WATCH: SeaWorld ride goes viral after 'scary' incident on roller coaster

SeaWorld calls it 853 feet of pure excitement. But for one woman and her daughter, riding the Electric Eel roller coaster was pure terror.

[@Redbaronn]

We take safety very seriously and understand that this guest perceived a risk that caused her concern. There was not, however, a safety issue during the ride. All rides and attractions, including Electric Eel, are designed, operated and inspected daily in accordance with all applicable standards and manufacturer specifications. The “harness” this family is referencing is called a “comfort collar,” which is intended for the rider’s comfort and is not a restraining device. The lap bar and shin bar are the only restraining devices on the coaster, and they remained securely in place throughout the entire ride. Signage at the entrance of the ride indicates that the comfort collar is for rider comfort only.

[@Ohiopianoguy]

OK Karen. I am SURE she coached her daughter on what to say to shake the park down for as much $$$ as possible.

[@Nothing-gn9em]

So, this is over her not getting free tickets?

[@peaceandloveall9471]

She was offered 4 free tickets

[@MsDisneylandlover]

But so glad she still living bc it could had been worse

[@sam905]

She wants a law suit out of this I'm thinking....My bets on that...I guess we will have to wait and see

[@dogsinthedark]

@@MsDisneylandlover No, it can't be worse. The rider unbuckled their restraint, which was a restraint that isn't used to hold in the rider, but to make riders less scared.

[@Ohiopianoguy]

@@MsDisneylandlover It could NOT have been worse. The comfort collar is an OPTIONAL harness installed after the fact and does NOTHING to keep the rider in the train. The lap bar does all the work. This woman is trying to scam the park. PERIOD.

[@RFernandez18]

Well this wasn't actually an issue just a scare. Why is it news? Although that ride goes extremely high and you are lifted off your seat for a brief moment while flying over everything...I would be dramatized! I think it's mom...do better. Give your daughter the comfort she needs and get over it with Sea World. Your daughter was actually safe.

[@MichelleHaley810]

Huge sign at the front of the ride Comfort Collar not for safety. Irresponsible news report

[@unifiedthrills]

That actually doesn’t restrain the rider, it’s made so that you don’t whip side to side so much since it’s more of an inversion based ride, enthusiast hate them, and wish they could take them off, in fact there is a version in Germany without the collars called sky scream at holiday world

[@ScareventuresHaunts]

ABC News 10, you should be ashamed of yourselves for running this story without diving a little deeper into the story. This woman was belligerently drunk while screaming at the Guest Relations desk with many witnesses within earshot and witnessing the scene. I typically don't showcase that behavior on my Tiktok livestreams while at the park, but CLEARLY I will need to in the future to prevent a flagrant or frivolous claim like this. Thankfully OSHA and the manufacturer of Electric Eel will back SeaWorld, especially with the recent safety upgrades. The comfort harness has a carabiner type clip to latch, which means that this woman's child either intentionally or possibly unintentionally knocked it loose. My guess is she was playing with it. Anyone that has ridden Electric Eel knows it would take an intentional action to open the clasp. Also, you didn't think it was odd this woman had someone recording this video for her in that perfect position?! Think on that. 🤦‍♂️

[@TheLewistownTrainspotter8102]

Considering the timing of the footage, that would suggest the restraint was intentionally undone.

[@jukesy1992]

Indeed. That's the problem with a lot of theme park related incident stories, they're all described as terror yet more often than not, especially for breakdowns or rolebacks, riders are escorted off as quick as possible, and then for something like this where a collar comes unbuckled, gosh this is a non-story.

[@user-zg4hl8dl7l]

This is such a joke. Premier rides, the manufacturer of this rollercoaster, sells these exact trains without the comfort collars, ice breaker at SeaWorld Orlando for example. They are completely unnecessary and in no way a safety concern when one comes loose.

[@AngryGumball]

They should come ride the one up in Northern CA. Same exact ride model, lap bar only, no annoying useless "comfort collar" restraints that do absolutely nothing. Rider was 100000% safe without those floppy noodle restraints.

[@TheLewistownTrainspotter8102]

Yep. The Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Superman Ultimate Flight is the same model as Electric Eel, but Six Flags opted not to include the comfort collars.

[@coasterp2199]

Ahhhhh, it's comforting to see clueless "media" sensationalize a non-event.

[@dogsinthedark]

"SeaWorld needs to own up for their actions" Actually, her daughter does. That restraint goes under no force by the rider, unless the rider unbuckles it. Riders on the next cycle didn't complain at all, which indicates it had to do something with the rider. She obviously doesn't know her kid well enough to know that children like to play with things. She probably unbuckled her comfort collar. Guest services treated her correctly in the sense that a rider unbuckled a restraint and was trying to commit insurance fraud of some sort. Kicking someone out of the park for committing crimes and neglecting their child isn't good enough of a title for this news station and in their attention seeking ways, they end up blowing this way out of proportions and actually against the legal side of how the US justice system would portray this. SeaWorld could easily sue this mom.

