Canada’s Wonderland Lumberjack ride breaks down, trapping passengers

Theme park guests were left hanging after an upside-down ride became stuck for nearly half an hour on Saturday.

The tears of several of the dangling passengers rolled right back into their eyes as they hung from at the Lumberjack swinging axe ride in Canada’s Wonderland in Vaughan, Ontario around 10:40 p.m., the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported.  

Horrifying social media footage shows the pendulum ride full of thrill-seekers stuck upwards at a 180-degree angle after a malfunction caused the ride to stop in its tracks.

Guests reported losing feeling in their feet as they dangled upside down above the popular amusement park, which had become “inverted,” according to the outlet.

The ride was brought down by 11:05 p.m., park officials told CBC.

When the ride suddenly came to a halt, Spencer Parkhouse, 11, and his 15-year-old sister Mackenzie Parkhouse, thought it was part of the experience.

But when ambulances arrived below them, they realized something terrible had happened.

“[I was] just like feeling — when are we going to drop down? Are we ever going to drop down?” Spencer told CBC.

While dangling, Spencer saw a panicked rider vomit while he and his sister both felt their legs go numb.

For Spencer, his first opportunity to experience a “big ride” at the park left him traumatized, as the ride had to finish once workers fixed it, instead of just allowing the guests to disembark.

“The ride had to still finish. So the ride kept going and we’re all like, ‘No, please, I don’t want to get stuck again,” he recalled. 

Mackenzie said once they were off the ride, the park staff checked guests for injuries and asked if anyone had passed out or thrown up.

“I’m just thinking, like next time I go to Canada’s Wonderland, am I going to go on these big rides? Because now I’m scared to go on them,” she said.

Two riders reported chest pain and were seen by the park’s health center before being released, the theme park said.

“Guests were unloaded safely and assessed by first aid staff before being released back into the park,” the park said in a statement.

“The safety of our guests is always our first priority.”

The Lumberjack ride opened in 2018 and features two axe-shaped pendulums that reach up to 75ft, according to Canada’s Wonderland.

Lumberjack’s “face-to-face seats let guests interact with one another and watch the terror on their friends’ faces as they loop round and round,” according to the park’s promotional material.

The ride was closed Sunday as park officials investigated what caused the malfunction.