Update: Power Outage at Valleyfair Leaves Riders Stuck

Update Wednesday, Aug. 15 from Valleyfair's Facebook page: Valleyfair will be open normal operating hours, 10am - 10pm with Fantastic Fireworks beginning at 9:50pm. We appreciate everyone's patience and apologize for any inconvenience.

Instead of people lining up to get into  Tuesday afternoon, they were clamoring to get out.

The power went out at Valleyfair at about 4:30 p.m., leaving some rides stuck and riders stranded.

People were stuck on some of the rides, according to a report by KARE-11 News. The Ferris wheel and Wild Thing roller coaster were stuck due to the loss of power, the report said. People on the Wild Thing reportedly were evacauted from the ride and had to walk down the tallest roller coaster at Valleyfair.

Karen Cooper came from Kansas with her family to Valleyfair Tuesday and said they were waiting in line for the Wild Thing when it suddenly stopped.

"We were getting ready to get on when the power went out," she said. "I think (being on it at the time) would have scarred me for life."

Xcel Energy had posted a power outage notice for Shakopee on their website Tuesday afternoon, stating two Shakopee customers were without power starting at 4:31 p.m. They estimated that power would be restored by 8:39 p.m. 

Natasha Vermeys described the scene as "tons of mad people."

"It was an awkward sight seeing the park at a stand still," she said in a tweet to Patch. "Super quiet. People stuck on Ferris wheel!"

Xcel Energy workers were still responding to the outage at 6 p.m., working on power lines near the park.

Even after the power was restored, the park remained closed for the rest of the night. Park patron Jacob Overman said officials told them once the power was back, the rides would need to be inspected, which could take several hours.

Valleyfair officials told Patch at just before 6 p.m. that Valleyfair was closed for the evening due to the outage. They were giving refunds or raincheck tickets to those who wanted to wait in line.

KARE 11 News reported Tuesday night that the park would be open as usual Wednesday morning. The cause of the outage was reportedly an equipment failure on Xcel Energy's part.

Twitter was abuzz about the outage:

Shelby Benson ‏@BensonShelby

COOL VALLEYFAIR CLOSE DOWN WHEN WE ARE ON OUR WAY. ✌

Josh Biber ‏@MyLyfeIsJew

Power has been out at valleyfair for one hour now...#firstworldproblems

Alyssa Emme ‏@frienemme

@jayseabrown hey, did u hear about the electricity at valleyfair today? Scary. Glad you already went!

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