SeaWorld Roller Coaster Scary Video

SAN DIEGO — A mother had a huge scare when her daughter’s seat belt came loose while they were riding an electric roller coaster at Seaworld in San Diego.

Salina Higgins, her 10-year-old daughter and her niece visited Sea World from Tucson, Arizona, on Tuesday.

After riding the rides all day, Higgins and her daughter decided to ride the electric eel while her niece watched and captured video as they reached the top of the rides.

“I opened my eyes and my daughter started screaming because her strap, as they say, was hanging in front of her face while we were hanging upside down,” Higgins said. “So I grabbed the strap, I secured it and I held on to her like my life depended on it, and we both screamed the rest of the way.”

Higgins said there was also a safety bar designed to hold the rider in place, but she’s not sure if it also malfunctioned.

Once they got off the ride, Higgins said she told an attendant what happened, and the attendant apologized before letting more people onto the ride.

Higgins then went to customer service to speak with a manager.

“He asked me if I had read the warning before I got on the ride,” she said. “And to my surprise, I said, ‘Does the warning say that the comfort straps are optional? Because if it does, I have no recourse here… Then he laughed and said, ‘I don’t think so.’ So I told my 10-year-old and 14-year-old to run at 10 p.m. to take a picture of that warning.”

The disclaimer suggests that the comfort strap is essential: “Hold on firmly and remain seated with the comfort collar secured at all times during the ride.”

“When I showed him this, he threw his hands up in the air and told me I could call the number on the website and have security escort us off the property,” Higgins said.

Higgins said she emailed more than 100 contacts at SeaWorld and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to try to get help, then posted a TikTok message that went viral.

“Yes, I now stand up for all the other people who are commenting on this post, this TikTok that has almost 6 million views, and who are also saying this happened to them,” Higgins said. “It’s become something bigger.”

Higgins said she wishes SeaWorld employees would be more careful and less dismissive. She also wants to remind viewers to speak up when they feel something is wrong.