Video Captures Chaos At Great Adventure

Yesterday, Six Flags Great Adventure got hit with a power outage that left the entire park without power for nearly half an hour.

According to officials, a power station in North Hanover went down around 12:30pm. In just two minutes, power was restored, and most riders were able to get off rides by 12:47pm, and the last ride was cleared by 12:55pm.

No injuries were reported and all rides quickly reopened or were expected to be.

While that power outage doesn't seem to be related, maybe an unexpected delay made people a bit more agitated, because this video shows tensions rising high in two different instances:

So since that is a long, nearly nine-minute video, let me sum up. A rider was getting some shots as he and a friend were walking up to ride Nitro. While they were on line, the ride stopped during the initial climb to the first big drop. The person shooting the video made a guess that it was due to someone on the ride holding their phone, and it turns out he was right. If you jump to about 2:35, you can see a staff member from Great Adventure walking up the hill, and according to the video, after a ten minute debate, she issues the ultimatum to the rider to give up the phone or get out. The rider relents, and it seems like everything will get back on schedule.

Once the rider gets back to the station, he starts a heated argument with Great Adventure staff and security. All Six Flags parks have a strict rule banning cameras on rides, but I'll be honest and say I don't know what the repercussions are. If I'm caught holding my camera on a ride, obviously they can take my phone, but at what point do I get it back? Do I just have to promise not to do it again, or can they hold my phone at one of the exits until I leave, or am I just immediately ejected? I'm guessing those were the main points of the argument that was caught on video.

While all this was happening, if you jump to about 4:30 in the video, you can see tiny bit of a fight that is somehow taking place in what seems to be a restricted area under the Batman ride. Watching the rest of the video is crazy, as one argument is happening just a few feet away, another altercation just a hundred feet away, crowds on both rides starting to egg others on...it's just a big swirl of chaos.

In case you're wondering why Six Flags bans cameras on rides, it's for safety reasons. If that guy was holding his phone up to record, and it happened to slip out of his hand and fly back, it could easily strike another rider in the face and cause injury. Six Flags also doesn't want to have people roaming around beneath the coasters every time someone wants to pick up a phone they dropped.

A bit of an update: Kristin from the Hawk Flight Crew used to work at Great Adventure, and posted this comment:

So according to a former employee, the guy could have gotten his phone back at a different location, so he was probably arguing that he just wanted it back right then and there.