When riders got on the Windseeker at Southern California's Knott's Berry Farm amusement park, they expected the ride to last a few minutes at most. However, 20 riders were left stranded on 300-feet tall ride for nearly four hours when it suddenly stopped working.
The Windseeker, which is a swing ride that spins riders high above the park, stopped spinning when the ride's security system activated on Wednesday afternoon.
Some riders appeared to be calm as they let their legs dangle, while some were swinging their legs as they waited for maintenance workers to get the ride going again.
"They were on the PA system and they were telling us 'be patient with us,' and that sort of thing," Jimmy Garrison told KTTV-TV. "I was looking over at the steel cables, they're about that thick,' he said, holding his thumb and forefinger several inches apart, "there's a whole bunch of them so I know you can't fall."
While Garison remained calm, his wife Donna had a harder time. Garrison tried to heep her calm through the incident.
"I have a fear of heights so that first half-hour was a little bit daunting," she said. "But he's a great coach. He talked me through it."
Some riders said they were nervous because they feared that the ride might come crashing down.
Maintenance workers were able to bring the riders to the ground by 8p.m. By that time, the park had closed and it was dark out.
The riders were given bottled water and a free t-shirt that read "I Survived Windseeker." The shirt which is sold to park-goers held a lot more meaning to the riders that were stuck for four hours.
The Garrisons plan to return to the amusement park on Friday, bu when asked if she'll ride the Windseeker again, Donna said "Oh, no, no no."
This isn't the first time that the Windseeker broke down recently. It also left riders stranded on Sept. 7. The ride will remain closed as investigators try to figure out why the security system activated.
