Passengers stuck on ride in Movie World amid safety concern closures

Passengers have been freed from the Wild West Falls ride at Movie World after it was halted following one parent’s shocking act.

Theme park goers have been rescued after park operators stopped a popular ride at Movie World because one guest was spotted using their child to try to reach for a lost item.

Footage shared by 9 News showed the carriage had been halted in place on the uptrack of the Wild West Falls ride about 2.30pm on Thursday.

The attraction was closed to the public for up to an hour while the passengers were helped off the ride.

HAPPENING NOW: Multiple people have become stuck on the Wild West Falls ride at Movie World.

The attraction has since been closed.

More to come.#9Newspic.twitter.com/1a1ljsNk2s

— 9News Gold Coast (@9NewsGoldCoast) January 19, 2023

A Village Roadshow spokesman told NCA NewsWire the ride was stopped as a safety precaution following the actions of one park guest who was standing in the viewing area of the ride.

“Earlier today, the Wild West Falls ride at Movie World had an operator-controlled stop due to guest behaviour,” he said.

“Our highly-trained operations team have CCTV footage of the entire ride envelope and identified a guest lowering their child into an exterior part of ride perimeter to collect a lost item.

“While there was no risk to this guest, our ride safety procedure is to stop the ride, and our operator did as they are trained to do.

“Ride stoppages are proof our rides and operators are doing as they are designed and trained to do to keep our guests safe.”

Multiple people became stuck on the Wild West Falls ride at Movie World.The attraction has since been closed. Picture: 9NEWS

The spokesman said guests on board the ride were directed to exit to a safe zone within 20 minutes of the stoppage.

The ride has opened again to park goers.

Thursday’s drama comes after two rides at the popular Queensland theme park were shut down amid safety and mechanical concerns.

The Green Lantern and Doomsday attractions were closed on Wednesday morning following daily engineering inspections at the Gold Coast’s Movie World.

A Village Roadshow Theme Parks spokesperson said faults were detected in both rides.

The Green Lantern was one of two rides closed at Movie World on Wednesday and was still closed on Thursday.

“The safety of our guests is our highest priority,” the spokesperson said, “and we have a dedicated engineering team who conduct rigid and comprehensive inspections on all attractions prior to opening each day.

“Our team identified a fault on the Green Lantern and Doomsday attractions which required further discussion with the international ride manufacturers.

“These rides will remain closed today; however, we anticipate both will reopen later this week.”

As of Thursday morning, Green Lantern remains closed but Doomsday has reopened.

Doomsday Destroyer was reopened on Thursday after being shut Wednesday due to an engineering fault.

“We understand these closures can be an inconvenience to our guests,” the spokesperson said. “Our intent is to always have everything open and operating; however, we will not compromise on safety and if we need to close a ride, we will.”

Safety has been even more of a priority for Gold Coast theme parks since 2016 when four people were killed on Dreamworld’s Thunder River Rapids ride.

Dreamworld is operated by Ardent Leisure, while Movie World, Sea World, and Wet‘n’Wild are operated by Village Roadshow.

Village Roadshow Theme Parks operates a number of parks on the Gold Coast, including Movie World.

Social media users have expressed their ire at the ride closures, with only 17 of 20 attractions open on Wednesday.

“That’s great you are checking everything safety first,” said a user in the comments of a Movie World Facebook post, “but what was open isn’t really suitable for 16 year olds was a waste of a day.”

“Place is an absolute joke! 2 thrill rides open! No refunds!” said another. “Don’t waste your time or money coming here!”