Family Of 5 Claims They Were Stranded At The Top Of Ferris Wheel While Theme Park Shut Down

Not the wheel in question. (frankieleon.)

The whole reason to hitch a ride on a Ferris wheel is to catch the view from the top — but even that delight would surely pale after say, the lights turn out and you’ve been up there for a while. A family of five claims they’re “traumatized” after getting stranded at the top of a Ferris wheel after an amusement park in the UK closed for the night.

The couple and their three kids were sitting more than 50 feet in the air when the park’s lights turned off and started to close down for the night, reports The Mirror, as the staff didn’t seem to realize right away there were still people on that ride.

“We couldn’t believe it,” the dad says. “We were at the top of the wheel when the lights went out and staff started shutting the lights down on all the rides just before 10 p.m. It was cold and really dark.”

Everyone thought they’d be stuck up there for the whole night, he says, as no one heard them at first.

“We were calling out for about 15 minutes before a member of the public spotted us,” he said of the family’s attempts to get help. “The attendant came back and switched the lights back on and got us down.”

He adds that since then, his three kids are “traumatized” and have had nightmares about being stranded.

The theme park has apologized to the family, but said in a statement that the group was at the top of the wheel for no longer than three minutes, and that a staff member was with them the entire time:

“The health and safety of our customers is of paramount concern to [the theme park]. We are sorry that [the] family were unfortunately left for a very short amount of time (2mins and 58 seconds according to CCTV) at the top of the Ferris Wheel and have offered them wristbands and meals to make up for this.”

A member of staff was at the ride the entire time this was taking place to reassure them we were going to resolve the issue as swiftly as possible, which we did.”

Family left stranded at top of Ferris wheel when theme park closed for night [The Mirror]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist