This is a summary of notable incidents that have taken place at various United Parks & Resorts-owned amusement parks, water parks or theme parks. This list is not intended to be a comprehensive list of every such event, but only those that have a significant impact on the parks or park operations, or are otherwise significantly newsworthy.
The term incidents refers to major accidents, injuries, or deaths that occur at a SeaWorld Parks facility. While these incidents were required to be reported to regulatory authorities due to where they occurred, they usually fall into one of the following categories:
SeaWorld is an American theme park chain with headquarters in Orlando, Florida. It is a proprietor of marine mammal parks, oceanariums, animal theme parks, and rehabilitation centers owned by United Parks & Resorts. The parks host shows starring marine mammals, especially dolphins and pinnipeds, as well as zoological displays featuring various other marine animals.
Intamin Amusement Rides is a design and manufacturing company in Schaan, Liechtenstein, best-known for designing and constructing thrill rides and roller coasters at dozens of international theme parks, amusement parks and other establishments. The Intamin brand name is a syllabic abbreviation for "international amusement installations". The company has corporate offices across the world, including three in Europe, three in Asia, and two in the United States.
Discovery Cove is a theme park owned and operated by United Parks & Resorts, and located in Orlando, Florida. It is the sister park of SeaWorld Orlando and Aquatica Orlando. Visitors to the park can interact with a range of marine animals including bottlenose dolphins.
Apollo's Chariot is a steel roller coaster at the Busch Gardens Williamsburg amusement park in James City County, Virginia, United States. The ride was the first Hyper Coaster designed by Swiss firm Bolliger & Mabillard. It officially opened to the public on March 27, 1999. This coaster is themed to the Greek and Roman god Apollo, who is the god of the sun, music, and healing. Apollo used his chariot to control the directions of the sun.
Drachen Fire was a steel roller coaster located at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia. Manufactured by Arrow Dynamics, the ride opened to the public in 1992. Drachen Fire featured a 150-foot tall (46 m) lift hill, six inversions, and a zero-gravity camelback element. One of the inversions was removed after the 1994 season to improve ride comfort. The track was light blue with silver supports, and it was located in the Oktoberfest portion of the park behind Verbolten and Das Festhaus. It was originally configured with three trains, each consisting of red cars with grey seats, and featured red trim lights that illuminated the trains at night. Drachen Fire was closed in the middle of the 1998 season following a history of low ridership and complaints of roughness. It remained standing until its demolition in 2002.
Raptor is an inverted roller coaster designed by Bolliger & Mabillard at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. The coaster, which broke many records upon its opening in 1994, differs from previous inverted coasters. Instead of having a short layout designed to fit into a compact area like Batman: The Ride, Raptor was designed with a larger, 3,790-foot (1,160 m) layout, making it the tallest, fastest and longest inverted roller coaster in the world when it opened. It features six inversions, including a cobra roll, a first for inverted roller coasters. The ride is themed as a bird of prey.
SeaWorld Orlando is an animal theme park located in Orlando, Florida. Although separately gated, it is often promoted with neighboring parks Discovery Cove and Aquatica as well as Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, all of which are owned and operated by United Parks & Resorts. In 2022, SeaWorld Orlando hosted an estimated 4.45 million guests, ranking it the 10th most visited amusement park in the United States.
Gemini is a racing roller coaster with a wooden structure and steel track located at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. Built in 1978 by Arrow Dynamics and designed by Ron Toomer, it is one of the oldest roller coasters still operating at the park, with only Blue Streak, Cedar Creek Mine Ride, and Corkscrew being older. Cedar Point marketed the ride as the tallest, fastest, and steepest roller coaster in the world, despite taller and faster coasters that had opened earlier.
Iron Gwazi is a steel-track hybrid roller coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, a theme park in Tampa, Florida, United States. Development of the original Gwazi began in July 1998, when Busch Gardens announced that it would build a wooden roller coaster on land formerly occupied by the Anheuser-Busch brewery. Great Coasters International (GCI) built Gwazi, a wooden dueling roller coaster with two separate tracks. The ride was named after a fabled creature with a tiger's head and a lion's body. Trains riding on both tracks, respectively named Lion and Tiger, reached a height of 105.4 feet (32.1 m) and a maximum speed of 51 mph (82 km/h).
Dominator is a floorless roller coaster located at Kings Dominion amusement park in Doswell, Virginia. Built by Bolliger & Mabillard, it originally opened in 2000 as Batman: Knight Flight at Six Flags Ohio, in Aurora, Ohio. It was given its current name when Cedar Fair purchased the Ohio park in 2004. However, following Six Flags Ohio ’s eventual permanent closure in 2007, the coaster was relocated to Kings Dominion, where it reopened on May 24, 2008. Dominator is located fairly close to the park’s main entry plaza, in the area known as International Street.
Loch Ness Monster is a steel roller coaster located at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia. Manufactured by Arrow Development and designed by Ron Toomer, it was the first roller coaster in the world to feature interlocking loops. The roller coaster was opened within the park's Scottish hamlet, Heatherdowns, on June 2, 1978, and relates to the legend of the Loch Ness Monster. The roller coaster reaches a maximum height of 130 ft (40 m), with a maximum speed of 60 mph (97 km/h), and a total track length of 3,240 ft (990 m).
Big Bad Wolf was a suspended roller coaster in the Oktoberfest section of Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Designed by Arrow Dynamics, the roller coaster opened to the public on June 15, 1984. The ride was in service for more than 25 years before closing permanently on September 7, 2009. The footers, queue line, and station were re-purposed for Verbolten, a roller coaster that was introduced in 2012.
The following article is a summary of notable incidents at the amusement parks and water parks that are operated by Six Flags Entertainment Corporation. In some cases, these incidents occurred while the park was under different management or ownership, such as legacy Cedar Fair parks.
Griffon is a steel roller coaster located at Busch Gardens Williamsburg amusement park in James City County, Virginia, United States. Designed by Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M), the Dive Coaster model opened to the public on May 18, 2007. It climbs to a height of 205 feet (62 m) and reaches a maximum speed of 71 mph (114 km/h). It features two Immelmann loops, a splashdown, two vertical drops, and was the first B&M Dive Coaster to use floorless trains. Griffon was well-received by media and enthusiasts, and it placed third in 2007 in the category of Best New Ride polled by Amusement Today for their annual Golden Ticket Awards. Since its debut, it has also consistently ranked in the top 50 among steel roller coasters worldwide in the same annual publication, peaking at #19 in 2010.
This is a summary of notable incidents that have taken place at various Universal-owned theme parks, amusement parks, or water parks. This list is not intended to be a comprehensive list of every such event, but only those that have a significant impact on the parks or park operations, or are otherwise significantly newsworthy.
This is a summary of notable incidents that have taken place at various European amusement parks, water parks, or theme parks. This list is not intended to be a comprehensive list of every such event, but only those that have a significant impact on the parks or park owners, or are otherwise significantly newsworthy.
This is a summary of notable incidents that have taken place at amusement parks, water parks, or theme parks operated by Premier Parks, LLC. This list is not intended to be a comprehensive list of every such event, but only those that have a significant impact on the parks or park operations, or are otherwise significantly newsworthy.