[@bigfishy7816]

Ban the family from the park , clearly wore boots to sneak on it

[@AmusementLabs]

Plain and simple; those are not lapbars OR restraints. Theyre literally named Comfort Collars and the manufacturer states they are simply aesthetic and for rider COMFORT. This lady is spinning a story for views and free stuff.

[@NumbChuckles]

The comfort collars on premier sky rocket 2 (the ride's model) are a secondary restraint system. The lap bar the straps are attached to are the primary restraint. Some Sky Rocket 2 models don't even have comfort collars (Lake Compounce has one without)

[@oddynuffdasnowleopard5046]

Comfort collars are not restraint system, the lap bar is the only restraint on the ride. The purpose of the collars is solely on making nervous riders feel more comfortable because some people may be scared on how free you feel you on a lap bar only train. For example I’ve seen people talk about how they won’t ride mr freeze reverse blast because it only has a lap bar and they’re scared they might fall off on the train because of it.

[@SadyTheCV2Bunny]

I went the day after this happened, and I saw this on my phone while I was in my brother's car driving, I thought the electric eel would be closed, but it wasn't. Yay!!!

[@BedwarsKing832]

I’ve ridden this ride 15 times

[@Fenrirmaster30]

I'm pissed, I lost my keyfob on Rugarou at Cedar Point last time I went and I didn't get media attention for that event! 😤

[@khaleesidire3367]

Yeah! I would feel comfortable with it on 😂

[@Redbaronn]

That’s what it says before you get on Straps. Are not for safety

[@kimberlylach6734]

these are used to work at these parks first of all number one first for us. I work to see what Busch Gardens OK they never ever checked the rides in morning afternoon or evening hours they can say all they want. I worked there for four years at all the parks back-and-forth I worked every rideoperated every ride I've been on every ride. I've tested every ride. I was the only one that tested, but I could've died. My laptops could've came. My restraints could've came up, but they do not do regular safety check on any of these rides so I'm in grievance with the woman. I think she should go ahead and sue the park and all the park for that matter because they do not check their operating system. They do not check their track system. They do not check their labs and they certainly do not monitor when the lights go off in the box that there's something wrong to stop the damn the damn ride.

[@flashfocusbruh5144]

And I was here on July 4th 😭

[@marydone6501]

SHOW ME THE MONEY

[@JM-gz1ej]

It's all about the money, isn't it?

[@darkguardian1314]

That is just so Disney-like of Sea World to kick the people out after endangering their child like that. Free tickets isn't going to fix a child's near death experience. Let's also not forget that Sea World needed to focus on rides because of environmentalists shutting down the animal shows. They only care about profits...

[@Electron0ideBS]

TF you mean “near death?” It’s a *COMFORT* collar. It does not actually make the ride safer, only for COMFORT. but yeah they should free the orcas

[@Charles_Stanley13]

Disney-like? TF you are talking about?

[@michaelmeharry4343]

They were perfectly safe. There was no near death anything. They intentionally unclasped their own comfort collar, which is there for comfort and has no safety function. Guest services would have explained all this to them, it's their problem for being in hysterics over nothing

[@aviduser1961]

I like turtles!

[@MsDisneylandlover]

Blood of Jesus ❤

[@MsDisneylandlover]

I don't do crazy rides 😮

[@kryptism]

Boogers!😊

[@littlevuggey93]

If its your kid yall would say otherwise. The person who was controlling the ride should check everyones safety really carefully.

[@michaelmeharry4343]

They did. Everyone was perfectly safe. This person intentionally unclasped the comfort collar, which is there for rider comfort - it has no safety function.

[@jukesy1992]

It was checked. The "comfort collar" is a secondary restraint, for, well, comfort. The lap bar and shin restraint for this ride is all that's needed to make sure the guest is safe in the train. The collars are optional addons essentially.

[@heyo423]

Thoughts and prayers for the victims

[@dogsinthedark]

The victim is the park. The "comfort collars" used on that ride are for the riders' comfort only, in fact it says this on a sign in line for the ride. If a kid doesn't read it, it isn't the park's fault.

[@rogerwalker9191]

..People go on these Rides 'cuz they WANT TO be scared, Then, when they perceive Death has come knockin', they wanna' get all jiggy & screamin' "We were scared to death!" I'D SAY THE RIDE SUCCESSFULY DELIVERED JUST WHAT THEY PAID FOR!