported on the Runaway Mine Train on that date, but Wheeler could not confirm who made the report.
Wheeler said the park did take action in response to the complaint about the Runaway Mine Train.
“Safety is our number one priority. We paused operation of this particular ride for a full inspection and found all systems operating as designed,” Wheeler said.
“Guests and team members are always encouraged to bring any health, cleanliness, service or maintenance concerns to our attention,” Wheeler said.
Quinn reply to a request for clarification.
El Toro has drawn repeated attention because of two lengthy shutdowns in 2021 and 2022 for repairs.
The coaster, which opened in 2006 at the park, was shut down following an Aug. 25, 2022 ride incident that injured 14 people because of a problem with damaged track support columns. The ride reopened June 17 after the columns were repaired, tested and inspected by the state state Department of Community Affairs, which oversees carnival and amusement park rides.
El Toro also was closed in 2021 when a train came to a stop short of the brake run with the rear wheels of one car off the track. No one was injured in the June 29, 2021, incident, but the state shut the ride down until an engineering review was conducted and the ride was repaired.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
Categories: