Wonderla’s Chennai park launch falters; firm says cyclone-led power cuts hit rides

Wonderla Holidays' new Chennai park which opened to the public on December 2 had a stormy start as rides got stuck mid-air.

Many visitors took to social media complaining of faulty rides. Many shared videos of rides getting stuck in mid-air.

As many as 2,000 visitors came to the park on the launch day.

"Regional power fluctuations on December 2nd caused brief pauses in a few rides while the system switched to backup power," the company said in a statement shared with Moneycontrol.

However, a few X users commented that the park is unsafe and that the company is doing trial runs with the public.

Company's Managing Director and Executive Chairman, Arun Chittilappilly also took to social media to address the visitor complaints.

He said that the response for the launch day of the Chennai Park was overwhelming but due to changes in weather there were many power outages during the day.

"Consequently, few of our rides stalled midway. Our team tried their best to make sure that the rides got back on track quickly but there were delays. We apologise. If you were inconvenienced, do reach out to our page and we will make it right. I want to assure you that the rides are safe and there were no issues from a ride perspective. Some videos are being taken out of proportion. Our parks are safe. We have been in the business for 25 years. We have had 48 million visitors visiting our parks," he said in a video shared on his social media channels.

The company also said that the momentary holds were part of standard safety protocol during power stabilisation. "Operations continued normally thereafter. The park is fully operational currently."

It further said, "We are aware of some inaccurate information circulating online and would like to clarify that operations remained under control throughout. The park remains fully operational and we continue to serve our guests without any interruptions. As a precaution for the current weather conditions, the park is now operating solely on our own power systems to ensure uninterrupted functioning."

The Chennai park is Wonderla's fifth property worth Rs 600 crore.

Wonderla is planning to go to other large cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Kolkata.

“We’ll announce something soon once we have confirmation. We’re also exploring cities like Goa, Indore, and a few other smaller markets. Now is a good time to expand,” Chittilappilly had told Moneycontrol in an earlier interview.