Four guests taken to hospital after smoke reported at Mr. Freeze in Six Flags Over Texas

I have a similar story... I visited Carrowinds Winterfest last December. My wife and I were locked in on Afterburn waiting for it to dispatch when we saw and smelled smoke. The ride ops kind of looked at one another like uh, what do we do. We sat locked in our restraints for what seemed like an eternity. They finally unlocked the restraints and let us leave. An hour later it was running again.

You know, I was sitting here wondering why the guests didn't just leave the building. It never entered my mind that they could be locked into the ride. 🤦‍♂️

It got a little weird. Being outside certainly reduced the panic a bit but we felt pretty vulnerable locked in our seats with a crew that didn't look like they knew what to do.

Yeah, I don't like that. I have been stuck in my fair share of rides, and each time, I get more and more worried about it happening on the next one.

Something about being stuck in a B&M OTSR and it just starts to feel like it's getting tighter and tighter. That's a really specific form of anxiety.

These indoor rides present a unique layer of risk. I mean what do you even do with a train that has locked passengers when there is a fire? Let the fire suppression system kick in and hope for the best?

You often hear that you need to be your own advocate with doctors. I think the same is true with amusement rides. I recall a very uncomfortable situation on the defunct Flight Commander ride at King's Island. I got stapled into that thing so viciously that I was in a great deal of pain, before the ride even started. I got a ride ops attention and asked for help, but was met with indifference.

I was insistent that I needed help but was still met with disregard, so I finally just started making a loud scene (very unlike me...but I was really hurting). Finally a supervisor or someone else intervened and unlocked the restraint so I could get a little more comfortable.

By the way, that ride sucked. (And, as it turned out, the ride only lasted about 5 seasons). I also understand one reason for it's demise may have been an identified design flaw with the restraint.

Fun said:

These indoor rides present a unique layer of risk. I mean what do you even do with a train that has locked passengers when there is a fire? Let the fire suppression system kick in and hope for the best?

There's always a manual override if, for example, the PLC room was on fire and the logic should fail.

What makes me nervous is that the hydraulic restraints usually need an electric charge to release, there's no "lever." And I've seen the battery packs some parks have, and they're kinda janky.

The "janky" trope is so tired:)

Jeff said:

What makes me nervous is that the hydraulic restraints usually need an electric charge to release, there's no "lever." And I've seen the battery packs some parks have, and they're kinda janky.

Plus there's always the possibility one of the operators forgot to plug them in and charge them after the last use. I may or may not be talking from personal experience.

Jeff said:

What makes me nervous is that the hydraulic restraints usually need an electric charge to release, there's no "lever." And I've seen the battery packs some parks have, and they're kinda janky.

That’s one of the things that absolutely terrified/terrifies me about the modern Intamin flume rides. I don’t like the idea of lap bars on rides that can sink, in general, but at least the Shoot the Chutes and even MK Splash Mountain bars don’t have to pin you into the seat and can be unlocked manually.

This reminded me of the day when I was making my one and only visit to that dreadful Fantasy Farm next to LeSourdsville Lake. I was going around on their Whip ride when I noticed flames and smoke shooting out of the control box. I started yelling but Whip rides tend to be noisy. Finally one of the teenaged ride ops noticed and went over. At the next turn I saw him trying to beat the flames with a greasy rag. No one was turning the ride off and I was calculating the chances of jumping off a moving Whip and not getting run over by one of those heavy-ass cars.
I don’t remember what happened but things must’ve turned out ok because right now I’m sitting here eating M&Ms.
Once at Sea World I was on Manta and the train got stuck leaving the station. We hadn’t even begun to climb, but my row was far enough out there that the distance between me and the floor was quite a bit. The downtime lasted quite a while and the face-down position made it quite uncomfortable, and I didn’t see any device to assist in an evacuation. (Maybe the chairs can be lowered manually…) I’m kind of big and breathing got hard. I didn’t say anything because the guy at the other end of my row was cussing up a streak and loudly threatening anyone and everyone who worked there. Finally we went, and I was worried the whole time about what might happen next, not only with the ride but with the loud guy.
We got back safely and the guy and his wife just laughed and talked about how great the ride was.

Raven-Phile, that kind of reminds me of the discussion we're having regarding the Orlando drop tower incident. If you have to be stapled into a water ride with no means of escape, I don't know...feels like you're doing it wrong. Leave the high speeds and steep drops to the roller coasters and leave the getting wet to the water rides.

If you have to rely on the restraint on a drop tower to keep you alive, on a ride whose primary thrill is a free fall sensation...feels like you're doing it wrong.