"Windseeker" ride strands fun-seekers at 300 feet almost 4 hours

People on Windseeker ride at Knott's Berry Farm stuck few hundred feet off ground Wednesday / AP Photo/The Orange County Register, Rod Veal

BUENA PARK, Calif. (CBS/AP) — Twenty riders expecting a three-minute thrill were left dangling at 300 feet for nearly four hours when the Windseeker ride at Southern California's Knott's Berry Farm amusement park stalled.

Knott's said in a statement that the ride, which lifts fun-seekers high over the park with their legs dangling and spins them in a circle, came to a stop when its security system activated at about 4 p.m. Wednesday.

TV cameras showed riders sitting calmly as they dangled and the sun set, some casually swinging their legs.

Maintenance workers brought all the riders safely to the ground between 7:30 and 8, long after the park had closed and night had fallen.

Knott's says the ride, which also left riders hanging on Sept. 7, will remain closed while the cause is investigated.

The WindSeeker has 32 gondolas that rise up and whirl riders at a 45-degree angle, at eight rotations per minute, according to the park's website.

[StarNoquisi]

My first thought was I wonder how many people wet their pants...with or without getting stuck.

[bigmanfrommaine]

I gotta pee...

[angelofurnightmare]

I don't think I would have remained calm

[talkin2u924]

Cedar Fair owns this park. They own others. I live and was a customer of their Kings Dominion park in VA. They are a terrible company. They have ill maintained rides. Poorly trained staff who treat customers like mindless cattle. Their rides often look like they have not been painted in years. The discolor and mold at water rides is disgusting. When I saw this story..I was sad but NOT SURPRISED. Cedar Fair run poor amusement parks and some media outlet should investigate!

[lillyhorton]

I hope nobody had to use the restroom. When I get excited over stuff food runs through me like Amtrack.

[ttipbc]

lillyhorton - Amtrak has constant delays - always hitting cows, trucks, idiots walking on the tracks, derailing for one reason or another. So what you're saying is you get bowel obstructions? Last time I checked their schedule from Charlotte to a city in Texas (that I could drive to in 22 hours), the trip was over 60 hours each way (through Chicago!!) & almost $800 in a plain old coach seat. Amtrak is a joke.

[lillyhorton]

Is that what you think? Maybe my bowels aren't as long as yours. I would have used freight train but they move slower through towns and cities too. Hum. I could just not use any metefore at all just just say that once I realize no bathroom is available I need to go. Um. was you comment to put me down in some way or are you putting Amtrack down? I don't want to bring this up but a 22 hour trip is about 4 tanks of gas which equals out to be about $250. plus wear on your car. Just sayin. Sometimes riding coach is safer. Always sit by the wings in a plane.

[amplover]

I bet there is a lawsuit in Knott's future. The place hasn't been the same since it became a corporate profit machine. Two breakdowns in a month? Perhaps it needs to be closed permanently

[hypnotoad72]

Why? Was this a deliberately malicious act?

[sqlyoda]

I'm just glad nobody died. Machines break down. Sometimes you don't know why. I'd rather not be one of them, but I think I'd even less rather be one of the people curious about it and walking underneath while people stranded for four hours do what biology commands.

[hypnotoad72]

Agreed.

It is a risk. But in this new normal, nobody takes responsibility for anything and people have accepted this new normal in other venues...

[johnnico88]

I got stuck on the 'sky ride' at great adventure in NJ in 1981....about 125 feet above the main thorough fare...I was with 2 other people...we had 2 joints.....

[BlackHat72]

So what you're saying is, you got high, got stuck while high, then got high while stuck while high?

[mikie4145]

I would've been highly upset.