One of our most ICONIC theme park rides has had an oopsie.
Yesterday afternoon at Auckland’s Rainbow’s End, a log on the fan favourite Log Flume ride flipped, leading it to be shut down until this morning, Stuff reports. The hiccup happened at the bottom of the slide at the end of the ride.
Luckily, the person riding the log was unharmed, the only damage being a little bit of wetness. If it happened to me, I so would’ve thought it was my fault, but the log got snagged going down the slide, causing it to tip on its side.
Credit: Supplied to Stuff NZ
Earlier in the day, the ride had to be shut down twice due to sensors being triggered, meaning engineers had to have a look at it and give it the all good.
Karen Crabb, Rainbow’s End chief executive called it an “extraordinary event,” saying that there is staff monitoring the ride constantly and they were quick to help the person in the flipped log, providing him with a dry shirt.
She added that every ride in the park was checked at the beginning of each day.
As if the Log Flume wasn’t scary enough as is with those little demon frogs in the cave - now this will be in my mind whenever I go on it.
Last year, there was a way more crazy and dramatic malfunction at an amusement park in Texas. According to USA Today, a gust of wind led to a cart on one of the swingy kind of rides being SUSPENDED IN THE AIR!!!
Then, the ride operator had to CLIMB UP THE RIDE and rescue the person. Wild.
Credit: Eric McCauley/Storyful via USA Today
Thankfully, the Log Flume is up and running again today and it remains a core part of Kiwi culture.
