Police called to Alabama Adventure for what witness called a "borderline riot"

I was just getting ready to post this myself.

The one comment attached to the article said "Everybody there is a thug. Close the place down, it's dangerous." Is it really that bad at Alabama Adventure, or was this just a knee jerk reaction to the incident?

Closest I ever got to going there was a few years back on vacation from PA to FL. My wife and I sat in Alabama Adventure's parking lot (then Visionland) for about half an hour during a hellish thunder storm with torrential down pours. With the weather not letting up, we decided to call it a loss and head north toward TN and Dollywood. We were kicking around the idea of doing another swing through the south next year and hitting SFoGA, Lake Winnie, Dollywood and Carowinds and possibly Alabama Adventure (mainly for Rampage). If it is as dangerous as the commenter to the article said, wondering if we want to give it a pass.

Must be something in the water...Who had ice cubes?

Do the guests on Roller Coaster Tycoon start rioting? I remember they broke my lights and benches a lot...

Where was security?

Must have been a coverage gap. Each security person was stuck in their little RCT "coverage square" walking in circles while the "riot" was breaking out 20 feet away.

Probably forgot the coverage squares and security was off in a field somewhere walking in circles.

Jerry that was funny and made me LOL. I hate to hear this coming from my hometown park. I have been there on several occasions and never experienced anything bad at all. I guess the new Buzzsaw Falls is making people go haywire!

The amateur video definitely captures a chaotic scene, if not violent. The link to the follow up article cites a promotion for $10 admission before 10am on Mondays as a contributing factor. They are canceling that promotion, although they did offer it last year without problems. Seems to be an example of how giving away your gate can invite problems.

We went to this park on a hot August Saturday last year and observed no "thug" like behavior whatsoever. The place had a very friendly family vibe about it. I wouldn't recommend avoiding it because of this. And Rampage really was worth the stop.

I suspect almost any place that gives away the gate for that cheap is potentially inviting problems. That being said, I've heard a lot of terms used to describe the typical Alabama Adventure guest, but "violent thug" hasn't been amongst them.

Visited that park as a friend of one of the managers on a trip down south a few years ago and really liked Rampage, and with a little more fixing up the park could really look great. That said, the area of Birmingham that it is in did not strike me as a great area of town, and Birmingham in general hasn't left a good impression in general on my other times driving through the city. Definitely did not make me recall visions of a grand South like driving through Georgia and South Carolina have (stately plantation homes that, even though old and slightly decayed, still had a bit of majesty left, as well as that friendly southern vibe).

I would really like to see that park manage to thrive and turn into a nice place, because I think it has the potential to. Not to mention the amazing wooden coaster that is already there in Rampage. I think it was...12 or 14 rides in a row without getting off.