Whilst theme parks are generally pretty safe places to be they can be hazardous for small children and sadly most of the threats to young visitors arise from the behaviour of their parents. Whilst working at a park I saw some of the most ridiculous and irresponsible behaviour from many adults who clearly had no concept of dangerous the environment could be. I never witnessed a disaster but on several occasions it was a close run thing!
Queue Lines
Why anyone would think that a queue line was a good place to take a push chair I will never know. Clearly toddlers are not going to be going on a roller coaster and yet many parents would happily take their strollers into the narrow confines of a queue line despite the signage indicating that they should not do this. Pushchairs can cause serious problems in the event that the queuing area needs to be evacuated. Fire, medical emergencies and severe storms can all require a speedy evacuation and a stroller complete with a small child, changing sack and various other encumbrances isn’t going anywhere quickly!
Height Restrictions
Most thrill rides have height restrictions in force which are there for good reason. Such restrictions can be due to the restraint system but are also sometimes established because the ride is deemed too intense for younger guests. Many parents ignore all of the information provided about the attractions and try to persuade staff to allow their children onto the rides. This is madness! Why would you want to put your child in harm’s way? The workers at the parks try to be vigilante regarding this issue but you always fear that someone will slip through the net.
Smuggling
Some adults do examine the height restrictions and if their child isn’t tall enough they will use any available tactic to smuggle them onto the ride. This can include building up the soles of their shoes to make them appear taller, lifting them up as they pass the attendants, asking them to walk on tip toe and even hiding them under clothing! I have witnessed several incidents of mothers concealing small children under their clothing whilst seated on the ride and on one occasion a father took his seat on a coaster, pulled his restraint down and then placed a child on his lap. He was actually intended to ride a coaster with several inversions whilst trying to hold a child! Do people not realise that theme park workers have seen it all before and are wise to all of the tricks?
Trains
Many theme parks have trains which transport guests on a scenic ride around the park. These attractions are real trains on real tracks which can do a lot of damage if they hit someone. Where the tracks cross pedestrian walkways there are generally warning lights or barriers to protect the guests from the oncoming train but they often think they know better and keep walking and even duck under the barriers with kids in tow. I used to drive one of these trains which was a large diesel locomotive and I had to emergency stop the thing on many occasions due to jaywalkers on the track. Such an abrupt halt can cause injury to the unfortunate passengers on the train who are often small children because of the nature of the attraction.
I often wonder if some of the parents at theme parks ever realise how close they have come to experiencing a terrible tragedy. You only need one person to do something foolish whilst a staff member is distracted by another guest and disaster could so easily strike. It was my greatest fear that I would have to deal with such an incident and it is the kind of thing that would haunt you for the rest of your life.
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Article by Sally Stacey