{"id":2716,"date":"2026-07-22T13:19:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T13:19:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gleamgrid.co.za\/?p=2716"},"modified":"2026-07-22T13:19:59","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T13:19:59","slug":"6-theme-park-rides-that-were-banned-for-being-too-dangerous","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gleamgrid.co.za\/index.php\/2026\/07\/22\/6-theme-park-rides-that-were-banned-for-being-too-dangerous\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Theme Park Rides That Were Banned For Being Too Dangerous"},"content":{"rendered":"

You think your local roller coaster is scary? Try a waterslide that decapitated riders, a looping slide that ripped out people’s teeth, or a haunted house that burned to the ground with teenagers trapped inside. These six rides were so dangerous, so poorly designed, and so catastrophically deadly that they were permanently banned. Here are the theme park attractions that went from thrilling to terrifying.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Verr\u00fcckt \u2013 The Waterslide That Decapitated A Child<\/span><\/h2>\n

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Verr\u00fcckt \u2013 German for “insane” \u2013 was the world’s tallest waterslide at 168 feet. It shot riders down at 70 mph. In 2016, 10-year-old Caleb Schwab went airborne on the ride and struck a metal netting, which decapitated him. The slide was permanently closed and dismantled. A monument to reckless ambition.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Cannonball Loop \u2013 The Slide That Knocked Out Teeth<\/span><\/h2>\n

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Action Park in New Jersey was known as the most dangerous amusement park in America. The Cannonball Loop was a fully enclosed waterslide with a vertical loop. Riders emerged with bloody mouths and missing teeth. When staff took the loop apart, they found teeth stuck in the padding. The ride opened for just one month in 1985 before New Jersey regulators shut it down permanently.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Haunted Castle \u2013 The Fire That Killed Eight Teens<\/span><\/h2>\n

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On May 11, 1984, a fire broke out inside the Haunted Castle attraction at Six Flags Great Adventure. The building’s air conditioning fanned the flames, and the structure was made of flammable materials. Eight teenagers were trapped inside and died. Smoke alarms and sprinklers had been recommended but were never installed. Six Flags was indicted for aggravated manslaughter.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Big Dipper \u2013 The Roller Coaster That Came Off The Tracks<\/span><\/h2>\n

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On May 30, 1972, the Big Dipper wooden roller coaster at Battersea Park in London derailed. Five children were killed. An investigation found 51 faults, including an unsafe pedestrian walkway. The ride was closed and dismantled. Without its main attraction, the entire funfair closed two years later.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Thunder River Rapids \u2013 Australia’s Deadliest Ride<\/span><\/h2>\n

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On October 25, 2016, four riders were killed on the Thunder River Rapids Ride at Dreamworld in Australia. A pump failure caused water levels to drop, leading to multiple rafts colliding. The ride was permanently closed and demolished. It remains Australia’s deadliest amusement ride accident.<\/span><\/p>\n

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ICON Park FreeFall \u2013 The Drop Tower That Dropped A Teenager<\/span><\/h2>\n

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In March 2022, 14-year-old Tyre Sampson fell to his death from the 430-foot Orlando FreeFall drop tower at ICON Park. He slipped out of his seat as the ride braked toward the bottom. The ride was shut down permanently and dismantled. A $310 million verdict was awarded to his family.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Euthanasia Coaster \u2013 The Ride That Kills You (On Purpose)<\/span><\/h2>\n

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This one was never built, but it deserves a mention. The Euthanasia Coaster is a theoretical roller coaster designed by Lithuanian artist Julijonas Urbonas. It’s engineered to kill its passengers through cerebral hypoxia \u2013 lack of oxygen to the brain. The ride ascends 510 metres, then plunges through a series of loops that spin the brain into unconsciousness and eventual death. It’s an art concept, not a real ride \u2013 but it’s still disturbing.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You think your local roller coaster is scary? Try a waterslide that decapitated riders, a looping slide that ripped out people’s teeth, or a haunted house that burned to the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2722,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusives","category-photo-vault","category-weird-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gleamgrid.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gleamgrid.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gleamgrid.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gleamgrid.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gleamgrid.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2716"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gleamgrid.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2725,"href":"https:\/\/gleamgrid.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2716\/revisions\/2725"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gleamgrid.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gleamgrid.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gleamgrid.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gleamgrid.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}