Loud Dad Recorded Yelling At Theme Park Workers For Not Letting Daughter On Ride Because She's Too Short
His behavior was concerning, to say the least.
Master1305 / Shutterstock Parents do embarrassing things all the time, like dancing in front of their kid, telling stories about when their child was a baby, or even trying to be cool for their kid's friends. Thankfully, not all of them are caught on camera.
But in one instance at an amusement park, the events caught on camera show just how terrified a little girl was of her father's behavior.
A father was seen yelling at theme park workers after his daughter was denied entrance to the ride.
A TikToker named Sabrina posted a video of a man berating a ride operator and demanding that his daughter be let on the ride. But the young girl was below the height requirement, so it wouldn’t be safe for her to get on.
Nevertheless, the father continued to request that his child be let on, carrying on while his daughter cried behind him.
The video started with the man apparently identifying the person that turned his daughter away as “the girl with the mole on her face.” The woman he was speaking to was heard in the background requesting a manager as he continued to raise his voice at her.
A man could be heard telling the father his child was too small for the ride, and the dad upped the ante by saying, “This kid is going on that ride, or you and me are going in the parking lot.” At that point, the employee could be heard anxiously requesting a manager.
The man explained that his child had been denied entry to the ride three times, while the little girl’s hands were wrapped tightly around his waist and she was crying loudly.
The back and forth continued until the father threatened, “Listen, we can do it your way, or we can do it mine.” He then told the worker that he was going to make her life miserable, adding, “My eight-year-old daughter crying? You’ll see... You’ll see!”
The dad pointed in the direction of the ride operator and said, “I will shut this [expletive] down.” This prompted a woman off-camera to speak up, where she pleaded with him, "Don't shut it down."
Photo: Mateus Barboza / Pexels
The man seemed oblivious to the fact that his own over-the-top behavior added to his daughter’s public trauma.
As the man continued with his abrasive behavior, it was evident that his daughter was afraid. As one commenter put it, “The child is crying because the father is churning chaos, not because of the rules.” The child most likely was scared because of her father yelling.
Studies have shown that yelling at children makes them more aggressive. Children who are constantly yelled at by their parents are more likely to suffer from low self-esteem, depression, and develop behavioral problems.
And though the father wasn't yelling directly at his child, he still created a fearful environment for her that can affect her long into adulthood.
It's an environment that research finds can also profoundly impact children. Because along with children of angry parents becoming aggressive themselves, the behavior can create a cycle of anger that lasts generations.
In a since-deleted video, Sabrina added that a stick was used to measure the child initially, but due to a mix-up she was not turned away until after waiting in line.
In a surprise turn of events, the little girl was allowed to get on the ride after all. She was put in the front row, accompanied by her dad. Additionally, Sabrina said that security was waiting when the family left the area, but was unsure if they were kicked out of the amusement park.
It's essential for amusement park employees to follow height requirements for safety reasons.
While many may praise the dad for taking a stand against a park employee enforcing the rules, the truth is that not only was this worker doing their job, but they were following guidelines to prevent injuries.
Data concluded that, according to the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), "the odds of being seriously injured on a fixed-site ride at a U.S. amusement park are 1 in 15.5 million rides taken."
That means roughly 130 people were seriously injured on a theme park ride in 2021, including fatalities. For perspective, about 42,000 people were killed in motor vehicle accidents the same year.
That doesn't mean amusement park rides are entirely safe, though. The data from the IAAPA only included locations where rides are permanent fixtures. And in 2016, over 30,000 injuries associated with amusement park rides and attractions were reported by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which included permanent fixtures like amusement parks, but also mobile attractions.
Many precautions are taken before riders enter the ride, including meeting height requirements.
According to RidesDatabase — a project of Saferparks that aims to "help prevent amusement ride accidents through research, information sharing, and effective public safety policy" — children are at a higher risk of ejections or falls when they barely meet the height limits.
The website added, "Parents who fudge the minimum height limits even further, by sneaking their kids past the measure, putting their child in platform shoes, or bullying the operator into letting their shorter child board a ride, may be exposing their child to serious danger."
Unfortunately, it seems that's exactly what the father in the video was doing: bullying a park employee to force them to let his daughter board the ride. He completely disregarded his daughter's safety and well-being while hurling insults and acting out in public.
Hopefully, parents can consider this an important lesson of their own to do their research before visiting amusement parks and, most importantly, not screaming at people just trying to do their jobs.
NyRee Ausler is a writer from Seattle, Washington, and author of seven books. She covers lifestyle and entertainment & news, as well as navigating the workplace and social issues.